Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: BYE-20-10-11-11-9 (12.6), Donnie Avery: BYE-8-12-6-7-8 (8.5), T.Y. Hilton: BYE-9-4-5-6-11 (6.3), Coby Fleener: BYE-9-6-2-3-dnp (5.1), Dwayne Allen: BYE-5-4-2-5-7 (3.8), Vick Ballard: BYE-1-3-1-1-6 (1.6), LaVon Brazill: BYE-0-1-1-1-5 (1.3), Donald Brown: BYE-2-dnp-dnp-1-1 (1.2), Mewelde Moore: BYE-dnp-0-0-2-dnp (1), Nathan Palmer: BYE-1-2-0-dnp-dnp (1), Weslye Saunders: BYE-dnp-dnp-0-1-1 (0.7)
So after I finally give up on Donnie Avery, he catches five passes for 108 yards. But then he gets hurt, so my anger toward him subsides into pity and then T.Y. Hilton starts going off and my emotions switch to greed, hoping that Avery might not play next week which will mean Hilton would have a good chance to produce and then into guilt again for hoping that Avery would stay hurt. The cycle of a crazy fake footballer.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 10-8-BYE-4-8-9 (6.8), Cecil Shorts: 5-3-BYE-10-12-4 (5.6), Marcedes Lewis: 3-7-BYE-3-7-6 (4), Laurent Robinson: 1-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-9 (5.2), Rashad Jennings: 1-0-BYE-9-8-4 (3.8), Maurice Jones-Drew: 5-3-BYE-0-dnp-dnp (3), Greg Jones: 4-0-BYE-0-0-dnp (1.4), Micheal Spurlock: 0-dnp-BYE-0-2-5 (1), Kevin Elliott: 0-3-BYE-1-2-0 (1), Zach Potter: 0-1-BYE-1-0-0 (0.5), Montell Owens: 0-0-BYE-0-dnp-dnp (0.5), Jalen Parmele: 0-0-BYE-1-1-1 (0.4)
Justin Blackmon scored his first touchdown and Laurent Robinson returned to nine targets, but all in all it was still a sad day for fantasy in the Jaguars passing game. Cecil Shorts had been coming on strong, but only had four targets to Blackmon’s nine, Robinson’s nine, Lewis’ six and Spurlock’s five. If he is to remain a fantasy player, he can’t be the fifth man on the totem pole going forward.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 12-8-9-BYE-6-10 (10.2), Dexter McCluster: 4-0-8-BYE-8-6 (5.6), Jamaal Charles: 4-3-3-BYE-3-4 (3.6), Tony Moeaki: 4-1-2-BYE-8-0 (3.5), Jon Baldwin: 5-3-5-BYE-2-2 (3.4), Shaun Draughn: 5-1-4-BYE-2-2 (2.6), Steve Breaston: 1-0-0-BYE-1-2 (1.5), Peyton Hillis: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-1 (1.8), Steve Maneri: dnp-0-5-BYE-dnp-0 (1.7), Jake O’Connell: 0-0-0-BYE-3-0 (0.4), Kevin Boss: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.5), Cyrus Gray: 1-1-0-BYE-0-0 (0.3), Nate Eachus: dnp-0-2-BYE-0-dnp (0.7)
Dwayne Bowe had a better game last week, catching eight balls for 79 yards. But he was force fed ten targets by Matt Cassel and unless you are in a one point PPR league, he didn’t do your team much good without a touchdown and he’s in a four game drought. The passing game for Kansas City isn’t going to be producing big games anytime soon it seems.
