The numbers by each name are targets for weeks’ 5 through 11. And for this week I’ve changed things up and instead of the yearly totals I am lopping off weeks’ 1 through 4 and just giving the totals for the last 7 so we can get a little better picture as to what is happening nowish.
All snap count data comes from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald: 8-BYE-10-5-12-13-9 (57), Early Doucet: 16-BYE-5-6-6-4-10 (47), Andre Roberts: 6-BYE-5-3-7-7-9 (37), Jeff King: 6-BYE-1-3-2-5-0 (17), Rob Housler: 8-BYE-6-2-dnp-dnp-dnp (16), Chester Taylor: dnp-BYE-dnp-1-1-3-3 (8), LaRod Stephens-Howling: 0-BYE-3-1-1-2-0 (7), Demarco Sampson: 2-BYE-2-dnp-0-0-2 (6), Jim Dray: dnp-BYE-dnp-0-3-2-0 (5), Beanie Wells: 1-BYE-0-0-2-0-1 (4)
John Skelton had a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions against the 49ers last week and the quarterback situation in Arizona remains unbearable to watch, but they still play the games and somehow Larry Fitzgerald still gets into the end zone. In the last 7 games Fitz is the 6th most targeted player in this National Football League. As long as the scrubs at QB can keep that number up there he’ll still get you fantasy points.
Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White: 9-5-10-BYE-9-7-14 (54), Tony Gonzalez: 8-3-8-BYE-6-10-6 (41), Harry Douglas: 5-4-7-BYE-0-14-4 (34), Julio Jones: 4-dnp-dnp-BYE-4-5-dnp (13), Michael Turner: 0-3-1-BYE-2-2-2 (10), Eric Weems: 1-0-0-BYE-0-5-3 (9), Jacquizz Rodgers: 1-1-4-BYE-1-2-0 (9), Jason Snelling: 2-1-1-BYE-0-2-2 (8), Michael Palmer: 0-1-1-BYE-2-0-1 (5)
With Julio Jones still on the shelf, Roddy White had his biggest game of the season with 14 targets, 7 receptions and 147 yards. This is only his 2nd game over 100 yards receiving but it’s still a good sign that he continues to get his steady targets. You can’t count on him quite like you used to for big numbers, but he is still steady.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: BYE-9-12-12-10-9-2 (54), Ray Rice: BYE-7-8-9-7-10-10 (51), Torrey Smith: BYE-5-5-9-9-8-7 (43), Ed Dickson: BYE-3-5-9-5-14-3 (39), Dennis Pitta: BYE-5-3-8-8-7-0 (31), Ricky Williams: BYE-1-0-2-1-3-2 (9), Vonta Leach: BYE-2-1-1-1-1-2 (8), LaQuan Williams: BYE-1-2-1-3-1-0 (8)
Anquan Boldin was on the field for 52 plays and saw 2 targets. Thankfully for his fantasy owners he caught one of those for a 32 yard touchdown. Torrey Smith was the big story here catching 6 of his 7 targets for 165 yards and a touchdown.
The tight end race was put on hold this week with Ed Dickson getting 3 targets to Dennis Pitta’s 0. You just can’t count on Dickson.
Buffalo Bills
Stevie Johnson: 5-10-BYE-9-6-5-8 (43), Fred Jackson: 6-6-BYE-4-7-4-5 (32), David Nelson: 2-6-BYE-5-7-5-4 (29), Donald Jones: 2-dnp-BYE-dnp-4-10-1 (17), Scott Chandler: 1-1-BYE-2-3-3-6 (16), Naaman Roosevelt: 7-2-BYE-1-3-1-2 (16), C.J. Spiller: 2-5-BYE-3-0-0-4 (14), Brad Smith: 1-0-BYE-3-0-0-4 (8), Johnny White: 0-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-4 (4)
The Bills have hit a little speed bump, well, more like the Rocky Mountains. Stevie Johnson has had back to back clunkers and this one came on 8 targets. He has hit a touchdown slump and has yet to top 100 yards receiving. The cold weather and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s late season nose dive may not be helpful either.
Johnny White saw 4 targets which is somewhat interesting if Fred Jackson can’t go. C.J. Spiller is the backup no doubt but I could see White take more looks away from him than we would imagine.
Carolina Panthers
Steve Smith: 7-7-9-9-BYE-8-10 (50), Greg Olsen: 5-10-3-7-BYE-11-9 (45), Legedu Naanee: 7-2-3-7-BYE-9-5 (33), Jeremy Shockey: 7-7-4-3-BYE-1-dnp (22), Jonathan Stewart: 1-3-0-3-BYE-7-6 (20), Brandon LaFell: 2-1-3-2-BYE-2-5 (15), DeAngelo Williams: 0-3-0-2-BYE-1-1 (7)
This Lions/Panthers game was a shootout to say the least. Cam Newton remains Cam Newton. He ran in two touchdowns to bring his rookie record total up to 9. He needs 4 more to break Steve Grogan’s record of 12 in a season.
