Welcome to the AFC Target Watch for Week 6. You will find targety information to sedate the greatest of target beasts. For your dose of NFC targets, bang it here.
But before we get to that, let’s look at some stats that you will find to be statistical and not very whimsical. Below are the running backs with two or more runs inside the five yard line and how many touchdowns they have from those runs.
Touchdown Percentage Inside the Five
| Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
|
Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
|
Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
| Jorvorskie Lane |
2 |
2 |
100% |
|
Daniel Thomas |
4 |
2 |
50% |
|
Shonn Greene |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Michael Bush |
4 |
3 |
75% |
|
Frank Gore |
6 |
3 |
50% |
|
BenJarvus Green-Ellis |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Alfred Morris |
3 |
2 |
67% |
|
Willis McGahee |
7 |
3 |
43% |
|
Ahmad Bradshaw |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Andre Brown |
5 |
3 |
60% |
|
Kendall Hunter |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Tashard Choice |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Isaac Redman |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Ray Rice |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Rashad Jennings |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Mark Ingram |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Brandon Bolden |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Reggie Bush |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Joique Bell |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Arian Foster |
9 |
3 |
33% |
|
Lance Ball |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| C.J. Spiller |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Jackie Battle |
9 |
3 |
33% |
|
Ryan Williams |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Marshawn Lynch |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Adrian Peterson |
7 |
2 |
29% |
|
Darren McFadden |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Kevin Smith |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Michael Turner |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Bryce Brown |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Ben Tate |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
DeAngelo Williams |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Steven Jackson |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Stevan Ridley |
4 |
2 |
50% |
|
LeSean McCoy |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Doug Martin |
4 |
0 |
0% |
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 5-4-7-12-10 (38), Dennis Pitta: 9-15-7-2-4 (37), Ray Rice: 4-10-5-11-3 (33), Torrey Smith: 3-5-10-10-4 (32), Jacoby Jones: 3-2-4-7-2 (18), Vonta Leach: 3-1-3-2-2 (11), Ed Dickson: 3-4-2-0-1 (10), Tandon Doss: 0-1-0-2-1 (4), Deonte Thompson: 2-0-0-0-0 (2), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0-0 (1)
The Ravens' bout with the Chiefs was a clunker on many fronts, including the target front. Anquan Boldin was the target hog and caught four of 10 targets for 82 yards and it was all downhill from there.
Torrey Smith had four targets and caught three of them, but that isn’t nearly enough. We saw the prior two weeks versus New England and Cleveland that Smith is a playmaker, but you have to get him the ball so he can make plays. He should not be fourth on this target list. I have a feeling the Chiefs game will open the coaching staff’s eyes to how badly they need to get Smith involved.
Ray Rice still gets it done no matter how the game is going, so no need to worry about him.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-5-11-10-10 (46), Scott Chandler: 6-5-4-8-6 (29), Donald Jones: 7-3-6-3-4 (23), T.J. Graham: dnp-1-5-8-3 (17), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-2-2-1 (11), Tashard Choice: 0-1-5-1-dnp (7), David Nelson: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Fred Jackson: 0-dnp-dnp-3-1 (4), Brad Smith: dnp-1-0-2-1 (4), Dorin Dickerson: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp (2), Corey McIntyre: 0-0-2-0-0 (2), Lee Smith: 1-0-0-0-0 (1)
The Bills were run over in San Francisco and the stats bear witness. It’s not the easiest task to fly cross-country and play the 49ers, so I’m going to give them a pass here. Against lesser defenses, this offense can put up fantasy points, even if they are a bit sporadic.
Stevie Johnson hasn’t topped 61 yards receiving this season, which is disappointing, but he had scored a touchdown in his first three games, which was keeping him relevant. He then faced New England, who always tries their hardest to take away the opponent’s best receiver and then San Francisco, who just steamrolled them. I’ll take this as a momentary lull, but it would be nice to see those yardage numbers shoot up some.