Jamaal Charles at least had 15 touches before his helmet-to-helmet shot. He’s too good not to just throw in your lineup because the odds are he’ll go off for 300 yards if you bench him.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 19-5-0-BYE-6-12 (8.9), Davone Bess: 12-6-9-BYE-9-9 (8.1), Anthony Fasano: 5-4-6-BYE-2-4 (4.9), Reggie Bush: 1-2-7-BYE-1-3 (3.1), Charles Clay: 1-5-2-BYE-1-1 (1.8), Daniel Thomas: 1-1-dnp-BYE-2-4 (2.2), Anthony Armstrong: 0-0-0-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.8), Jorvorskie Lane: 0-2-2-BYE-0-1 (0.9), Jabar Gaffney: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-3 (2.5), Marlon Moore: dnp-0-3-BYE-1-1 (0.8), Legedu Naanee: 2-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.2)
The return of Brian Hartline was nice to see. He had been corralled by some tough pass defenses of late and finally got a little room to roam, which in turn gave him his highest target count since his huge game in Arizona. He’s not the kind of receiver who can beat tough corners, but he’s good enough to beat run of the mill corners and Ryan Tannehill is good enough to get him the ball.
The splits between Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas have been interesting of late. Bush is obviously the superior talent, but it seems the staff wants to reduce his workload to keep him healthy. Over the last two games Bush has had 24 carries and four targets to Thomas’ 21 carries and six targets. That is 28 to 27 looks. That is a 51% to 49% split. With the Dolphins facing Tennessee and Buffalo the next two weeks and then Jacksonville and Buffalo again in weeks 15 and 16, this information could be worthwhile. I’d still rather own Bush, but you have to temper expectations, while hedging your bets with Thomas.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 11-15-14-8-9-BYE (10.4), Brandon Lloyd: 7-5-12-8-4-BYE (8.6), Rob Gronkowski: 11-5-8-9-13-BYE (8), Aaron Hernandez: dnp-dnp-9-7-dnp-BYE (6), Danny Woodhead: 2-1-5-4-7-BYE (2.8), Julian Edelman: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-2-BYE (3.8), Deion Branch: 0-2-4-2-1-BYE (2), Stevan Ridley: 0-0-2-0-0-BYE (1.2), Daniel Fells: 2-2-2-0-0-BYE (1), Shane Vereen: 2-0-0-1-1-BYE (0.8), Brandon Bolden: 1-1-0-dnp-dnp-BYE (0.3), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-dnp-dnp-0-1-BYE (0.3)
The Patriots used their bye to give Tom Brady a fauxhawk.
Come one, come all, step right up to the American Football Conference Target Watch! Below here you will see target numbers and the names of those players whom those target numbers coincide with and presently and so forth. Click here for admission to Wednesday's NFC Target Watch. But before we get to that I wanted to give you a list from the other side of the ball, the defense.
You’ll find the target and reception numbers for each defense against each position. And since the Tennessee Titans are out to break the Indianapolis Colts’ record for horrible completion percentage allowed, they happen to be at the top (proverbial, and should be actual, bottom) of two of the three lists. The chances of completing a pass against the Titans are about as good as my chances of looking at a picture of a bulldog puppy on the Internet at some point today. So take a look-see and see just how good and/or bad each team is at allowing receptions.
Completion Percentage by Team and Position
Team vs WR | Rec | Tar | Com % | Team vs RB | Rec | Tar | Com % | Team vs TE | Rec | Tar | Com % |
Tennessee Titans |
117 |
175 |
67% |
New Orleans Saints |
43 |
50 |
86% |
Tennessee Titans |
62 |
81 |
77% |
Baltimore Ravens |
109 |
168 |
65% |
Tennessee Titans |
51 |
60 |
85% |
Cincinnati Bengals |
