Welcome to the AFC portion of the Target Hour of Power. Please hold your applause until the end.
For your dose of NFC targets clickety click.
Usually I like to look at red zone targets and touches, but I thought I’d scooch the line in from the 20 yard line to the 10 yard line for the chart below. In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month I dub this area the pink zone.
Ten Yard Line Rushing Looks Ten Yard Line Receiving Looks
Baltimore Ravens
Dennis Pitta: 9-15-7-2 (33), Ray Rice: 4-10-5-11 (30), Anquan Boldin: 5-4-7-12 (28), Torrey Smith: 3-5-10-10 (28), Jacoby Jones: 3-2-4-7 (16), Vonta Leach: 3-1-3-2 (9), Ed Dickson: 3-4-2-0 (9), Tandon Doss: 0-1-0-2 (3), Deonte Thompson: 2-0-0-0 (2), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0 (1)
The demise of Dennis Pitta is most likely a one week anomaly, but it is painful to see when you finally feel good about starting him on your fantasy team. He is still receiving over 20% of all the Ravens targets on the season, which is darn good for a tight end.
Anquan Boldin put up a big target game, which amazingly turned into real receptions and yardage. His 9 receptions for 131 yards is how Boldin rolls. Last season he had two 130+ receiving yardage games, but in the rest he averaged 50 yards receiving and finished the season with three touchdowns. Torrey Smith should help him get open easier, but with Pitta and Ray Rice getting most of the red zone work, it’s going to be tough for Boldin to get into the end zone more.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-5-11-10 (36), Scott Chandler: 6-5-4-8 (23), Donald Jones: 7-3-6-3 (19), T.J. Graham: dnp-1-5-8 (14), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-2-2 (10), Tashard Choice: 0-1-5-1 (7), David Nelson: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Brad Smith: dnp-1-0-2 (3), Fred Jackson: 0-dnp-dnp-3 (3), Dorin Dickerson: 0-0-dnp-2 (2), Corey McIntyre: 0-0-2-0 (2), Lee Smith: 1-0-0-0 (1)
This week was Scott Chandler’s coming out party of sorts. His eight targets were the most he’s ever had in a game and of course his two touchdowns as well. He is seeing 18.4% of the targets while Stevie Johnson is still the main man with 28.8%. Chandler will need to not dip back down to four or even five targets if he wants to be consistent.
Rookie T.J. Graham saw a goodly amount of targets, but only caught half of them for 34 yards. But he did see the second most passing snaps. He’s a wild card, but has big play ability for deep leaguers.
Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller split time on the field pretty evenly, but Jackson had 16 touches to Spiller’s 10. Spiller was a little iffier for this game than Jackson, so it was good to see him at least share time. It looks like they will dampen each other’s fantasy value as long as both are healthy.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-12-11-9 (43), Jermaine Gresham: 8-5-7-5 (25), Andrew Hawkins: 9-3-4-3 (19), Armon Binns: 5-5-3-5 (18), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2-3-1-3 (9), Brandon Tate: 2-3-0-0 (5), Orson Charles: 0-0-1-1 (2), Chris Pressley: 0-0-0-2 (2), Marvin Jones: 0-0-dnp-2 (2), Brian Leonard: 0-0-1-1 (2)
A.J. Green is seeing 34% of his team’s targets, which is second in the NFL. Jermaine Gresham is second with 19.7%, which is good enough if he could just get into the end zone more often. Right now Green leads him in red zone targets seven to five.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis is the bell cow back, but I’m starting to think the bell weighs a couple hundred pounds. The Law Firm is the definition of a back that needs 20-30 looks a game to be relevant, and even then he needs a touchdown to really help. His three targets look to be his ceiling, but if he could get that number up, his value goes up.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 4-7-4-10 (25), Trent Richardson: 3-5-7-6 (21), Mohamed Massaquoi: 8-7-3-dnp (18), Ben Watson: 2-1-8-6 (17), Travis Benjamin: 6-0-4-5 (15), Josh Gordon: 4-3-6-1 (14), Jordan Cameron: 1-0-7-6 (14), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-6-3-4 (13), Jordan Norwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-10 (10), Josh Cribbs: 0-2-1-2 (5), Alex Smith: 1-4-dnp-dnp (5), Brandon Jackson: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Owen Marecic: 2-1-0-0 (3)
Thirteen Browns players have had a football thrown at them from one angle or another. Greg Little and Jordan Norwood are the only Browns with 10 targets in a game and both happened last week. That had a lot to do with Weeden needing to throw the ball 52 times, but the real problem for their receivers is that once they get into the red zone, it’s Trent Richardson time. The Browns are going to have to show me they can support a fantasy receiver.