The Bills running backs once again split snaps about equally, with C.J. Spiller handling 24 and Fred Jackson 22. Against lesser opponents, both will have flex appeal, but it will be tough to start them against top run defenses.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-12-11-9-13 (56), Andrew Hawkins: 9-3-4-3-13 (32), Jermaine Gresham: 8-5-7-5-6 (31), Armon Binns: 5-5-3-5-6 (24), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2-3-1-3-2 (11), Brandon Tate: 2-3-0-0-1 (6), Brian Leonard: 0-0-1-1-2 (4), Orson Charles: 0-0-1-1-0 (2), Chris Pressley: 0-0-0-2-0 (2), Marvin Jones: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp (2)
It looks like Miami’s defense might be more than just their run stoppers. Andy Dalton was picked twice and only threw one touchdown on 43 attempts. His two best receivers, A.J. Green and Andrew Hawkins, both saw 13 targets and Green barely eked out his normal stud-like game, while Hawkins only caught six of the 13. The good news is that he did target his two best receivers a bunch. We knew that about Green, but Hawkins saw a big bump in targets. Let’s hope that continues.
Bernard Scott came off an injury to just get injured again, but during that window, he shone a light on just how mediocre BenJarvus Green-Ellis is. We keep beating this lame Law Firm, but it’s true that his longest run over his last 26 games is 19 yards. That’s just not what you want from your starting running back or your fake starting running back.
Cleveland Browns
Trent Richardson: 3-5-7-6-7 (28), Greg Little: 4-7-4-10-2 (27), Josh Gordon: 4-3-6-1-8 (22), Ben Watson: 2-1-8-6-3 (20), Jordan Norwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-10-9 (19), Mohamed Massaquoi: 8-7-3-dnp-dnp (18), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-6-3-4-4 (17), Jordan Cameron: 1-0-7-6-2 (16), Travis Benjamin: 6-0-4-5-dnp (15), Alex Smith: 1-4-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Josh Cribbs: 0-2-1-2-0 (5), Brandon Jackson: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Owen Marecic: 2-1-0-0-0 (3)
Holy targets Trent Richardson. He is TRich for reals (Target Rich, just nod and I’ll keep moving). His 28 targets leads the team and he’s third in the league for running backs in targets and receptions as well as fourth in receiving yards and that was after getting off to a bit of a slow start.
And even then, he hasn’t been used as much as he could be with Chris Ogbonnaya coming in on a lot of third downs, but that even looks like it will change starting this week. If he is truly on the field for every down, just slot him as a top-five back going forward.
Josh Gordon had a huge game against the Giants and if you were to only look at his targets, yardage and touchdowns, you’d be on your way to picking him up, but unfortunately, he only caught two of his eight targets, which both went for long touchdowns. I say unfortunately because that is a tough stat line to sustain. The good news though, is that you can count on him getting the start again if Mohamed Massaquoi, Travis Benjamin, and Jordan Norwood are out against the Bengals.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 7-11-11-6-11 (46), Eric Decker: 7-8-11-9-8 (43), Jacob Tamme: 5-4-10-6-11 (36), Brandon Stokley: 3-6-6-2-3 (20), Willis McGahee: 1-2-2-6-6 (17), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-5-3-4 (16), Lance Ball: 0-2-3-2-0 (7), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-1-2-1 (4), Matthew Willis: 1-1-1-dnp-0 (3), Andre Caldwell: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0 (1), Chris Gronkowski: 0-0-1-0-0 (1)
You can always tell a solid passing attack by the consistency of targets, and Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are nothing if not consistent in target land. With Manning throwing them the ball you can feel safe running them out there every week.
The tight end situation is a little riskier. Jacob Tamme saw a ton of targets and caught six for 50 yards, but Joel Dreessen has been getting the touchdowns of late. That can be seen in their red zone targets over the last three weeks. Tamme has one to Dreessen’s four even though Tamme leads in overall targets, 27 to 12.
The running back job is still Willis McGahee’s, even though he had two costly gaffes in the fourth quarter of the New England game. Ronnie Hillman still has a ways to go before he’ll have the trust of John Fox.
Houston Texans
Owen Daniels: 8-9-5-6-5 (33), Andre Johnson: 10-4-4-6-6 (30), Kevin Walter: 2-4-6-3-6 (21), James Casey: 2-4-3-5-5 (19), Arian Foster: 3-7-1-2-4 (17), Keshawn Martin: 1-2-4-3-0 (10), Ben Tate: 3-4-0-2-dnp (9), Garrett Graham: 0-1-4-1-0 (6), Lestar Jean: 2-0-1-dnp-dnp (3)
Andre Johnson has two red zone targets all season, while Arian Foster has been targeted or ran the ball 33 times inside the red zone. That is a bit of a discrepancy. Add that to Johnson dropping some passes this season and I can see why his owners might be a little worried. Is it time to trade him away? I’m never one to trade away talented players at low points, so no, but I’m not going to expect consistently huge numbers going forward.
