New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 8-11-14-8-dnp-dnp (41), Jeremy Kerley: 4-4-3-3-9-6 (29), Jeff Cumberland: 4-5-6-5-4-1 (25), Stephen Hill: 6-2-7-dnp-dnp-3 (18), Bilal Powell: 1-2-5-3-4-2 (17), Chaz Schilens: 1-0-3-3-5-4 (16), Shonn Greene: 1-0-2-0-2-0 (5), Patrick Turner: 0-dnp-dnp-5-dnp-dnp (5), Clyde Gates: dnp-1-1-0-3-dnp (5), Jason Hill: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1 (3), Dustin Keller: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (2), Dedrick Epps: dnp-0-0-1-dnp-dnp (1), John Conner: 0-0-dnp-1-dnp-dnp (1), Konrad Reuland: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0 (1)
Mark Sanchez threw the ball 18 times and completed 11 of those passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. That’s some crazy sauce right there. But not as crazy as Shonn Greene getting 32 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns. What am I supposed to do with this! Huh!?
Target-wise there’s not much to say. The two Hills caught touchdown passes on four total targets. Jeremy Kerley and Chaz Schilens were the “main” targets, accumulating 10 together, to go with five receptions for 47 yards. You can’t trust this passing game.
Shonn Greene will need his team to keep facing poor rush defenses, blow out said team, and keep him in during the blowout to keep his confidence up.
Oakland Raiders
Denarius Moore: dnp-8-10-8-BYE-9 (35), Darren McFadden: 18-7-2-1-BYE-4 (32), Brandon Myers: 5-6-4-2-BYE-7 (24), Rod Streater: 10-3-2-2-BYE-3 (20), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 5-8-5-dnp-BYE-2 (20), Derek Hagan: 5-2-4-5-BYE-4 (20), Marcel Reece: 2-3-5-8-BYE-1 (19), David Ausberry: 1-3-1-2-BYE-2 (9), Mike Goodson: 0-3-0-3-BYE-1 (7), Richard Gordon: 0-4-1-dnp-BYE-dnp (5), Juron Criner: 0-dnp-dnp-3-BYE-0 (3)
The best news for the Raiders is that Denarius Moore is healthy and the number one target. His ability coupled with a steady stream of targets makes for some decent consistency and a lot of upside. I’d be targeting him in trades.
Darren McFadden had another down game, but was given one heckuva workload, with 27 carries and four targets. Of course in his 30 touches he totaled 98 yards and in Mike Goodson’s 5 touches he totaled 96 yards. It looks like Goodson had a little more bang for the buck. But it was good to see McFadden get so much work and not break something and also get into the end zone. He’s lost some luster this season, but he has the easiest schedule against the run going forward, so hang on.
Brandon Myers is quietly becoming a decent bye-week filler. I doubt he’ll ever get to startable status, but his catch rate is good (even though he dropped a touchdown, jerk) and he just had his most targets on the season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 8-10-11-BYE-10-10 (49), Mike Wallace: 6-5-11-BYE-8-4 (34), Heath Miller: 7-3-9-BYE-5-9 (33), Emmanuel Sanders: 8-4-4-BYE-7-6 (29), Isaac Redman: 2-1-3-BYE-0-5 (11), Chris Rainey: 1-2-2-BYE-1-1 (7), Jonathan Dwyer: 4-2-1-BYE-dnp-dnp (7), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-2-1-BYE-1-0 (5), Rashard Mendenhall: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3-1 (4), Baron Batch: 0-0-2-BYE-0-1 (3), Will Johnson: dnp-1-1-BYE-0-1 (3), David Paulson: 0-0-0-BYE-1-1 (2), Leonard Pope: 0-1-0-BYE-0-0 (1)
Antonio Brown is getting his targets and then some, but is still having trouble getting into the end zone. His one touchdown this year was on an amazing run after the catch and that just isn’t going to happen all that often. So far Heath Miller has been getting the majority of the red zone targets with 11. And even Mike Wallace is topping him with seven to Brown’s four, three of which came in the first game while Wallace wasn’t up to speed.
