Cincinnati Bengals
Jerome Simpson: BYE-2-10-4-13-5-3 (37), Andre Caldwell: BYE-6-9-8-9-3-0 (35), A.J. Green: BYE-10-7-2-dnp-4-11 (34), Jermaine Gresham: BYE-dnp-dnp-5-6-9-7 (27), Andrew Hawkins: BYE-0-0-6-8-3-2 (19), Brian Leonard: BYE-3-2-0-5-0-4 (14), Bernard Scott: BYE-3-1-0-1-2-1 (8), Donald Lee: BYE-3-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (7), Cedric Benson: BYE-dnp-0-1-1-5-0 (7), Colin Cochart: BYE-dnp-dnp-1-2-0-2 (5)
The Steelers put a pretty good beat down on the Bengals and still A.J. Green came through with a good game. We already knew this but he keeps solidifying his status as an every week start.
Jermaine Gresham had another touchdown called back but he’s still getting plenty of red zone looks. He’s no Robby Grahamkowski but he’ll do in a pinch.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 7-11-8-6-8-13-7 (60), Ben Watson: 4-3-2-5-4-4-8 (30), Chris Ogbonnaya: 5-8-1-2-3-2-6 (27), Josh Cribbs: 6-3-5-5-3-4-0 (26), Jordan Norwood: 0-6-1-3-2-5-5 (22), Mohamed Massaquoi: 2-dnp-1-dnp-2-3-5 (13), Evan Moore: 4-2-2-0-0-1-3 (12), Alex Smith: 2-1-0-2-0-0-0 (5)
I think Colt McCoy could throw the ball 30 times to Greg Little and he’d still have a disappointing fantasy day. With 7 targets he only had 3 receptions and 18 yards which was his lowest total since Week 1. Of course Baltimore’s defense had a lot to do with that but if you want a serviceable game out of Little you have to hope he gets a touchdown and he’s only done that once this season.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant: 8-5-9-6-8-6-15 (57), Laurent Robinson: 3-8-5-3-11-12-6 (48), Jason Witten: 6-12-7-7-3-5-6 (46), Demarco Murray: 2-3-6-7-7-4-0 (29), Miles Austin: 5-3-3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (11), John Phillips: 0-0-1-0-1-2-5 (9), Kevin Ogletree: 0-0-0-1-2-0-5 (8), Martellus Bennett: 0-1-0-1-3-2-0 (7), Jesse Holley: 0-0-0-1-1-0-2 (4), Felix Jones: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1-2 (4)
This was the Dez Bryant targetpalooza as he saw 15 and had a workman-like 8 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. That was without Miles Austin and with Laurent Robinson losing some time due to injury, but it’s good to see him be the go to guy and get a season high 8 receptions.
DeMarco Murray was on the field for 39 snaps to Felix Jones’ 28. Murray is still the early down back but Jones will see more receptions going forward.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 3-12-5-3-5-6-4 (38), Eddie Royal: 4-13-5-2-4-2-1 (31), Demaryius Thomas: 10-3-2-0-6-1-7 (29), Matt Willis: 2-3-0-1-0-3-1 (10), Lance Ball: 0-3-0-1-3-0-2 (9), Daniel Fells: 4-1-1-0-1-1-0 (8), Dante Rosario: 1-1-1-1-1-1-0 (6), Jeremiah Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-4-0 (5)
Demaryius Thomas had a huge game to go along with his team leading 7 targets. While Eric Decker had been Tim Tebow’s main target, Thomas was the guy against Minnesota’s porous pass defense. The Broncos will most likely play to their opponent’s weakness and it’s good to see Tebow able to take advantage of a bad pass defense.
Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson: 11-7-BYE-20-8-8-9 (63), Nate Burleson: 3-7-BYE-9-7-7-9 (42), Brandon Pettigrew: 6-4-BYE-9-5-8-4 (36), Maurice Morris: 4-3-BYE-2-1-10-7 (27), Titus Young: 3-5-BYE-10-3-3-2 (26), Tony Scheffler: 3-3-BYE-7-3-2-3 (21), Kevin Smith: dnp-dnp-BYE-2-4-3-8 (17), Will Heller: 2-0-BYE-3-3-0-1 (9), Keiland Williams: 0-1-BYE-0-0-4-1 (6), Rashied Davis: dnp-dnp-BYE-1-2-0-1 (4)
Nate Burleson once again saw a healthy number of targets and if it hadn’t been for three offensive pass interference calls may have topped 100 yards for the first time this season. But as it is he’s still accumulating plenty of targets and receptions for PPR leaguers.
Kevin Smith reinjured his ankle but was on pace for a big game. That’s two weeks in a row his owners have watched him start of strong only to finish the game hurt. Thankfully this time he put together a decent game before he had to leave. With 8 targets and 6 receptions in such a short time on the field he could be a bona fide PPR stud.
