Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 8-13-8-7-6-4-14 (71), Pierre Garcon: 5-10-8-8-11-6-15 (69), Austin Collie: 10-7-7-2-6-5-7 (47), Dallas Clark: 8 -6-4-5-7-0-10 (45). Joseph Addai: 4-2-2-1-dnp-2-dnp (15)
When I look through the target leaders Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon are always near the top, but when I look at actual production they are a little further down. Usually opportunity breeds fantasy points, fame and fortune in this game, but instead it's breeding contempt and uproarious laughter.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Mike Thomas: 10-8-11-7-6-1-4 (58), Jason Hill: dnp-5-9-7-3-8-5 (42), Marcedes Lewis: dnp-2-7-4-8-3-9 (36), Mike Sims-Walker: 11-6-6-dnp-dnp-2-4 (33), Maurice Jones-Drew: 4-3-4-0-3-3-4 (21), Deji Karim: 1-2-1-4-1-0-1 (13), Jarett Dillard: 2-0-3-1-3- dnp-3 (12)
Don’t waste your time. Really. I'm not kidding.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 8-6-9-11-BYE-10-11 (63), Steve Breaston: 2-6-5-5-BYE-9-4 (33), Dexter McCluster: 5-6-4-2-BYE-2-3 (27), Leonard Pope: 3-3-1-3-BYE-1-1 (18), Jonathan Baldwin: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-8 (13), Keary Colbert: dnp-1-4-2-BYE-0-1 (11)
The biggest news out of this game was Jonathan Baldwin. He has a ton of talent and flashed some of it on Monday night. Of course he is a rookie on a team that favors the run and already has a No. 1 receiver and a seasoned No. 2 receiver to compete with. He had the second most targets beating out Steve Breaston and if that keeps up he should be able to continue putting up decent numbers, but it is still too early to tell.
Miami Dolphins
Brandon Marshall: 11-7-8-BYE-13-9-6 (67), Davone Bess: 5-9-5-BYE-3-12-5 (46), Brian Hartline: 7-4-5-BYE-6-2-2 (33), Reggie Bush: 1-1-2-BYE-2-2-5 (23), Anthony Fasano: 2-2-4-BYE-2-2-1 (19), Daniel Thomas: 1-3-dnp-BYE-1-5-dnp (10)
There weren't many yards or touchdowns to go around for the Dolphins last week, but Brandon Marshall did lead the team in targets once again. With Matt Moore behind center, Marshall is the only receiver even worth rostering.
With Daniel Thomas out, Reggie Bush had a nice game. It was only his fourth 100-yard rushing game ever and his first since the 2008 season. He ran with decisiveness which was good to see, but he had a couple games like that early in the season and then was unable to keep it up. He fooled me once and he'll have to try harder to fool me again, especially with Daniel Thomas most likely back soon.
Minnesota Vikings
Percy Harvin: 8-5-7-2-9-3-5 (43), Visanthe Shiancoe: 7-2-8-6-7-8-4 (43), Michael Jenkins: 3-10-1-6-6-8-2 (39), Bernard Berrian: 4-5-6-dnp-7-dnp-dnp (24), Devin Aromashodu: 2-2-2-5-2-5-6 (24), Adrian Peterson: 2-5-1-0-1-1-5 (18), Kyle Rudolph: 1 -3-4-0-3-1-5 (18)
Percy Harvin seems to leave every game with an injury, but he's still leading the team in targets and is pretty darn good at football. He’s the only Minnesota receiver I'd want on my fake team. Christian Ponder is also targeting his tight ends quite a bit, but Shiancoe and Rudolph are going to hurt each other's value going forward.
Adrian Peterson is better than anyone at football.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 11-20-14-8-10-BYE-8 (83), Rob Gronkowski: 6-9-5-4-7-BYE-9 (47), Deion Branch: 10-3-4-8-5-BYE-7 (46), Aaron Hernandez: 8-dnp-dnp-9-14-BYE-4 (45), Chad Ochocinco: 2-4-2-3-1-BYE-1 (16), Danny Woodhead: 2-5-0-dnp-3-BYE-0 (11)
There are only 4 players getting targets for the Patriots. Compared to the Packers these numbers seem odd for such a high powered passing attack. This does make it easier to start all of these guys week in and week out though.