42 |
57 |
74% |
Detroit Lions |
107 |
167 |
64% |
New England Patriots |
49 |
58 |
84% |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
35 |
48 |
73% |
Buffalo Bills |
101 |
158 |
64% |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
47 |
56 |
84% |
New England Patriots |
48 |
67 |
72% |
Oakland Raiders |
92 |
145 |
63% |
Carolina Panthers |
57 |
69 |
83% |
Atlanta Falcons |
40 |
57 |
70% |
Cincinnati Bengals |
89 |
141 |
63% |
Oakland Raiders |
56 |
68 |
82% |
New York Giants |
57 |
82 |
70% |
Washington Redskins |
129 |
205 |
63% |
St. Louis Rams |
44 |
54 |
81% |
Kansas City Chiefs |
25 |
36 |
69% |
Indianapolis Colts |
105 |
167 |
63% |
Cincinnati Bengals |
48 |
60 |
80% |
Chicago Bears |
50 |
72 |
69% |
St. Louis Rams |
103 |
164 |
63% |
Chicago Bears |
40 |
51 |
78% |
Dallas Cowboys |
34 |
49 |
69% |
Minnesota Vikings |
117 |
190 |
62% |
San Diego Chargers |
51 |
66 |
77% |
Washington Redskins |
58 |
84 |
69% |
San Diego Chargers |
99 |
161 |
61% |
Green Bay Packers |
34 |
44 |
77% |
Minnesota Vikings |
43 |
63 |
68% |
New Orleans Saints |
106 |
173 |
61% |
Atlanta Falcons |
35 |
46 |
76% |
New York Jets |
44 |
65 |
68% |
New York Giants |
102 |
167 |
61% |
Cleveland Browns |
50 |
66 |
76% |
Miami Dolphins |
43 |
65 |
66% |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
126 |
207 |
61% |
Denver Broncos |
40 |
53 |
75% |
San Francisco 49ers |
34 |
52 |
65% |
Carolina Panthers |
90 |
148 |
61% |
Detroit Lions |
36 |
48 |
75% |
San Diego Chargers |
34 |
52 |
65% |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
100 |
165 |
61% |
Houston Texans |
36 |
49 |
73% |
New Orleans Saints |
35 |
54 |
65% |
Cleveland Browns |
125 |
210 |
60% |
Kansas City Chiefs |
37 |
51 |
73% |
Oakland Raiders |
40 |
62 |
65% |
Dallas Cowboys |
84 |
143 |
59% |
Seattle Seahawks |
48 |
67 |
72% |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
36 |
56 |
64% |
San Francisco 49ers |
104 |
181 |
57% |
Indianapolis Colts |
29 |
41 |
71% |
Carolina Panthers |
34 |
53 |
64% |
Atlanta Falcons |
90 |
157 |
57% |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
41 |
58 |
71% |
St. Louis Rams |
41 |
64 |
64% |
New England Patriots |
93 |
163 |
57% |
New York Giants |
34 |
49 |
69% |
Seattle Seahawks |
46 |
72 |
64% |
Green Bay Packers |
123 |
217 |
57% |
Arizona Cardinals |
27 |
39 |
69% |
Denver Broncos |
44 |
70 |
63% |
Kansas City Chiefs |
68 |
120 |
57% |
New York Jets |
21 |
31 |
68% |
Detroit Lions |
35 |
56 |
63% |
Denver Broncos |
93 |
166 |
56% |
Minnesota Vikings |
42 |
63 |
67% |
Indianapolis Colts |
22 |
36 |
61% |
Miami Dolphins |
127 |
230 |
55% |
Buffalo Bills |
23 |
35 |
66% |
Baltimore Ravens |
43 |
72 |
60% |
Philadelphia Eagles |
84 |
154 |
55% |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
15 |
23 |
65% |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
40 |
67 |
60% |
Seattle Seahawks |
98 |
181 |
54% |
Philadelphia Eagles |
39 |
60 |
65% |
Philadelphia Eagles |
39 |
66 |
59% |
Arizona Cardinals |
103 |
192 |
54% |
Washington Redskins |
36 |
56 |
64% |
Buffalo Bills |
42 |
72 |
58% |
Houston Texans |
91 |
173 |
53% |
Dallas Cowboys |
23 |
36 |
64% |
Arizona Cardinals |
24 |
43 |
56% |
Chicago Bears |
96 |
187 |
51% |
Miami Dolphins |
34 |
57 |
60% |
Cleveland Browns |
32 |
58 |
55% |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
88 |
174 |
51% |
Baltimore Ravens |
25 |
42 |
60% |
Green Bay Packers |
42 |
81 |
52% |
New York Jets |
78 |
155 |
50% |
San Francisco 49ers |
17 |
32 |
53% |
Houston Texans |
29 |
59 |
49% |
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 played. That should help even that number out for players that have missed games because of injury or bye weeks.
