Target Report: Mike Evans stands above the rest of the rookie receivers
Targets come in many shapes and sizes, but the two most valuable types are red zone targets and deep targets, meaning they traveled at least 20 yards in the air. Most big plays from a fantasy perspective come inside the 20-yard-line or on passes thrown deep down the field. If a receiver is getting a lot of chances to make plays on red-zone or deep targets, chances are he’s having a fine fantasy season.
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This has been unofficial Mike Evans week after the rookie out of Texas A&M caught seven passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, marking the first time a rookie receiver since Randy Moss in 1998 had three straight games with at least 100 yards and a score. Some pretty good receivers have entered the league in the interim, and yet, none of them had achieved that feat.
Let’s continue Unofficial Evans Week by appreciating how efficient he has been on deep passes. Evans missed one game earlier this year because of a groin injury and was limited in another, but he has been arguably the most dangerous deep receiver in the league. He and fellow rookie Kelvin Benjamin are tied for second with 24 deep targets this year, trailing only Jeremy Maclin. Evans leads the league by a wide margin with 15 receptions on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. Emmanuel Sanders is second with 11, and Antonio Brown is third with 10. They are the only three receivers with at least 10 such catches. Going back to 2007, the record for the most receptions on deep targets belongs to Calvin Johnson, who had 21 in '12. Only one other receiver -- Brandon Lloyd in '10 -- had more than 16. Evans is already at 15 with six games left this year.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Evans also leads the league in yards on deep targets. His 507 yards are 42 more than second-place Jordy Nelson. The top wideout in Green Bay is the only receiver with more touchdowns than Evans on deep targets. Nelson has six, while Evans is tied for second with Maclin and Benjamin with five.
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Where Evans really separates himself from the pack is in catch rate. While more deep targets gives him the opportunity for more deep receptions, Evans is first in the league with a catch rate of 62.5 percent on deep balls. No other receiver is north of 57 percent. He’s on track to be just the fourth receiver since 2007 to break 60 percent, joining Larry Fitzgerald in 2008, Jordy Nelson in 2011 and Eric Decker last year. Of those three players, Decker had the most deep targets with 25. Evans figures to blow past that number. That speaks volumes about Evans’ ability to get separation deep down the field time and time again. In short, we haven’t seen a receiver be this efficiently explosive in a long time.
With that, let’s get to the rest of the Week 11 Target Report. As always, target data includes plays negated by penalty.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald – 76 targets, 12 red-zone targets, 91 percent of season snaps played, 90 percent of last week’s snaps played
John Brown – 72, 6, 57, 71
Andre Ellington – 61, 5, 71, 74
Michael Floyd – 58, 4, 87, 90
John Carlson – 43, 7, 86, 74
In the first game of the new order under Drew Stanton, Brown led the Cardinals with nine targets, while Floyd had five and Fitzgerald got four. Floyd came up with two touchdowns, including one for 42 yards, and had a sixth deep target negated due to penalty. Floyd and Brown are the big-play receivers for the Cardinals, and head coach Bruce Arians clearly isn’t dialing back the playbook one bit. Everyone’s stock took a hit when Carson Palmer tore his ACL, but it looks like Floyd and Brown took less of a hit than Fitzgerald.
Atlanta Falcons
Julio Jones – 109 targets, 7 red-zone targets, 88 percent of season snaps played, 86 percent of last week's snaps played
Roddy White – 78, 7, 92, 93
Devin Hester – 36, 2, 36, 8
Levine Toilolo – 32, 3, 86, 78
Harry Douglas – 29, 2, 63, 65
Devonta Freeman – 25, 4, 18, 18
Jacquizz Rodgers – 24, 2, 29, 28
Steven Jackson – 22, 2, 41, 50
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The first-place Falcons got a big win over the Panthers last week, though the box score isn’t exactly a sight to behold. The good news for owners invested in the Falcons is that Jones and White each got more than 10 targets. The only way this offense ticks is if it’s running through them. Jones had six catches for just 59 yards, but White caught eight balls for 75 yards and a touchdown. This offense has to be taken at face value at this point. It’s low-value group overall, with a pair of receivers capable of going off in any given week. Jones and White should be weekly starters, while Matt Ryan is forever on the border.