Kevin Faulk saw the bulk of the work with the Patriots playing from behind. Stevan Ridley has quickly lost his snaps and that is sad. Green-Ellis will be the guy when the Patriots are ahead, but this committee is scary.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 7-8-14-12-11-7-8 (74), Darren Sproles: 10-9-7-7-11-6-7 (66), Marques Colston: dnp-dnp-3-6-11-7-6 (42), Lance Moore: 4-9-6-6-3-4-9 (41), Robert Meachem: 4-8-6-5-2-2-3 (38), Pierre Thomas: 4-1-4-3-1-6-4 (28), Devery Henderson: 3-4-1-1-2 -2-4 (26)
Lance Moore led the way in targets against the Rams which might just be an anomaly, but I like Moore so much that I want to square peg it into a round target hole. But I'll hold off for now especially since he was fourth in total number of plays for Saints wide receivers. Graham, Sproles and Colston remain your target leaders and the guys you start every week.
With Ingram out we saw Chris Ivory take his place and the snap count numbers went to Sproles with 43 snaps, then Pierre Thomas with 26 and Ivory with 6. Sproles is still the guy to own with Ingram the guy to hold onto and hope.
The numbers by each name are targets for weeks' 2-8 followed by the total year to date targets in parenthesis.
All snap count data comes from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald: 9-8-11-8-BYE-10-5 (58), Early Doucet: 6-6-6-16-BYE-5-6 (48), Andre Roberts: 7-6-0-6-BYE-5-3 (31), Todd Heap: 1-10-6-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (20), Rob Housler: 0-0-1-8-BYE-6-2 (17),Jeff King: 2-0-1-6-BYE-1-3 (16)
Kevin Kolb continues his inconsistent play which is really hurting Larry Fitzgerald and making it impossible to rely on any of the secondary receivers. Early Doucet had his second touchdown in as many games, but also totaled 50 yards in those two combined. No touchdown equals a very poor fantasy day for Doucet.
Beanie Wells had 22 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown against a stout Ravens defense when early in the week it didn't even look like he'd play. He says he knee is going to continue to hurt all season which is bad news, but also showed he is willing to play hurt and this week showed that he can.
Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White: 4-17-11-9-5-10-BYE (69), Tony Gonzalez: 9-8-9-8-3-8-BYE (52) Julio Jones: 7-7-17-4-dnp-dnp-BYE (41), Harry Douglas: 2-7-0-5-4-7-BYE (29), Jason Snelling: 3-2-dnp-2-1-1-BYE (16), Jacquizz Rodgers: 0-3-1-1-1-4-BYE (15), Michael Turner: 1-0-2-0-3-1-BYE (11)
Roddy White is still the guy, but he's not as explosive as he's been in the past and the Falcons have missed Julio Jones quite a bit. Harry Douglas has some ability and had a decent game in Week 8, but Jones is a special player and fits well in this offense.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 7-14-2-BYES-9-12-12 (63), Ed Dickson: 6-9-12-BYES-3-5-9 (49), Ray Rice: 8-7-5-BYES-7-8-9 (49), Torrey Smith: 0 -8-6-BYES-5-5-9 (34), Dennis Pitta: 3-1-1-BYES-5-3-8 (23), Vonta Leach: 1-4-3-BYES-2-1-1 (15)
Ray Rice benefited from Anquan Boldin's big game and pass interference calls which set him up at the goal line. He has now surpassed his touchdown total from last season in his 7th game of this season. Remember the days when we worried about Willis McGahee?
The Ravens got down quick in this one and had to throw the ball a ton, which helped Boldin put up a big yardage game and give Dickson, Smith and Pitta a whole bunch of targets. Dickson and Pitta continue to cancel each other out and Smith is boom or bust since most of his targets are deep passes and the Ravens aren't usually pass happy.
Buffalo Bills
Stevie Johnson: 14-10-6-5-10-BYE-9 (60), David Nelson: 13-8-3-2-6-BYE-5 (43), Fred Jackson: 2-6-8-6-6-BYE-4 (33), Scott Chandler: 4-3-2-1-1-BYE-2 (18), C.J. Spiller: 1-1-1-2-5-BYE-3 (14), Naaman Roosevelt: dnp-1-1-7-2-BYE-1 (12)
The target numbers are starting to filter down to just Stevie Johnson and David Nelson, but the production of both has fallen off of late. As it gets colder it is hard to see those numbers taking a sharp trend upward. They are the two to own of course, but don't bet the farm on them.