Green Bay Packers
Greg Jennings: 10-BYE-8-5-6-5-13 (47), Jermichael Finley: 2-BYE-7-4-3-5-11 (32), Jordy Nelson: 4-BYE-6-5-7-5-4 (31), Donald Driver: 1-BYE-2-4-5-2-4 (18), James Starks: 4-BYE-1-4-6-1-0 (16), James Jones: 4-BYE-1-1-3-4-0 (13), Randall Cobb: 2-BYE-0-3-1-4-2 (12), Brandon Saine: dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-6 (7), John Kuhn: 1-BYE-1-2-1-1-1 (7), Ryan Grant: 0-BYE-0-1-0-3-1 (5), Tom Crabtree: 0-BYE-0-0-2-0-2 (4), Andrew Quarless: 1-BYE-0-1-0-1-1 (4)
Aaron Rodgers had his worst quarterback rating of the season as he threw for 369 yards and 4 touchdowns . . . slacker.
Jermichael Finley had his biggest target day of the season and put up good numbers even though he couldn’t seem to hang onto the ball.
Donald Driver was the red zone king catching his third and fourth touchdowns of the season.
Brandon Saine stepped in for James Starks and outplayed Ryan Grant on the day. Aaron Rodgers says that Saine has the best hands on the team. I don’t know if that’s hyperbole but it sure isn’t Finley.
Houston Texans
Arian Foster: 5-4-7-4-BYE-9-4 (33), Owen Daniels: 5-6-4-3-BYE-7-5 (30), Kevin Walter: 4-9-1-1-BYE-2-4 (21), Jacoby Jones: 4-5-4-3-BYE-2-2 (20), Andre Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3-9 (12), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-2-1-BYE-1-1 (9), Derrick Mason: 1-2-0-2-BYE-1-dnp (6)
T.J. Yates was the epitome of a “game manager” as he hit Andre Johnson to keep the defense honest but mostly handed it off to Arian Foster and Ben Tate 42 times. With some easy rush defenses coming up I don’t see Yates being called on to do much, especially with Andre Johnson hurting again, but if he has to he has shown he can throw it deep.
Joel Dreesen caught his 5th touchdown in the last 8 games but aside from his one big game against Oakland where he had 5 receptions for 112 yards he hasn’t topped 31 yards.
The numbers by each name are targets for Weeks’ 7 through 13. And the target totals reflect the last 7 weeks as well. I hope you enjoy!
All snap count data comes from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald: 10-5-12-13-9-9-7 (65), Andre Roberts: 5-3-7-7-9-5-6 (42), Early Doucet: 5-6-6-4-10-1-6 (38), Jeff King: 1-3-2-5-0-3-0 (14), Rob Housler: 6-2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3 (11), LaRod Stephens-Howling: 3-1-1-2-0-1-2 (10), Chester Taylor: dnp-1-1-3-3-2-0 (10), Jim Dray: dnp-0-3-2-0-0-0 (5), Beanie Wells: 0-0-2-0-1-0-1 (4), DeMarco Sampson: 2-dnp-0-0-2-0-0 (4)
Kevin Kolb “led” the Cardinals to a win over the Cowboys but his only touchdown pass was to LaRod Stephens-Howling who did most of the work himself. Andre Roberts made the most out of his 6 targets by catching all 6 for 111 yards which is the polar opposite of Early Doucet who also had 6 targets catching 2 of them for a big fat zero yards. These two are incredibly tough to guess as to when they will have a good game. Doucet has been the only one to have value due to his 4 touchdowns but on the whole their quarterback situation is too shaky to consider either for starts.
After Larry Fitzgerald had his touchdown outburst he’s gone a couple games with 55 yards and no touchdowns. He’s still impossible to sit unless you are insanely stacked at receiver though.
Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White: 10-BYE-9-7-14-13-15 (68), Tony Gonzalez: 8-BYE-6-10-6-9-10 (49), Harry Douglas: 7-BYE-0-14-4-5-5 (35), Julio Jones: dnp-BYE-4-5-dnp-0-11 (20), Jacquizz Rodgers: 4-BYE-1-2-0-2-1 (10), Eric Weems: 0-BYE-0-5-3-0-0 (8), Michael Palmer: 1-BYE-2-0-1-3-1 (8), Michael Turner: 1-BYE-2-2-2-1-0 (8), Jason Snelling: 1-BYE-0-2-2-1-1 (7)
It was a missed target festival at Houston with Matt Ryan throwing 47 times and completing only 20 of those which makes these numbers for last week full of hot air. The Texans pass defense is the real deal.
The good news is Julio Jones is back and caught 4 of 11 targets while Harry Douglas once again took a back seat to the rookie. Roddy White’s day was saved by a wide open touchdown grab but he only caught 4 of 15 targets.