Baltimore Ravens
Steve Smith – 91 targets, 12 red-zone targets, 76 percent of season snaps played, 77 percent of last week's snaps played
Torrey Smith – 61, 9, 77, 73
Owen Daniels – 47, 9, 73, 92
Justin Forsett – 44, 4, 62, 73
Lorenzo Taliaferro – 9, 0, 17, 5
Bernard Pierce – 4, 0, 22, 21
Since Week 3, Torrey Smith has averaged 10.3 points per game in standard-scoring leagues. That matches the season-long pace of Alshon Jeffery and Julio Jones, and bests that of teammate Steve Smith. As the Ravens emerge from their Week 11 bye, the receiver who most people thought would be the better one in Baltimore appears to have taken over.
Buffalo Bills
Sammy Watkins – 86 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 97 percent of season snaps played, 98 percent of last week's snaps played
Robert Woods – 67, 5, 85, 85
Fred Jackson – 46, 5, 51, N/A
Scott Chandler – 45, 9, 70, 85
Bryce Brown – 20, 2, 36, 45
Anthony Dixon – 6, 1, 24, 53
Watkins has had a roller coaster of a rookie season. He has had fewer than four points in standard-scoring leagues in five games and more than 17 three times. Such is life when you have uneven quarterback play, but Kelvin Benjamin and Mike Evans have each been able to establish a measure of consistency even though they don’t play with Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning. That’s not necessarily a knock on Watkins, but he’d be running behind both of those guys in my way-too-early 2015 wide receiver rankings.
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Carolina Panthers
Kelvin Benjamin – 103 targets, 14 red-zone targets, 84 percent of season snaps played, 89 percent of last week's snaps played
Greg Olsen – 86, 11, 96, 100
Jerricho Cotchery – 58, 2, 78, 70
Jonathan Stewart – 22, 1, 58, 45
DeAngelo Williams – 7, 0, 36, 35
The Panthers cut Jason Avant earlier this week, which could mean more action for Cotchery and Philly Brown, but nowhere near enough to make them relevant in fantasy leagues. While the real-life focus on the Panthers is on how much they’ve fallen as a team this year, the fantasy focus is, as it should be, on Benjamin. He had nine catches for 109 yards and a score last week, continuing his ridiculously consistent season. He has put up double-digit points in all but four games this year, and in one of those he had four catches for 94 yards. That’s what consistent targets will help do for you.
Chicago Bears
Alshon Jeffery – 100 targets, 14 red-zone targets, 88 percent of season snaps played, 96 percent of last week's snaps played
Brandon Marshall – 88, 17, 91, 96
Matt Forte – 85, 10, 91, 97
Martellus Bennett – 76, 18, 89, 95
The Bears showed last week why you have to trust them for the rest of the season, even with their woeful underperformance for most of the year. Jay Cutler threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, Jeffery caught 11 passes for 135 yards and one score, while Marshall hauled in seven balls for 90 yards and found the end zone twice. Meanwhile, Forte had 175 total yards on 32 touches. This remains one of the league’s most potent offenses, both for real-life and fantasy purposes.
Cincinnati Bengals
Mohamed Sanu – 86 targets, 12 red-zone targets, 93 percent of season snaps played, 87 percent of last week's snaps played
A.J. Green – 56, 7, 70, 90
Jermaine Gresham – 51, 8, 92, 89
Giovani Bernard – 34, 2, 69, N/A
Brandon Tate – 22, 2, 50, 8
Jeremy Hill – 21, 0, 43, 80
Hill has rushed for 150-plus yards in two of his three starts, and now has 110 more rushing yards than Bernard on four more carries. Quite simply, he has to have a significant role in the offense when Bernard returns. Green’s played in 56 percent, 88 percent and 90 percent of snaps in his three games since returning from a toe injury, and he caught six passes for 127 yards and a touchdown last week. He’s all the way back to being an elite WR1.