Baltimore Ravens
Torrey Smith: 10-4-4-13-BYE-9 (7.2), Anquan Boldin: 12-10-6-7-BYE-5 (7), Dennis Pitta: 2-4-5-8-BYE-3 (6.6), Ray Rice: 11-3-4-5-BYE-2 (5.5), Jacoby Jones: 7-2-3-2-BYE-2 (3.1), Ed Dickson: 0-1-2-5-BYE-3 (2.5), Vonta Leach: 2-2-1-0-BYE-0 (1.5), Tandon Doss: 2-1-0-1-BYE-0 (0.6), Deonte Thompson: 0-0-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp (0.4), Bernard Pierce: 0-0-1-0-BYE-0 (0.2)
Thankfully Torrey Smith is back in the target good graces. His ability coupled with normal #1 wide receiver targets would make him a top receiver. He is currently the 22nd ranked fantasy receiver even though he’s averaging just seven targets a game.
In the last five weeks Dennis Pitta has 121 total yards and no touchdowns. Last week he had only three targets, the same amount as Ed Dickson. And for number nerds like me, he has 33 yards receiving in each of his last three games. Three!
Anquan Boldin always teases us with a few big games, but when you look at his overall production it hurts your eyeballs. Right now he is the 44th ranked receiver in fantasy. That is due mainly to his single touchdown on the season, which could be an anomaly, but he only has four targets in the red zone for the season. His upside is on the down side.
Buffalo Bills
Steve Johnson: 10-10-11-7-BYE-7 (8.9), Scott Chandler: 8-6-3-4-BYE-5 (5.1), Donald Jones: 3-4-4-5-BYE-9 (5.1), Fred Jackson: 3-1-6-11-BYE-7 (4.7), C.J. Spiller: 2-1-5-6-BYE-5 (3.4), T.J. Graham: 8-3-3-1-BYE-3 (3.4), Tashard Choice: 1-dnp-0-dnp-BYE-dnp (1.4), Brad Smith: 2-1-0-1-BYE-0 (0.7), Dorin Dickerson: 2-dnp-dnp-0-BYE-1 (0.6)
Fred Jackson is averaging 3.7 yards per carry this season on 59 attempts, while C.J. Spiller is averaging 7.2 yards per carry on 78 attempts. That stat is truly mind-boggling. Jackson isn’t as bad as that stat and Spiller isn’t as good (nobody is), but Spiller is the more dynamic player and the Bills must get him the ball more than they have.
Scott Chandler has gone the way of the touchdownless and isn’t worth owning, which was predictable. But with Stevie Johnson nursing a nagging injury we did see Donald Jones step up as the main target for Fitzpatrick. He doesn’t have much value on the rest of the season, but if Stevie is still hobbled against the Patriots, Jones should see a ton of targets.
Cincinnati Bengals
A.J. Green: 9-13-12-6-BYE-9 (10.4), Jermaine Gresham: 5-6-8-5-BYE-8 (6.5), Andrew Hawkins: 3-13-5-4-BYE-7 (6), Armon Binns: 5-6-5-dnp-BYE-0 (4.1), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 3-2-1-1-BYE-3 (2), Brandon Tate: 0-1-1-1-BYE-6 (1.8), Brian Leonard: 1-2-1-dnp-BYE-4 (1.3), Cedric Peerman: 0-0-8-0-BYE-0 (1), Ryan Whalen: dnp-dnp-dnp-7-BYE-dnp (7), Mohamed Sanu: 0-0-dnp-3-BYE-3 (1.2), Orson Charles: 1-0-2-0-BYE-1 (0.6), Marvin Jones: 2-dnp-2-0-BYE-dnp (0.8), Chris Pressley: 2-0-0-0-BYE-0 (0.2)
This is old news, but A.J. Green is a bad man. He has eight touchdown receptions and has had the ball in the end zone in seven straight games. That consistency is fantasy gold. After him there is the opposite of consistency at the receiver position with no hope in sight. Be afraid.
