Welcome to the AFC Target thingamajig for week 9. Below you will find target numbers and names of National Football League players smushed together in a somewhat coherent manner. And then some words of my own making that correspond to those names and numbers. But before that, I thought you might want to look at the target leaders for the first half of the first half of the season compared to the second half of the first half of the season. Do those words make any sense whatsoever? Well, if you have any questions ask me on Twitter because that’s where I sleep (so be as quiet as possible).
Target/Game Leaders
To start saving space I’ll be showing you the last 6 weeks of targets on each individual player. I’m also changing the parenthesized number from total targets to targets per game. That should help even that number out for players that have missed games because of injury or bye weeks.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 7-12-10-6-7-BYE (7.3), Dennis Pitta: 7-2-4-5-8-BYE (7.1), Torrey Smith: 10-10-4-4-13-BYE (7), Ray Rice: 5-11-3-4-5-BYE (6), Jacoby Jones: 4-7-2-3-2-BYE (3.3), Ed Dickson: 2-0-1-2-5-BYE (2.4), Vonta Leach: 3-2-2-1-0-BYE (1.7), Tandon Doss: 0-2-1-0-1-BYE (0.7), Deonte Thompson: 0-0-0-dnp-dnp-BYE (0.4), Bernard Pierce: 1-0-0-1-0-BYE (0.3)
The Ravens took the bye week to get Joe Flacco waxed.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 11-10-10-11-7-BYE (9.1), Scott Chandler: 4-8-6-3-4-BYE (5.1), Donald Jones: 6-3-4-4-5-BYE (4.6), C.J. Spiller: 2-2-1-5-6-BYE (3.1), Fred Jackson: dnp-3-1-6-11-BYE (4.2), T.J. Graham: 5-8-3-3-1-BYE (3.5), Tashard Choice: 5-1-dnp-0-dnp-BYE (1.4), Brad Smith: 0-2-1-0-1-BYE (0.8), Dorin Dickerson: dnp-2-dnp-dnp-0-BYE (0.5), Corey McIntyre: 2-0-0-0-0-BYE (0.3)
The Bills took the bye week to find a new nickname for Super Mario.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-9-13-12-6-BYE (10.6), Jermaine Gresham: 7-5-6-8-5-BYE (6.3), Andrew Hawkins: 4-3-13-5-4-BYE (5.9), Armon Binns: 3-5-6-5-dnp-BYE (4.8), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 1-3-2-1-1-BYE (1.9), Brandon Tate: 0-0-1-1-1-BYE (1.1), Cedric Peerman: 0-0-0-8-0-BYE (1.1), Ryan Whalen: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-7-BYE (7), Brian Leonard: 1-1-2-1-dnp-BYE (0.8), Orson Charles: 1-1-0-2-0-BYE (0.6), Marvin Jones: dnp-2-dnp-2-0-BYE (0.8), Mohamed Sanu: 0-0-0-dnp-3-BYE (0.8)
The Bengals used the bye to disavow all ties to Cris Collinsworth.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 4-10-2-5-7-5 (5.5), Josh Gordon: 6-1-8-4-10-5 (5.1), Trent Richardson: 7-6-7-3-2-1 (4.2), Ben Watson: 8-6-3-5-3-4 (4), Chris Ogbonnaya: 3-4-4-2-4-3 (3.7), Jordan Cameron: 7-6-2-4-2-4 (3.2), Travis Benjamin: 4-5-dnp-dnp-5-0 (3.3), Jordan Norwood: dnp-10-9-dnp-dnp-dnp (9.5), Mohamed Massaquoi: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (6), Josh Cooper: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-8-1 (4), Alex Smith: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-dnp-3 (2), Josh Cribbs: 1-2-0-1-0-1 (0.9), Owen Marecic: 0-0-0-2-0-dnp (0.7)
The Chargers game was good for a Browns’ win and Trent Richardson’s return to health and fantasy relevance. That was about it. Josh Gordon remains the number one targeted receiver, and is the only semi-trustworthy receiver on the team.