Scott Chandler is up to his old tricks. The dude scores a touchdown on 40 percent of his receptions. If only he had 30 receptions instead of 15! It’s amazing that he has six touchdowns and is pretty much unownable in most leagues.
Carolina Panthers
Steve Smith: 13-7-10-7-7-9-9 (73), Greg Olsen: 4-10-7-5-10-3-7 (52), Legedu Naanee: 7-2-11-7-2-3-7 (44), Jeremy Shockey: 5-7- 5-7-7-4-3 (41), Jonathan Stewart: 8-3-4-1-3-0-3 (25), Brandon LaFell: 5-0-6-2-1-3-2 (24), DeAngelo Williams: 4-3-1-0-3-0-2 (15)
Steve Smith should win the comeback player award once again, and coming back from the likes of Jimmy Clausen is adversity at its finest. After Smith the numbers continue to be scattered with only Greg Olsen having any kind of consistent play, at least in relation to his teammates. I was worried about Olsen's turf toe, but he looked good on a seam route to score his touchdown and on the whole he is seeing a lot more targets than Shockey. But he's still more of a matchup play.
Brandon LaFell saw 42 snaps to Legedu Naanee's 61, but also only had 2 targets to Naanee's 7. I have to believe LaFell will continue to see more work going forward.
Chicago Bears
Matt Forte: 14-8-5-7-7-4-BYE (51), Devin Hester: 9-5-2-7-7-9-BYE (44), Johnny Knox: 6-9-4-2-4-6-BYE (35), Dane Sanzenbacher: 7-7-2-10-3-3-BYE (33), Roy Williams: dnp-4-1-1-4-5-BYE (19) Kellen Davis: 1-2-1-3-3-2-BYE (17), Sam Hurd: 3-1-2-5-0-0-BYE (11)
There isn't much to say about Matt Forte besides heaping praise so I'll move onto the wide receivers. Whoops, the heaps of praise just slid down into the gutter. Amazingly Roy Williams showed up in Week 7. He caught 4 of 5 targets for 59 yards and a touchdown. With 9 targets Devin Hester had a stat line like Devin Hester, 4 receptions for 46 yards. Johnny Knox had his best game in a month with 3 receptions for 53 yards. Yes, this receiving corps is pretty sad, but I'm going to go out on a very slim limb in a wind storm and say that Roy Williams leads this team in receiving from here on out. That might not mean too much in fantasy, but in a land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 14-5-10-8-7-BYE-10 (58), Jerome Simpson: 9-4-3-7-9-BYE-2 (43), Jermaine Gresham: 5-8-7-7-6-BYE-dnp (41), Andre Caldwell: 4-12-5-4-4-BYE-6 (36), Brian Leonard: 2-1-2-3-2-BYE-3 (15)
Against the stout Seattle rush defense the Bengals took to the air and were successful for the most part. Unfortunately going forward their competition gets a little stouter, but Andy Dalton to AJ Green has turned into a great combo already. Jerome Simpson got a touchdown, but only 2 targets. He'll only be worthwhile as a desperation spot starter going forward.
Bernard Scott didn't have much room to run against the Seahawks tough rush defense, but did a good job grinding out yardage and looked quicker than day-suspended Cedric Benson. Scott should see more work going forward, but it's not a given that he will.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 5-5-8-BYE-12-7-11 (51), Ben Watson: 4-10-9-BYE-8-4-3 (45), Mohamed Massaquoi: 6-6-9-BYE-7-2-dnp (37), Josh Cribbs: 3-6-8-BYE-5-6-3 (34), Evan Moore: 1-3-2-BYE-3-4-2 (21), Peyton Hillis: 4-dnp-6-BYE-1-dnp-dnp (19), Montario Hardesty: 0-4-9-BYE-4-2-0 (19), Alex Smith: 5-4-2-BYE-3-2-1 (17), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-dnp-0-BYE-dnp-5-8 (13)
The Browns continue to bore the football and fake football world into a coma. Greg Little continues to get his targets, but until Colt McCoy can Popeye-up his arm so he can keep defenses honest, I don't see any Browns' receivers being consistent enough to start week in and week out.