Cleveland Browns
Andrew Hawkins – 82 targets, 7 red-zone targets, 67 percent of season snaps played, 62 percent of last week's snaps played
Taylor Gabriel – 61, 8, 61, 61
Miles Austin – 59, 6, 65, 66
Jordan Cameron – 33, 4, 73, N/A
Gary Barnidge – 20, 1, 44, 77
Ben Tate – 12, 0, 46, 21
Isaiah Crowell – 9, 0, 28, 66
Terrance West – 8, 4, 38, 13
Hmmm, let’s see, is there anything interesting happening with this team? Anything at all? Oh, that’s right, they’re getting one of the best receivers in the world back this week and they just waived the guy they signed this offseason to be their starting running back. West now has a stranglehold on the starting gig in Cleveland, but both he and Crowell are potential flex plays for the remainder of the year. Josh Gordon, obviously, becomes the No. 1 option in this offense. If you own him, you play him right away. Hawkins retains PPR value as the second receiver, and Brian Hoyer’s value gets a shot in the arm with Gordon’s return. Fantasy owners should no longer be holding onto Cameron, who could very well be shut down.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant – 96 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 84 percent of season snaps played, 73 percent of last week's snaps played
Jason Witten – 55, 3, 99.99999, 95
Terrance Williams – 48, 10, 79, 68
DeMarco Murray – 42, 2, 74, 60
Cole Beasley – 26, 2, 44, 40
Lance Dunbar – 16, 2, 14, 17
Gavin Escobar – 10, 4, 21, 25
Joseph Randle – 2, 0, 9, 13
The Cowboys come out of their bye week to face the Giants on Sunday Night Football. The last time these two teams played, Tony Romo threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, Bryant caught nine passes for 151 yards, and Murray ran for 128 yards and a score on 28 carries. Expect more of the same.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas – 117 targets, 19 red-zone targets, 90 percent of season snaps played, 99 percent of last week's snaps played
Emmanuel Sanders – 97, 14, 88, 48
Julius Thomas – 54, 15, 83, 19
Wes Welker – 43, 2, 73, 94
Ronnie Hillman – 33, 8, 54, N/A
C.J. Anderson – 22, 2, 26, 93
Juwan Thompson – 4, 0, 12, 3
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Denver’s injuries suffered last week really jump out at you when you see the snap percentages for Sanders, Anderson, Welker and Julius Thomas. Sanders will go through concussion protocol this week, while Thomas has a minor ankle sprain. The latter is expected to play on Sunday, but the former could very well miss Denver’s game with Miami. If he does, Demaryius Thomas and Welker would likely see more targets, and owners in deep leagues could even kick the tires on Andre Caldwell and Cody Latimer. Do you remember the last time Demaryius Thomas had fewer than 100 yards in a game? On that same day, Corey Kluber put the icing on his Cy Young bid with a 14-strikeout game against the Twins, while Masahiro Tanaka made his return from an elbow injury. So yeah, it has been awhile.
Detroit Lions
Golden Tate – 102 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 85 percent of season snaps played, 93 percent of last week's snaps played
Calvin Johnson – 64, 6, 75, 93
Reggie Bush – 36, 6, 41, N/A
Joique Bell – 36, 4, 59, 71
Theo Riddick – 27, 6, 16, 32
Eric Ebron – 26, 5, 47, 59
Jeremy Ross – 23, 0, 70, 79
Brandon Pettigrew – 14, 2, 66, N/A
Ebron played for the first time since Week 6, catching four passes for 22 yards. We can safely put the Detroit tight end position on the shelf and revisit it next season. The Cardinals completely shut down the Lions’ passing game last week, headlined by Tate getting just two targets. Johnson had 12 looks, catching five of them for 59 yards. They weren’t the first team to struggle throwing the ball against Arizona, and they won’t be the last. Don’t let that affect the way you view Johnson and Tate going forward.
Green Bay Packers
Jordy Nelson – 103 targets, 22 red-zone targets, 88 percent of season snaps played, 76 percent of last week's snaps played
Randall Cobb – 75, 18, 86, 82
Davante Adams – 41, 8, 65, 63
Eddie Lacy – 35, 6, 63, 66
Andrew Quarless – 30, 10, 61, 62
Richard Rodgers – 16, 2, 47, 63
The Packers have been running more two tight-end sets of late, with Quarless and Rodgers each playing at least 50 percent of the team’s snaps in the last two games. Of course, it hasn’t led to much fantasy production for either of them. Scoring against the Bears isn’t anything worth much celebrating. The news here is the continued presence of Lacy in the passing game. He got four targets last week, catching three of them for 45 yards and a touchdown. Teams want to blitz Aaron Rodgers so he doesn’t have time to sit in the pocket to allow Nelson and Cobb to get open down the field, but they’ve counteracted that beautifully with screens in their last three games. Expect that to remain a feature of the offense.
