2022 NFL rookie wide receiver ranking Week 6: The battle of attrition is kicking in

Last season we did our weekly rookie quarterback tracker, but with only one taken in the first round of 2022, we’ve moved onto another highly coveted position. For 2022 we’ll keep track of all six first-round wide receivers and their progress throughout the year. Some of our first-round rookies are already off to the races and contributing heavily to their teams. Let’s check out this year’s group of rookie first-rounders. Inactive. Jameson Williams – Lions out with torn ACL source: Getty Images Although Williams can officially practice with the team now, he hasn’t been cleared yet. Lions head coach Dan Campbell says Williams is improving but is still “several weeks away” from participation in practice. The No. 12 overall pick is running again but still has a ways to go before debuting. Inactive. Treylon Burks – Titans out foot injury source: Getty Images Tennessee placed rookie Treylon Burks on injured reserve last week, so we won’t be seeing this rookie in action for a while. Burks left the Titans’ Week 4 victory against the Colts in the fourth quarter after suffering a foot injury. So, the team decided to shut him down, which means he’ll be unavailable for at least four weeks from the time of injury. Inactive. Jahan Dotson – Commanders out tweaked hamstring source: Getty Images This week, Jahan Dotson was inactive (hamstring injury) again, missing his second consecutive game. Through four games, he’d already become one of Carson Wentz’s favorite targets catching four TDs in those games, which tied him for the league lead entering week 5. Hamstring injuries can be difficult to gauge, so we’ll keep a close eye on how long this keeps him out of the lineup. Dotson proved early on that he’s a player that knows how to find the end zone. There is no timetable yet for his return. Inactive. Chris Olave – Saints out with a concussion source: Getty Images Another injury to the rookie wide receiver pool, Olave suffered a concussion in Week 5 and was missing in action for the Saints’ Week 6 loss to the Bengals. Olave’s had a decent rookie year leading up to the injury with 25 catches in five games and already becoming a pretty significant part of the passing attack for New Orleans. Since the Tua Tagovailoa head injury incident a few weeks ago, there’s been a renewed emphasis on these injuries, so it’s unclear how long Olave will be sidelined. 2. Garrett Wilson – Jets source: Getty Images Life probably hasn’t been too much fun for Wilson over the last three weeks, even though the Jets are 3-0 in that time since quarterback Zach Wilson returned to the lineup. In those three games, the receiving end of the Wilson-to-Wilson connection has six receptions for 76 yards. In those first three games where Joe Flacco led the team, Wilson caught 18 passes for 214 yards and TDs. Surely, the rookie wideout enjoys playing for a winning team, but he’d probably like to see the ball a little more often. With the Jets improving to 4-2 after dominating Green Bay, it doesn’t look like the game plan will change anytime soon. This Jets team runs the ball well and plays good defense. Those two aspects of the game travel well and work for this team as they did at Lambeau Field. 1. Drake London – Falcons source: Getty Images The Atlanta Falcons are a much better team than projected coming into the season, although that hasn’t always equaled big receiving games from Drake London. In the Falcons’ last four games, London has had 12 catches for 146 yards and a TD. In his first two games of the season, London caught 19 balls for 160 yards and a TD. London had only three catches on four targets for 40 yards in their 28-14 win over the 49ers in Week 6. London’s overall production has clearly slipped, but that may not be entirely his fault. Even with the weapons Atlanta has at its disposal, this isn’t a high-volume passing attack. In the season opener against New Orleans, Marcus Mariota passed 33 times in a one-point loss to the Saints. Since that game, Mariota hasn’t been asked to throw the ball more than 26 times and has attempted 20 or fewer passes in three of those games. The Falcons are 3-2 since that Week 1 loss against the Saints. Atlanta seems to have found a formula that works for them, but it probably won’t do much for London’s bid at rookie of the year.

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