With Jeremy Shockey out Greg Olsen saw plenty of targets but only caught 3 for 23 yards. That made my fake team sad but is a good sign for Olsen if Shockey remains out.
DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are just not going to give us a single running back to count on week to week. Both had decent games in this high scoring affair but as usual no touchdowns. Stewart has 2 and Williams has 1 while Newton of course has 9. The Daily Show is still the best bet between the two with his 70 total yards and .2 touchdowns per game averages.
Chicago Bears
Matt Forte: 7-7-4-BYE-5-5-4 (32), Devin Hester: 7-7-9-BYE-5-0-0 (28), Roy Williams: 1-4-5-BYE-6-2-8 (26), Johnny Knox: 2-4-6-BYE-1-2-5 (20), Earl Bennett: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-6-9 (20), Dane Sanzenbacher: 10-3-3-BYE-2-0-1 (19), Kellen Davis: 3-3-2-BYE-3-2-1 (14), Matt Spaeth: 1-1-0-BYE-2-1-1 (6), Sam Hurd: 5-0-0-BYE-0-1-0 (6), Tyler Clutts: 1-1-2-BYE-1-0-1 (6), Marion Barber: 1-1-1-BYE-1-0-0 (4)
The loss of Jay Cutler might send these numbers off onto a different track but Matt Forte has been most of the offense and now will be even more so! He currently accounts for 42% of their 3,329 of their total yards. That number could top 50% in the next 6 games.
The numbers by each name are targets for weeks’ 5 through 11. And for this week I’ve changed things up and instead of the yearly totals I am lopping off weeks’ 1 through 4 and just giving the totals for the last 7 so we can get a little better picture as to what is happening nowish.
All snap count data comes from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald: 8-BYE-10-5-12-13-9 (57), Early Doucet: 16-BYE-5-6-6-4-10 (47), Andre Roberts: 6-BYE-5-3-7-7-9 (37), Jeff King: 6-BYE-1-3-2-5-0 (17), Rob Housler: 8-BYE-6-2-dnp-dnp-dnp (16), Chester Taylor: dnp-BYE-dnp-1-1-3-3 (8), LaRod Stephens-Howling: 0-BYE-3-1-1-2-0 (7), Demarco Sampson: 2-BYE-2-dnp-0-0-2 (6), Jim Dray: dnp-BYE-dnp-0-3-2-0 (5), Beanie Wells: 1-BYE-0-0-2-0-1 (4)
John Skelton had a meltdown of Chernobyl proportions against the 49ers last week and the quarterback situation in Arizona remains unbearable to watch, but they still play the games and somehow Larry Fitzgerald still gets into the end zone. In the last 7 games Fitz is the 6th most targeted player in this National Football League. As long as the scrubs at QB can keep that number up there he’ll still get you fantasy points.
Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White: 9-5-10-BYE-9-7-14 (54), Tony Gonzalez: 8-3-8-BYE-6-10-6 (41), Harry Douglas: 5-4-7-BYE-0-14-4 (34), Julio Jones: 4-dnp-dnp-BYE-4-5-dnp (13), Michael Turner: 0-3-1-BYE-2-2-2 (10), Eric Weems: 1-0-0-BYE-0-5-3 (9), Jacquizz Rodgers: 1-1-4-BYE-1-2-0 (9), Jason Snelling: 2-1-1-BYE-0-2-2 (8), Michael Palmer: 0-1-1-BYE-2-0-1 (5)
With Julio Jones still on the shelf, Roddy White had his biggest game of the season with 14 targets, 7 receptions and 147 yards. This is only his 2nd game over 100 yards receiving but it’s still a good sign that he continues to get his steady targets. You can’t count on him quite like you used to for big numbers, but he is still steady.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: BYE-9-12-12-10-9-2 (54), Ray Rice: BYE-7-8-9-7-10-10 (51), Torrey Smith: BYE-5-5-9-9-8-7 (43), Ed Dickson: BYE-3-5-9-5-14-3 (39), Dennis Pitta: BYE-5-3-8-8-7-0 (31), Ricky Williams: BYE-1-0-2-1-3-2 (9), Vonta Leach: BYE-2-1-1-1-1-2 (8), LaQuan Williams: BYE-1-2-1-3-1-0 (8)
Anquan Boldin was on the field for 52 plays and saw 2 targets. Thankfully for his fantasy owners he caught one of those for a 32 yard touchdown. Torrey Smith was the big story here catching 6 of his 7 targets for 165 yards and a touchdown.