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Houston Texans
Andre Johnson – 98 targets, 13 red-zone targets, 92 percent of season snaps played, 92 percent of last week's snaps played
DeAndre Hopkins – 75, 6, 94, 95
Arian Foster – 36, 5, 75, N/A
Garrett Graham – 24, 2, 78, 83
Alfred Blue – 8, 1, 30, 67
Last week, we surmised that the best thing about Ryan Mallett was that he wasn’t Ryan Fitzpatrick. After one week with Mallett at the helm, that’s still the best thing about him. Johnson’s and Hopkins’ numbers were indistinguishable from a Fitzpatrick start. Johnson caught seven of nine targets for 68 yards, while Hopkins reeled in four of his eight targets for 80 yards. As usual, Johnson gets more targets and receptions, while Hopkins leads the team in yards. There’s more big-play potential with Mallett, but Johnson’s and Hopkins’ stock is only marginally affected by the new quarterback.
Indianapolis Colts
T.Y. Hilton – 93 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 76 percent of season snaps played, 95 percent of last week's snaps played
Reggie Wayne – 79, 8, 82, 90
Coby Fleener – 53, 10, 63, 71
Hakeem Nicks – 51, 11, 55, 67
Ahmad Bradshaw – 49, 13, 51, 47
Dwayne Allen – 41, 8, 67, 24
Trent Richardson – 29, 4, 46, 50
Dan Herron – 2, 0, 7, 2
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This offense is about to undergo a bit of a makeover with Bradshaw done for the season. Richardson will get even more touches out of the backfield, while Herron all of a sudden takes on some fantasy relevance. However, I think the big winners here are Fleener and Nicks. Dwayne Allen’s sprained ankle isn’t expected to keep him out more than one game, if at all, but they don’t need Allen to be out to get an uptick in targets. Bradshaw’s presence was most felt in the red zone. The two players on the Colts with the most red-zone targets after Bradshaw are Fleener and Nicks. I expect that to increase for both of them, especially Fleener. Richardson becomes a reliable low-end RB2 for the rest of the year. Volume alone should get him to that level of production.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Allen Robinson – 80 targets, 6 red-zone targets, 78 percent of season snaps played, 92 percent of last week's snaps played
Cecil Shorts – 62, 7, 80, 76
Allen Hurns – 57, 4, 74, 46
Clay Harbor – 33, 2, 86, 76
Marqise Lee – 24, 2, 39, 37
Denard Robinson – 19, 0, 42, 56
Toby Gerhart – 13, 1, 37, 13
Admit it. You just didn’t feel right last week without the Jaguars to enjoy on your television screens. It’s okay, our one-week national nightmare is over, with the Jaguars returning to action against the Colts. With Allen Robinson out for the season, Hurns and Shorts each have appeal as WR3 fodder.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe – 66 targets, 4 red-zone targets, 82 percent of season snaps played, 73 percent of last week's snaps played
Travis Kelce – 51, 9, 57, 96
Jamaal Charles – 30, 8, 64, 83
Anthony Fasano – 29, 4, 89, N/A
Knile Davis – 18, 5, 36, 13
I’ve been including A.J. Jenkins and Junior Hemingway in this space for the sake of being comprehensive, but there’s no longer a point. This team keeps on winning without throwing the ball at all. The Chiefs pulled off an impressive win against the Seahawks last week with their leading receiver, Kelce, catching three passes for 37 yards. Charles ran for 159 yards and two scores on 20 carries, and that’s going to be the formula for this offense the rest of the season. Kelce finally played a significant percentage of snaps , but he still got just five targets. He’s a low-end TE1, while Bowe is a WR3 in full PPR leagues. Other than that, it’s all Charles, all the time.
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Miami Dolphins
Mike Wallace – 86 targets, 14 red-zone targets, 74 percent of season snaps played, 73 percent of last week's snaps played
Charles Clay – 59, 16, 78, 85
Jarvis Landry – 55, 7, 57, 72
Brian Hartline – 50, 8, 81, 61
Lamar Miller – 33, 7, 54, 51
Most everyone expected Miller to be limited last week because of his should injury, but he ended up looking great against the stout Buffalo run defense, picking up 86 yards on 15 carries. He’s back to low-end RB1 or high-end RB2 status. Wallace has been quiet for about a month now, though he did lead the Dolphins with seven targets last week. Landry seems to make a play a week, but he was still held relatively in check with five catches for just 46 yards. Miller is the only regular fantasy starter in Miami.