As for the running backs, there are too many injuries to really figure that mess out. Isaac Redman’s big receiving day was based on the art of surprise and most likely will never ever, ever happen again.
Baron Batch would be the guy if Mendenhall and Redman couldn’t go, but he’d still be a bit of a desperation flex play.
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 6-8-9-3-8-5 (39), Antonio Gates: 8-dnp-7-3-7-10 (35), Robert Meachem: 2-4-7-2-4-7 (26), Eddie Royal: 2-3-3-5-5-5 (23), Ryan Mathews: dnp-dnp-8-2-8-5 (23), Ronnie Brown: 5-4-dnp-3-5-4 (21), Curtis Brinkley: 5-4-2-dnp-dnp-0 (11), Dante Rosario: 1-4-1-0-1-1 (8), Randy McMichael: 0-4-1-0-0-2 (7), Jackie Battle: 0-0-0-4-2-0 (6), Le’Ron McClain: 4-0-0-1-0-0 (5), Richard Goodman: 0-0-0-0-0-2 (2), Ladarius Green: dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (1)
The Chargers had very little to be happy about in their total collapse against the Broncos on Monday night, but fantasy football players who own Antonio Gates (or FFPWOAG as I like to call them) were ecstatic. All the signs were there for a turn around and amazingly the signs pointed in the right direction. He is easily Philip Rivers best target this season and should see his targets rise.
It’s difficult to get any kind of grasp on this Chargers team. Philip Rivers was able to get Gates six receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns, so he’s not Brady Quinn bad, but he has declined and I’m worried about Malcom Floyd sustaining value week to week. After him I wouldn’t even try.
Ryan Mathews had 26 touches for 93 yards and no touchdowns. That’s not too great. The good news is that he had 22 carries and didn’t fumble and can keep his job a few more quarters. I’m still buying Mathews. He should be in there during crunch time on passing downs because, well, he’s good. But Norv will be Norv.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 6-8-11-8-11-8 (52), Nate Washington: 8-2-3-5-7-10 (35), Jared Cook: 6-6-4-4-8-4 (32), Kenny Britt: dnp-2-11-dnp-5-11 (29), Damian Williams: 6-6-3-2-3-3 (23), Chris Johnson: 7-3-2-2-1-4 (19), Craig Stevens: 1-1-7-2-4-2 (17), Javon Ringer: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-5-dnp (5), Darius Reynaud: 4-0-0-0-1-0 (5), Lavelle Hawkins: 4-0-dnp-1-dnp-dnp (5), Taylor Thompson: 0-1-0-1-2-1 (5), Quinn Johnson: 0-0-1-1-1-1 (4), Jamie Harper: 1-dnp-0-dnp-dnp-0 (1)
The Titans put up some respectable fantasy numbers last Thursday with old man Hasselbeck at the helm. He threw the ball to Kenny Britt like he was getting paid to and even though Britt outright sucked, he at least managed to catch four of his 11 targets for 62 yards and a touchdown. The even better news is that Britt isn’t as bad as he played and if he can stay healthy should be a viable fantasy player going forward.
Rookie Kenny Wright had a nice game, catching six of eight targets for 71 yards. That’s even better because that came with Britt fully back in target land. He should remain in the picture target-wise, especially with Nate Washington not distinguishing himself.
And I’ll end this article on a positive note for Chris Johnson. He had a respectable game against the Steelers, topping 100 total yards and not shaming his family name. But the even better news is that he gets Buffalo and Indianapolis the next two weeks. Hope for big games and then sell.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.
Welcome to the AFC Target Watch for Week 7. You will find target information that will bewilder and baffle the mind. Bang it here for Wednesday's NFC targets.
I also have a little treat just below here (no peeking!). You’ll find the top ten target percentage accumulators from each position over the last three weeks. I like to know that my player is the favoritest player on the team!