Richardson is fourth in targets for running backs, which I’m giddy over. So even on a poor rushing night, like last week, he still ended up with 104 total yards, four receptions and a touchdown. I’m all on board the T-Rich train of pain (to defenders, not fantasy owners, but you probably got that, or maybe not, I’m just not sure, that’s why I wrote all of this I suppose.)
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 7-11-11-6 (35), Eric Decker: 7-8-11-9 (35), Jacob Tamme: 5-4-10-6 (25), Brandon Stokley: 3-6-6-2 (17), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-5-3 (12), Willis McGahee: 1-2-2-6 (11), Lance Ball: 0-2-3-2 (7), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-1-2 (3), Matthew Willis: 1-1-1-dnp (3), Chris Gronkowski: 0-0-1-0 (1), Andre Caldwell: dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (1), Knowshon Moreno: 0-1-dnp-dnp (1)
Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas have the exact same number of targets. There were plenty of arguments in preseason about who would be Peyton Manning’s go to receiver and it seems the answer is both. Thomas is going to be the big play receiver, but still is only three receptions behind Decker. He’s made some bone-headed plays and could be ahead of Decker even more in the fantasy world.
After those two, the receiving game gets spread out a little too thin for my taste. Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen are going to hurt each other’s value. The two are tied with three red zone targets each.
Willis McGahee continues to play well and fits the Manning offense perfectly. He also caught all six of his targets, which is a great sign. The emergence of Ronnie Hillman this week was partly due to the lopsided nature of the score, but there’s no doubt the team wants Hillman to get more snaps so he could be ready to step up if McGahee’s oldness catches up with him. Lance Ball has been the main backup, but the Broncos want their third round pick to shine.
Houston Texans
Owen Daniels: 8-9-5-6 (28), Andre Johnson: 10-4-4-6 (24), Kevin Walter: 2-4-6-3 (15), James Casey: 2-4-3-5 (14), Arian Foster: 3-7-1-2 (13), Keshawn Martin: 1-2-4-3 (10), Ben Tate: 3-4-0-2 (9), Garrett Graham: 0-1-4-1 (6), Lestar Jean: 2-0-1-dnp (3)
It may be time for Andre Johnson owners to be concerned. Of course there were reasons to be concerned going into the season, but the fact that Owen Daniels leads him in targets through four weeks is worrisome. He’ll remain a top player due to his amazing ability, but without being force fed targets, he’ll have trouble consistently putting up bug fantasy numbers.
The Texans are a run first team and when they get into the red zone, they run it even more. And if they don’t run it in the red zone they throw it to their tight ends. So far the red zone targets and touches look like so: Foster 26, Tate 4, Forsett 4, Daniels 2, Casey 2, Walter 1, Martin 1, and Johnson 1. That leads to not much touchdown love for A.J.
Welcome to the AFC portion of the Target Hour of Power. Please hold your applause until the end.
For your dose of NFC targets clickety click.
Usually I like to look at red zone targets and touches, but I thought I’d scooch the line in from the 20 yard line to the 10 yard line for the chart below. In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month I dub this area the pink zone.