Minnesota Vikings
Greg Jennings – 60 targets, 9 red-zone targets, 85 percent of season snaps played, 68 percent of last week's snaps played
Cordarrelle Patterson – 59, 2, 77, 74
Jarius Wright – 43, 4, 54, 38
Jerick McKinnon – 41, 1, 44, 57
Matt Asiata – 41, 5, 48, 43
Kyle Rudolph – 18, 1, 76, 30
Rhett Ellison – 16, 1, 56, 51
Rudolph didn’t get a target in his less-than-triumphant return to the field last week, but don’t let that discourage you too much. He’s no better than a low-end TE1 because of the ceiling on the Minnesota offense, but he’s still at the top of the depth chart, even though Ellison caught a touchdown last week. Keep an eye on Charles Johnson, who played more than 50 percent of the team’s snaps against Chicago, and caught six passes for 87 yards. There’s a vacuum at the wide receiver position in Minnesota that Patterson and Jennings have been unable to occupy this year. Johnson may not be relevant in fantasy leagues the rest of the year, but he could be a guy to watch for 2015.
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New England Patriots
Julian Edelman – 95 targets, 14 red-zone targets, 81 percent of season snaps played, 45 percent of last week's snaps played
Rob Gronkowski – 85, 12, 69, 83
Brandon LaFell – 69, 8, 77, 91
Shane Vereen – 57, 9, 51, 27
Danny Amendola – 24, 4, 42, 30
Tim Wright – 20, 5, 21, 16
Jonas Gray – 1, 0, 40, 73
Other than Tom Brady and Gronkowski, the big players for the Patriots may not always be the same. This week, it was Gray piling up 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Wright catching a short touchdown pass, and Edelman totaling 81 yards from scrimmage on seven touches. The end result, however, always seems to be the same, and that’s the Patriots throwing 40 points up on the scoreboard. So long as that is the case, you want to be invested in this offense.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham – 81 targets, 14 red-zone targets, 67 percent of season snaps played, 76 percent of last week's snaps played
Brandin Cooks – 72, 6, 72, 73
Marques Colston – 61, 6, 76, 79
Travaris Cadet – 44, 6, 21, 21
Kenny Stills – 42, 3, 55, 56
Pierre Thomas – 30, 3, 39, N/A
Mark Ingram – 24, 2, 52, 75
Khiry Robinson – 6, 0, 28, N/A
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Cooks is out for the next 2-to-4 weeks with a broken thumb, opening up the door for Colston and Stills to walk through at the most important time of the fantasy season. Cooks leads all New Orleans receivers in targets and is second in snap percentage. Not all of those targets can just devolve onto Graham. With the expected increase in workload, both Stills and Colston enter the regular WR3 discussion, and chances are strong that one of them puts up WR2 numbers while Cooks is out. The bet here is on Stills, who has played well despite a middling role in the New Orleans offense. He has 21 catches for 290 yards and two touchdowns in his last five games.
New York Giants
Rueben Randle – 95 targets, 16 red-zone targets, 90 percent of season snaps played, 79 percent of last week's snaps played
Larry Donnell – 62, 17, 82, 84
Odell Beckham – 51, 8, 89, 100
Preston Parker – 35, 3, 47, 79
Rashad Jennings – 22, 2, 63, 84
Andre Williams – 19, 1, 39, 0
Check out that gleaming three-digit number all the way to the right of Beckham’s row. He played every snap against the 49ers last week, and caught six of his 13 targets for 93 yards. He has had fewer than nine fantasy points one time in six career games, and has double-digit targets each of the last three weeks. Like so many of his fellow rookies, Beckham is a star in the making. He’s the top receiver for the Giants, and an easy WR2 for the rest of the year.
New York Jets
Eric Decker – 68 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 74 percent of season snaps played, 71 percent of last week's snaps played
Jeremy Kerley – 54, 8, 67, 32
Jace Amaro – 46, 7, 44, 54
Jeff Cumberland – 30, 7, 83, 97
Percy Harvin – 27, 5, 67, 68
Chris Johnson – 23, 3, 34, 27
Chris Ivory – 20, 4, 42, 51
If you close your eyes and try to imagine the scene, you can hear Rex Ryan telling the New York media, “You won’t have Rex to kick around anymore,” once the season ends. We didn’t have him last week, either, with the Jets on bye. They return this week with a game at Buffalo that should be just as thrilling as it always is.