The tight end race was put on hold this week with Ed Dickson getting 3 targets to Dennis Pitta’s 0. You just can’t count on Dickson.
Buffalo Bills
Stevie Johnson: 5-10-BYE-9-6-5-8 (43), Fred Jackson: 6-6-BYE-4-7-4-5 (32), David Nelson: 2-6-BYE-5-7-5-4 (29), Donald Jones: 2-dnp-BYE-dnp-4-10-1 (17), Scott Chandler: 1-1-BYE-2-3-3-6 (16), Naaman Roosevelt: 7-2-BYE-1-3-1-2 (16), C.J. Spiller: 2-5-BYE-3-0-0-4 (14), Brad Smith: 1-0-BYE-3-0-0-4 (8), Johnny White: 0-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-4 (4)
The Bills have hit a little speed bump, well, more like the Rocky Mountains. Stevie Johnson has had back to back clunkers and this one came on 8 targets. He has hit a touchdown slump and has yet to top 100 yards receiving. The cold weather and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s late season nose dive may not be helpful either.
Johnny White saw 4 targets which is somewhat interesting if Fred Jackson can’t go. C.J. Spiller is the backup no doubt but I could see White take more looks away from him than we would imagine.
Carolina Panthers
Steve Smith: 7-7-9-9-BYE-8-10 (50), Greg Olsen: 5-10-3-7-BYE-11-9 (45), Legedu Naanee: 7-2-3-7-BYE-9-5 (33), Jeremy Shockey: 7-7-4-3-BYE-1-dnp (22), Jonathan Stewart: 1-3-0-3-BYE-7-6 (20), Brandon LaFell: 2-1-3-2-BYE-2-5 (15), DeAngelo Williams: 0-3-0-2-BYE-1-1 (7)
This Lions/Panthers game was a shootout to say the least. Cam Newton remains Cam Newton. He ran in two touchdowns to bring his rookie record total up to 9. He needs 4 more to break Steve Grogan’s record of 12 in a season.
With Jeremy Shockey out Greg Olsen saw plenty of targets but only caught 3 for 23 yards. That made my fake team sad but is a good sign for Olsen if Shockey remains out.
DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are just not going to give us a single running back to count on week to week. Both had decent games in this high scoring affair but as usual no touchdowns. Stewart has 2 and Williams has 1 while Newton of course has 9. The Daily Show is still the best bet between the two with his 70 total yards and .2 touchdowns per game averages.
Chicago Bears
Matt Forte: 7-7-4-BYE-5-5-4 (32), Devin Hester: 7-7-9-BYE-5-0-0 (28), Roy Williams: 1-4-5-BYE-6-2-8 (26), Johnny Knox: 2-4-6-BYE-1-2-5 (20), Earl Bennett: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-6-9 (20), Dane Sanzenbacher: 10-3-3-BYE-2-0-1 (19), Kellen Davis: 3-3-2-BYE-3-2-1 (14), Matt Spaeth: 1-1-0-BYE-2-1-1 (6), Sam Hurd: 5-0-0-BYE-0-1-0 (6), Tyler Clutts: 1-1-2-BYE-1-0-1 (6), Marion Barber: 1-1-1-BYE-1-0-0 (4)
The loss of Jay Cutler might send these numbers off onto a different track but Matt Forte has been most of the offense and now will be even more so! He currently accounts for 42% of their 3,329 of their total yards. That number could top 50% in the next 6 games.
Cincinnati Bengals
Jerome Simpson: 7-9-BYE-2-10-4-13 (45), Andre Caldwell: 4-4-BYE-6-9-8-9 (40), A.J. Green: 8-7-BYE-10-7-2-dnp (34), Jermaine Gresham: 7-6-BYE-dnp-dnp-5-6 (24), Andrew Hawkins: 2-1-BYE-0-0-6-8 (17), Brian Leonard: 3-2-BYE-3-2-0-5 (15), Donald Lee: 0-1-BYE-3-4-dnp-dnp (8), Bernard Scott: 2-1-BYE-3-1-0-1 (8)
With A.J. Green out this was the Andy Dalton and Jerome Simpson show. His 8 receptions for 152 yards were both season highs and his 3rd 100-plus yard game. He’s been inconsistent but what receiver isn’t? Green is still the stud, but Simpson is averaging more targets.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: BYE-12-7-11-8-6-8 (52), Josh Cribbs: BYE-5-6-3-5-5-3 (27), Ben Watson: BYE-8-4-3-2-5-4 (26), Chris Ogbonnaya: BYE-dnp-5-8-1-2-3 (19), Mohamed Massaquoi: BYE-7-2-dnp-1-dnp-2 (12), Jordan Norwood: BYE-0-0-6-1-3-2 (12), Evan Moore: BYE-3-4-2-2-0-0 (11), Alex Smith: BYE-3-2-1-0-2-0 (8)
What can you say about the Browns? I wish I knew.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant: BYE-8-8-5-9-6-8 (44), Jason Witten: BYE-4-6-12-7-7-3 (39), Laurent Robinson: BYE-2-3-8-5-3-11 (32), Demarco Murray: BYE-2-2-3-6-7-7 (27), Miles Austin: BYE-10-5-3-3-dnp-dnp (21), Martellus Bennett: BYE-3-0-1-0-1-3 (8), Kevin Ogletree: BYE-2-0-0-0-1-2 (5), Felix Jones: BYE-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (5)
Demarco Murray had 32 looks to Felix Jones’ 6 and Murray was on the field for 54 to Jones’ 21 snaps. This should continue even though Murray had his worst game as a starter.
Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Laurent Robinson are averaging 7 targets per game in the last four games. That makes them all about equally useful as far as opportunities go.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 5-BYE-3-12-5-3-5 (33), Eddie Royal: dnp-BYE-4-13-5-2-4 (28), Demaryius Thomas: dnp-BYE-10-3-2-0-6 (21), Daniel Fells: 4-BYE-4-1-1-0-1 (11), Knowshon Moreno: 3-BYE-2-2-4-0-dnp (11), Matt Willis: 3-BYE-2-3-0-1-0 (9), Dante Rosario: 2-BYE-1-1-1-1-1 (7), Lance Ball: 0-BYE-0-3-0-1-3 (7)
Eric Decker led the Broncos’ receivers with 5 targets but had zero receptions. Tim Tebow’s 44.8 completion percentage isn’t going to get any of these receivers in the Hall of Fame.
Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson: 6-9-11-7-BYE-20-8 (61), Brandon Pettigrew: 5-14-6-4-BYE-9-5 (43), Nate Burleson: 4-10-3-7-BYE-9-7 (40), Titus Young: 4-5-3-5-BYE-10-3 (30), Tony Scheffler: 1-dnp-3-3-BYE-7-3 (17), Maurice Morris: 1-1-4-3-BYE-2-1 (12), Will Heller: 1-1-2-0-BYE-3-3 (10), Kevin Smith: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-4 (6)
Say hello to Kevin Smith. His 200-plus total yards and 3 touchdowns push him into the running for waiver wire player of the year but of course Cam Newton and DeMarco Murray are doing their best to blow away the competition.
Matthew Stafford did his best Aaron Rodgers impersonation by completing passes to 9 different receivers and throwing 5 touchdowns to 5 different Lions not named Calvin Johnson. He’s Calvin Johnson so chalk this one up to bad luck on your part.
Nate Burleson has re-emerged as a more consistent contributor and may be useful down the stretch in the dome but the way Stafford is spreading the ball around there will be games where he does give you less points than you would want.
Green Bay Packers
Greg Jennings: 5-10-10-BYE-8-5-6 (44), Jordy Nelson: 7-3-4-BYE-6-5-7 (32), Jermichael Finley: 7-4-2-BYE-7-4-3 (27), James Starks: 3-2-4-BYE-1-4-6 (20), Donald Driver: 2-5-1-BYE-2-4-5 (19), James Jones: 7-1-4-BYE-1-1-3 (17), Randall Cobb: 2-0-2-BYE-0-3-1 (8), John Kuhn: 1-0-1-BYE-1-2-1 (6), Ryan Grant: 1-2-0-BYE-0-1-0 (4)
It’s Jordy Nelson’s world and we are just along for the ride. He leads the league with a 75.5% catch rate. In his last 5 games he has caught 22 of 25 targets for 447 yards and 6 touchdowns. In that stretch he has 4 red zone targets and has caught each one for a touchdown. Just insane.
James Jones’ lack of targets have caught up with him unfortunately. Donald Driver has seen an increase in targets which is hurting Jones and Jermichael Finley a little.
Houston Texans
Arian Foster: 7-11-5-4-7-4-BYE (38), Jacoby Jones: 11-7-4-5-4-3-BYE (34), Owen Daniels: 11-3-5-6-4-3-BYE (32), Kevin Walter: 6-8-4-9-1-1-BYE (29), Joel Dreessen: 9-2-2-2-2-1-BYE (18), Derrick Mason: 1-4-1-2-0-2-BYE (10), Bryant Johnson: dnp-1-1-0-1-1-BYE (4)
Two huge passing plays to Arian Foster and Jacoby Jones made up close to 70% of all Matt Schaub’s passing yards against Tampa Bay in Week 10. After that it was back on the rushing treadmill for Foster, Ben Tate and even Derrick Ward. Now with Schaub most likely done for the season and Matt Leinart at the helm it’s hard to foresee much of an uptick in pass attempts.