Dallas Cowboys
Jason Witten: 14-9-10-BYE-4-6-12 (64), Miles Austin: 15-dnp-dnp-BYE-10-5-3 (42), Dez Bryant: dnp-4-5-BYE-8-8-5 (38), Laurent Robinson: dnp-5-10-BYE-2-3-8 (28), Felix Jones: 2-3-7-BYE-4-dnp-dnp (20), Kevin Ogletree: 4-7-2-BYE-2-0-0 (17), Martellus Bennett: 0-3-3-BYE-3-0-1 (10), Demarco Murray: 1-0-1-BYE-2-2-3 (10).
The Eagles put the beatdown on the Cowboys and took Miles Austin and Dez Bryant out of the game. Laurent Robinson benefitted with 8 targets and over 100 yards, his second 100-yard game on the season. Tony Romo didn't want to test the Eagles corners so Witten and Robinson got all the work. That won't be the case every week of course.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 9-12-10-5-BYE-3-12 (56), Eddie Royal: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-4-13 (26), Daniel Fells: 2-4-3-4-BYE-4-1 (24), Matt Willis: 4-3-1-3-BYE-2-3 (18), Willis McGahee: 2-5-2-1-BYE-0-dnp (17), Demaryius Thomas: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-10-3 (13), Lance Ball: 1-5-2-0-BYE-0-3 (12), Knowshon Moreno: dnp-0-1-3-BYE-2-2 (11)
Last week Tim Tebow targeted Demaryius Thomas 10 times and Eric Decker 3, this week he targeted Decker 12 times and Thomas 3. And of course we could be seeing Kyle Orton or Brady Quinn any day now so tying to get a handle on who will be targeted is tough. The good news is that Decker should continue to be a big part of this offense as he should be and that Eddie Royal is back in the fold enough to be on the radar again.
The running back situation remains ugly (no, they didn't trade for Marshawn Lynch). Lance Ball and Knowshon Moreno split the work for the most part and with Tebow unable to move the ball it was difficult for those two to do much of anything. Now Willis McGahee is trying to come back for this week. As long as Tebow is at the helm it will be difficult to start any Denver player.
Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson: 7-11-13-6-9-11-7 (74), Brandon Pettigrew: 3-13-9-5-14-6-4 (60), Nate Burleson: 9-2-4-4-10-3-7 (44), Jahvid Best: 8-7-8-4-8-dnp-dnp (40). Titus Young: 7-8-5-4-5-3-5 (38), Tony Scheffler: 3-1-1-1-dnp-3-3 (13), Maurice Morris: 0-2-0-1- 1-4-3 (13)
The Lions had their way with the Broncos and once again Calvin Johnson did his usual damage. Brandon Pettigrew was outproduced by Tony Scheffler which is a little worrisome, but Pettigrew was on the field 51 snaps to Scheffler's 18. This might be a good time to grab Pettigrew cheap. Titus Young had a wide open touchdown, but he and Nate Burleson will continue to hurt each other's overall numbers.
With Jahvid Best still out, Maurice Morris saw 42 snaps to Keiland Williams' 19. Morris is the back to own while Best is recovering.
Green Bay Packers
Greg Jennings: 8-10-7-5-10-10-BYE (58 )Jermichael Finley: 6-8-6-7-4-2-BYE (37). Jordy Nelson: 2-5-6-7-3-4-BYE (35) James Starks: 4-4-6-3-2-4-BYE (24), James Jones: 2-6-3-7-1-4-BYE (24), Donald Driver: 1-2-4-2-5-1-BYE (22), Randall Cobb: 2-1-3-2-0 -2-BYE (12)
Another day and another nearly flawless game from Aaron Rodgers in Week 7. Right now he could turn Benard Berrian into a top 10 receiver. Yes, he’s that good. Like Colt McCoy and Drew Brees he likes to throw to many different receivers (KUHHHHHHHNN!!!!) and the only extremely reliable one has been Greg Jennings. Jordy Nelson is the #2 non kicker/quarterback fantasy player on the Packers right now even though Finley has been target more. The battle for 2nd should be a close one. After that the two James’ are battling over 4th and 5th. Jones and Starks are picking up the scraps that they can and doing it admirably. Ryan Grant is pretty much droppable at this point. Starks out plays him at every turn.