Target Percentage Leaders
| Wide Receiver |
% of Targets |
|
Tight End |
% of Targets |
|
Running Back |
% of Targets |
| Brandon Marshall |
39.68% |
|
Jason Witten |
23.86% |
|
Ray Rice |
18.18% |
| Steve Smith |
35.19% |
|
Tony Gonzalez |
20.47% |
|
LeSean McCoy |
17.17% |
| Wes Welker |
32.52% |
|
Kyle Rudolph |
20.35% |
|
Willis McGahee |
15.32% |
| Victor Cruz |
32.08% |
|
Rob Gronkowski |
19.51% |
|
Ryan Mathews |
14.42% |
| Steve Johnson |
31.96% |
|
Antonio Gates |
19.23% |
|
Darren Sproles |
14.14% |
| Larry Fitzgerald |
31.82% |
|
Heath Miller |
18.67% |
|
Trent Richardson |
13.91% |
| Dez Bryant |
31.82% |
|
Greg Olsen |
18.52% |
|
Doug Martin |
13.85% |
| Marques Colston |
31.31% |
|
Brent Celek |
18.18% |
|
Marcel Reece |
13.43% |
| Reggie Wayne |
30.93% |
|
Fred Davis |
17.72% |
|
Adrian Peterson |
13.27% |
| Dwayne Bowe |
30.85% |
|
Scott Chandler |
17.53% |
|
Maurice Jones-Drew |
12.50% |
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 5-4-7-12-10-6 (44), Dennis Pitta: 9-15-7-2-4-5 (42), Ray Rice: 4-10-5-11-3-4 (37), Torrey Smith: 3-5-10-10-4-4 (36), Jacoby Jones: 3-2-4-7-2-3 (21), Vonta Leach: 3-1-3-2-2-1 (12), Ed Dickson: 3-4-2-0-1-2 (12), Tandon Doss: 0-1-0-2-1-0 (4), Deonte Thompson: 2-0-0-0-0-dnp (2), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0-0-1 (2)
The Ravens defensive stars are dropping like it’s the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, but all that bad news for the defense is good news to all us fantasy football jackholes. The more points the Ravens give up, the more the offense will need to score to compete.
The Ravens offense hasn’t been at full tilt recently, but after they face Houston and have their bye, there schedule gets a little easier. And I’m hoping we see Torrey Smith start to get more targets. He is still sitting fourth on the team in targets, which is just criminally insane in the membrane.
Dennis Pitta has been getting Boldin’d over the last three games. Both players work the interior of the field and make the tough, face-jarring catches, so I’m hoping the need to score more will get both more looks, as well as Smith, which is probably asking too much.
Ray Rice has 97 rushing attempts and 37 targets through the first six games. Last season through six games he also had 97 rushing attempts, but 40 targets. This year he has 715 total yards and five touchdowns, last year he had 763 total yards and four touchdowns. This is all to say that Rice is being used as often and as well as last season.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-5-11-10-10-11 (57), Scott Chandler: 6-5-4-8-6-3 (32), Donald Jones: 7-3-6-3-4-4 (27), T.J. Graham: dnp-1-5-8-3-3 (20), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-2-2-1-5 (16), Fred Jackson: 0-dnp-dnp-3-1-6 (10), Tashard Choice: 0-1-5-1-dnp-0 (7), David Nelson: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (5), Brad Smith: dnp-1-0-2-1-0 (4), Dorin Dickerson: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp-dnp (2), Corey McIntyre: 0-0-2-0-0-0 (2), Lee Smith: 1-0-0-0-0-0 (1)
Ryan Fitzpatrick is averaging 139.5 yards passing and zero touchdowns over the last two weeks, so there weren’t many productive targets being sent out into football land. That also had something to do with two road games against San Francisco and Arizona. But they should get the road frequently traveled against the Titans this week and that means targets should turn into fantasy points with much more ease.
Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler still lead the team in targets, but Stevie is the guy who continues to get force fed the ball. When a player is close to double-digit targets AND he gets to face a defense giving up the worst completion percentage in the league at 71.9% and the fifth most receiving touchdowns, you have a nice matchup.