Owen Daniels has topped 70 yards his last two games and found the end zone in each of his last three. If they aren’t running the ball with Foster as they close in on the end zone, they are most likely throwing it to Daniels. He’s not going to score a touchdown each week, but he has a better chance than a lot of tight ends whose teams don’t get close to the end zone all that often.
Welcome to the AFC Target Watch for Week 6. You will find targety information to sedate the greatest of target beasts. For your dose of NFC targets, bang it here.
But before we get to that, let’s look at some stats that you will find to be statistical and not very whimsical. Below are the running backs with two or more runs inside the five yard line and how many touchdowns they have from those runs.
Touchdown Percentage Inside the Five
| Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
|
Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
|
Player |
Att |
TDs |
TD% |
| Jorvorskie Lane |
2 |
2 |
100% |
|
Daniel Thomas |
4 |
2 |
50% |
|
Shonn Greene |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Michael Bush |
4 |
3 |
75% |
|
Frank Gore |
6 |
3 |
50% |
|
BenJarvus Green-Ellis |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Alfred Morris |
3 |
2 |
67% |
|
Willis McGahee |
7 |
3 |
43% |
|
Ahmad Bradshaw |
4 |
1 |
25% |
| Andre Brown |
5 |
3 |
60% |
|
Kendall Hunter |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Tashard Choice |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Isaac Redman |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Ray Rice |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Rashad Jennings |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Mark Ingram |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Brandon Bolden |
3 |
1 |
33% |
|
Reggie Bush |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| Joique Bell |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Arian Foster |
9 |
3 |
33% |
|
Lance Ball |
2 |
0 |
0% |
| C.J. Spiller |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Jackie Battle |
9 |
3 |
33% |
|
Ryan Williams |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Marshawn Lynch |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Adrian Peterson |
7 |
2 |
29% |
|
Darren McFadden |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Kevin Smith |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
Michael Turner |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Bryce Brown |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Ben Tate |
2 |
1 |
50% |
|
DeAngelo Williams |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Steven Jackson |
3 |
0 |
0% |
| Stevan Ridley |
4 |
2 |
50% |
|
LeSean McCoy |
4 |
1 |
25% |
|
Doug Martin |
4 |
0 |
0% |
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 5-4-7-12-10 (38), Dennis Pitta: 9-15-7-2-4 (37), Ray Rice: 4-10-5-11-3 (33), Torrey Smith: 3-5-10-10-4 (32), Jacoby Jones: 3-2-4-7-2 (18), Vonta Leach: 3-1-3-2-2 (11), Ed Dickson: 3-4-2-0-1 (10), Tandon Doss: 0-1-0-2-1 (4), Deonte Thompson: 2-0-0-0-0 (2), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0-0 (1)
The Ravens' bout with the Chiefs was a clunker on many fronts, including the target front. Anquan Boldin was the target hog and caught four of 10 targets for 82 yards and it was all downhill from there.
Torrey Smith had four targets and caught three of them, but that isn’t nearly enough. We saw the prior two weeks versus New England and Cleveland that Smith is a playmaker, but you have to get him the ball so he can make plays. He should not be fourth on this target list. I have a feeling the Chiefs game will open the coaching staff’s eyes to how badly they need to get Smith involved.
Ray Rice still gets it done no matter how the game is going, so no need to worry about him.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-5-11-10-10 (46), Scott Chandler: 6-5-4-8-6 (29), Donald Jones: 7-3-6-3-4 (23), T.J. Graham: dnp-1-5-8-3 (17), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-2-2-1 (11), Tashard Choice: 0-1-5-1-dnp (7), David Nelson: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Fred Jackson: 0-dnp-dnp-3-1 (4), Brad Smith: dnp-1-0-2-1 (4), Dorin Dickerson: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp (2), Corey McIntyre: 0-0-2-0-0 (2), Lee Smith: 1-0-0-0-0 (1)
The Bills were run over in San Francisco and the stats bear witness. It’s not the easiest task to fly cross-country and play the 49ers, so I’m going to give them a pass here. Against lesser defenses, this offense can put up fantasy points, even if they are a bit sporadic.