With Michael Turner hurting during the week, I got a lot of questions about who to start if he didn’t play and it was difficult to answer. In this game Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling both were on the field for 19 plays but that was in part due to Rodgers being used on passing downs. It would most likely be a time share where I’d lean towards Snelling in non-PPR and Rodgers in PPR. Of course I like Rodgers as the home run pick due to his superior big-play ability.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 12-12-10-9-2-9-4 (58), Ray Rice: 8-9-7-10-10-3-3 (50), Torrey Smith: 5-9-9-8-7-3-4 (45), Ed Dickson: 5-9-5-14-3-2-4 (42), Dennis Pitta: 3-8-8-7-0-2-2 (30), Ricky Williams: 0-2-1-3-2-2-0 (10), Vonta Leach: 1-1-1-1-2-1-3 (10), LaQuan Williams: 2-1-3-1-0-0-dnp (7), Lee Evans: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1-3 (5)
After the Seattle debacle where Ray Rice only ran the ball 5 times, Rice has rushed 20, 21, and 29 times in the three weeks following. He had topped 20 carries only twice in the previous nine games. This increase in attempts for Rice seems long overdue. Of course as Rice sees more looks from Flacco, Boldin and company are going to lose looks as was evident last week when Flacco only passed 23 times, completing a measly 10.
Buffalo Bills
Stevie Johnson: BYE-9-6-5-8-13-8 (49), David Nelson: BYE-5-7-5-4-8-8 (37), Scott Chandler: BYE-2-3-3-6-7-4 (25), Brad Smith: BYE-3-0-0-4-7-10 (24), C.J. Spiller: BYE-3-0-0-4-3-6 (16), Donald Jones: BYE-dnp-4-10-1-dnp-dnp (15), Naaman Roosevelt: BYE-1-3-1-2-dnp-2 (9), Johnny White: BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-4-0-0 (4)
Brad Smith was once again the clear No. 2 wide receiver and actually led in targets with 10 and led in receptions with 7. David Nelson and Stevie Johnson tied with 8 targets a piece. With 46 pass attempts there were plenty of targets to go around. Since Fred Jackson hurt himself the Bills have been passing much more which makes it easier to pick up Smith.
C.J. Spiller had a much better game this week than last with a nice line of 14 attempts for 83 yards and a touchdown. His 6 targets only went for 3 receptions and 19 yards but it was good to see that total inch forward. Of course he got fairly lucky to get that touchdown after fumbling the ball into the end zone and kinda, sorda recovering it in bounds.
Carolina Panthers
Steve Smith: 9-9-BYE-8-10-7-6 (49), Greg Olsen: 3-7-BYE-11-9-3-4 (37), Legedu Naanee: 3-7-BYE-9-5-4-3 (31), Brandon LaFell: 3-2-BYE-2-5-6-4 (22), Jonathan Stewart: 0-3-BYE-7-6-4-2 (22), Jeremy Shockey: 4-3-BYE-1-dnp-3-1 (12), DeAngelo Williams: 0-2-BYE-1-1-0-0 (4)
After starting the season with five 100-plus yard receiving games in the first eight, Steve Smith has cooled off in the last four averaging only 43.5 yards per game. His target numbers remain relatively high but have shown a slight decline in the last two games where the Panthers went to a run heavy attack against weak rush defenses.
Cam Newton is by far the biggest fantasy story in the Carolinas but Jonathan Stewart once again asserted his superior ability over DeAngelo Williams by getting 16 touches, 99 yards and a touchdown to Williams’ 11 touches for 29 yards. Even with Cam Newton getting most of the goal line looks it’s hard not to wonder what kind of year Stewart could have had if the Panthers hadn’t re-signed Williams.
Chicago Bears
Johnny Knox: 6-BYE-1-2-5-10-8 (32), Matt Forte: 4-BYE-5-5-4-10-0 (28), Earl Bennett: dnp-BYE-5-6-9-4-4 (28), Roy Williams: 5-BYE-6-2-8-5-1 (27), Devin Hester: 9-BYE-5-0-0-0-4 (18), Kellen Davis: 2-BYE-3-2-1-2-2 (12), Dane Sanzenbacher: 3-BYE-2-0-1-0-1 (7), Matt Spaeth: 0-BYE-2-1-1-1-0 (5), Tyler Clutts: 2-BYE-1-0-1-0-0 (4), Sam Hurd: 0-BYE-0-1-0-1-2 (4)
Not much can be said for the Bears whose quarterback completed 11 passes out of 24 for 133 yards and 3 interceptions while losing their best player in Matt Forte for 2-4 weeks with four games remaining, just after losing their starting quarterback. Oh and if the season ended right now they’d be in the playoffs. But it doesn’t.
I guess we I can point out that Caleb Hanie targeted Johnny Knox 8 times which once again was a team high and makes you at least maybe want to own Knox.
Cincinnati Bengals
Jerome Simpson: BYE-2-10-4-13-5-3 (37), Andre Caldwell: BYE-6-9-8-9-3-0 (35), A.J. Green: BYE-10-7-2-dnp-4-11 (34), Jermaine Gresham: BYE-dnp-dnp-5-6-9-7 (27), Andrew Hawkins: BYE-0-0-6-8-3-2 (19), Brian Leonard: BYE-3-2-0-5-0-4 (14), Bernard Scott: BYE-3-1-0-1-2-1 (8), Donald Lee: BYE-3-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (7), Cedric Benson: BYE-dnp-0-1-1-5-0 (7), Colin Cochart: BYE-dnp-dnp-1-2-0-2 (5)
The Steelers put a pretty good beat down on the Bengals and still A.J. Green came through with a good game. We already knew this but he keeps solidifying his status as an every week start.