The running back by committee approach worked out okay for fantasy owners of both C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson last week, but that’s because both got into the end zone, but it’s going to be tough foreseeing who that will be each week. Over the last three games Spiller has seen 46% of the snaps to Jackson’s 52%. During that stretch both have a just one carry inside the five-yard line and Jackson scored on his, but Spiller has seen three rushing attempts to Jackson’s one inside the red zone, and Spiller scored as well. Spiller’s ability is good enough that his red zone looks have a similar chance of scoring as Jackson’s goal line looks.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-12-11-9-13-12 (68), Jermaine Gresham: 8-5-7-5-6-8 (39), Andrew Hawkins: 9-3-4-3-13-5 (37), Armon Binns: 5-5-3-5-6-5 (29), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 2-3-1-3-2-1 (12), Cedric Peerman: 0-0-0-0-0-8 (8), Brandon Tate: 2-3-0-0-1-1 (7), Brian Leonard: 0-0-1-1-2-1 (5), Orson Charles: 0-0-1-1-0-2 (4), Marvin Jones: 0-0-dnp-2-dnp-2 (4), Chris Pressley: 0-0-0-2-0-0 (2)
Right now A.J. Green is the best fantasy wide receiver in the game. That could change, but it’s a fact through six weeks. Andy Dalton has thrown the ball at Green 68 times, which is third in the league to Reggie Wayne and Victor Cruz. His 11.3 targets per game is what Roddy White led the league with last season. This is all to say that Green is the man in Cincinnati and in fantasy.
Andrew Hawkins looks like the best non-Green wide receiver and if he can get targets he’ll be fantasy worthy. Last week Armon Binns saw an equal number of targets, but this was the first week Hawkins saw more snaps, 54 to 42. Add that to a fumble by Binns and we may start getting more Hawkins in the future.
Jermaine Gresham’s targets are right on the edge of acceptable for fantasy reliability. Last week he caught and ran for a long touchdown, but still only had three receptions for 68 yards and those 68 yards was his high on the season. Without a touchdown, he doesn’t have much fantasy value and he hasn’t had a red zone target since week three.
With Brian Leonard getting hurt, the third down back job went to Cedric Peerman and he ran with it. While Leonard was healthy, he totaled five targets, Peerman in one game had eight and he caught all eight for 76 yards. BenJarvus Green Ellis wasn’t getting many targets as it was, but he for sure isn’t now. The Law Firm hasn’t hit double-digit fantasy points since week two. There really is no upside there.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 4-7-4-10-2-5 (32), Trent Richardson: 3-5-7-6-7-3 (31), Josh Gordon: 4-3-6-1-8-4 (26), Ben Watson: 2-1-8-6-3-5 (25), Jordan Cameron: 1-0-7-6-2-4 (20), Jordan Norwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-10-9-dnp (19), Chris Ogbonnaya: dnp-6-3-4-4-2 (19), Mohamed Massaquoi: 8-7-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (18), Travis Benjamin: 6-0-4-5-dnp-dnp (15), Josh Cribbs: 0-2-1-2-0-1 (6), Alex Smith: 1-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-0 (5), Owen Marecic: 2-1-0-0-0-2 (5), Brandon Jackson: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Josh Cooper: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3 (3), Montario Hardesty: 0-0-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (1)
Trent Richardson was on his way to target glory before he hurt his ribs and I think that tells you just about all you need to know about who the Browns number one receiver is. No? Well, it’s nobody. Josh Gordon is looking good, but how often are defenses going to let him get behind them now? I like him, but his two big games have come from 12 targets and five receptions. He’ll be hit and miss all season, but thankfully he gets the Colts this week, which makes it much easier to hit.