Stevie Johnson hasn’t topped 61 yards receiving this season, which is disappointing, but he had scored a touchdown in his first three games, which was keeping him relevant. He then faced New England, who always tries their hardest to take away the opponent’s best receiver and then San Francisco, who just steamrolled them. I’ll take this as a momentary lull, but it would be nice to see those yardage numbers shoot up some.
The Bills running backs once again split snaps about equally, with C.J. Spiller handling 24 and Fred Jackson 22. Against lesser opponents, both will have flex appeal, but it will be tough to start them against top run defenses.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-12-11-9-13 (56), Andrew Hawkins: 9-3-4-3-13 (32), Jermaine Gresham: 8-5-7-5-6 (31), Armon Binns: 5-5-3-5-6 (24), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2-3-1-3-2 (11), Brandon Tate: 2-3-0-0-1 (6), Brian Leonard: 0-0-1-1-2 (4), Orson Charles: 0-0-1-1-0 (2), Chris Pressley: 0-0-0-2-0 (2), Marvin Jones: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp (2)
It looks like Miami’s defense might be more than just their run stoppers. Andy Dalton was picked twice and only threw one touchdown on 43 attempts. His two best receivers, A.J. Green and Andrew Hawkins, both saw 13 targets and Green barely eked out his normal stud-like game, while Hawkins only caught six of the 13. The good news is that he did target his two best receivers a bunch. We knew that about Green, but Hawkins saw a big bump in targets. Let’s hope that continues.
Bernard Scott came off an injury to just get injured again, but during that window, he shone a light on just how mediocre BenJarvus Green-Ellis is. We keep beating this lame Law Firm, but it’s true that his longest run over his last 26 games is 19 yards. That’s just not what you want from your starting running back or your fake starting running back.
Cleveland Browns
Trent Richardson: 3-5-7-6-7 (28), Greg Little: 4-7-4-10-2 (27), Josh Gordon: 4-3-6-1-8 (22), Ben Watson: 2-1-8-6-3 (20), Jordan Norwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-10-9 (19), Mohamed Massaquoi: 8-7-3-dnp-dnp (18), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-6-3-4-4 (17), Jordan Cameron: 1-0-7-6-2 (16), Travis Benjamin: 6-0-4-5-dnp (15), Alex Smith: 1-4-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Josh Cribbs: 0-2-1-2-0 (5), Brandon Jackson: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Owen Marecic: 2-1-0-0-0 (3)
Holy targets Trent Richardson. He is TRich for reals (Target Rich, just nod and I’ll keep moving). His 28 targets leads the team and he’s third in the league for running backs in targets and receptions as well as fourth in receiving yards and that was after getting off to a bit of a slow start.
And even then, he hasn’t been used as much as he could be with Chris Ogbonnaya coming in on a lot of third downs, but that even looks like it will change starting this week. If he is truly on the field for every down, just slot him as a top-five back going forward.
Josh Gordon had a huge game against the Giants and if you were to only look at his targets, yardage and touchdowns, you’d be on your way to picking him up, but unfortunately, he only caught two of his eight targets, which both went for long touchdowns. I say unfortunately because that is a tough stat line to sustain. The good news though, is that you can count on him getting the start again if Mohamed Massaquoi, Travis Benjamin, and Jordan Norwood are out against the Bengals.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 7-11-11-6-11 (46), Eric Decker: 7-8-11-9-8 (43), Jacob Tamme: 5-4-10-6-11 (36), Brandon Stokley: 3-6-6-2-3 (20), Willis McGahee: 1-2-2-6-6 (17), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-5-3-4 (16), Lance Ball: 0-2-3-2-0 (7), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-1-2-1 (4), Matthew Willis: 1-1-1-dnp-0 (3), Andre Caldwell: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0 (1), Chris Gronkowski: 0-0-1-0-0 (1)
You can always tell a solid passing attack by the consistency of targets, and Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are nothing if not consistent in target land. With Manning throwing them the ball you can feel safe running them out there every week.
The tight end situation is a little riskier. Jacob Tamme saw a ton of targets and caught six for 50 yards, but Joel Dreessen has been getting the touchdowns of late. That can be seen in their red zone targets over the last three weeks. Tamme has one to Dreessen’s four even though Tamme leads in overall targets, 27 to 12.
The running back job is still Willis McGahee’s, even though he had two costly gaffes in the fourth quarter of the New England game. Ronnie Hillman still has a ways to go before he’ll have the trust of John Fox.