Jermaine Gresham (no relation) hasn’t done much to write home about, but he still is sitting ninth in fantasy points scored per game for tight ends. It seems that every year we have a nice crop of tight ends to draft from, but very few actually break out. Gresham isn’t really worth all that much fantasy-wise, but is a top-10 tight end right now with his 6.4 points per game. If you don’t have an elite tight end it’s matchup central.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 10-2-5-7-5-7 (5.7), Josh Gordon: 1-8-4-10-5-3 (4.9), Trent Richardson: 6-7-3-2-1-9 (4.8), Ben Watson: 6-3-5-3-4-3 (3.9), Jordan Cameron: 6-2-4-2-4-2 (3.1), Chris Ogbonnaya: 4-4-2-4-3-2 (3.5), Travis Benjamin: 5-dnp-dnp-5-0-3 (3.3), Mohamed Massaquoi: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3 (5.2), Jordan Norwood: 10-9-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (9.5), Josh Cooper: dnp-dnp-3-8-1-dnp (4), Alex Smith: dnp-dnp-0-dnp-3-4 (2.4), Josh Cribbs: 2-0-1-0-1-0 (0.8)
Brandon Weeden has hit some doldrums after getting a nice tail wind in his sails for a few weeks. That of course has been bad news for Josh Gordon, who been hauling in touchdown passes right and left. But even when Gordon was getting into the end zone, he was averaging 2.5 receptions a game. You can’t expect to continue finding pay dirt with that number of receptions.
Trent Richardson has thankfully remained relevant, even with the poor play by the Browns as a whole. He’s topped 100 yards rushing in his last two games and scored a touchdown in one. He’s one of the few bell cow backs in the league.
Denver Broncos
Eric Decker: 9-8-9-BYE-6-11 (8.6), Demaryius Thomas: 6-11-2-BYE-9-8 (8.1), Jacob Tamme: 6-11-2-BYE-4-4 (5.8), Brandon Stokley: 2-3-4-BYE-2-4 (3.8), Joel Dreessen: 3-4-7-BYE-2-4 (3.6), Willis McGahee: 6-6-5-BYE-2-1 (3.1), Lance Ball: 2-0-0-BYE-0-1 (1), Matthew Willis: dnp-0-1-BYE-1-1 (0.9), Ronnie Hillman: 2-1-0-BYE-1-1 (1), Virgil Green: dnp-0-0-BYE-3-0 (0.8)
So Peyton Manning is good. We all thought he would help Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas put up good fantasy numbers, but these numbers are pretty darn good. Right now they are both tied for the sixth most fantasy points for wide receivers Having one top six fantasy receiver is tough enough for a quarterback to produce, but two? Oh and their running back, Willis McGahee, he’s eighth in running back fantasy points per game. I wonder if anyone is missing last year’s quarterback?
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 6-6-12-10-BYE-10 (7.8), Owen Daniels: 6-5-5-10-BYE-8 (7), Kevin Walter: 3-6-4-6-BYE-3 (4.2), Arian Foster: 2-4-3-5-BYE-1 (3.2), James Casey: 5-5-2-2-BYE-3 (3.2), Keshawn Martin: 3-0-6-2-BYE-0 (2.2), Garrett Graham: 1-0-5-2-BYE-2 (1.9), Ben Tate: 2-dnp-0-0-BYE-dnp (1.5), Lestar Jean: dnp-dnp-0-0-BYE-0 (0.5), Jonathan Grimes: dnp-0-dnp-1-BYE-0 (0.5)
I’m loving these Andre Johnson target numbers over the last three games. Unfortunately without touchdowns he’s not blowing up in standard leagues, but he is in PPR. In the first five games he averaged 3.4 receptions and in the last three he’s averaged 8.3. Oh, and he has a very nice schedule after a tough road game in Chicago. And that goes for Owen Daniels as well. They both are getting the lion’s share of the targets and there really aren’t any players good enough to take them away.