Montario Hardesty filled in well for Trent Richardson, almost too well, but Richardson practiced on Wednesday and I doubt Hardesty does more than spell him a few downs.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 7-8-11-9-8-9 (52), Demaryius Thomas: 7-11-11-6-11-2 (48), Jacob Tamme: 5-4-10-6-11-2 (38), Brandon Stokley: 3-6-6-2-3-4 (24), Joel Dreessen: 2-2-5-3-4-7 (23), Willis McGahee: 1-2-2-6-6-5 (22), Lance Ball: 0-2-3-2-0-0 (7), Matthew Willis: 1-1-1-dnp-0-1 (4), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-1-2-1-0 (4), Knowshon Moreno: 0-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (1), Chris Gronkowski: 0-0-1-0-0-0 (1), Andre Caldwell: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0-0 (1)
There has been a change on the Broncos target leader board! Alert the media! While the Broncos were coming back from a 24-0 halftime deficit, Demaryius Thomas only had two targets to Eric Decker’s nine. Thankfully for Thomas owners, he caught both for 37 yards and a touchdown. If he can withstand poor target games like that, he’s a keeper.
Joel Dreessen saw a nice uptick in targets this week with seven, while Jacob Tamme only had two. Tamme ran a couple more passing routes than Dreessen, but couldn’t get the targets. Unlike the competition for targets between Decker and Thomas, this competition only has losers. Tamme and Dreessen will cap each other’s upside.
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 10-4-4-6-6-12 (42), Owen Daniels: 8-9-5-6-5-5 (38), Kevin Walter: 2-4-6-3-6-4 (25), James Casey: 2-4-3-5-5-2 (21), Arian Foster: 3-7-1-2-4-3 (20), Keshawn Martin: 1-2-4-3-0-6 (16), Garrett Graham: 0-1-4-1-0-5 (11), Ben Tate: 3-4-0-2-dnp-0 (9), Lestar Jean: 2-0-1-dnp-dnp-0 (3), DeVier Posey: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-0-1 (1), Justin Forsett: 0-0-0-0-0-1 (1)
Matt Schaub had a poor game along with most of the Texans on Sunday night. We knew Andre Johnson would see more targets than usual in a game where they would need to come from behind, so seeing that come true was nice, but he couldn’t get into the end zone unfortunately.
Owen Daniels has been flirting with disaster when it comes to targets and production. Lately he’s been taking five to six target days and turning them into touchdowns and yardage above his target station. That didn’t continue last week. Daniels is averaging 5.2 targets over the last four games, which ranks him 18th out of tight ends.
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 18-7-15-BYE-20-10 (70), Donnie Avery: 8-10-9-BYE-8-12 (47), Coby Fleener: 10-4-2-BYE-9-6 (31), T.Y. Hilton: dnp-1-8-BYE-9-4 (22), Dwayne Allen: 0-1-6-BYE-5-4 (16), Kris Adams: 4-3-1-BYE-dnp-dnp (8), Donald Brown: 2-0-1-BYE-2-dnp (5), Vick Ballard: 0-1-0-BYE-1-3 (5), Mewelde Moore: 1-2-1-BYE-dnp-0 (4), Nathan Palmer: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-2 (3), LaVon Brazill: 1-dnp-0-BYE-0-1 (2), Austin Collie: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-dnp-dnp (1)
Reggie Wayne leads the NFL with 70 targets. That’s not too shabby, but it’s bonkers when you realize the Colts already had their bye. So in reality, he is averaging 14 targets a game compared to Victor Cruz, who is second at 11.7. And he faced one of the hottest corners in Antonio Cromartie last week and still saw double-digit targets, catching five for 87 yards. That’s not too shabby in a tough matchup.
Andrew Luck keeps chucking it Donnie Avery’s way, and I like that, but I do not love the production. Thankfully, if you throw the ball at someone enough, they will eventually get into the end zone with the ball in their possession. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. He is averaging 9.4 targets a game, which ranks him 17th in the league for wide receivers. You have to go way below him on that list to find someone who shouldn’t be owned in fantasy. Torrey Smith is ranked 46th.
Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener are doing the Tamme/Dreessen dance right now. Fleener has run 153 pass routes to Allen’s 103 and has 31 targets to Allen’s 16. But the touchdowns are in Allen’s favor, two to zilch. I have more faith in Allen over the long haul, but neither is doing you any favors right now.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 6-4-5-10-8-BYE (33), Cecil Shorts: 7-2-2-5-3-BYE (19), Maurice Jones-Drew: 5-3-2-5-3-BYE (18), Mike Thomas: 1-3-3-2-8-BYE (17), Laurent Robinson: 9-6-1-1-dnp-BYE (17), Marcedes Lewis: 5-0-1-3-7-BYE (16), Greg Jones: 2-1-3-4-0-BYE (10), Kevin Elliott: dnp-dnp-0-0-3-BYE (3), Zach Potter: 0-2-0-0-1-BYE (3), Montell Owens: 3-0-0-0-0-BYE (3), Rashad Jennings: 1-dnp-dnp-1-0-BYE (2)
The Jaguars took the week off for more napping.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 6-15-16-12-8-9 (66), Dexter McCluster: 10-5-4-4-0-8 (31), Jon Baldwin: 0-6-4-5-3-5 (23), Jamaal Charles: 0-4-8-4-3-3 (22), Tony Moeaki: 6-4-3-4-1-2 (20), Shaun Draughn: 2-2-3-5-1-4 (17), Steve Breaston: 4-1-3-1-0-0 (9), Peyton Hillis: 3-3-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (7), Steve Maneri: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-5 (5), Kevin Boss: 2-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (3), Nate Eachus: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2 (2), Cyrus Gray: dnp-dnp-0-1-1-0 (2)
The horror. The horror.
I was just going to leave that in homage to my favorite movie, but I suppose I could rip into the Chiefs some more, for funsies.
Brady Quinn isn’t very good. Matt Cassel is also less than good. Dwayne Bowe wants out (who could blame him). Jamaal Charles is the whole team at this point. Targets don’t matter much when your quarterback can’t get the ball to the receivers. What else is there? Oh, Dexter McCluster had eight targets because he ran short routes and Brady Quinn can’t see very far down the field.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 8-12-9-19-5-0 (53), Davone Bess: 7-6-7-12-6-9 (47), Anthony Fasano: 5-3-10-5-4-6 (33), Reggie Bush: 6-4-1-1-2-7 (21), Charles Clay: 1-3-0-1-5-2 (12), Anthony Armstrong: 3-dnp-6-0-0-0 (9), Daniel Thomas: 3-dnp-2-1-1-dnp (7), Jorvorskie Lane: 1-0-1-0-2-2 (6), Legedu Naanee: 2-1-0-2-dnp-dnp (5), Marlon Moore: 0-0-dnp-dnp-0-3 (3)
That target line for Brian Hartline is a bit depressing. The Rams are a tough defense against the pass, but you have to at least pretend to throw the ball to him. Amazingly Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdowns against the Rams had allowed two passing touchdowns all season (one from RGII and one from Matthew Stafford). So that’s good news for Tannehill backers, but they went to Marlon Moore and Anthony Fasano.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 5-11-10-11-15-14 (66), Brandon Lloyd: 8-13-12-7-5-12 (57), Rob Gronkowski: 6-9-3-11-5-8 (42), Aaron Hernandez: 7-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-9 (17), Julian Edelman: 2-6-7-dnp-dnp-dnp (15), Danny Woodhead: 0-1-2-2-1-5 (11), Stevan Ridley: 3-4-1-0-0-2 (10), Deion Branch: dnp-dnp-3-0-2-4 (9), Daniel Fells: dnp-dnp-0-2-2-2 (6), Shane Vereen: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-0-0 (2), Brandon Bolden: 0-0-0-1-1-0 (2), Kellen Winslow: dnp-dnp-2-dnp-dnp-dnp (2), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-0-1-0-dnp-dnp (1)
Remember in week one when Wes Welker had five targets and caught three for 15 yards? Yeah, me either. He’s dominating as usual and it will be tough to cut his snaps and targets back, even with Aaron Hernandez and Julian Edelman back.