Indianapolis Colts
Pierre Garcon: 8-11-6-15-6-6-BYE (52), Reggie Wayne: 7-6-4-14-6-6-BYE (43), Austin Collie: 2-6-5-7-5-5-BYE (30), Dallas Clark: 5-7-0-10-5-dnp-BYE (27), Jacob Tamme: 0-1-0-0-7-8-BYE (16), Donald Brown: 0-2-0-1-3-4-BYE (10), Delone Carter: 3-1-0-2-0-0-BYE (6)
Jacob Tamme was the lone bright spot for the Colts in Week 10. Well, “bright spot” may be a bit of an exaggeration, maybe “less soul suckingly dark”? He led the Colts in targets, receptions and yards and in 2 tight end leagues is worth a look.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Marcedes Lewis: 4-8-3-9-BYE-3-11 (38), Jason Hill: 7-3-8-5-BYE-1-7 (31), Mike Thomas: 7-6-1-4-BYE-1-11 (30), Maurice Jones-Drew: 0-3-3-4-BYE-3-6 (19), Jarett Dillard: 1-3-dnp-3-BYE-2-3 (12), Deji Karim: 4-1-0-1-BYE-3-0 (9), Chastin West: 1-0-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-3 (9)
Blaine Gabbert topped 200 yards passing for the first time since Week 5 but couldn’t throw for a touchdown. He hasn’t gotten into double digit fantasy points more than once all season. This does not bode well for anyone.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 11-BYE-10-11-10-7-9 (58), Steve Breaston: 5-BYE-9-4-11-6-8 (43), Jonathan Baldwin: dnp-BYE-5-8-5-5-6 (29), Dexter McCluster: 2-BYE-2-3-4-8-2 (21), Leonard Pope: 3-BYE-1-1-2-5-4 (16), Jake OConnell: 0-BYE-1-0-3-0-6 (10), LeRon McClain: 0-BYE-2-2-1-2-0 (7), Jackie Battle: 2-BYE-0-0-2-0-1 (5)
Tyler Palko showed why he should be trusted to hurt all the Chiefs possible fantasy players. Yes, Dwayne Bowe had 7 receptions for 87 yards and Steve Breaston had 6 receptions for 73 yards but neither could get into the end zone. He also threw for 3 interceptions and no touchdowns and the Patriots pass defense is decimated/not good, just like the prospects of any of the Chiefs’ receivers.
Miami Dolphins
Brandon Marshall: BYE-13-9-6-11-9-3 (51), Davone Bess: BYE-3-12-5-3-6-3 (32), Reggie Bush: BYE-2-2-5-3-5-5 (22), Brian Hartline: BYE-6-2-2-0-3-2 (15), Anthony Fasano: BYE-2-2-1-3-4-2 (14), Charles Clay: BYE-2-1-1-3-2-4 (13), Daniel Thomas: BYE-1-5-dnp-0-0-1 (7)
Matt Moore was extremely efficient in throwing for 3 touchdown passes while throwing for just 160 yards and not allowing one receiver to top 69 yards. That was Charles Clay by the way who I mentioned here a couple weeks ago. He grabbed a touchdown as well as having the most targets of his season. He’s still not a pickup in standard leagues but worth a grab in deeper leagues as a dual TE/RB threat!
Brandon Marshall bobbled a touchdown catch which would have made his 1 reception for 5 yard line look a lot better but alas. He should be ok in games Moore needs to throw more.
Minnesota Vikings
Percy Harvin: 2-9-3-5-BYE-8-8 (35), Michael Jenkins: 6-6-8-2-BYE-4-7 (33), Visanthe Shiancoe: 6-7-8-4-BYE-4-3 (32), Devin Aromashodu: 5-2-5-6-BYE-6-4 (28), Kyle Rudolph: 0-3-1-5-BYE-3-5 (17), Greg Camarillo: 0-3-3-0-BYE-3-2 (11), Adrian Peterson: 0-1-1-5-BYE-1-0 (8), Lorenzo Booker: 2-0-2-dnp-BYE-3-0 (7)
It only took 10 games for Percy Harvin to live up to my hype! I’m not sure if that’s good or bad on my prognostication abilities but I’ll run with it for now. Harvin is still not on the field as much as he should be but he now has 2 touchdowns! And those came in the last 3 games. He will continue to be the leading target and with Adrian Peterson injured (sad trombone) he’ll also see a few more rushing attempts.