After watching Trent Richardson go through plenty of ups and downs this season, it’s good to take a look at his overall fantasy production. He currently is seventh in fantasy points for running backs. This is what happens when you have a running back who gets goal line carries and receptions, even when they are going through multiple injuries.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 11-9-8-9-BYE-6 (8.3), Demaryius Thomas: 11-6-11-2-BYE-9 (8.1), Jacob Tamme: 10-6-11-2-BYE-4 (6), Brandon Stokley: 6-2-3-4-BYE-2 (3.7), Joel Dreessen: 5-3-4-7-BYE-2 (3.6), Willis McGahee: 2-6-6-5-BYE-2 (3.4), Lance Ball: 3-2-0-0-BYE-0 (1), Matthew Willis: 1-dnp-0-1-BYE-1 (0.8), Ronnie Hillman: 1-2-1-0-BYE-1 (1), Virgil Green: dnp-dnp-0-0-BYE-3 (1)
The Broncos continue to roll under Manning’s example and direction, but the true break out talent for them this season has been Demaryius Thomas. He is currently neck and neck with Eric Decker in targets and has just one more reception than him, but he has 679 receiving yards to Decker’s 484 and just one less touchdown even though Decker has 12 red zone targets to Thomas’ six (three in week 8). Thomas has averaged 8.2 yards after the catch (4th in the league) to Decker’s 3.1. Decker, as predicted, is the possession receiver while Thomas is the play maker and that should continue.
Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen split pass routes about evenly, but Tamme saw two more targets and actually caught two of them. Tamme continues to lead in this battle, but not enough to be a safe fantasy play.
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 4-6-6-12-10-BYE (7.4), Owen Daniels: 5-6-5-5-10-BYE (6.9), Kevin Walter: 6-3-6-4-6-BYE (4.4), Arian Foster: 1-2-4-3-5-BYE (3.6), James Casey: 3-5-5-2-2-BYE (3.3), Keshawn Martin: 4-3-0-6-2-BYE (2.6), Garrett Graham: 4-1-0-5-2-BYE (1.9), Ben Tate: 0-2-dnp-0-0-BYE (1.5), Lestar Jean: 1-dnp-dnp-0-0-BYE (0.6)
The Texans took the bye to read Arian Foster’s poetry.
Welcome to the AFC Target thingamajig for week 9. Below you will find target numbers and names of National Football League players smushed together in a somewhat coherent manner. And then some words of my own making that correspond to those names and numbers. But before that, I thought you might want to look at the target leaders for the first half of the first half of the season compared to the second half of the first half of the season. Do those words make any sense whatsoever? Well, if you have any questions ask me on Twitter because that’s where I sleep (so be as quiet as possible).
Target/Game Leaders
To start saving space I’ll be showing you the last 6 weeks of targets on each individual player. I’m also changing the parenthesized number from total targets to targets per game. That should help even that number out for players that have missed games because of injury or bye weeks.
Baltimore Ravens
Anquan Boldin: 7-12-10-6-7-BYE (7.3), Dennis Pitta: 7-2-4-5-8-BYE (7.1), Torrey Smith: 10-10-4-4-13-BYE (7), Ray Rice: 5-11-3-4-5-BYE (6), Jacoby Jones: 4-7-2-3-2-BYE (3.3), Ed Dickson: 2-0-1-2-5-BYE (2.4), Vonta Leach: 3-2-2-1-0-BYE (1.7), Tandon Doss: 0-2-1-0-1-BYE (0.7), Deonte Thompson: 0-0-0-dnp-dnp-BYE (0.4), Bernard Pierce: 1-0-0-1-0-BYE (0.3)
The Ravens took the bye week to get Joe Flacco waxed.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 11-10-10-11-7-BYE (9.1), Scott Chandler: 4-8-6-3-4-BYE (5.1), Donald Jones: 6-3-4-4-5-BYE (4.6), C.J. Spiller: 2-2-1-5-6-BYE (3.1), Fred Jackson: dnp-3-1-6-11-BYE (4.2), T.J. Graham: 5-8-3-3-1-BYE (3.5), Tashard Choice: 5-1-dnp-0-dnp-BYE (1.4), Brad Smith: 0-2-1-0-1-BYE (0.8), Dorin Dickerson: dnp-2-dnp-dnp-0-BYE (0.5), Corey McIntyre: 2-0-0-0-0-BYE (0.3)