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Oakland Raiders
James Jones – 78 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 71 percent of season snaps played, 66 percent of last week's snaps played
Andre Holmes – 56, 3, 62, 78
Mychal Rivera – 54, 5, 73, 69
Darren McFadden – 46, 2, 64, 36
Denarius Moore – 27, 2, 42, 0
Kenbrell Thompkins – 16, 0, 39, 72
Thompkins got his highest snap percentage as a Raider last week, but he didn’t turn that into any meaningful production. He caught two of his three targets for 47 yards. As we’ve seen with Holmes and Rivera, a handful of players on this team are capable of having fleeting value, but no Raider is going to be a regular fantasy starter. Now that the byes are essentially over and done with, you shouldn’t be concerned with this team, unless you want to find a stream-worthy defense.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jeremy Maclin – 100 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 87 percent of season snaps played, 91 percent of last week's snaps played
Jordan Matthews – 72, 12, 64, 83
Riley Cooper – 63, 8, 84, 79
Zach Ertz – 54, 6, 50, 35
Darren Sproles – 39, 4, 30, 36
LeSean McCoy – 33, 4, 70, 62
Brent Celek – 30, 5, 69, 67
Matthews had another big game last week, catching five passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, he played more snaps than Cooper for the first time all season. The takeover has officially happened in every way imaginable. In 11 quarters of action with Mark Sanchez at the helm, Matthews has 14 catches for 280 yards and four touchdowns. Celek played more snaps than Ertz last week, but the latter ran more routes. The real takeaway, though, is that neither is doing anywhere near enough to warrant fantasy consideration.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown – 129 targets, 20 red-zone targets, 95 percent of season snaps played, 100 percent of last week's snaps played
Le’Veon Bell – 70, 10, 80, 96
Markus Wheaton – 63, 7, 70, 53
Heath Miller – 58, 10, 97, 99
Martavis Bryant – 30, 7, 45, 45
Bryant finally learned that it is possible to play in an NFL game and not score a touchdown. However, two of his five targets were in the end zone, and he came back to a Ben Roethlisberger pass one step farther, he would have had his seventh score in five games. Brown is one of only two receivers with a minimum of 100 overall targets and 20 red-zone targets this year. The other is Jordy Nelson, though Nelson has played one fewer game. Unsurprisingly, they are two highest-scoring fantasy receivers in the league.
San Francisco 49ers
Anquan Boldin – 84 targets, 9 red-zone targets, 87 percent of season snaps played, 78 percent of last week's snaps played
Michael Crabtree – 83, 11, 72, 76
Steve Johnson – 41, 6, 30, 26
Vernon Davis – 38, 1, 84, 88
Frank Gore – 15, 1, 60, 68
Carlos Hyde – 13, 4, 33, 32
Colin Kaepernick has thrown for fewer than 240 yards in three straight games, and hasn’t had multiple passing touchdowns since the middle of October. That’s going to make it impossible to support multiple fantasy-worthy receivers. Crabtree was the one who came through last week, but Boldin has been, more often than not, Kaepernick’s favored receiver. Neither is better than a WR3, but if you have to trust one, make it Boldin.
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San Diego Chargers
Keenan Allen – 86 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 95 percent of season snaps played, 97 percent of last week's snaps played
Antonio Gates – 61, 14, 66, 69
Malcom Floyd – 54, 6, 83, 92
Eddie Royal – 46, 3, 62, 58
Branden Oliver – 30, 6, 50, 31
Ladarius Green – 20, 4, 38, 44
Ryan Mathews – 4, 0, 36, 43
The Chargers are a team in crisis, even though they just broke a three-game losing streak. They couldn’t have done so in more lackluster fashion, sputtering to a 13-6 win over the hapless Raiders. Philip Rivers has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in consecutive games, and it has gotten to the point where it’s nearly impossible to trust any pass catcher in this offense, other than Gates. The Chargers next five games are against the Rams, Ravens, Patriots, Broncos and 49ers. The Rams have actually done well against traditional quarterbacks this year, which does not bode well for this offense in Week 12.