Jermaine Gresham had another touchdown called back but he’s still getting plenty of red zone looks. He’s no Robby Grahamkowski but he’ll do in a pinch.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 7-11-8-6-8-13-7 (60), Ben Watson: 4-3-2-5-4-4-8 (30), Chris Ogbonnaya: 5-8-1-2-3-2-6 (27), Josh Cribbs: 6-3-5-5-3-4-0 (26), Jordan Norwood: 0-6-1-3-2-5-5 (22), Mohamed Massaquoi: 2-dnp-1-dnp-2-3-5 (13), Evan Moore: 4-2-2-0-0-1-3 (12), Alex Smith: 2-1-0-2-0-0-0 (5)
I think Colt McCoy could throw the ball 30 times to Greg Little and he’d still have a disappointing fantasy day. With 7 targets he only had 3 receptions and 18 yards which was his lowest total since Week 1. Of course Baltimore’s defense had a lot to do with that but if you want a serviceable game out of Little you have to hope he gets a touchdown and he’s only done that once this season.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant: 8-5-9-6-8-6-15 (57), Laurent Robinson: 3-8-5-3-11-12-6 (48), Jason Witten: 6-12-7-7-3-5-6 (46), Demarco Murray: 2-3-6-7-7-4-0 (29), Miles Austin: 5-3-3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (11), John Phillips: 0-0-1-0-1-2-5 (9), Kevin Ogletree: 0-0-0-1-2-0-5 (8), Martellus Bennett: 0-1-0-1-3-2-0 (7), Jesse Holley: 0-0-0-1-1-0-2 (4), Felix Jones: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1-2 (4)
This was the Dez Bryant targetpalooza as he saw 15 and had a workman-like 8 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. That was without Miles Austin and with Laurent Robinson losing some time due to injury, but it’s good to see him be the go to guy and get a season high 8 receptions.
DeMarco Murray was on the field for 39 snaps to Felix Jones’ 28. Murray is still the early down back but Jones will see more receptions going forward.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 3-12-5-3-5-6-4 (38), Eddie Royal: 4-13-5-2-4-2-1 (31), Demaryius Thomas: 10-3-2-0-6-1-7 (29), Matt Willis: 2-3-0-1-0-3-1 (10), Lance Ball: 0-3-0-1-3-0-2 (9), Daniel Fells: 4-1-1-0-1-1-0 (8), Dante Rosario: 1-1-1-1-1-1-0 (6), Jeremiah Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-4-0 (5)
Demaryius Thomas had a huge game to go along with his team leading 7 targets. While Eric Decker had been Tim Tebow’s main target, Thomas was the guy against Minnesota’s porous pass defense. The Broncos will most likely play to their opponent’s weakness and it’s good to see Tebow able to take advantage of a bad pass defense.
Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson: 11-7-BYE-20-8-8-9 (63), Nate Burleson: 3-7-BYE-9-7-7-9 (42), Brandon Pettigrew: 6-4-BYE-9-5-8-4 (36), Maurice Morris: 4-3-BYE-2-1-10-7 (27), Titus Young: 3-5-BYE-10-3-3-2 (26), Tony Scheffler: 3-3-BYE-7-3-2-3 (21), Kevin Smith: dnp-dnp-BYE-2-4-3-8 (17), Will Heller: 2-0-BYE-3-3-0-1 (9), Keiland Williams: 0-1-BYE-0-0-4-1 (6), Rashied Davis: dnp-dnp-BYE-1-2-0-1 (4)
Nate Burleson once again saw a healthy number of targets and if it hadn’t been for three offensive pass interference calls may have topped 100 yards for the first time this season. But as it is he’s still accumulating plenty of targets and receptions for PPR leaguers.
Kevin Smith reinjured his ankle but was on pace for a big game. That’s two weeks in a row his owners have watched him start of strong only to finish the game hurt. Thankfully this time he put together a decent game before he had to leave. With 8 targets and 6 receptions in such a short time on the field he could be a bona fide PPR stud.
Green Bay Packers
Greg Jennings: 10-BYE-8-5-6-5-13 (47), Jermichael Finley: 2-BYE-7-4-3-5-11 (32), Jordy Nelson: 4-BYE-6-5-7-5-4 (31), Donald Driver: 1-BYE-2-4-5-2-4 (18), James Starks: 4-BYE-1-4-6-1-0 (16), James Jones: 4-BYE-1-1-3-4-0 (13), Randall Cobb: 2-BYE-0-3-1-4-2 (12), Brandon Saine: dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-6 (7), John Kuhn: 1-BYE-1-2-1-1-1 (7), Ryan Grant: 0-BYE-0-1-0-3-1 (5), Tom Crabtree: 0-BYE-0-0-2-0-2 (4), Andrew Quarless: 1-BYE-0-1-0-1-1 (4)
Aaron Rodgers had his worst quarterback rating of the season as he threw for 369 yards and 4 touchdowns . . . slacker.
Jermichael Finley had his biggest target day of the season and put up good numbers even though he couldn’t seem to hang onto the ball.