Ten Yard Line Rushing Looks Ten Yard Line Receiving Looks
Baltimore Ravens
Dennis Pitta: 9-15-7-2 (33), Ray Rice: 4-10-5-11 (30), Anquan Boldin: 5-4-7-12 (28), Torrey Smith: 3-5-10-10 (28), Jacoby Jones: 3-2-4-7 (16), Vonta Leach: 3-1-3-2 (9), Ed Dickson: 3-4-2-0 (9), Tandon Doss: 0-1-0-2 (3), Deonte Thompson: 2-0-0-0 (2), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0 (1)
The demise of Dennis Pitta is most likely a one week anomaly, but it is painful to see when you finally feel good about starting him on your fantasy team. He is still receiving over 20% of all the Ravens targets on the season, which is darn good for a tight end.
Anquan Boldin put up a big target game, which amazingly turned into real receptions and yardage. His 9 receptions for 131 yards is how Boldin rolls. Last season he had two 130+ receiving yardage games, but in the rest he averaged 50 yards receiving and finished the season with three touchdowns. Torrey Smith should help him get open easier, but with Pitta and Ray Rice getting most of the red zone work, it’s going to be tough for Boldin to get into the end zone more.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-5-11-10 (36), Scott Chandler: 6-5-4-8 (23), Donald Jones: 7-3-6-3 (19), T.J. Graham: dnp-1-5-8 (14), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-2-2 (10), Tashard Choice: 0-1-5-1 (7), David Nelson: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Brad Smith: dnp-1-0-2 (3), Fred Jackson: 0-dnp-dnp-3 (3), Dorin Dickerson: 0-0-dnp-2 (2), Corey McIntyre: 0-0-2-0 (2), Lee Smith: 1-0-0-0 (1)
This week was Scott Chandler’s coming out party of sorts. His eight targets were the most he’s ever had in a game and of course his two touchdowns as well. He is seeing 18.4% of the targets while Stevie Johnson is still the main man with 28.8%. Chandler will need to not dip back down to four or even five targets if he wants to be consistent.
Rookie T.J. Graham saw a goodly amount of targets, but only caught half of them for 34 yards. But he did see the second most passing snaps. He’s a wild card, but has big play ability for deep leaguers.
Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller split time on the field pretty evenly, but Jackson had 16 touches to Spiller’s 10. Spiller was a little iffier for this game than Jackson, so it was good to see him at least share time. It looks like they will dampen each other’s fantasy value as long as both are healthy.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-12-11-9 (43), Jermaine Gresham: 8-5-7-5 (25), Andrew Hawkins: 9-3-4-3 (19), Armon Binns: 5-5-3-5 (18), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2-3-1-3 (9), Brandon Tate: 2-3-0-0 (5), Orson Charles: 0-0-1-1 (2), Chris Pressley: 0-0-0-2 (2), Marvin Jones: 0-0-dnp-2 (2), Brian Leonard: 0-0-1-1 (2)
A.J. Green is seeing 34% of his team’s targets, which is second in the NFL. Jermaine Gresham is second with 19.7%, which is good enough if he could just get into the end zone more often. Right now Green leads him in red zone targets seven to five.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis is the bell cow back, but I’m starting to think the bell weighs a couple hundred pounds. The Law Firm is the definition of a back that needs 20-30 looks a game to be relevant, and even then he needs a touchdown to really help. His three targets look to be his ceiling, but if he could get that number up, his value goes up.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 4-7-4-10 (25), Trent Richardson: 3-5-7-6 (21), Mohamed Massaquoi: 8-7-3-dnp (18), Ben Watson: 2-1-8-6 (17), Travis Benjamin: 6-0-4-5 (15), Josh Gordon: 4-3-6-1 (14), Jordan Cameron: 1-0-7-6 (14), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-6-3-4 (13), Jordan Norwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-10 (10), Josh Cribbs: 0-2-1-2 (5), Alex Smith: 1-4-dnp-dnp (5), Brandon Jackson: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Owen Marecic: 2-1-0-0 (3)
Thirteen Browns players have had a football thrown at them from one angle or another. Greg Little and Jordan Norwood are the only Browns with 10 targets in a game and both happened last week. That had a lot to do with Weeden needing to throw the ball 52 times, but the real problem for their receivers is that once they get into the red zone, it’s Trent Richardson time. The Browns are going to have to show me they can support a fantasy receiver.