New England Patriots
Rob Gronkowski: 4-7-BYE-9-15-11-7 (53), Wes Welker: 8-10-BYE-8-10-8-3 (47), Aaron Hernandez: 9-14-BYE-4-5-5-7 (44), Deion Branch: 8-5-BYE-7-5-9-3 (37), Danny Woodhead: dnp-3-BYE-0-6-3-4 (16), Chad Ochocinco: 3-1-BYE-1-5-2-0 (12), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 1-1-BYE-0-1-0-2 (5), Kevin Faulk: dnp-dnp-BYE-5-dnp-0-dnp (5)
Bobby Gronk is going all types of Todd Christenson on the NFL and had his 4th multi-touchdown game on the season and has 10 with 6 games to go in what could be the most touchdowns by a tight end ever if he can get 4 more. Yeah, he’s good.
Wes Welker in his first 4 games was averaging 14 targets a game, in his last 6 games he is averaging 7. Last week his 3 was the lowest on the season. Game planning, defenses and his nagging injuries all have a say in this but you know he’s not going to disappear anytime soon.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 12-11-7-8-8-12-BYE (58), Marques Colston: 6-11-7-6-5-9-BYE (44), Darren Sproles: 7-11-6-7-6-6-BYE (43), Lance Moore: 6-3-4-9-3-3-BYE (28), Pierre Thomas: 3-1-6-4-5-5-BYE (24), Robert Meachem: 5-2-2-3-1-2-BYE (15), Devery Henderson: 1-2-2-4-3-2-BYE (14), Jed Collins: 1-2-0-3-1-1-BYE (8), Mark Ingram: 2-1-1-dnp-dnp-1-BYE (5)
Jimbo Graham continued to keep his streak of 7-plus target games alive in Week 10. He and Gronkowski are lapping the tight end field.
Since returning from his injury Marques Colston has been a top 10 fantasy receiver and besides Graham doesn’t really have anyone taking looks away from him. His health will always be a concern, but his 7-plus targets a game will get you through the hard times.
New York Giants
Victor Cruz: 11-4-BYE-9-11-11-10 (56), Mario Manningham: 9-8-BYE-9-7-10-2 (45), Hakeem Nicks: 7-7-BYE-10-dnp-4-7 (35), Jake Ballard: 4-5-BYE-7-7-4-7 (34), D.J. Ware: 1-0-BYE-2-2-6-3 (14), Brandon Jacobs: dnp-dnp-BYE-2-5-2-4 (13), Ahmad Bradshaw: 5-2-BYE-5-dnp-dnp-dnp (12), Bear Pascoe: 1-2-BYE-1-1-3-0 (8), Ramses Barden: dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-5-0-1 (6)
Victor Cruz is your new target leader in New York and in the last 7 games ranks 8th overall for the whole league. Yeah, he’s not going away.
Mario Manningham’s 2 targets was disconcerting after a stretch of 7-plus target games but I think we have to go with his good history over his extremely recent poor history.
The running backs snap totals broke down as such; Brandon Jacobs 34, D.J. Ware 19 and Da’Rell Scott 6. Jacobs laid an egg last time out but is still the main guy with Ahmad Bradshaw out.
New York Jets
Plaxico Burress: 8-4-8-BYE-5-8-9 (42), Santonio Holmes: 6-4-3-BYE-6-8-9 (36), Dustin Keller: 2-5-8-BYE-7-4-8 (34), Jeremy Kerley: 3-4-7-BYE-5-8-dnp (27), LaDainian Tomlinson: 1-4-4-BYE-3-5-dnp (17), Shonn Greene: 2-2-1-BYE-0-4-1 (10), Joe McKnight: 0-2-0-BYE-1-0-7 (10), Patrick Turner: 0-0-0-BYE-0-1-4 (5)
Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes have identical target numbers in the last two games but Burress leads all receivers in red zone targets in the last 6 and that is of course what keeps him a fantasy start.
When Shonn Greene went down Joe McKnight was his clear backup with 46 snaps while Bilal Powell was the clear backup to him with 21 snaps. McKnight showed the most out of the two with his ability in the passing game.
Oakland Raiders
Darrius Heyward-Bey: 12-9-11-BYE-1-0-5 (38), Denarius Moore: 6-4-5-BYE-12-7-2 (36), Jacoby Ford: 7-4-5-BYE-6-1-dnp (23), Michael Bush: 0-1-3-BYE-3-4-2 (13), Brandon Myers: 1-1-1-BYE-1-3-3 (10), Kevin Boss: 0-0-1-BYE-0-2-6 (9), Marcel Reece: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-5-1-3 (9), Louis Murphy: dnp-1-4-BYE-1-1-0 (7), Chaz Schilens: 3-0-dnp-BYE-2-0-2 (7)
Michael Bush was the Raiders whole offense as he touched the ball on almost half of their plays. And of course Denarius Moore took a back seat to Kevin Boss and Darrius Heyward-Bey like we all expected! The Oakland receivers have the stench of a Shanahan back.