Houston Texans
Owen Daniels: 5-9-7-11-3-5-6 (48), Jacoby Jones: 4-2-1-11-7-4-5 (37), Andre Johnson: 9-12-5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (37), Arian Foster: 2-dnp-5-7-11-5-4 (34), Kevin Walter: dnp-3-1-6-8-4-9 (33), Derrick Mason: 2-10-3-1-4-1-2 (29), Joel Dreessen: 2-1-1-9 -2-2-2 (20)
The Andre Johnson-less Texans have spread his targets out between Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones fairly evenly. Both will continue to have some value while Johnson is out, but will cut into each other's production.
Owen Daniels is the team's overall target leader and continues to put up respectable fantasy numbers, but unfortunately fellow tight end Joel Dreessen has scored 2 touchdowns the last two weeks, in essence stealing the fantasy food from my Owen Daniels' led fake teams!
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 8-13-8-7-6-4-14 (71), Pierre Garcon: 5-10-8-8-11-6-15 (69), Austin Collie: 10-7-7-2-6-5-7 (47), Dallas Clark: 8 -6-4-5-7-0-10 (45). Joseph Addai: 4-2-2-1-dnp-2-dnp (15)
When I look through the target leaders Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon are always near the top, but when I look at actual production they are a little further down. Usually opportunity breeds fantasy points, fame and fortune in this game, but instead it's breeding contempt and uproarious laughter.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Mike Thomas: 10-8-11-7-6-1-4 (58), Jason Hill: dnp-5-9-7-3-8-5 (42), Marcedes Lewis: dnp-2-7-4-8-3-9 (36), Mike Sims-Walker: 11-6-6-dnp-dnp-2-4 (33), Maurice Jones-Drew: 4-3-4-0-3-3-4 (21), Deji Karim: 1-2-1-4-1-0-1 (13), Jarett Dillard: 2-0-3-1-3- dnp-3 (12)
Don’t waste your time. Really. I'm not kidding.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 8-6-9-11-BYE-10-11 (63), Steve Breaston: 2-6-5-5-BYE-9-4 (33), Dexter McCluster: 5-6-4-2-BYE-2-3 (27), Leonard Pope: 3-3-1-3-BYE-1-1 (18), Jonathan Baldwin: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-8 (13), Keary Colbert: dnp-1-4-2-BYE-0-1 (11)
The biggest news out of this game was Jonathan Baldwin. He has a ton of talent and flashed some of it on Monday night. Of course he is a rookie on a team that favors the run and already has a No. 1 receiver and a seasoned No. 2 receiver to compete with. He had the second most targets beating out Steve Breaston and if that keeps up he should be able to continue putting up decent numbers, but it is still too early to tell.
Miami Dolphins
Brandon Marshall: 11-7-8-BYE-13-9-6 (67), Davone Bess: 5-9-5-BYE-3-12-5 (46), Brian Hartline: 7-4-5-BYE-6-2-2 (33), Reggie Bush: 1-1-2-BYE-2-2-5 (23), Anthony Fasano: 2-2-4-BYE-2-2-1 (19), Daniel Thomas: 1-3-dnp-BYE-1-5-dnp (10)
There weren't many yards or touchdowns to go around for the Dolphins last week, but Brandon Marshall did lead the team in targets once again. With Matt Moore behind center, Marshall is the only receiver even worth rostering.
With Daniel Thomas out, Reggie Bush had a nice game. It was only his fourth 100-yard rushing game ever and his first since the 2008 season. He ran with decisiveness which was good to see, but he had a couple games like that early in the season and then was unable to keep it up. He fooled me once and he'll have to try harder to fool me again, especially with Daniel Thomas most likely back soon.
Minnesota Vikings
Percy Harvin: 8-5-7-2-9-3-5 (43), Visanthe Shiancoe: 7-2-8-6-7-8-4 (43), Michael Jenkins: 3-10-1-6-6-8-2 (39), Bernard Berrian: 4-5-6-dnp-7-dnp-dnp (24), Devin Aromashodu: 2-2-2-5-2-5-6 (24), Adrian Peterson: 2-5-1-0-1-1-5 (18), Kyle Rudolph: 1 -3-4-0-3-1-5 (18)
Percy Harvin seems to leave every game with an injury, but he's still leading the team in targets and is pretty darn good at football. He’s the only Minnesota receiver I'd want on my fake team. Christian Ponder is also targeting his tight ends quite a bit, but Shiancoe and Rudolph are going to hurt each other's value going forward.