Richardson is fourth in targets for running backs, which I’m giddy over. So even on a poor rushing night, like last week, he still ended up with 104 total yards, four receptions and a touchdown. I’m all on board the T-Rich train of pain (to defenders, not fantasy owners, but you probably got that, or maybe not, I’m just not sure, that’s why I wrote all of this I suppose.)
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 7-11-11-6 (35), Eric Decker: 7-8-11-9 (35), Jacob Tamme: 5-4-10-6 (25), Brandon Stokley: 3-6-6-2 (17), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-5-3 (12), Willis McGahee: 1-2-2-6 (11), Lance Ball: 0-2-3-2 (7), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-1-2 (3), Matthew Willis: 1-1-1-dnp (3), Chris Gronkowski: 0-0-1-0 (1), Andre Caldwell: dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (1), Knowshon Moreno: 0-1-dnp-dnp (1)
Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas have the exact same number of targets. There were plenty of arguments in preseason about who would be Peyton Manning’s go to receiver and it seems the answer is both. Thomas is going to be the big play receiver, but still is only three receptions behind Decker. He’s made some bone-headed plays and could be ahead of Decker even more in the fantasy world.
After those two, the receiving game gets spread out a little too thin for my taste. Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen are going to hurt each other’s value. The two are tied with three red zone targets each.
Willis McGahee continues to play well and fits the Manning offense perfectly. He also caught all six of his targets, which is a great sign. The emergence of Ronnie Hillman this week was partly due to the lopsided nature of the score, but there’s no doubt the team wants Hillman to get more snaps so he could be ready to step up if McGahee’s oldness catches up with him. Lance Ball has been the main backup, but the Broncos want their third round pick to shine.
Houston Texans
Owen Daniels: 8-9-5-6 (28), Andre Johnson: 10-4-4-6 (24), Kevin Walter: 2-4-6-3 (15), James Casey: 2-4-3-5 (14), Arian Foster: 3-7-1-2 (13), Keshawn Martin: 1-2-4-3 (10), Ben Tate: 3-4-0-2 (9), Garrett Graham: 0-1-4-1 (6), Lestar Jean: 2-0-1-dnp (3)
It may be time for Andre Johnson owners to be concerned. Of course there were reasons to be concerned going into the season, but the fact that Owen Daniels leads him in targets through four weeks is worrisome. He’ll remain a top player due to his amazing ability, but without being force fed targets, he’ll have trouble consistently putting up bug fantasy numbers.
The Texans are a run first team and when they get into the red zone, they run it even more. And if they don’t run it in the red zone they throw it to their tight ends. So far the red zone targets and touches look like so: Foster 26, Tate 4, Forsett 4, Daniels 2, Casey 2, Walter 1, Martin 1, and Johnson 1. That leads to not much touchdown love for A.J.
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 18-7-15 (40), Donnie Avery: 8-10-9 (27), Coby Fleener: 10-4-2 (16), T.Y. Hilton: dnp-1-8 (9), Kris Adams: 4-3-1 (8), Dwayne Allen: 0-1-6 (7), Mewelde Moore: 1-2-1 (4), Donald Brown: 2-0-1 (3), Vick Ballard: 0-1-0 (1), Austin Collie: dnp-dnp-1 (1), LaVon Brazill: 1-dnp-0 (1)
Trying to figure out who the number two receiver for the Colts is has been a bit of a work in progress. Donnie Avery stepped up with Austin Collie out, but this week it was T.Y. Hilton. So let’s take a look at the snaps to see what we can see.
Avery was on the field for 79 plays, including 53 pass plays to Hilton’s 40 plays, including 34 pass plays. They both had a good chunk of targets, nine and eight respectively, but Hilton had the one big touchdown play.