Philadelphia Eagles
Brent Celek: 5-9-BYE-9-9-7-6 (45), DeSean Jackson: 7-6-BYE-6-8-dnp-8 (35), Jeremy Maclin: 8-7-BYE-3-9-5-dnp (32), LeSean McCoy: 7-4-BYE-3-5-5-4 (28), Jason Avant: 10-4-BYE-5-3-1-2 (25), Riley Cooper: 0-0-BYE-0-1-2-12 (15), Steve Smith: 0-1-BYE-dnp-dnp-10-1 (12)
Did you ever expect to see Brent Celek on the top of any target lists this season? I didn’t but here he is. But Riley Cooper was this week’s big winner with Jeremy Maclin hurt and Vince Young at the helm. This team is in such flux that predicting targets is a fool’s errand. And my momma didn’t raise no fool!
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 4-2-9-15-10-6-BYE (46), Mike Wallace: 7-6-7-7-6-10-BYE (43), Heath Miller: 4-6-4-9-5-5-BYE (33), Emmanuel Sanders: 3-4-7-8-dnp-dnp-BYE (22), Hines Ward: 8-4-4-dnp-1-1-BYE (18), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-0-1-1-6-4-BYE (13), Rashard Mendenhall: dnp-0-2-4-2-3-BYE (11), Isaac Redman: 3-1-2-2-1-1-BYE (10), David Johnson: 2-0-0-1-2-1-BYE (6), Weslye Saunders: 1-0-1-1-0-2-BYE (5)
Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace continue to be the main guys in Pittsburgh, but it looks like Hines Ward has been passed on the depth chart by Jerricho Cotchery. This isn’t earth shattering fantasy news but Cotchery will have touchdown potential as an injury fill-in.
San Diego Chargers
Vincent Jackson: 6-BYE-8-8-12-7-8 (49), Antonio Gates: dnp-BYE-7-7-11-6-4 (35), Mike Tolbert: 3-BYE-1-dnp-9-9-7 (29), Vincent Brown: 0-BYE-1-dnp-6-9-4 (20), Ryan Mathews: 1-BYE-5-7-dnp-5-2 (20), Malcom Floyd: 7-BYE-4-7-dnp-dnp-dnp (18), Randy McMichael: 6-BYE-3-3-1-1-3 (17), Patrick Crayton: 2-BYE-1-4-3-5-0 (15), Jacob Hester: 2-BYE-1-0-2-1-2 (8)
Vincent Jackson gets his yards in bunches to be sure but he’s not disappearing due to lack of targets so you have to start him and just let the chips fall where they may.
Vincent Brown had a poor game after his breakout game which is the wont of rookies. But he was on the field for 43 snaps which was second to only Jackson as far as the receivers go. As long as Malcom Floyd is out Brown is the No. 2.
Seattle Seahawks
Sidney Rice: 5-BYE-5-14-8-4-3 (39), Doug Baldwin: 9-BYE-3-8-6-3-5 (34), Ben Obomanu: 10-BYE-2-4-2-2-4 (24), Marshawn Lynch: 6-BYE-dnp-0-2-7-2 (17), Anthony McCoy: 6-BYE-4-1-2-2-0 (15), Golden Tate: 3-BYE-1-4-1-3-3 (15), Mike Williams: dnp-BYE-4-dnp-3-1-5 (13), Zach Miller: 0-BYE-dnp-5-0-4-1 (10)
The Seattle passing game remains inconsistent with Sidney Rice’s skills keeping him on the cusp of startability.
Marshawn Lynch has a touchdown in each of his last 6 games and has turned into a must start; the only must start on the Seahawks by a big margin.
San Francisco 49ers
Michael Crabtree: 5-15-BYE-9-5-4-10 (48), Vernon Davis: 3-2-BYE-3-7-4-10 (29), Braylon Edwards: dnp-dnp-BYE-7-3-6-4 (20), Delanie Walker: 3-3-BYE-0-2-7-5 (20), Frank Gore: 2-5-BYE-0-3-1-2 (13), Ted Ginn: 0-5-BYE-1-1-4-0 (11), Kyle Williams: 1-1-BYE-0-2-1-5 (10)
Alex Smith’s 38 pass attempts was his high for the season so we can’t count on 10 targets for Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis, at least in the same game, very often. But it was a good sign to see the 49ers two best receivers get the targets they deserved. Hopefully the trend will continue.
St. Louis Rams
Brandon Lloyd: BYE-dnp-12-13-13-9-14 (65), Brandon Gibson: BYE-10-dnp-6-5-3-7 (31), Steven Jackson: BYE-5-5-5-2-3-5 (25), Austin Pettis: BYE-0-0-1-5-4-5 (15), Lance Kendricks: BYE-6-1-3-1-dnp-2 (13), Billy Bajema: BYE-0-2-2-1-2-1 (8), Michael Hoomanawanui: BYE-0-3-1-0-3-dnp (7), Mark Clayton: BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-4 (5)
Brandon Lloyd leads all receivers in targets in the last 7 weeks and that’s with him missing a game. This is good news for fake football types who own him.