Indianapolis Colts
Reggie Wayne: BYE-20-10-11-11-9 (12.6), Donnie Avery: BYE-8-12-6-7-8 (8.5), T.Y. Hilton: BYE-9-4-5-6-11 (6.3), Coby Fleener: BYE-9-6-2-3-dnp (5.1), Dwayne Allen: BYE-5-4-2-5-7 (3.8), Vick Ballard: BYE-1-3-1-1-6 (1.6), LaVon Brazill: BYE-0-1-1-1-5 (1.3), Donald Brown: BYE-2-dnp-dnp-1-1 (1.2), Mewelde Moore: BYE-dnp-0-0-2-dnp (1), Nathan Palmer: BYE-1-2-0-dnp-dnp (1), Weslye Saunders: BYE-dnp-dnp-0-1-1 (0.7)
So after I finally give up on Donnie Avery, he catches five passes for 108 yards. But then he gets hurt, so my anger toward him subsides into pity and then T.Y. Hilton starts going off and my emotions switch to greed, hoping that Avery might not play next week which will mean Hilton would have a good chance to produce and then into guilt again for hoping that Avery would stay hurt. The cycle of a crazy fake footballer.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Justin Blackmon: 10-8-BYE-4-8-9 (6.8), Cecil Shorts: 5-3-BYE-10-12-4 (5.6), Marcedes Lewis: 3-7-BYE-3-7-6 (4), Laurent Robinson: 1-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-9 (5.2), Rashad Jennings: 1-0-BYE-9-8-4 (3.8), Maurice Jones-Drew: 5-3-BYE-0-dnp-dnp (3), Greg Jones: 4-0-BYE-0-0-dnp (1.4), Micheal Spurlock: 0-dnp-BYE-0-2-5 (1), Kevin Elliott: 0-3-BYE-1-2-0 (1), Zach Potter: 0-1-BYE-1-0-0 (0.5), Montell Owens: 0-0-BYE-0-dnp-dnp (0.5), Jalen Parmele: 0-0-BYE-1-1-1 (0.4)
Justin Blackmon scored his first touchdown and Laurent Robinson returned to nine targets, but all in all it was still a sad day for fantasy in the Jaguars passing game. Cecil Shorts had been coming on strong, but only had four targets to Blackmon’s nine, Robinson’s nine, Lewis’ six and Spurlock’s five. If he is to remain a fantasy player, he can’t be the fifth man on the totem pole going forward.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 12-8-9-BYE-6-10 (10.2), Dexter McCluster: 4-0-8-BYE-8-6 (5.6), Jamaal Charles: 4-3-3-BYE-3-4 (3.6), Tony Moeaki: 4-1-2-BYE-8-0 (3.5), Jon Baldwin: 5-3-5-BYE-2-2 (3.4), Shaun Draughn: 5-1-4-BYE-2-2 (2.6), Steve Breaston: 1-0-0-BYE-1-2 (1.5), Peyton Hillis: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-1 (1.8), Steve Maneri: dnp-0-5-BYE-dnp-0 (1.7), Jake O’Connell: 0-0-0-BYE-3-0 (0.4), Kevin Boss: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.5), Cyrus Gray: 1-1-0-BYE-0-0 (0.3), Nate Eachus: dnp-0-2-BYE-0-dnp (0.7)
Dwayne Bowe had a better game last week, catching eight balls for 79 yards. But he was force fed ten targets by Matt Cassel and unless you are in a one point PPR league, he didn’t do your team much good without a touchdown and he’s in a four game drought. The passing game for Kansas City isn’t going to be producing big games anytime soon it seems.
Jamaal Charles at least had 15 touches before his helmet-to-helmet shot. He’s too good not to just throw in your lineup because the odds are he’ll go off for 300 yards if you bench him.
Miami Dolphins
Brian Hartline: 19-5-0-BYE-6-12 (8.9), Davone Bess: 12-6-9-BYE-9-9 (8.1), Anthony Fasano: 5-4-6-BYE-2-4 (4.9), Reggie Bush: 1-2-7-BYE-1-3 (3.1), Charles Clay: 1-5-2-BYE-1-1 (1.8), Daniel Thomas: 1-1-dnp-BYE-2-4 (2.2), Anthony Armstrong: 0-0-0-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.8), Jorvorskie Lane: 0-2-2-BYE-0-1 (0.9), Jabar Gaffney: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-3 (2.5), Marlon Moore: dnp-0-3-BYE-1-1 (0.8), Legedu Naanee: 2-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (1.2)
The return of Brian Hartline was nice to see. He had been corralled by some tough pass defenses of late and finally got a little room to roam, which in turn gave him his highest target count since his huge game in Arizona. He’s not the kind of receiver who can beat tough corners, but he’s good enough to beat run of the mill corners and Ryan Tannehill is good enough to get him the ball.