With Collie out for the season, it pretty much comes down to Avery and Hilton. Hilton showed a lot in preseason, but Avery has proven himself as well this season. If the snaps stay the same, Avery should be the guy to own.
The tight end situation is getting cloudier by the day. Coby Fleener started the season with double digit targets, six receptions and 82 yards. It’s been all downhill from there. Last week it was Dwayne Allen’s turn for targets and snaps. Allen was on the field for 60 plays, 30 of them passing, to Fleener’s 43, 22 of them passing.
Coming into the season I thought we would see something like this from the get-go, but when we didn’t, I had to assume Fleener was going to be the guy. It may be a knee-jerk reaction, but I like Allen more this preseason and I’m ready to switch them out.
Donald Brown is still the main running back in Colt land, so Vick Ballard’s value remains pretty non-existent. But Brown is not going to give you consistent production in this pass first offense. In the red zone the Colts are nearly the exact opposite of the Texans, passing 70% of the time.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 6-4-5-10 (25), Laurent Robinson: 9-6-1-1 (17), Cecil Shorts: 7-2-2-5 (16), Maurice Jones-Drew: 5-3-2-5 (15), Greg Jones: 2-1-3-4 (10), Mike Thomas: 1-3-3-2 (9), Marcedes Lewis: 5-0-1-3 (9), Montell Owens: 3-0-0-0 (3), Zach Potter: 0-2-0-0 (2), Rashad Jennings: 1-dnp-dnp-1 (2)
There’s always hope it seems, but the hope is fading on the Jaguars 2012 “fantasy passing attack.” Justin Blackmon saw 10 targets, catching six for 48 yards and no touchdowns. If Gabbert had thrown him 20 passes he would have caught 12 for 96 yards! Blackmon will get into the end zone at some point and get people’s waiver wire hopes up, but then it will take him a month or two to get into the end zone again.
Maurice Jones-Drew is your only hope.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 6-15-16-12 (49), Dexter McCluster: 10-5-4-4 (23), Tony Moeaki: 6-4-3-4 (17), Jamaal Charles: 0-4-8-4 (16), Jon Baldwin: 0-6-4-5 (15), Shaun Draughn: 2-2-3-5 (12), Steve Breaston: 4-1-3-1 (9), Peyton Hillis: 3-3-1-dnp (7), Kevin Boss: 2-1-dnp-dnp (3), Cyrus Gray: dnp-dnp-0-1 (1)
Matt Cassel is trying to hold off Brady Quinn. That tells you what you need to know about the Chiefs passing offense right now. The good news is that Dwayne Bowe is averaging over 12 targets a game. That’s probably bad for the Chiefs winning games, but good for fantasy owners who don’t want to guess as to who will get targets.
Jamaal Charles looked like a dumpster fire had relations with a tire fire after his second fumble on the day, but he emerged from the toxic smoke to do what he does, and that is be awesome. He finished the day with 115 total yards and two touchdowns. His target numbers are staying at four or above, and I don’t see any reason they should fall.
The loss of Kevin Boss leaves a door open for Tony Moeaki to make some noise, but he’ll have to yell pretty loud before he is on my team.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 8-12-9-19 (48), Davone Bess: 7-6-7-12 (32), Anthony Fasano: 5-3-10-5 (23), Reggie Bush: 6-4-1-1 (12), Anthony Armstrong: 3-dnp-6-0 (9), Daniel Thomas: 3-dnp-2-1 (6), Charles Clay: 1-3-0-1 (5), Legedu Naanee: 2-1-0-2 (5), Jorvorskie Lane: 1-0-1-0 (2)
We all know what Brian Hartline did last week and his 19 targets are just as eye popping as his real numbers. As long as he’s averaging over ten targets a game there’s no reason he won’t have fantasy value the rest of the season, especially with Ryan Tannehill catching up with NFL speed.
Davone Bess had his third 100 yard game in his career. He didn’t hit 100 yards all last season. But of course those numbers were with some pretty lame quarterbacks. Tannehill’s development will dictate if Bess will have any value going forward and I think it’s still too early. Hartline looks like the only receiver I’d want on my team.
