Fantasy Football Week 5 Red Zone Report: George Pickens, Cam Skattebo Breakout
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Some call it the red zone, some call it the gold zone. Some really just know that money is made when you are here. The most efficient NFL teams score a lot and often in the red zone. The more opportunity that a player has, the more value that they will have in fantasy football. Remember, one touchdowns counts the same as 60 yards. Most players do not even achieve 60 yards in a game. Today, check back in on our players thriving in the red zone through four weeks.
RED ZONE REPORT - TARGET LEADERS
Amon-Ra St Brown continues to own the red zone. This will likely remain to be the case all season long. He has 10 targets for 8 catches and 6 touchdowns. We have yet to reach Week 5 and he has 6 touchdowns. Stunning stuff.
Puka Nacua? Nope! Davante Adams. You would think that Nacua would lead when in the red zone, but Stafford is targeting his old Packers rival.
George Pickens skyrockets in stock following the CeeDee Lamb injury. Even in a tough matchup in Week 4 versus the Packers, Pickens rattled off a ton of touches.
George Pickens stats this season:
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) October 2, 2025
⭐️ 21 receptions
⭐️ 300 Receiving Yards (75 YPG)
⭐️ 4 TDS
STUD.
pic.twitter.com/rpJ42HLvYB
The remaining players all prove to be viable fantasy options. Averaging 1.5 red zone touches per game, you can be sure that they are in the red zone gameplan. The most surprising name here is Jalen Nailor. If anyone falls off, it would be him.
RED ZONE REPORT - TOUCHDOWN LEADERS
These are the only players of 3+ touchdowns through 4 weeks. St. Brown reigns supreme. Doubs has been a favorite target of Jordan Love and that showed with (3) touchdowns in Week 4. I am thinking that Doubs is surely the temporary WR1 in Green Bay.
Pickens will remain a borderline WR1 until Lamb is back on the field. Allen could see a minor drop-off, but he has still proven to be a vital option in this Chargers offense. If they make a Super Bowl run, I am sure that Allen will play a key role.
RED ZONE REPORT - TARGET SHARE LEADERS
The triple crown it is for St. Brown. Not much for us to say here, he is supreme.
Adams continues to be a highly-used red zone option with the Rams. It is clear that they have him firmly in their scoring gameplan.
Nico Collins only has four targets, but when the Texans are in the red zone, he is the guy. Expect this to remain. Jaylen Waddle is the same case going forward while Tyreek Hill out for the season. Waddle may very well enter borderline WR1 status. He can be a buy-low candidate, if he still categorizes as that.
Tillman is injured, but he will be the 1v1 ball catchers in-close. The same goes for Pickens, but he is the healthy one. The same also goes for Marvin Harrison Jr. It seems that Kyler Murray is finally forcing the ball his way and it is paying dividends. The same... also goes for Jauan Jennings, but like Tillman, he is hurt.
RED ZONE REPORT - TIGHT END LEADERS
By demand, we had to include tight ends in the red zone report. All of these guys are getting red zone work. Some are surprising, and some are not.
Dalton Kincaid and Tucker Kraft are favorites of their respective quarterbacks. Do not expect any change. They may finish both at Top 5 tight ends in fantasy football. The same story goes for Hunter Henry.
Zach Ertz and AJ Barner are both in similar, run-first style offenses. For that reason, they may be ultra efficient in the red zone despite limited volume. The play-action aims to leverage their coverage matchups, so expect them to be touchdown reliant, but successful in multiple weeks.
Liam Coen seems to be working in Hunter Long as the pass-catching tight end in Jacksonville. Brenton Strange is awesome but he is a blocker. Long has played 16 snaps, only 2 of which have been pass-blocking. Long is very touchdown reliant, but perhaps his work will increase in due time.
I view Dallas Allen as an outlier. Once Higbee is back healthy, this value dwindles.
The Eagles love Dallas Goedert in the red zone and it shows. He will remain reliable, especially as the Eagles get some anxiety about tush-push penalties.
RED ZONE REPORT - RUNNING BACK TARGETS
These top names are not just reliable in the run game, but also in the passing game. McCaffrey, Gibbs, and Bijan Robinson are all very highly used in the air. This is no surprise and it proves why they were all first round draft picks.
Ashton Jeanty is an interesting name in here. Jeanty can catch, but that is not his forte. He is 4/4 and so they may continue to work him in this way. This bodes well for Jeanty.
Javonte Williams and Travis Etienne Jr have proved to be the clear-cut starters in their offenses. Both of these teams are also under-the-radar good offenses. As for Kenneth Gainwell, he looks awesome, but Jaylen Warren should remain the lead back when he returns from injury. These targets are still less than one per game, so do not overreact too much quite yet.
RED ZONE REPORT - TOUCHES LEADERS
The top six names on this list are with zero-bit of surprise. These players are going to remain as your top tiered NFL running backs. If you own them, congratulations, you drafted well.
How about Cam Skattebo? Even in a limited role early on, he is towards the top in running back touches. With Tyrone Tracy hurt, Skattebo has massive upside in my books.
Jaylen Warren is showing just how much the Steelers run the ball when in close. The team has a split of 15 Passes to 22 Rushes in the red zone. Many expected different with Rodgers behind center, but the 3-1 Steelers trust the run. Warren and Gainwell will continue to benefit.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.