Donald Driver was the red zone king catching his third and fourth touchdowns of the season.
Brandon Saine stepped in for James Starks and outplayed Ryan Grant on the day. Aaron Rodgers says that Saine has the best hands on the team. I don’t know if that’s hyperbole but it sure isn’t Finley.
Houston Texans
Arian Foster: 5-4-7-4-BYE-9-4 (33), Owen Daniels: 5-6-4-3-BYE-7-5 (30), Kevin Walter: 4-9-1-1-BYE-2-4 (21), Jacoby Jones: 4-5-4-3-BYE-2-2 (20), Andre Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3-9 (12), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-2-1-BYE-1-1 (9), Derrick Mason: 1-2-0-2-BYE-1-dnp (6)
T.J. Yates was the epitome of a “game manager” as he hit Andre Johnson to keep the defense honest but mostly handed it off to Arian Foster and Ben Tate 42 times. With some easy rush defenses coming up I don’t see Yates being called on to do much, especially with Andre Johnson hurting again, but if he has to he has shown he can throw it deep.
Joel Dreesen caught his 5th touchdown in the last 8 games but aside from his one big game against Oakland where he had 5 receptions for 112 yards he hasn’t topped 31 yards.
Indianapolis Colts
Pierre Garcon: 6-15-6-6-BYE-8-12 (53), Reggie Wayne: 4-14-6-6-BYE-7-6 (43), Austin Collie: 5-7-5-5-BYE-7-8 (37), Jacob Tamme: 0-0-7-8-BYE-3-6 (24), Dallas Clark: 0-10-5-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (15), Donald Brown: 0-1-3-4-BYE-1-1 (10), Jerome Felton: 1-2-dnp-0-BYE-dnp-1 (4), Joseph Addai: 2-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-1 (4)
When Dan Orlovsky came in to relieve Curtis Painter a couple weeks ago he targeted Pierre Garcon more than Reggie Wayne and that proved true again this week. There is no doubt that the Patriots pass defense and the fact that those stats are padded in garbage time make assessing the Colts’ offense under Orlovsky difficult at best but if we have to try predicting the future, I’d say Garcon will continue to lead in targets.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Marcedes Lewis: 3-9-BYE-3-11-12-4 (42), Maurice Jones-Drew: 3-4-BYE-3-6-6-8 (30), Mike Thomas: 1-4-BYE-1-11-5-6 (28), Jarett Dillard: dnp-3-BYE-2-3-5-7 (20), Chastin West: dnp-dnp-BYE-5-3-0-0 (8), Deji Karim: 0-1-BYE-3-0-3-dnp (7), Cecil Shorts: 2-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-3-1 (6), Zach Potter: 0-0-BYE-2-0-0-3 (5)
Maurice Jones-Drew is a one man team. Really.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 10-11-10-7-9-11-9 (67), Steve Breaston: 9-4-11-6-8-8-7 (53), Jonathan Baldwin: 5-8-5-5-6-2-4 (35), Dexter McCluster: 2-3-4-8-2-2-5 (26), Leonard Pope: 1-1-2-5-4-1-0 (14), LeRon McClain: 2-2-1-2-0-0-1 (8), Jackie Battle: 0-0-2-0-1-1-0 (4)
The Tyler Palko led Chiefs are fairly useless right now in fantasy. The running back situation is split between Thomas Jones and his 3 yards a carry, Jackie Battle and his similar lackluster play and Dexter McCluster who actually had a nice game against the Bears due to a fluky Hail Mary touchdown reception.
Miami Dolphins
Brandon Marshall: 9-6-11-9-3-10-6 (54), Davone Bess: 12-5-3-6-3-4-7 (40), Reggie Bush: 2-5-3-5-5-4-2 (26), Anthony Fasano: 2-1-3-4-2-2-6 (20), Brian Hartline: 2-2-0-3-2-5-2 (16), Charles Clay: 1-1-3-2-4-2-2 (15), Daniel Thomas: 5-dnp-0-0-1-1-0 (7)
Reggie Bush has 5 touchdowns in the last 5 games and continues to put up good numbers even though I told him he needed to stop doing things he hasn’t done before because it makes it hard to predict. Against Oakland he had 22 carries which easily eclipsed his high of 16 just the week before. His workload continues to increase and as long as Matt Moore keeps on holding down the fort he should finish the season strong.
Minnesota Vikings
Percy Harvin: 3-5-BYE-8-8-8-9 (41), Devin Aromashodu: 5-6-BYE-6-4-5-15 (41), Visanthe Shiancoe: 8-4-BYE-4-3-4-7 (30), Michael Jenkins: 8-2-BYE-4-7-4-dnp (25), Kyle Rudolph: 1-5-BYE-3-5-dnp-1 (15), Toby Gerhart: 0-0-BYE-0-1-3-8 (12), Greg Camarillo: 3-0-BYE-3-2-0-0 (8), Adrian Peterson: 1-5-BYE-1-0-dnp-dnp (7), Lorenzo Booker: 2-dnp-BYE-3-0-0-1 (6)
Percy Harvin was the man but also saw 6 less targets than Devin Aromashodu who I can feel pretty good in saying isn’t the man. But I suppose that is beside the point since Harvin finished the game with 175 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 8 target average along with a few rushing attempts make him extremely valuable.