Reggie Bush was still feeling some pain in his knee last week, but saw the majority of the time on the field. After him it was a three-headed Dolphin named Jorvorskie Thomas Lamar. Jorvorskie looks like he’s working on his touchdown vulture dance, which could end up hurting Reggie Bush. Daniel Thomas remains without much skill and Lamar Miller is the back with the highest ceiling, but lowest number of meaningful touches.
New England Patriots
Brandon Lloyd: 8-13-12-7 (40), Wes Welker: 5-11-10-11 (37), Rob Gronkowski: 6-9-3-11 (29), Julian Edelman: 2-6-7-dnp (15), Stevan Ridley: 3-4-1-0 (8), Aaron Hernandez: 7-1-dnp-dnp (8), Danny Woodhead: 0-1-2-2 (5), Deion Branch: dnp-dnp-3-0 (3), Kellen Winslow: dnp-dnp-2-dnp (2), Shane Vereen: dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (2), Daniel Fells: dnp-dnp-0-2 (2), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-0-1-0 (1), Brandon Bolden: 0-0-0-1 (1)
When the season started all us fantasy pundits were trying to decipher what receivers would get what and hoped that Stevan Ridley would get enough goal line opportunities to stay fantasy relevant. Now we are all just winging it.
Last week there were plenty of fantasy points to go around. The Patriots ended up with three receiving touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns along with 340 yards passing and 247 yards rushing. That is impressive.
After getting down early Brady and company methodically dismantled the Bills defense in every possible aspect. The three receivers, Welker, Gronkowski and Lloyd are safe bets each week, but Stevan Ridley’s fortunes rest in Bill Belichick’s hands. Ridley was on the field for 34 snaps to Bolden’s 26, Woodhead’s 10 and Vereen’s 8.
His situation is dicey in Belichick’s backfield, but so far Ridley is the only somewhat consistent fantasy option. Until that changes, he’s the only guy I’d feel safe starting.
New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 8-11-14-8 (41), Jeff Cumberland: 4-5-6-5 (20), Stephen Hill: 6-2-7-dnp (15), Jeremy Kerley: 4-4-3-3 (14), Bilal Powell: 1-2-5-3 (11), Chaz Schilens: 1-0-3-3 (7), Patrick Turner: 0-dnp-dnp-5 (5), Shonn Greene: 1-0-2-0 (3), Clyde Gates: dnp-1-1-0 (2), Dustin Keller: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp (1), Dedrick Epps: dnp-0-0-1 (1), John Conner: 0-0-dnp-1 (1)
Santonio Holmes is lost for the season and if you take a look at the other receivers on the above list, you might not see much to get excited about. Right now your pass catchers for the Jets are Chaz Schilens, Jeremy Kerley, Clyde Gates and Jeff Cumberland with Stephen Hill and Dustin Keller injured. That’s some sour biscuits to be sure. And with Bilal Powell and Shonn Greene splitting time (Greene had 18 snaps to Powell’s 32 last week) you have absolutely nobody you can safely use on your fantasy team.
Oakland Raiders
Darren McFadden: 18-7-2-1 (28), Denarius Moore: dnp-8-10-8 (26), Marcel Reece: 2-3-5-8 (18), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 5-8-5-dnp (18), Rod Streater: 10-3-2-2 (17), Brandon Myers: 5-6-4-2 (17), Derek Hagan: 5-2-4-5 (16), David Ausberry: 1-3-1-2 (7), Mike Goodson: 0-3-0-3 (6), Richard Gordon: 0-4-1-dnp (5), Juron Criner: 0-dnp-dnp-3 (3)
It’s hard to glean much from the Raiders defeat at the hands of the Mannings, but as a Darren McFadden owner I can say, I am sad, but I am not putting too much stock in the numbers from this drubbing. It was apparent that they were outmatched in Denver from the get go.