Adrian Peterson is better than anyone at football.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 11-20-14-8-10-BYE-8 (83), Rob Gronkowski: 6-9-5-4-7-BYE-9 (47), Deion Branch: 10-3-4-8-5-BYE-7 (46), Aaron Hernandez: 8-dnp-dnp-9-14-BYE-4 (45), Chad Ochocinco: 2-4-2-3-1-BYE-1 (16), Danny Woodhead: 2-5-0-dnp-3-BYE-0 (11)
There are only 4 players getting targets for the Patriots. Compared to the Packers these numbers seem odd for such a high powered passing attack. This does make it easier to start all of these guys week in and week out though.
Kevin Faulk saw the bulk of the work with the Patriots playing from behind. Stevan Ridley has quickly lost his snaps and that is sad. Green-Ellis will be the guy when the Patriots are ahead, but this committee is scary.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 7-8-14-12-11-7-8 (74), Darren Sproles: 10-9-7-7-11-6-7 (66), Marques Colston: dnp-dnp-3-6-11-7-6 (42), Lance Moore: 4-9-6-6-3-4-9 (41), Robert Meachem: 4-8-6-5-2-2-3 (38), Pierre Thomas: 4-1-4-3-1-6-4 (28), Devery Henderson: 3-4-1-1-2 -2-4 (26)
Lance Moore led the way in targets against the Rams which might just be an anomaly, but I like Moore so much that I want to square peg it into a round target hole. But I'll hold off for now especially since he was fourth in total number of plays for Saints wide receivers. Graham, Sproles and Colston remain your target leaders and the guys you start every week.
With Ingram out we saw Chris Ivory take his place and the snap count numbers went to Sproles with 43 snaps, then Pierre Thomas with 26 and Ivory with 6. Sproles is still the guy to own with Ingram the guy to hold onto and hope.
New York Giants
Hakeem Nicks: 7-5-14-7-7-BYE-10 (61), Mario Manningham: 7-dnp-5-9-8-BYE-9 (45), Victor Cruz: 2-5-9-11-4-BYE-9 (42), Ahmad Bradshaw: 5-5-5-5-2-BYE-5 (29), Jake Ballard: 1-1-3-4-5-BYE-7 (24)
The big three receivers are fighting each other for looks and touchdowns and there is no easy way to predict who will get theirs from week to week. And now TE Jake Ballard is slowly inching up the target list. All are viable fantasy players, but you won't be able to bank on big games from any one player.
Ahmad Bradshaw was on the field for 48 plays while Brandon Jacobs was out there for 16, just enough for him to get all sulky.
New York Jets
Dustin Keller: 6-9-8-2-5-8-BYE (46), Plaxico Burress: 2-6-8-8-4-8-BYE (45), Santonio Holmes: 4-2-11-6-4-3-BYE (40), LaDainian Tomlinson: 2-6-3-1-4-4-BYE (27), Jeremy Kerley: 0-0-1-3-4-7-BYE (15), Shonn Greene: 2-7-0-2-2-1-BYE (15)
Shonn Greene has had 20-plus touches three weeks in a row. He's a pretty mediocre talent, but it's hard to beat his opportunities coupled with a nice schedule on the horizon.
Oakland Raiders
Darrius Heyward-Bey: dnp-3-7-12-9-11-BYE (49), Denarius Moore: 8-6-5-6-4-5-BYE (35), Darren McFadden: 8-3-6-3-1-1-BYE (23), Jacoby Ford: dnp-dnp-2-7-4-5-BYE (22), Derek Hagan: 8-3-5-3-0-1-BYE (20), Brandon Myers: 3-1-0-1-1-1-BYE (12). Michael Bush: 0-2-4-0-1-3-BYE (11)
Darrius Heyward-Bey has clearly become the No. 1 receiver for Oakland and has topped 7 targets and 82 yards in his last 4 games. Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson and DHB were the only receivers to do that heading into Week 8. And getting to 89 yards receiving with Kyle Boller and a just-from-the-couch Carson Palmer at the helm is quite an accomplishment.