Houston Texans
Owen Daniels: 8-9-5-6-5 (33), Andre Johnson: 10-4-4-6-6 (30), Kevin Walter: 2-4-6-3-6 (21), James Casey: 2-4-3-5-5 (19), Arian Foster: 3-7-1-2-4 (17), Keshawn Martin: 1-2-4-3-0 (10), Ben Tate: 3-4-0-2-dnp (9), Garrett Graham: 0-1-4-1-0 (6), Lestar Jean: 2-0-1-dnp-dnp (3)
Andre Johnson has two red zone targets all season, while Arian Foster has been targeted or ran the ball 33 times inside the red zone. That is a bit of a discrepancy. Add that to Johnson dropping some passes this season and I can see why his owners might be a little worried. Is it time to trade him away? I’m never one to trade away talented players at low points, so no, but I’m not going to expect consistently huge numbers going forward.
Owen Daniels has topped 70 yards his last two games and found the end zone in each of his last three. If they aren’t running the ball with Foster as they close in on the end zone, they are most likely throwing it to Daniels. He’s not going to score a touchdown each week, but he has a better chance than a lot of tight ends whose teams don’t get close to the end zone all that often.
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 18-7-15-BYE-20 (60), Donnie Avery: 8-10-9-BYE-8 (35), Coby Fleener: 10-4-2-BYE-9 (25), T.Y. Hilton: dnp-1-8-BYE-9 (18), Dwayne Allen: 0-1-6-BYE-5 (12), Kris Adams: 4-3-1-BYE-dnp (8), Donald Brown: 2-0-1-BYE-2 (5), Mewelde Moore: 1-2-1-BYE-dnp (4), Vick Ballard: 0-1-0-BYE-1 (2), LaVon Brazill: 1-dnp-0-BYE-0 (1), Nathan Palmer: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1 (1), Austin Collie: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-dnp (1)
Reggie Wayne willed himself to 13 receptions for 212 yards and a touchdown and it really was a sight to see. I’ve seen some pretty great individual performances by running backs, but it’s always a treat to see a wide receiver take over a game.
Andrew Luck threw the ball 55 times, so we got a good feel as to how the targets are distributed, and unfortunately for Donnie Avery and T.Y. Hilton, it looks like they are sharing. Of course the crazy amount of targets should keep up since Luck is averaging over 44 passes a game, so maybe both can have some value, but it will be hard for all three of the wide receivers to have value consistently. Avery is the number two receiver, so sees more time on the field than Hilton, so that’s who I have to lean toward for now.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 6-4-5-10-8 (33), Cecil Shorts: 7-2-2-5-3 (19), Maurice Jones-Drew: 5-3-2-5-3 (18), Laurent Robinson: 9-6-1-1-dnp (17), Mike Thomas: 1-3-3-2-8 (17), Marcedes Lewis: 5-0-1-3-7 (16), Greg Jones: 2-1-3-4-0 (10), Zach Potter: 0-2-0-0-1 (3), Montell Owens: 3-0-0-0-0 (3), Kevin Elliott: dnp-dnp-0-0-3 (3), Rashad Jennings: 1-dnp-dnp-1-0 (2)
The Jaguars faced the Bears, so it’s hard to fault them too much for a poor showing, but the two weeks before, they faced the Colts and Bengals and did little to nothing. After a good week one performance for Blaine Gabbert, it has been a quick and slippery slope to the cesspool of painful to the eyes football.
Maurice Hones-Drew is, as always, the only player worth owning on the Jaguars.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 6-15-16-12-8 (57), Dexter McCluster: 10-5-4-4-0 (23), Jamaal Charles: 0-4-8-4-3 (19), Jon Baldwin: 0-6-4-5-3 (18), Tony Moeaki: 6-4-3-4-1 (18), Shaun Draughn: 2-2-3-5-1 (13), Steve Breaston: 4-1-3-1-0 (9), Peyton Hillis: 3-3-1-dnp-dnp (7), Kevin Boss: 2-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (3), Cyrus Gray: dnp-dnp-0-1-1 (2)
The Matt Cassel led Chiefs had become the Jamaal Charles led Chiefs with some guy handing it off to him. It’s amazing to say or type or morse-code, but Brady Quinn has to be an upgrade. He looked better than Cassel in his short time behind center toward the end of the game, but that’s not really the point. The Chiefs had given up on Cassel, which means they’d given up on the passing game.
