The Detroit Lions have started off the 2022 season looking surprisingly competent. They nearly pulled off a huge comeback against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 before dismantling the Washington Commanders in Week 2. Along the way, they have shown the potential to have one of the best offenses in the entire league, which not many people expected entering the season.
Through two weeks of action, the Lions finished tied with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs for the most offensive touchdowns in the league with nine. Those are some very high-powered offenses, and for the Lions to be in the same conversation as them is pretty impressive.
In order for them to keep up this production, they are going to need some more players to step up. The good news is they have a solid wide receiver waiting in the wings who could help not only the Lions, but also the fantasy football owners looking for sleeper picks heading into Week 3. Let's identify who this sleeper on the Lions is and see why he could be a very beneficial addition to your fantasy teams this week.
Lions Week 3 fantasy football sleeper
WR DJ Chark
The Lions took a flier on DJ Chark in free agency this offseason in hopes that he could stay healthy and be a solid second option at wide receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown. Chark had some strong outings during his initial four season stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and was selected to the Pro Bowl back in 2019, but he could never stay on the field long enough to develop any sort of consistency.
Chark's start to his career with the Lions has been quite inconsistent as well. Granted, Chark has played only two games with his new team, but the early results don't necessarily paint him as the pillar of consistency in the fantasy football world.
Chark opened the season with a nice four catch, 52 yard performance in which he also hauled in a touchdown. For all intents and purposes, that's a solid line for a FLEX player. But against the Commanders in Week 2, Chark put up a goose egg, as he was held without a single catch on four targets.
Chances are Chark won't go another game this season without getting a single catch. He still has some work to do to get on the same as Jared Goff, as he's only caught four of the 12 passes Goff has thrown his way. But the season is still young, and there are a lot of reasons to believe that Chark will be able to start hauling in his targets more frequently moving forward.
It's also worth noting that St. Brown has been on fire to start the season. St. Brown already has 17 catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns on the season, making it clear that he is Goff's top target in the offense right now.
While St. Brown being productive isn't a bad thing for Detroit, someone else is going to have to step up alongside him if the Lions offense wants to continue to score as much as they have to start the season. St. Brown is going to continue to draw more and more attention from opposing defenses with each passing game, and that will necessitate Goff to find another option when he can't hit St. Brown.
That's where Chark comes in. Chark has the talent to be a top tier receiver, and he will have a lot of favorable matchups moving forward in one-on-one coverage against the opposing defenses second best cornerback. If St. Brown is getting a ton of attention, that puts Chark in a great position to see his production increase.
Chark already proved in Week 1 that he could potentially fill that role. Fantasy owners will be thrown off by his disappearing act against Washington, but there's a lot working for Chark that should prevent that from happening again this season. Duds happen from time to time in fantasy football, and Chark owners figured that out the hard way in Week 2.
Starting Chark in fantasy leagues is going to remain inherently risky until he gets an increased target share and he proves he can do something with those targets. St. Brown is going to begin to get more attention given how good he's been, and when he isn't able to get open for Goff, Chark will have to step up.
Chark figures to have a role in a strong Lions offense that will continue to increase in coming weeks. He's a borderline FLEX option right now, and if he can get on the same page with Goff, he could become a sneaky WR2 option later in the season. Considering he's still available in over 50 percent of leagues, now would be the perfect time to add Chark to your roster and see if he can figure things out over the next few weeks.
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