Christian Ponder may be onto something with this throwing to Harvin thing. Adrian Peterson may be out again this week which helps Harvin and Ponder’s possible production.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: BYE-8-10-8-3-12-11 (52), Rob Gronkowski: BYE-9-15-11-7-4-6 (52), Deion Branch: BYE-7-5-9-3-10-6 (40), Aaron Hernandez: BYE-4-5-5-7-7-9 (37), Danny Woodhead: BYE-0-6-3-4-0-1 (14), Chad Ochocinco: BYE-1-5-2-0-dnp-2 (10), Kevin Faulk: BYE-5-dnp-0-dnp-0-1 (6), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: BYE-0-1-0-2-0-1 (4)
The news out of Foxboro is all Gronk all of the time. In the fantasy world he sits 5th in total fantasy points if you exclude quarterbacks, which I do. Compare that to Jason Witten who led all tight ends last season in fantasy points and finished 35th. It’s a new age, the Age of Gronk.
Welker still leads the world in targets and receptions. As it should be. Stevan Ridley got more work than he has in a while and Shane Vereen didn’t suit up. Ridley may be the Week 17 guy to own.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 7-8-8-12-BYE-8-9 (52), Marques Colston: 7-6-5-9-BYE-6-10 (43), Darren Sproles: 6-7-6-6-BYE-5-1 (31), Lance Moore: 4-9-3-3-BYE-7-3 (29), Pierre Thomas: 6-4-5-5-BYE-3-2 (25), Devery Henderson: 2-4-3-2-BYE-6-0 (17), Robert Meachem: 2-3-1-2-BYE-0-7 (15), Mark Ingram: 1-dnp-dnp-1-BYE-3-1 (6), Jed Collins: 0-3-1-1-BYE-0-0 (5)
Drew Brees is still on pace to beat Dan Marino’s record as he’s averaging 336 yards passing a game. That number is insane but with the huge number of targets he has, Jimmy Graham still remains the only mortal lock week in and week out.
Mark Ingram led in carries with 15 but is still splitting time on the field evenly with Darren Sproles.
New York Giants
Victor Cruz: BYE-9-11-11-10-12-9 (62), Hakeem Nicks: BYE-10-dnp-4-7-12-12 (45), Jake Ballard: BYE-7-7-4-7-5-6 (36), Mario Manningham: BYE-9-7-10-2-dnp-dnp (28), Danny Ware: BYE-2-2-6-3-9-3 (25), Brandon Jacobs: BYE-2-5-2-4-0-1 (14), Ramses Barden: BYE-dnp-5-0-1-4-3 (13), Ahmad Bradshaw: BYE-5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-5 (10), Bear Pascoe: BYE-1-1-3-0-1-0 (6)
In a shootout with the Packers it was a foregone conclusion that the Giants’ two best receivers would have big games and they did. Victor Cruz topped 100 yards for the third week in a row and Hakeem Nicks found the end zone twice. Mario Manningham’s knee is still hurting and most likely will help Cruz and Nicks continue to garner a large amount of targets and fantasy points.
Ahmad Bradshaw returned from a four week hiatus and didn’t have an outstanding game but had 16 looks to Brandon Jacobs’ nine. Much will depend on how he recovers from this workload as to how valuable he’ll be going forward.
New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 3-BYE-6-8-9-9-8 (43), Plaxico Burress: 8-BYE-5-8-9-7-6 (43), Dustin Keller: 8-BYE-7-4-8-8-6 (41), Jeremy Kerley: 7-BYE-5-8-dnp-dnp-1 (21), Shonn Greene: 1-BYE-0-4-1-4-4 (14), LaDainian Tomlinson: 4-BYE-3-5-dnp-dnp-1 (13), Joe McKnight: 0-BYE-1-0-7-3-2 (13), Patrick Turner: 0-BYE-0-1-4-4-1 (10)
Shonn Greene was the workhorse this week with 22 carries and 3 touchdowns while Santonio Holmes had a good game but not a great game as is the case most weeks.
After showing some consistency earlier in the season, at least fantasy-wise, Mark Sanchez has been on again off again in his fantasy production with 10, 21, 8, 19, 9, and 18 fantasy points in the last 5 weeks. Be wary.
Oakland Raiders
Darrius Heyward-Bey: 11-BYE-1-0-5-10-8 (35), Denarius Moore: 5-BYE-12-7-2-dnp-dnp (26), Michael Bush: 3-BYE-3-4-2-4-6 (22), Chaz Schilens: dnp-BYE-2-0-2-8-7 (19), Marcel Reece: dnp-BYE-5-1-3-7-1 (17), Kevin Boss: 1-BYE-0-2-6-3-5 (17), Brandon Myers: 1-BYE-1-3-3-1-6 (15), Louis Murphy: 4-BYE-1-1-0-4-5 (15), Jacoby Ford: 5-BYE-6-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (12), T.J. Houshmandzadeh: dnp-BYE-4-1-0-0-3 (8)
Miami put a beatdown on the Raiders last week. The kind of beatdown that is good for garbage time points as long as backups don’t come in.
With Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore looking like they might return this week it is hard to gain much knowledge from these target numbers. Darrius Heyward-Bey and Chaz Schillens would be worthwhile if Ford and Moore decide to quit football and become Emu farmers.
Philadelphia Eagles
Brent Celek: BYE-9-9-7-6-6-4 (41), DeSean Jackson: BYE-6-8-dnp-8-10-4 (36), Riley Cooper: BYE-0-1-2-12-5-10 (30), LeSean McCoy: BYE-3-5-5-4-7-5 (29), Jason Avant: BYE-5-3-1-2-14-2 (27), Jeremy Maclin: BYE-3-9-5-dnp-dnp-dnp (17), Steve Smith: BYE-dnp-dnp-10-1-0-dnp (11), Clay Harbor: BYE-1-1-1-2-1-2 (8), Chad Hall: BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-5-1 (6)
At this point in the fantasy season it would be hard to throw DeSean Jackson out there unless all your other players also decided they really didn’t like being tackled as well. With Michael Vick coming back and Jeremy Maclin possibly coming back it will be difficult to strongly recommend any one Eagles’ receiver even though one of them will surely have a good game.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 9-15-10-6-BYE-6-4 (50), Mike Wallace: 7-7-6-10-BYE-6-5 (41), Heath Miller: 4-9-5-5-BYE-2-3 (28), Emmanuel Sanders: 7-8-dnp-dnp-BYE-4-2 (21), Hines Ward: 4-dnp-1-1-BYE-4-6 (16), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-1-6-4-BYE-1-0 (13), Rashard Mendenhall: 2-4-2-3-BYE-2-0 (13), Isaac Redman: 2-2-1-1-BYE-2-0 (8), Mewelde Moore: 0-2-2-0-BYE-3-1 (8), Weslye Saunders: 1-1-0-2-BYE-1-1 (6), David Johnson: 0-1-2-1-BYE-0-1 (5)
Mike Wallace’s line of 3 receptions for 38 yards and 2 touchdowns wouldn’t have happened last season when he was averaging 20 yards a catch. He had been in a mini-slump but unlike DeSean Jackson who is a one trick pony, Wallace is a more well-rounded player.
Wallace was actually out targeted by Old Man Ward but he is clearly just a quick read guy right now. Antonio Brown helped his fantasy owners even in non-return yardage leagues by returning a punt for a touchdown.
The last two weeks have been fairly slow for Ben Roethlisberger who had his only two games of the season where he finished with under 200 yards passing. It’s hard to believe that will continue a third week in a row, even against a stout Browns’ pass defense.
San Diego Chargers
Antonio Gates: 7-7-11-6-4-10-7 (52), Vincent Jackson: 8-8-12-7-8-3-5 (51), Vincent Brown: 1-dnp-6-9-4-10-2 (32), Mike Tolbert: 1-dnp-9-9-7-4-1 (31), Ryan Mathews: 5-7-dnp-5-2-1-3 (23), Patrick Crayton: 1-4-3-5-0-2-1 (16), Randy McMichael: 3-3-1-1-3-2-3 (16), Malcom Floyd: 4-7-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-4 (15), Jacob Hester: 1-0-2-1-2-0-2 (8), Curtis Brinkley: 0-3-0-0-0-1-0 (4)
Did we just witness the resurrection of Philip Rivers or was it a mirage? This was easily his best game of the season. Yes he did have more fantasy points against Green Bay but also threw 3 interceptions to zero in this game, had a 56% completion percentage compared to 78% and of course he actually won this game. His increased efficiency helped all of his receivers produce even on less targets. It was a little like what that Aaron Rodgers fella does.
Malcom Floyd returned from injury to put up a big game on just 4 targets. There was no doubt that Floyd was ahead of Vincent Brown with 43 snaps compared to Brown’s 5. Amazingly Brown still scored a touchdown!
Seattle Seahawks
Doug Baldwin: 3-8-6-3-5-10-2 (37), Sidney Rice: 5-14-8-4-3-2-dnp (36), Ben Obomanu: 2-4-2-2-4-4-2 (20), Golden Tate: 1-4-1-3-3-3-4 (19), Mike Williams: 4-dnp-3-1-5-3-2 (18), Marshawn Lynch: dnp-0-2-7-2-3-0 (14), Zach Miller: dnp-5-0-4-1-2-2 (14), Anthony McCoy: 4-1-2-2-0-1-0 (10), Michael Robinson: 2-1-0-0-1-1-4 (9)
Marshawn Lynch continues to get the job done over and over again and then again and so on. He scored two touchdowns against the Eagles which makes a touchdown in each of his last 8 starts and he gets St. Louis this week. Maybe he’ll start the 2 touchdowns a start streak.