The receiver snap count after Lloyd was Austin Pettis 51, Brandon Gibson 48, and Mark Clayton with 27, which included 4 targets. It will be interesting to see if Clayton’s numbers increase going forward. I think they will.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Williams: 9-13-11-BYE-8-5-11 (57), Kellen Winslow: 9-10-12-BYE-6-6-11 (54), Arrelious Benn: 4-6-1-BYE-2-6-6 (25), Preston Parker: 3-5-6-BYE-4-4-2 (24), Kregg Lumpkin: 1-0-8-BYE-6-7-1 (23), Dezmon Briscoe: 2-2-10-BYE-2-2-3 (21), LeGarrette Blount: 3-dnp-dnp-BYE-3-2-1 (9)
Tampa Mike Williams finally had a good game! Of course this comes 10 weeks too late but that’s how the fake football falls. As long as he keeps getting so many targets you have to throw him out there and his warm weather winter home field makes things a little more appealing as well.
Kellen Winslow is having some trouble getting into the end zone but no trouble getting targets. He has one more than Bobby Gronk in the last 7 weeks. Like Williams, Winslow’s opportunities and weather make for an intriguing stretch run.
Tennessee Titans
Damian Williams: 11-BYE-4-5-7-7-11 (45), Nate Washington: 8-BYE-3-6-6-4-9 (36), Jared Cook: 9-BYE-2-2-8-3-9 (33), Lavelle Hawkins: 8-BYE-7-5-6-1-4 (31), Chris Johnson: 3-BYE-6-5-6-7-3 (30), Javon Ringer: 6-BYE-1-6-2-3-6 (24)
Damian Williams had 11 targets!! Woo hoo! Take that to the bank. And then fumble around for all those fake points that aren’t there because Williams only caught one of those targets for 5 yards while Nate Washington turned his 9 targets into 2 touchdowns. That is a nice return on your investment. Don’t give up on Williams just yet.
Chris Johnson turned back into a pumpkin but has a ridiculously easy schedule to finish the season. Take that for what it’s worth.
Washington Redskins
Fred Davis: BYE-11-8-9-7-7-6 (48), Jabar Gaffney: BYE-10-8-5-5-6-10 (44), Roy Helu: BYE-4-2-4-17-3-2 (32), Leonard Hankerson: BYE-dnp-1-4-5-9-dnp (19), Terrence Austin: BYE-1-6-3-5-1-0 (16), Donte Stallworth: BYE-3-dnp-2-dnp-dnp-6 (11), Anthony Armstrong: BYE-dnp-4-4-1-0-2 (11), David Anderson: BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3-3 (8), Ryan Torain: BYE-1-0-1-1-1-3 (7), Logan Paulsen: BYE-0-2-0-2-1-2 (7), Darrel Young: BYE-0-0-1-2-1-2 (6)
I’m not sure a team can get more fake football unfriendly. The snap count for the Native American’s running backs was Roy Helu 40, Ryan Torain 20 and Tashard Choice 10. You can’t choose Choice anymore and Torain has been about as bad as any running back ever in the history of running backs so Helu is the only guy to keep around but, well, you know.
Santana Moss may be back this week which will turn these numbers on their head once again. Rex Grossman is going to throw interceptions but at least he is aggressive which may be able to keep Fred Davis and Moss in the fake money.
Below you’ll find the receivers with the most red zone targets in the last 7 weeks for you perusal and amusement or perusement.
Plaxico Burress-11, Calvin Johnson-11, Aaron Hernandez-10, Jimmy Graham-10, Rob Gronkowski-9, Tony Gonzalez-9, Brandon Pettigrew-9, Roddy White-9, Michael Crabtree-9, Deion Branch-8, Mario Manningham-8, Marques Colston-8, Mike Williams-8, Dez Bryant-8, Wes Welke-8, Early Doucet -7, Jason Hill-7, Jason Witten-7, Jerome Simpson-7, Jake Ballard-7, Greg Olsen-7, Brandon Marshall-7, Dwayne Bowe-7, Anquan Boldin-7, Antonio Brown-7, Steve Johnson-7, Pierre Garcon-7, Larry Fitzgerald-6, Tony Scheffler-6, Damian Williams-6, Jermichael Finley-6, Heath Miller-6, Kellen Winslow-6, Greg Jennings-6, Sidney Rice-6, Andre Caldwell-6, Lavelle Hawkins-6, Fred Davis-6