I don’t care if Brady Quinn throws multiple picks, if the Chiefs allow him to pass the ball at all, it will be an upgrade for the Chiefs fantasy players, all two of them.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 8-12-9-19-5 (53), Davone Bess: 7-6-7-12-6 (38), Anthony Fasano: 5-3-10-5-4 (27), Reggie Bush: 6-4-1-1-2 (14), Charles Clay: 1-3-0-1-5 (10), Anthony Armstrong: 3-dnp-6-0-0 (9), Daniel Thomas: 3-dnp-2-1-1 (7), Legedu Naanee: 2-1-0-2-dnp (5), Jorvorskie Lane: 1-0-1-0-2 (4)
The Brian Hartline target show took a detour week five. It made me a little sad, but the Dolphins took to the ground and their defense to beat the Bengals. These things happen. And they could happen more often if the Dolphins defense continues to play well.
The running game was productive, but the split in work between Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas is a little worrisome for Bush owners. Bush was in on 39 snaps to Thomas’ 27, but Thomas got the goal line work and scored a touchdown.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 5-11-10-11-15 (52), Brandon Lloyd: 8-13-12-7-5 (45), Rob Gronkowski: 6-9-3-11-5 (34), Julian Edelman: 2-6-7-dnp-dnp (15), Stevan Ridley: 3-4-1-0-0 (8), Aaron Hernandez: 7-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (8), Danny Woodhead: 0-1-2-2-1 (6), Deion Branch: dnp-dnp-3-0-2 (5), Daniel Fells: dnp-dnp-0-2-2 (4), Kellen Winslow: dnp-dnp-2-dnp-dnp (2), Shane Vereen: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-0 (2), Brandon Bolden: 0-0-0-1-1 (2), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-0-1-0-dnp (1)
Over the last three weeks Wes Welker has led the league in receptions and yardage. Of course the absence of Aaron Hernandez and Julian Edelman had something to do with that. What happens when they return is anybody’s guess.
Brandon Lloyd’s targets have gradually declined while Gronkowski’s targets have fluctuated wildly. Once again, anybody’s guess.
The fact that the Patriots are running the ball much more is completely screwing with everything I hold dear. Targets, I’m talking about targets! I named my kitty Target for gosh sake! Anyway, the run game is chugging along for the Patriots with 54 runs to 31 passes against the Broncos last week. Stevan Ridley led the way with 28 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown, but also a fumble. We’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope there is no reprisal from The Hoodster.
Does this new found run game hurt Brady and the receivers? Yes. How could it not? Will they continue to run like this? Ask Bill Belichick and see how that goes. But on the surface, I’m worried about all the receiving mouths to feed, especially once Edelman and Hernandez get back.
New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 8-11-14-8-dnp (41), Jeff Cumberland: 4-5-6-5-4 (24), Jeremy Kerley: 4-4-3-3-9 (23), Bilal Powell: 1-2-5-3-4 (15), Stephen Hill: 6-2-7-dnp-dnp (15), Chaz Schilens: 1-0-3-3-5 (12), Shonn Greene: 1-0-2-0-2 (5), Patrick Turner: 0-dnp-dnp-5-dnp (5), Clyde Gates: dnp-1-1-0-3 (5), Jason Hill: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (2), Dedrick Epps: dnp-0-0-1-dnp (1), Konrad Reuland: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (1), Dustin Keller: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (1), John Conner: 0-0-dnp-1-dnp (1)
It looks like Jeremy Kerley is your Jets new number one wide receiver. If he can continue to see nine targets a game, he will be worthwhile in fantasy, but it’s way too early to predict those kinds of target numbers with this team.
Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell continue to split snap counts, but we also saw a rise in touches for Tim Tebow and Joe McKnight. Really, unless Tebow becomes the starting quarterback, there’s nobody on this team worth owning.