Darren McFadden had a bye week to rest his foot which looks like it should be enough time to do so, but Michael Bush was the clear No. 1 when he was gone getting 56 snaps to Taiwan Jones' 8.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jeremy Maclin: 15-7-11-8-7-BYE-3 (54). DeSean Jackson: 3-6-9-7-6-BYE-6 (49), Jason Avant: 4-5-8-10-4-BYE-5 (43), Brent Celek: 7-2-4-5-9-BYE-9 (39), LeSean McCoy: 4-3-9-7-4-BYE-3 (33)
The Cowboys took away the outside receivers and gave up chunks of yardage to Brent Celek and LeSean McCoy so the target numbers aren't exactly what you’ll see every week. But Celek has had back to back 9 target games and that's a trend worth trending.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 6-8-10-4-2-9-15 (63), Mike Wallace: 9-7-4-7-6-7-7 (58), Heath Miller: 3-6-3-4-6-4-9 (40), Hines Ward: 6-4-4-8- 4-4-dnp (39), Emmanuel Sanders: 3-5-2-3-4-7-8 (35), Rashard Mendenhall: 2-4-2-dnp-0-2-4 (15), Isaac Redman: 1-0-1-3-1-2-2 (10)
Antonio Brown leads the Steelers in targets so that's good for him and for you if you own him. With Hines Ward out, Emmanuel Sanders' targets have shot up, but Ward is most likely going to be back soon. For the Steelers sake, he should take a little more time off.
San Diego Chargers
Vincent Jackson: 15-8-4-6-BYE-8-8 (52), Ryan Mathews: 9-4-5-1-BYE-5-7 (36), Malcom Floyd: 2-5-3-7-BYE-4-7 (36), Mike Tolbert: 9-5-8-3-BYE-1-dnp (35), Antonio Gates: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-7-7 (28), Randy McMichael: 1-5-6-6-BYE-3-3 (27), Patrick Crayton: dnp-7-1-2-BYE-1-4 (15), Curtis Brinkley: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-0-3 (3)
Vincent Jackson is still the go to guy, but has had some tough matchups defensively and Philip Rivers has not been right. He should be able to put together some nice games in the weeks ahead.
As long as Antonio Gates is on the field he's going to do good things, but watching him hobble around is hard to do as a fantasy owner.
The running back situation is like a bad zombie movie with Tolbert, Mathews and now Brinkley all hurting to an extent. It is looking like Tolbert is the healthiest of the bunch right now.
Seattle Seahawks
Sidney Rice: dnp-10-6-5-BYE-5-14 (40), Doug Baldwin: 2-4-6-9-BYE-3-8 (38), Ben Obomanu: 6-2-4-10-BYE-2-4 (34), Zach Miller: 2 -3-6-0-BYE-dnp-5 (20), Mike Williams: 3-1-5-dnp-BYE-4-dnp (18), Golden Tate: 2-3-0-3-BYE-1-4 (18), Justin Forsett: 3-3-4-1- BYE-1-1 (18), Anthony McCoy: 3-0-0-6-BYE-4-1 (17), Marshawn Lynch: 2-3-4-6-BYE-dnp-0 (17), Leon Washington: 1-1-1-1-BYE-4-2 (12)
Tarvaris Jackson returned this week which helped Sidney Rice to a fat 14 targets and Doug Baldwin to 9. Jackson is a much more productive quarterback than Whitehurst so even on 4 targets Ben Obomanu was able to have a good game. They are going to be inconsistent, but TJax makes the receivers' prospects much better.
San Francisco 49ers
Michael Crabtree: dnp-6-9-5-15-BYE-9 (46), Vernon Davis: 2-9-6-3-2-BYE-3 (31), Josh Morgan: 5-4-3-6-dnp-BYE-dnp (20), Frank Gore: 3-2-2-2-5-BYE-0 (18), Delanie Walker: 4-2-3-3-3-BYE-0 (16). Ted Ginn: 7-0-1-0-5-BYE-1 (14), Braylon Edwards: 2-dnp-dnp- dnp-dnp-BYE-7 (14)
Michael Crabtree has risen from the ashes to become a solid player (at least for the last few weeks) and is starting to look like a solid fantasy player. But in this offense there isn't a ton of passing yards to go around. That makes the return of Braylon Edwards problematic. He and Vernon Davis will need to fight over the scraps and there won't be that many for a team averaging 1.29 receiving touchdowns and 179 yards passing which is second only to the unbelievably inept passing offense of the Jaguars.