The Bills took the bye week to find a new nickname for Super Mario.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 11-9-13-12-6-BYE (10.6), Jermaine Gresham: 7-5-6-8-5-BYE (6.3), Andrew Hawkins: 4-3-13-5-4-BYE (5.9), Armon Binns: 3-5-6-5-dnp-BYE (4.8), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 1-3-2-1-1-BYE (1.9), Brandon Tate: 0-0-1-1-1-BYE (1.1), Cedric Peerman: 0-0-0-8-0-BYE (1.1), Ryan Whalen: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-7-BYE (7), Brian Leonard: 1-1-2-1-dnp-BYE (0.8), Orson Charles: 1-1-0-2-0-BYE (0.6), Marvin Jones: dnp-2-dnp-2-0-BYE (0.8), Mohamed Sanu: 0-0-0-dnp-3-BYE (0.8)
The Bengals used the bye to disavow all ties to Cris Collinsworth.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 4-10-2-5-7-5 (5.5), Josh Gordon: 6-1-8-4-10-5 (5.1), Trent Richardson: 7-6-7-3-2-1 (4.2), Ben Watson: 8-6-3-5-3-4 (4), Chris Ogbonnaya: 3-4-4-2-4-3 (3.7), Jordan Cameron: 7-6-2-4-2-4 (3.2), Travis Benjamin: 4-5-dnp-dnp-5-0 (3.3), Jordan Norwood: dnp-10-9-dnp-dnp-dnp (9.5), Mohamed Massaquoi: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (6), Josh Cooper: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-8-1 (4), Alex Smith: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-dnp-3 (2), Josh Cribbs: 1-2-0-1-0-1 (0.9), Owen Marecic: 0-0-0-2-0-dnp (0.7)
The Chargers game was good for a Browns’ win and Trent Richardson’s return to health and fantasy relevance. That was about it. Josh Gordon remains the number one targeted receiver, and is the only semi-trustworthy receiver on the team.
After watching Trent Richardson go through plenty of ups and downs this season, it’s good to take a look at his overall fantasy production. He currently is seventh in fantasy points for running backs. This is what happens when you have a running back who gets goal line carries and receptions, even when they are going through multiple injuries.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 11-9-8-9-BYE-6 (8.3), Demaryius Thomas: 11-6-11-2-BYE-9 (8.1), Jacob Tamme: 10-6-11-2-BYE-4 (6), Brandon Stokley: 6-2-3-4-BYE-2 (3.7), Joel Dreessen: 5-3-4-7-BYE-2 (3.6), Willis McGahee: 2-6-6-5-BYE-2 (3.4), Lance Ball: 3-2-0-0-BYE-0 (1), Matthew Willis: 1-dnp-0-1-BYE-1 (0.8), Ronnie Hillman: 1-2-1-0-BYE-1 (1), Virgil Green: dnp-dnp-0-0-BYE-3 (1)
The Broncos continue to roll under Manning’s example and direction, but the true break out talent for them this season has been Demaryius Thomas. He is currently neck and neck with Eric Decker in targets and has just one more reception than him, but he has 679 receiving yards to Decker’s 484 and just one less touchdown even though Decker has 12 red zone targets to Thomas’ six (three in week 8). Thomas has averaged 8.2 yards after the catch (4th in the league) to Decker’s 3.1. Decker, as predicted, is the possession receiver while Thomas is the play maker and that should continue.
Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen split pass routes about evenly, but Tamme saw two more targets and actually caught two of them. Tamme continues to lead in this battle, but not enough to be a safe fantasy play.
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 4-6-6-12-10-BYE (7.4), Owen Daniels: 5-6-5-5-10-BYE (6.9), Kevin Walter: 6-3-6-4-6-BYE (4.4), Arian Foster: 1-2-4-3-5-BYE (3.6), James Casey: 3-5-5-2-2-BYE (3.3), Keshawn Martin: 4-3-0-6-2-BYE (2.6), Garrett Graham: 4-1-0-5-2-BYE (1.9), Ben Tate: 0-2-dnp-0-0-BYE (1.5), Lestar Jean: 1-dnp-dnp-0-0-BYE (0.6)
The Texans took the bye to read Arian Foster’s poetry.