Oakland Raiders
Darren McFadden: 18-7-2-1-BYE (28), Denarius Moore: dnp-8-10-8-BYE (26), Marcel Reece: 2-3-5-8-BYE (18), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 5-8-5-dnp-BYE (18), Brandon Myers: 5-6-4-2-BYE (17), Rod Streater: 10-3-2-2-BYE (17), Derek Hagan: 5-2-4-5-BYE (16), David Ausberry: 1-3-1-2-BYE (7), Mike Goodson: 0-3-0-3-BYE (6), Richard Gordon: 0-4-1-dnp-BYE (5)
The Oakland Raiders took Week 5 off to injure some wide receivers.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 8-10-11-BYE-10 (39), Mike Wallace: 6-5-11-BYE-8 (30), Heath Miller: 7-3-9-BYE-5 (24), Emmanuel Sanders: 8-4-4-BYE-7 (23), Jonathan Dwyer: 4-2-1-BYE-dnp (7), Isaac Redman: 2-1-3-BYE-0 (6), Chris Rainey: 1-2-2-BYE-1 (6), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-2-1-BYE-1 (5), Rashard Mendenhall: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3 (3), Will Johnson: dnp-1-1-BYE-0 (2), Baron Batch: 0-0-2-BYE-0 (2), David Paulson: 0-0-0-BYE-1 (1), Leonard Pope: 0-1-0-BYE-0 (1)
This game’s biggest fantasy news came from the reemergence of Rashard Mendenhall. After watching Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer plodding around, it was refreshing to see a running back who had some ability to make people miss.
In the Steelers pass first offense it will be difficult for Mendenhall to put up consistent numbers, but his 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown was a nice start. And amazingly, he was only on the field 22 snaps to Isaac Redman’s 35. That will change now that they know his knee responded well to the game and he will get more looks.
The Eagles pass defense is stout, so it was good to see at least one Steelers receiver put up decent numbers, with Antonio Brown grabbing seven receptions for 86 yards. I wouldn’t worry about Mike Wallace going forward either. His down game should just be a blip on the radar.
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 6-8-9-3-8 (34), Antonio Gates: 8-dnp-7-3-7 (25), Robert Meachem: 2-4-7-2-4 (19), Eddie Royal: 2-3-3-5-5 (18), Ryan Mathews: dnp-dnp-8-2-8 (18), Ronnie Brown: 5-4-dnp-3-5 (17), Curtis Brinkley: 5-4-2-dnp-dnp (11), Dante Rosario: 1-4-1-0-1 (7), Jackie Battle: 0-0-0-4-2 (6), LeRon McClain: 4-0-0-1-0 (5), Randy McMichael: 0-4-1-0-0 (5)
Ryan Mathews led all running backs in targets with eight and that was on just 12 passing routes. Ronnie Brown on the other hand ran 26 passing routes. That is some head shaking news when your best player and receiving back isn’t getting the ball, especially in crunch time. I’m actually beside myself right now. Dang, I need to hit the gym.
Mathews put up great numbers (139 yards and a touchdown) even though he was used inappropriately, so he should take another step in usage this week unless Ronnie Brown has his knees replaced with plutonium powered joints.
Robert Meachem burned his old team for two touchdowns on four targets and three receptions. I’d be wary of relying on a repeat performance, but in this offense, just about anyone can get fantasy points on any given football day.
Malcom Floyd continues to get targets, but since week one he hasn’t found the end zone, which is one of his specialties. I’d expect to see his touchdown to catch percentage rise.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 6-8-11-8-11 (44), Jared Cook: 6-6-4-4-8 (28), Nate Washington: 8-2-3-5-7 (25), Damian Williams: 6-6-3-2-3 (20), Kenny Britt: dnp-2-11-dnp-5 (18), Chris Johnson: 7-3-2-2-1 (15), Craig Stevens: 1-1-7-2-4 (15), Javon Ringer: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-5 (5), Darius Reynaud: 4-0-0-0-1 (5), Lavelle Hawkins: 4-0-dnp-1-dnp (5), Taylor Thompson: 0-1-0-1-2 (4), Quinn Johnson: 0-0-1-1-1 (3), Jamie Harper: 1-dnp-0-dnp-dnp (1)
This season has been the Kendall Wright target show so far. He has found the end zone twice, but his high in yardage came last week on his nine receptions and it was only 66 yards. If Kenny Britt can stay healthy, he will cut into Wright’s playing time. He already did last week, playing on 40% of the snaps to Wright’s 65% and the week before, Wright had played on 84% of the snaps.
Chris Johnson’s snap count since week two has gone from 98% to 81% to 78% to 67% last week. Javon Ringer and Darius Reynaud had been taking up the slack, but with Ringer out, it looks like Jamie Harper will see more work. It looks like fantasy owners aren’t the only ones losing faith in him.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.