The splits between Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas have been interesting of late. Bush is obviously the superior talent, but it seems the staff wants to reduce his workload to keep him healthy. Over the last two games Bush has had 24 carries and four targets to Thomas’ 21 carries and six targets. That is 28 to 27 looks. That is a 51% to 49% split. With the Dolphins facing Tennessee and Buffalo the next two weeks and then Jacksonville and Buffalo again in weeks 15 and 16, this information could be worthwhile. I’d still rather own Bush, but you have to temper expectations, while hedging your bets with Thomas.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 11-15-14-8-9-BYE (10.4), Brandon Lloyd: 7-5-12-8-4-BYE (8.6), Rob Gronkowski: 11-5-8-9-13-BYE (8), Aaron Hernandez: dnp-dnp-9-7-dnp-BYE (6), Danny Woodhead: 2-1-5-4-7-BYE (2.8), Julian Edelman: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-2-BYE (3.8), Deion Branch: 0-2-4-2-1-BYE (2), Stevan Ridley: 0-0-2-0-0-BYE (1.2), Daniel Fells: 2-2-2-0-0-BYE (1), Shane Vereen: 2-0-0-1-1-BYE (0.8), Brandon Bolden: 1-1-0-dnp-dnp-BYE (0.3), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-dnp-dnp-0-1-BYE (0.3)
The Patriots used their bye to give Tom Brady a fauxhawk.
New York Jets
Jeremy Kerley: 3-9-6-11-11-BYE (6.4), Stephen Hill: dnp-dnp-3-7-7-BYE (5.3), Jeff Cumberland: 5-4-1-1-dnp-BYE (3.7), Chaz Schilens: 3-5-4-3-5-BYE (3), Dustin Keller: dnp-dnp-1-7-11-BYE (5), Shonn Greene: 0-2-0-9-5-BYE (2.4), Bilal Powell: 3-4-2-dnp-dnp-BYE (2.8), Clyde Gates: 0-3-dnp-dnp-11-BYE (3.2), Patrick Turner: 5-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE (2.5), Konrad Reuland: dnp-1-0-1-1-BYE (0.8), Jason Hill: dnp-2-1-0-dnp-BYE (1), Lex Hilliard: dnp-0-0-1-1-BYE (0.3)
The Jets used their bye to reevaluate everything.
Oakland Raiders
Denarius Moore: 8-BYE-9-8-8-9 (8.6), Brandon Myers: 2-BYE-7-10-3-13 (6.2), Darren McFadden: 1-BYE-4-7-6-3 (6), Rod Streater: 2-BYE-3-4-5-10 (4.9), Darrius Heyward-Bey: dnp-BYE-2-7-3-6 (5.1), Marcel Reece: 8-BYE-1-6-0-9 (4.2), Derek Hagan: 5-BYE-4-1-1-3 (3.1), Mike Goodson: 3-BYE-1-1-0-6 (1.8), David Ausberry: 2-BYE-2-0-0-0 (1.1), Richard Gordon: dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-0-2 (1.4), Juron Criner: 3-BYE-0-1-2-0 (1)
Carson Palmer threw all over the Buccaneers last week and their best player, Denarius Moore, had a down game. The Bucs gave Palmer the middle of the field, which led to a bunch of targets for Brandon Myers. And amazingly with 13 targets, even Brandon Myers is able to score a touchdown, two even! Those were the first and second touchdowns of his career. The touchdowns may not come around all that often, but Palmer does feel at ease throwing it his way. These two touchdowns were his upside and then some, but he’s still been consistent, especially compared to some of the other sad sack tight ends out there. I’m looking at you Pitta and Rudolph.