The receivers on the other hand aren’t quite as consistent. Golden Tate scored a touchdown which is news because he has a ton of talent and pundit’s ears perked up when he scored. What I find interesting are the stats for number of snaps for each receiver. Golden Tate led them all with 51, then Mike Williams 27, Doug Baldwin 12, Deon Butler 10, and Ben Obomanu rounded it out with 8. That is a crazy breakdown with Tate as the only every down guy.
San Francisco 49ers
Michael Crabtree: BYE-9-5-4-10-9-5 (42), Vernon Davis: BYE-3-7-4-10-5-8 (37), Braylon Edwards: BYE-7-3-6-4-3-dnp (23), Delanie Walker: BYE-0-2-7-5-0-2 (16), Ted Ginn: BYE-1-1-4-0-3-4 (13), Kyle Williams: BYE-0-2-1-5-1-2 (11), Kendall Hunter: BYE-0-0-3-1-1-3 (8), Frank Gore: BYE-0-3-1-2-2-0 (8)
Frank Gore doesn’t get targets anymore. It’s just a fact we have to live with in the age of Harbaugh.
The Niners are airing it out a bit more of late seemingly to work on that aspect of their offense as they prepare for a playoff run. If Vernon Davis hadn’t dropped a beautifully thrown ball in the end zone Alex Smith would have had his first 300 yard game of the season and his 2nd 3 touchdown game.
Michael Crabtree continues to show signs that he could eventually live up to his abilities. He’s averaging 90 yards receiving in his last 3 games and if they continue to work on their down field passing he could finish the season strong.
St. Louis Rams
Brandon Lloyd: 12-13-13-9-14-10-2 (73), Brandon Gibson: dnp-6-5-3-7-7-7 (35), Austin Pettis: 0-1-5-4-5-4-7 (26), Steven Jackson: 5-5-2-3-5-3-1 (24), Greg Salas: 2-6-9-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (17), Lance Kendricks: 1-3-1-dnp-2-5-1 (13), Danario Alexander: 6-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (8)
The A.J. Feeley led Rams never crossed the 49ers 45-yard line. It’s as if they weren’t even there. It was kind of spooky. Just look at those target numbers for Brandon Lloyd for the last 7 weeks. It’s a sad sight.
They face Seattle, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and the 49ers again to finish off the season. Don’t put all your fantasy eggs in the Rams’ basket.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Williams: 11-BYE-8-5-11-11-9 (55), Kellen Winslow: 12-BYE-6-6-11-7-5 (47), Kregg Lumpkin: 8-BYE-6-7-1-3-0 (25), Arrelious Benn: 1-BYE-2-6-6-5-4 (24), Preston Parker: 6-BYE-4-4-2-3-3 (22), Dezmon Briscoe: 10-BYE-2-2-3-0-2 (19), LeGarrette Blount: dnp-BYE-3-2-1-3-2 (11)
A good way to sum up this game is to take a look at LeGarrette Blount’s line: 11 carries for 19 yards. And then let’s look at how running backs that played the Panthers the three previous weeks fared, shall we? We shall. They averaged 26 carries for 140 yards and 1.4 touchdowns.
The previous rant may have been a by-product of Josh Johnson starting for the Bucs but that doesn’t really account for such a poor rushing game by Blount. Anyway, Mike Williams remains a target hog and put up a decent game even with Johnson at the helm. That’s 3 games in a row over 83 yards receiving for Williams.
Tennessee Titans
Damian Williams: 4-5-7-7-11-4-7 (45), Nate Washington: 3-6-6-4-9-6-6 (40), Lavelle Hawkins: 7-5-6-1-4-7-4 (34), Jared Cook: 2-2-8-3-9-7-1 (32) Chris Johnson: 6-5-6-7-3-2-1 (30), Javon Ringer: 1-6-2-3-6-5-2 (25), Ahmard Hall: 3-2-1-0-0-2-2 (10)
Chris Johnson did all the heavy lifting against the Bills while Matt Hasselbeck could only muster 140 yards passing against a weak Bills secondary.
Damian Williams remains the target leader and the most likely to give you any semblance of consistent production.
Washington Redskins
Fred Davis: 8-9-7-7-6-4-13 (54), Jabar Gaffney: 8-5-5-6-10-7-3 (44), Roy Helu: 2-4-17-3-2-7-6 (41), Santana Moss: 2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-7-12 (21), Terrence Austin: 6-3-5-1-0-1-dnp (16), Donte Stallworth: dnp-2-dnp-dnp-6-2-2 (12), Anthony Armstrong: 4-4-1-0-2-1-0 (12), David Anderson: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-3-dnp-6 (12), Logan Paulsen: 2-0-2-1-2-2-1 (10)
The suspension of Fred Davis takes away a huge part of the Redskins offense which most likely will now be funneled to the two starting receivers Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney. Gaffney only saw 3 targets to David Anderson’s 6 last week but Gaffney was clearly the No. 2 receiver with 59 snaps to Anderson’s 21. And with New England on the horizon I could see throwing Moss and Gaffney into the mix.
Roy Helu continues to show why Coach Shanahan overthinks himself into losses. Helu had a big game and dominated snaps and touches again. The loss of Trent Williams to suspension hurts him but he should continue to get work and can make things happen.