5 WRs Looking for a Touchdown Bounce Back

Photo: Charles LeClaire, USA Today Sports

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Touchdown scoring can be highly variant from year to year. Those who score high touchdowns in one season can struggle to do so the following season, even on a similar volume. One way to look at these players is how they scored in non-touchdown statistics compared to their overall scoring. Another is the percentage of a player’s production that came from touchdowns. Below are five players who struggled in touchdown production in 2021, with a look at whether they will rebound in 2022.

Jakobi Meyers

Jakobi Meyers finished 16th at the wide receiver position in receptions in 2021 with 83 but only caught two touchdowns. Meyers was held back by a dismal red-zone rate, seeing only 17.4% of his targets in the redzone. That rate ranks 75th out of 89 wide receivers with more than 50 receptions in 2022. Meyers finished behind Hunter Henry (26) in red-zone targets and was held back by the Patriots' ranking seventh in red-zone rush rate (56%). If the Patriots shift in the redzone in the second year under Mac Jones, Meyers could benefit.

Chase Claypool

Claypool had a very similar statistical line in 2021 with 109 targets, 62 receptions, and 873 receiving yards, as he did in his 105 targets, 59 receptions, and 860 receiving yards rookie season. Chase Claypool was WR38 in overall scoring in 2021 but finished as WR30 in non-touchdown scoring. His story is a cautionary tale, as the fourth most touchdown-dependent scorer in 2020 when he scored 11 total touchdowns, only to drop to the bottom of the position in 2021 when he scored 2 touchdowns. Only 7.2% of Claypool’s scoring came from touchdowns in 2021, the third-lowest of wide receivers with 50 receptions in 2022. Claypool will see a change in a quarterback with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger and has a solid production resume to build off if the passing game gets more efficient.