The Raiders backfield has been decimated, but we did finally get to see the man, the myth, and the legend, that is Marcel Reece. He didn’t get one rushing attempt, but did catch eight of nine targets for 95 yards and a touchdown. He’s been used solely as a receiving back in the offense, but should see some carries with Taiwan Jones and most of the passing down work. Reece has a ton of talent and I’m looking forward to seeing him use it again as long as Mike Goodson and Darren McFadden don’t suit up.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: BYE-10-10-8-6-3 (8.2), Mike Wallace: BYE-8-4-15-9-5 (7.9), Heath Miller: BYE-5-9-8-6-5 (6.5), Emmanuel Sanders: BYE-7-6-2-5-2 (4.8), Isaac Redman: BYE-0-5-dnp-dnp-2 (2.2), Chris Rainey: BYE-1-1-1-2-3 (1.6), Jerricho Cotchery: BYE-1-0-1-dnp-4 (1.4), Will Johnson: BYE-0-1-1-2-3 (1.3), Jonathan Dwyer: BYE-dnp-dnp-0-1-dnp (1.6), David Paulson: BYE-1-1-1-0-2 (0.6), Baron Batch: BYE-0-1-1-1-0 (0.6), Rashard Mendenhall: BYE-3-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (2), Leonard Pope: BYE-0-0-0-1-0 (0.2)
With Antonio Brown leaving the game early, we saw a lot of Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery. Sanders was on the field a little more, but Cotchery saw more targets. The good news for Sanders is that Roethlisberger seems to like him in the red zone.
The running back situation is going to be about as clear as mud with Jonathan Dwyer returning. Isaac Redman had a big game against the Giants and was ahead of Dwyer on the depth chart so may get the start, but I’m wary of both, even in a good matchup.
San Diego Chargers
Malcom Floyd: 3-8-5-BYE-7-4 (6.2), Antonio Gates: 3-7-10-BYE-4-3 (6), Ronnie Brown: 3-5-4-BYE-8-5 (4.9), Robert Meachem: 2-4-7-BYE-3-dnp (4.1), Ryan Mathews: 2-8-5-BYE-4-2 (4.8), Eddie Royal: 5-5-5-BYE-dnp-dnp (3.8), Dante Rosario: 0-1-1-BYE-5-1 (1.8), Curtis Brinkley: dnp-dnp-0-BYE-dnp-0 (2.2), Randy McMichael: 0-0-2-BYE-0-0 (0.9), Jackie Battle: 4-2-0-BYE-0-0 (0.8), Le’Ron McClain: 1-0-0-BYE-0-0 (0.6), Danario Alexander: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-3 (2), Richard Goodman: 0-0-2-BYE-0-dnp (0.3)
Danario Alexander has the knees of a World War I veteran, but when they aren’t all swelled up, he has the skills to pay the medical bills. He only saw three targets, but caught all three for 61 yards and led the Chargers in receiving last week. Norv Turner says he has earned more playing time. I am really rooting for him.
The Chargers didn’t have to do much on offense with the defense accepting points from Cassel interceptions. But Ryan Mathews was once again criminally underused. I blame Turner for all my woes.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright: 8-11-8-3-5-7 (7.4), Nate Washington: 5-7-10-8-6-2 (5.7), Kenny Britt: dnp-5-11-6-5-8 (6.9), Jared Cook: 4-8-4-5-4-5 (5.1), Damian Williams: 2-3-3-4-1-3 (3.4), Chris Johnson: 2-1-4-2-3-6 (3.3), Craig Stevens: 2-4-2-1-3-3 (2.7), Taylor Thompson: 1-2-1-1-0-1 (0.8), Darius Reynaud: 0-1-0-2-0-0 (0.8), Lavelle Hawkins: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-dnp (1.5), Quinn Johnson: 1-1-1-1-1-0 (0.7)
The Chicago Bears mauled and ate the Titans pepper spray and jingly bells hanging from their backpacks. This week they’ll have Jake Locker back; so much of this target information is skewed from the reality of the upcoming weeks. Locker has a stronger arm, but is less accurate than Matt Hasselbeck. That could help Kenny Britt and Jared Cook get some deeper targets. The good news is they get Miami next, who have been giving up a bunch of points through the air.
Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus and red zone data from our other friends at The Football Guys.