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: 15-BYE-20-10-11-11 (13.1), Donnie Avery: 9-BYE-8-12-6-7 (8.6), Coby Fleener: 2-BYE-9-6-2-3 (5.1), T.Y. Hilton: 8-BYE-9-4-5-6 (5.5), Dwayne Allen: 6-BYE-5-4-2-5 (3.3), Kris Adams: 1-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (2.7), Vick Ballard: 0-BYE-1-3-1-1 (1), Donald Brown: 1-BYE-2-dnp-dnp-1 (1.2), Mewelde Moore: 1-BYE-dnp-0-0-2 (1), LaVon Brazill: 0-BYE-0-1-1-1 (0.7), Nathan Palmer: dnp-BYE-1-2-0-dnp (1)
Reggie Wayne is averaging 13.1 targets, 7.7 receptions and 108.1 receiving yards per game. Those are all tops in the league. He’s had trouble getting into the end zone, but thankfully he has a nice schedule ahead of him and should be able to up his touchdown numbers, with Miami, Jacksonville, New England, Buffalo, Detroit, Tennessee, Houston (tough), and Kansas City on the horizon.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 5-10-8-BYE-4-8 (6.4), Cecil Shorts: 2-5-3-BYE-10-12 (5.9), Mike Thomas: 3-2-8-BYE-3-7 (3.9), Marcedes Lewis: 1-3-7-BYE-3-7 (3.7), Rashad Jennings: dnp-1-0-BYE-9-8 (3.8), Maurice Jones-Drew: 2-5-3-BYE-0-dnp (3), Laurent Robinson: 1-1-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (4.2), Greg Jones: 3-4-0-BYE-0-0 (1.4), Kevin Elliott: 0-0-3-BYE-1-2 (1.2), Zach Potter: 0-0-1-BYE-1-0 (0.6), Montell Owens: 0-0-0-BYE-0-dnp (0.5), Jalen Parmele: 0-0-0-BYE-1-1 (0.3), Micheal Spurlock: 0-0-dnp-BYE-0-2 (0.3)
Hey! We finally have some relevant target news from Jacksonville. Alert the media. Stop the, uh, “post” button from being clicked. Cecil Shorts is on fire. In his first five games of the season he had 19 targets and in his last two he’s had 22. That’s more in less time I think. Plus he’s averaging 20 yards a reception on 20 receptions, which equals 400 yards. I’ll now have those round numbers stuck in my head forever, but will continue to forget how old I am.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 16-12-8-9-BYE-6 (10.3), Dexter McCluster: 4-4-0-8-BYE-8 (5.6), Tony Moeaki: 3-4-1-2-BYE-8 (4), Jon Baldwin: 4-5-3-5-BYE-2 (3.6), Jamaal Charles: 8-4-3-3-BYE-3 (3.6), Shaun Draughn: 3-5-1-4-BYE-2 (2.7), Steve Breaston: 3-1-0-0-BYE-1 (1.4), Peyton Hillis: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1 (2), Steve Maneri: dnp-dnp-0-5-BYE-dnp (2.5), Jake OConnell: dnp-0-0-0-BYE-3 (0.5), Cyrus Gray: 0-1-1-0-BYE-0 (0.4), Nate Eachus: dnp-dnp-0-2-BYE-0 (0.7)
The Chiefs just won’t stop being horrible. They have two amazingly gifted offensive players along with some amazingly gifted defensive players and it all adds up to horrible. I don’t know how you can trust any of them at this point, but it’s extremely difficult to sit Jamaal Charles because he is just too good. You can’t expect him to only get eight looks a week, hopefully.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 9-19-5-0-BYE-6 (8.4), Davone Bess: 7-12-6-9-BYE-9 (8), Anthony Fasano: 10-5-4-6-BYE-2 (5), Reggie Bush: 1-1-2-7-BYE-1 (3.1), Charles Clay: 0-1-5-2-BYE-1 (1.9), Daniel Thomas: 2-1-1-dnp-BYE-2 (1.8), Anthony Armstrong: 6-0-0-0-BYE-dnp (1.8), Jorvorskie Lane: 1-0-2-2-BYE-0 (0.9), Marlon Moore: dnp-dnp-0-3-BYE-1 (0.8)
The Dolphins are a weird team. They can look like fantasy gold one week and fantasy mold the next. While destroying the Jets last week, only three roster spots got to double digit fantasy points, the defense, Dan Carpenter and Daniel Thomas. And it’s been pretty much slim pickings since Brian Hartline’s huge week four. And I think this is just the way it’s going to be.