Marcel Reece saw a big uptick in targets, while McFadden’s numbers dropped once again. This was most likely a product of the score, but Reece is a talented player and could start cutting into McFadden’s targets. It’s worth watching.
The best news from this game is that Denarius Moore is still upright. He is the best receiver on the team and if he can stay healthy, will be the guy to own.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 8-10-11 (29), Mike Wallace: 6-5-11 (22), Heath Miller: 7-3-9 (19), Emmanuel Sanders: 8-4-4 (16), Jonathan Dwyer: 4-2-1 (7), Isaac Redman: 2-1-3 (6), Chris Rainey: 1-2-2 (5), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-2-1 (4), Will Johnson: dnp-1-1 (2), Baron Batch: 0-0-2 (2), Leonard Pope: 0-1-0 (1)
Ben Roethlisberger is a passing machine. He had 49 attempts against the Raiders and with Brown, Wallace, Miller and Sanders as the best offensive weapons on the team, he may not slow down anytime soon.
Heath Miller leads all wide receivers and tight ends in red zone targets with eight (and he has played one less game!) and all four of his touchdowns have come from those targets. With the uptick in passing attempts, Miller’s value may be more consistent this season.
Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace continue to battle it out for receptions and targets, but Wallace is clearly in the lead for touchdowns. They are tied in red zone targets with four, so I’m going to hold out hope that Brown will start getting his touchdown celebration penalties soon.
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 6-8-9-3 (26), Antonio Gates: 8-dnp-7-3 (18), Robert Meachem: 2-4-7-2 (15), Eddie Royal: 2-3-3-5 (13), Ronnie Brown: 5-4-dnp-3 (12), Curtis Brinkley: 5-4-2-dnp (11), Ryan Mathews: dnp-dnp-8-2 (10), Dante Rosario: 1-4-1-0 (6), Randy McMichael: 0-4-1-0 (5), LeRon McClain: 4-0-0-1 (5), Jackie Battle: 0-0-0-4 (4), Ladarius Green: dnp-1-dnp-dnp (1)
San Diego pretty much let Kansas City beat themselves, while Norv Turner decided to play mind games with Ryan Mathews and his fantasy owners. Jackie Battle was on the field for 27 snaps compared to Mathews’ 21 and had 19 touches to Mathews’ 16. The biggest disparity though, was Battle’s six red zone looks to Mathews’ one, which led to two touchdowns for Battle. And now Turner has listed Battle as his starting running back.
I believe talent will win out, but it’s hard not to think of Mike Tolbert and how much he cut into Mathews’ work the last two seasons. I’m buying Mr. Mathews, but I’m also under no delusions that Battle will just go away completely.
The passing game didn’t do much in this one. Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates are the only two rosterable receivers and they both had three targets. We’ll chalk this one up to the flow of the game and hope for better days.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 6-8-11-8 (33), Jared Cook: 6-6-4-4 (20), Nate Washington: 8-2-3-5 (18), Damian Williams: 6-6-3-2 (17), Chris Johnson: 7-3-2-2 (14), Kenny Britt: dnp-2-11-dnp (13), Craig Stevens: 1-1-7-2 (11), Lavelle Hawkins: 4-0-dnp-1 (5), Darius Reynaud: 4-0-0-0 (4), Quinn Johnson: 0-0-1-1 (2), Taylor Thompson: 0-1-0-1 (2), Jamie Harper: 1-dnp-0-dnp (1)
Looking at the targets for the Titans was much more fun when I knew Jake Locker would be slinging the rock. Matt “pick six” Hasselbeck puts a bit of a damper on the proceedings, as well as Kenny Britt’s inability to stay healthy.
Kendall Wright continues to see plenty of targets though and that along with his five red zone targets are keeping him in the fantasy picture.
Chris Johnson had a nice breakout game, but it was a bit odd that he saw so many carries when the team was so far behind. But maybe not so odd when you think about Hasselbeck throwing two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. This was a nice step for Johnson, but I’d like to see him get those yards when they actually are needed.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.