Last week Hernandez came back and saw nine targets even though he was on the field less than half of the snaps. Really, the best news for all the Patriots pass catchers is the horridness of their pass defense. Belichick has shown a willingness to run the ball this season and if they have a lead, he might just do that.
So there are plenty of targets to go around, even with Hernandez getting his. That is good news, but be aware that Belichick may decide that punting the ball on first down is the best innovation in the game.
New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 8-11-14-8-dnp-dnp (41), Jeremy Kerley: 4-4-3-3-9-6 (29), Jeff Cumberland: 4-5-6-5-4-1 (25), Stephen Hill: 6-2-7-dnp-dnp-3 (18), Bilal Powell: 1-2-5-3-4-2 (17), Chaz Schilens: 1-0-3-3-5-4 (16), Shonn Greene: 1-0-2-0-2-0 (5), Patrick Turner: 0-dnp-dnp-5-dnp-dnp (5), Clyde Gates: dnp-1-1-0-3-dnp (5), Jason Hill: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1 (3), Dustin Keller: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (2), Dedrick Epps: dnp-0-0-1-dnp-dnp (1), John Conner: 0-0-dnp-1-dnp-dnp (1), Konrad Reuland: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0 (1)
Mark Sanchez threw the ball 18 times and completed 11 of those passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. That’s some crazy sauce right there. But not as crazy as Shonn Greene getting 32 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns. What am I supposed to do with this! Huh!?
Target-wise there’s not much to say. The two Hills caught touchdown passes on four total targets. Jeremy Kerley and Chaz Schilens were the “main” targets, accumulating 10 together, to go with five receptions for 47 yards. You can’t trust this passing game.
Shonn Greene will need his team to keep facing poor rush defenses, blow out said team, and keep him in during the blowout to keep his confidence up.
Oakland Raiders
Denarius Moore: dnp-8-10-8-BYE-9 (35), Darren McFadden: 18-7-2-1-BYE-4 (32), Brandon Myers: 5-6-4-2-BYE-7 (24), Rod Streater: 10-3-2-2-BYE-3 (20), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 5-8-5-dnp-BYE-2 (20), Derek Hagan: 5-2-4-5-BYE-4 (20), Marcel Reece: 2-3-5-8-BYE-1 (19), David Ausberry: 1-3-1-2-BYE-2 (9), Mike Goodson: 0-3-0-3-BYE-1 (7), Richard Gordon: 0-4-1-dnp-BYE-dnp (5), Juron Criner: 0-dnp-dnp-3-BYE-0 (3)
The best news for the Raiders is that Denarius Moore is healthy and the number one target. His ability coupled with a steady stream of targets makes for some decent consistency and a lot of upside. I’d be targeting him in trades.
Darren McFadden had another down game, but was given one heckuva workload, with 27 carries and four targets. Of course in his 30 touches he totaled 98 yards and in Mike Goodson’s 5 touches he totaled 96 yards. It looks like Goodson had a little more bang for the buck. But it was good to see McFadden get so much work and not break something and also get into the end zone. He’s lost some luster this season, but he has the easiest schedule against the run going forward, so hang on.
Brandon Myers is quietly becoming a decent bye-week filler. I doubt he’ll ever get to startable status, but his catch rate is good (even though he dropped a touchdown, jerk) and he just had his most targets on the season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 8-10-11-BYE-10-10 (49), Mike Wallace: 6-5-11-BYE-8-4 (34), Heath Miller: 7-3-9-BYE-5-9 (33), Emmanuel Sanders: 8-4-4-BYE-7-6 (29), Isaac Redman: 2-1-3-BYE-0-5 (11), Chris Rainey: 1-2-2-BYE-1-1 (7), Jonathan Dwyer: 4-2-1-BYE-dnp-dnp (7), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-2-1-BYE-1-0 (5), Rashard Mendenhall: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3-1 (4), Baron Batch: 0-0-2-BYE-0-1 (3), Will Johnson: dnp-1-1-BYE-0-1 (3), David Paulson: 0-0-0-BYE-1-1 (2), Leonard Pope: 0-1-0-BYE-0-0 (1)
Antonio Brown is getting his targets and then some, but is still having trouble getting into the end zone. His one touchdown this year was on an amazing run after the catch and that just isn’t going to happen all that often. So far Heath Miller has been getting the majority of the red zone targets with 11. And even Mike Wallace is topping him with seven to Brown’s four, three of which came in the first game while Wallace wasn’t up to speed.