They do have a fantasy friendly schedule for running backs coming up with Indianapolis, Tennessee, Buffalo, then tough Seattle, New England, San Francisco, and then back to easy in the fantasy playoffs, with Jacksonville and Buffalo again. That’s good news for Reggie Bush, but he did see a big dip in time on the field last week while Daniel Thomas got all the short yardage and mop-up duty. It’s concerning, but I’m still fairly high on Bush with this schedule.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 10-11-15-14-8-9 (10.4), Brandon Lloyd: 12-7-5-12-8-4 (8.6), Rob Gronkowski: 3-11-5-8-9-13 (8), Aaron Hernandez: dnp-dnp-dnp-9-7-dnp (6), Danny Woodhead: 2-2-1-5-4-7 (2.8), Julian Edelman: 7-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-2 (3.8), Deion Branch: 3-0-2-4-2-1 (2), Stevan Ridley: 1-0-0-2-0-0 (1.2), Daniel Fells: 0-2-2-2-0-0 (1), Shane Vereen: dnp-2-0-0-1-1 (0.8), Michael Hoomanawanui: 1-0-dnp-dnp-0-1 (0.3), Kellen Winslow: 2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (2), Brandon Bolden: 0-1-1-0-dnp-dnp (0.3)
The Patriots set a record with 17 consecutive games totaling 350 or more yards last week in London. That means they put up more consistent yards than The Greatest Show on Turf. And that is good news for fantasy players like us who own Patriots players.
Brandon Lloyd had his worst target game of the season (insert sad noise). He also only caught two passes (insert even sadder noise). Wait, there’s more? What’s that you say? He caught both for touchdowns!? Holy Gronkowski!
And speaking of The Gronk, he’s back on his touchdown tear, having caught four in the last two games, while also leading in targets. Those things do coincide at least some of the time.
New York Jets
Jeremy Kerley: 3-3-9-6-11-11 (6.4), Stephen Hill: 7-dnp-dnp-3-7-7 (5.3), Jeff Cumberland: 6-5-4-1-1-dnp (3.7), Chaz Schilens: 3-3-5-4-3-5 (3), Dustin Keller: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-7-11 (5), Shonn Greene: 2-0-2-0-9-5 (2.4), Bilal Powell: 5-3-4-2-dnp-dnp (2.8), Clyde Gates: 1-0-3-dnp-dnp-11 (3.2), Patrick Turner: dnp-5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (2.5), Jason Hill: dnp-dnp-2-1-0-dnp (1), Konrad Reuland: dnp-dnp-1-0-1-1 (0.8), Lex Hilliard: dnp-dnp-0-0-1-1 (0.3), Jonathan Grimes: dnp-dnp-0-dnp-1-1 (0.7)
Jeremy Kerley, Dustin Keller and Clyde Kates had 11 targets each, um, Gates. Mark Sanchez threw the ball a whole lot, 54 times actually, and completed one touchdown and one interception. Just think if he had a decent backup.
Stephen Hill, Chaz Schilens and Shonn Greene each had 29 yards receiving. If we look further into this game’s numbers, I'm pretty sure we find Amelia Earhart.
It’s hard to garner much from this game. I’m not going to jump on the Clyde Gates bandwagon quite yet and his “emergence” is a little worrisome for Kerley’s recent “emergence.” Kerley has a better track record this season, but when it comes down to it, the only guy I’ll feel decent about is Dustin Keller, because he is one of the few players that I know without a doubt that Sanchez trusts.
Oakland Raiders
Denarius Moore: 10-8-BYE-9-8-8 (8.5), Darren McFadden: 2-1-BYE-4-7-6 (6.4), Brandon Myers: 4-2-BYE-7-10-3 (5.3), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 5-dnp-BYE-2-7-3 (5), Rod Streater: 2-2-BYE-3-4-5 (4.1), Marcel Reece: 5-8-BYE-1-6-0 (3.6), Derek Hagan: 4-5-BYE-4-1-1 (3.1), David Ausberry: 1-2-BYE-2-0-0 (1.3), Mike Goodson: 0-3-BYE-1-1-0 (1.1), Juron Criner: dnp-3-BYE-0-1-2 (1.2), Richard Gordon: 1-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-0 (1.2)
Denarius Moore is averaging 8.5 targets a game, which is great for a deep threat like him. His skill set is perfect for stretching the field, but he’s now getting some higher percentage passes that allow him to take advantage of his running skills. His after the catch yardage ranks ninth in the league at 6.5.