St. Louis Rams
Brandon Lloyd: dnp-7-11-BYE-dnp-12-13 (58), Danario Alexander: 7-8-8-BYE-10-6-dnp (39), Brandon Gibson: 8-7-1-BYE-10-dnp-6 (37), Lance Kendricks: 4-3-9-BYE-6-1-3 (31), Greg Salas: 8-dnp-dnp-BYE-10-2-6 (29), Steven Jackson: dnp-1-8-BYE-5-5-5 (24)
A.J. Feeley is liking him some Brandon Lloyd with a quarter of 100 targets in just two weeks! I have a good feeling that Sam Bradford will also hop on that train so I'm hoping the numbers stay high. Greg Salas had 10 targets the last time Sam Bradford played and is now firmly implanted into the starting lineup. Bradford liked targeting the slot position and Salas is just waiting for him to come back.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Williams: 4-9-8-9-13-11-BYE (64), Kellen Winslow: 8-4-6-9-10-12-BYE (57), Preston Parker: 7-1-7-3-5-6-BYE (35), Earnest Graham: 5-8-6-0-2-1-BYE (31), Arrelious Benn: 2-4-1-4-6-1-BYE (25), Dezmon Briscoe: 4-0-0-2-2-10-BYE (20), Kregg Lumpkin: 0-1 -3-1-0-8-BYE (14)
Mike Williams was the 8th most targeted player in all of the NFL heading into Tampa's bye last week and leads his team in red zone targets. So why was he 52nd in fantasy points and tied for 2nd in fantasy points for Tampa Bay wide receivers? That is a good question sir or madam. All I can tell you is they haven't given up on him in the slightest. And he did have a decent game with 6 receptions for 75 yards in London in Week 7. The touchdowns will come.
Earnest Graham is done for the year and Kregg Lumpkin is clearly a 3rd down back at best. Thankfully LeGarrette Blount is most likely back this week.
Tennessee Titans
Nate Washington: 11-9-4-8-BYE-3-6 (48), Chris Johnson: 5-7-2-3-BYE-6-5 (35), Lavelle Hawkins: 4-5-4-8-BYE-7-5 (33), Damian Williams: dnp-3-4-11-BYE-4-5 (29), Jared Cook: 3-2-6-9-BYE-2-2 (26), Javon Ringer: 2-2-0-6-BYE-1-6 (17)
Nate Washington got into the end zone twice on Sunday, but only had 34 yards receiving. Lavelle Hawkins and Damian Williams are going to continue to eat into his targets and production. Jared Cook continues to not get the targets he needs to be fantasy relevant even though his receiving abilities should make him as relevant as they come.
Javon Ringer saw 35 snaps to Chris Johnson's 32 and they were also close on number of looks with 20 for Ringer and 19 for Johnson. Unless Johnson really takes a big step forward quickly these numbers are going to stay the same or tilt Ringer's way.
Washington Redskins
Fred Davis: 7-3-6-BYE-11-8-9 (50), Jabar Gaffney: 8-6-4-BYE-10-8-5 (48), Santana Moss: 9-8-10-BYE-6-2-dnp (43), Anthony Armstrong: 4-0-dnp-BYE-dnp-4-4 (18), Roy Helu: 4-2-0-BYE-4-2-4 (16), Tim Hightower: 2-6-3-BYE-dnp-1-dnp (15), Terrence Austin: dnp-4-0-BYE-1-6-3 (14), Donte Stallworth: 5-dnp-1-BYE-3-dnp-2 (11)
This passing game for fantasy is Fred Davis and then Fred Davis. Don't try to get cute. The running game is the opposite of cute of course with Ryan Torain doing next to nothing and the Redskins barely even making an attempt to run the ball all game. Roy Helu was on the field for 35 snaps to Torain's 22 mainly because they were passing so much. I know Shanahan is a punch line for fake footballers like ourselves, but we always try to squeeze as much production as we can out of his running backs. Right now there just isn’t any to squeeze. The addition of Tashard Choice doesn't help much even though he is currently injured. But until I see somebody have some real success and actually get a good amount of opportunities I'm taking a Shanahan break.