As for the running backs, there are too many injuries to really figure that mess out. Isaac Redman’s big receiving day was based on the art of surprise and most likely will never ever, ever happen again.
Baron Batch would be the guy if Mendenhall and Redman couldn’t go, but he’d still be a bit of a desperation flex play.
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 6-8-9-3-8-5 (39), Antonio Gates: 8-dnp-7-3-7-10 (35), Robert Meachem: 2-4-7-2-4-7 (26), Eddie Royal: 2-3-3-5-5-5 (23), Ryan Mathews: dnp-dnp-8-2-8-5 (23), Ronnie Brown: 5-4-dnp-3-5-4 (21), Curtis Brinkley: 5-4-2-dnp-dnp-0 (11), Dante Rosario: 1-4-1-0-1-1 (8), Randy McMichael: 0-4-1-0-0-2 (7), Jackie Battle: 0-0-0-4-2-0 (6), Le’Ron McClain: 4-0-0-1-0-0 (5), Richard Goodman: 0-0-0-0-0-2 (2), Ladarius Green: dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (1)
The Chargers had very little to be happy about in their total collapse against the Broncos on Monday night, but fantasy football players who own Antonio Gates (or FFPWOAG as I like to call them) were ecstatic. All the signs were there for a turn around and amazingly the signs pointed in the right direction. He is easily Philip Rivers best target this season and should see his targets rise.
It’s difficult to get any kind of grasp on this Chargers team. Philip Rivers was able to get Gates six receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns, so he’s not Brady Quinn bad, but he has declined and I’m worried about Malcom Floyd sustaining value week to week. After him I wouldn’t even try.
Ryan Mathews had 26 touches for 93 yards and no touchdowns. That’s not too great. The good news is that he had 22 carries and didn’t fumble and can keep his job a few more quarters. I’m still buying Mathews. He should be in there during crunch time on passing downs because, well, he’s good. But Norv will be Norv.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 6-8-11-8-11-8 (52), Nate Washington: 8-2-3-5-7-10 (35), Jared Cook: 6-6-4-4-8-4 (32), Kenny Britt: dnp-2-11-dnp-5-11 (29), Damian Williams: 6-6-3-2-3-3 (23), Chris Johnson: 7-3-2-2-1-4 (19), Craig Stevens: 1-1-7-2-4-2 (17), Javon Ringer: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-5-dnp (5), Darius Reynaud: 4-0-0-0-1-0 (5), Lavelle Hawkins: 4-0-dnp-1-dnp-dnp (5), Taylor Thompson: 0-1-0-1-2-1 (5), Quinn Johnson: 0-0-1-1-1-1 (4), Jamie Harper: 1-dnp-0-dnp-dnp-0 (1)
The Titans put up some respectable fantasy numbers last Thursday with old man Hasselbeck at the helm. He threw the ball to Kenny Britt like he was getting paid to and even though Britt outright sucked, he at least managed to catch four of his 11 targets for 62 yards and a touchdown. The even better news is that Britt isn’t as bad as he played and if he can stay healthy should be a viable fantasy player going forward.
Rookie Kenny Wright had a nice game, catching six of eight targets for 71 yards. That’s even better because that came with Britt fully back in target land. He should remain in the picture target-wise, especially with Nate Washington not distinguishing himself.
And I’ll end this article on a positive note for Chris Johnson. He had a respectable game against the Steelers, topping 100 total yards and not shaming his family name. But the even better news is that he gets Buffalo and Indianapolis the next two weeks. Hope for big games and then sell.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.