Brandon Myers ranks sixth in receiving yards for tight ends, but just can’t get into the end zone. I would predict that he’ll start finding the end zone soon, but his target numbers fluctuate a little too much for me to bank on it.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 11-BYE-10-10-8-6 (9), Mike Wallace: 11-BYE-8-4-15-9 (8.3), Heath Miller: 9-BYE-5-9-8-6 (6.7), Emmanuel Sanders: 4-BYE-7-6-2-5 (5.1), Isaac Redman: 3-BYE-0-5-dnp-dnp (2.2), Chris Rainey: 2-BYE-1-1-1-2 (1.4), Jonathan Dwyer: 1-BYE-dnp-dnp-0-1 (1.6), Jerricho Cotchery: 1-BYE-1-0-1-dnp (1), Will Johnson: 1-BYE-0-1-1-2 (1), Baron Batch: 2-BYE-0-1-1-1 (0.7), Rashard Mendenhall: dnp-BYE-3-1-dnp-dnp (2), David Paulson: 0-BYE-1-1-1-0 (0.4), Leonard Pope: 0-BYE-0-0-0-1 (0.3)
Heath Miller still leads all receivers, not just tight ends, with red zone targets. His 16 targets beat out Marques Colston’s 15 and Rob Gronkowski’s 14. And his six red zone touchdowns are only topped by James Jones’ seven. To put his red zone targets in perspective, he ranks 54th in targets per game while Colston is 10th. Teams might want to think about covering Miller in the red zone (so Antonio Brown can get some friggin touchdowns!).
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 9-3-8-5-BYE-7 (6.6), Antonio Gates: 7-3-7-10-BYE-4 (6.5), Ronnie Brown: dnp-3-5-4-BYE-8 (4.8), Robert Meachem: 7-2-4-7-BYE-3 (4.1), Ryan Mathews: 8-2-8-5-BYE-4 (5.4), Eddie Royal: 3-5-5-5-BYE-dnp (3.8), Dante Rosario: 1-0-1-1-BYE-5 (1.9), Curtis Brinkley: 2-dnp-dnp-0-BYE-dnp (2.8), Randy McMichael: 1-0-0-2-BYE-0 (1), Jackie Battle: 0-4-2-0-BYE-0 (0.9), LeRon McClain: 0-1-0-0-BYE-0 (0.7), Richard Goodman: 0-0-0-2-BYE-0 (0.3)
I’d say the biggest news, besides the ineptitude of the Chargers last week, is that Ronnie Brown still lives and he’s stealing all of Ryan Mathews’ targets! Well, not all of them, but enough to make me scooch into the fetal position and dry my eyes out every night. Brown is actually second in receiving yards for running backs and is averaging 9.5 yards per reception compared to Mathews’ 7.4. I still believe Mathews brings a completely different dynamic to the screen game than Brown, but it’s hard to rail against Norv Turner on this point, especially when there are so many others we could point to.
One of those being the four targets Antonio Gates saw in Cleveland. Yes, it was a wet and windy day, but Gates was coming off his best game of the year and the Chargers needed to throw short to medium distances to combat the wind. So for some reason Dante Rosario had more targets.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 11-8-11-8-3-5 (7.5), Nate Washington: 3-5-7-10-8-6 (6.1), Jared Cook: 4-4-8-4-5-4 (5.1), Kenny Britt: 11-dnp-5-11-6-5 (6.7), Damian Williams: 3-2-3-3-4-1 (3.5), Chris Johnson: 2-2-1-4-2-3 (3), Craig Stevens: 7-2-4-2-1-3 (2.6), Darius Reynaud: 0-0-1-0-2-0 (0.9), Taylor Thompson: 0-1-2-1-1-0 (0.8), Quinn Johnson: 1-1-1-1-1-1 (0.8), Lavelle Hawkins: dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (1.5)
Kendall Wright was the lucky one this week with a touchdown that should have been Kenny Britt’s, but all in all, there weren’t many yards to go around for receivers. And Matt Hasselbeck has thrown six touchdowns in five games and has averaged 224 yards passing per game. If you aren’t one of the chosen few to get into the end zone, your chances of having a good fantasy day are slim and nil.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.