Seattle Seahawks
Doug Baldwin – 65 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 87 percent of season snaps played, 93 percent of last week's snaps played
Jermaine Kearse – 48, 8, 87, 92
Marshawn Lynch – 33, 6, 69, 74
Luke Willson – 23, 4, 51, 23
Paul Richardson – 20, 3, 44, 66
Cooper Helfet – 19, 5, 36, 58
Russell Wilson has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in six games this season, including each of the last four weeks. While his rushing production has been enough to make him a fantasy-relevant quarterback, no Seattle receiver should be anywhere near your starting lineup for the rest of the season. The only one owners could even consider starting is Baldwin, and they would have to be in dire straits to dig that deep.
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St. Louis Rams
Jared Cook – 63 targets, 5 red-zone targets, 73 percent of season snaps played, 57 percent of last week's snaps played
Kenny Britt – 43, 2, 73, 89
Benny Cunningham – 30, 4, 40, 28
Lance Kendricks – 29, 5, 59, 68
Tavon Austin – 27, 0, 47, 75
Zac Stacy – 20, 2, 34, N/A
Chris Givens – 19, 1, 27, 23
Stedman Bailey – 15, 2, 34, 46
Tre Mason – 13, 1, 49, 69
I still can't believe that a team with these skill players beat the Broncos. Mason is really the only guy on the Rams worth discussing -- He ran for 113 yards on 29 carries, which seemed to vault him back into the RB2 discussion. Here are two reasons why that’s a mistake. First, this was a purely volume performance, as he ran for fewer than four yards per carry. Second, this was a favorable game flow for him, with the Rams, somehow, leading the entire game. That’s not going to happen all that often the rest of the year. Mason is a depth back and nothing more. Britt had the big play on a 63-yard touchdown, but try to convince me that you want to be invested in the St. Louis passing game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Vincent Jackson – 93 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 96 percent of season snaps played, 96 percent of last week's snaps played
Mike Evans – 75, 5, 80, 94
Louis Murphy – 40, 6, 65, 40
Bobby Rainey – 38, 4, 55, 38
Austin Seferian-Jenkins – 34, 5, 85, 94
Doug Martin – 14, 0, 58, N/A
Charles Sims – 6, 0, 44, 62
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I waxed poetic on Evans’ deep-ball ability in the intro to this column, and that stands in stark contrast to Jackson’s performance on the same type of passes this year. He, too, has had plenty of opportunity to make plays down the field, with 23 deep targets. He has caught just four of those passes, and while those were the only ones that qualified as catchable, it does speak to his ability to consistently get separation deep down the field. If you’re a Jackson owner, you have to like that the Josh McCown-Mike Glennon combination has taken shots with him all year. Now you just have to hope that Jackson can start producing more with the chances he gets.
Tennessee Titans
Kendall Wright – 70 targets, 7 red-zone targets, 81 percent of season snaps played, 78 percent of last week's snaps played
Delanie Walker – 62, 9, 78, N/A
Justin Hunter – 55, 5, 86, 93
Nate Washington – 38, 4, 76, 38
Bishop Sankey – 14, 1, 41, 58
Hunter continues to play a ton of snaps for the Titans, but he just isn’t converting that into big numbers. He got four targets last week, catching two of them for 48 yards. He hasn’t had more than 50 yards for four straight games, which is especially troubling for a guy who is supposed to be a big-play receiver. He will certainly be an attractive sleeper next year because of what he does down the field, but he’s going to have to cut back on his drop rate and improve his route running if he’s ever going to capitalize on his potential.
Washington Redskins
DeSean Jackson – 73 targets, 10 red-zone targets, 75 percent of season snaps played, 72 percent of last week's snaps played
Pierre Garcon – 63, 2, 85, 71
Andre Roberts – 52, 7, 68, 54
Niles Paul – 43, 5, 57, 61
Roy Helu – 39, 3, 40, 26
Jordan Reed – 31, 3, 47, 44
Alfred Morris – 14, 1, 56, 60
How is it possible that Garcon has just two red-zone targets this year? He had 20 last season, seven (in just 10 games) in 2012, and 18 in his final year with the Colts. He has a hand in his disappointing play, but it’s hard to imagine that Washington couldn’t have benefitted from forcing the ball his way a few more times in scoring range through the first 11 weeks of the season. Once again, however, the situation in Washington has become toxic. With Robert Griffin not not throwing teammates under the bus and frustrations boiling over for the second season in a row, it’s hard to get too excited about this offense. Morris and Jackson are worthy every-week starters, but the rest of the team can be ignored for the time being.
Gruden vs. Griffin: Comments portend of greater problems in Washington
