2007 Looks/Touches Projections

The following projections are made with assumed 16-game health for the majority of players. In cases where players have a consistent history of missing games (DeShaun Foster, Darrell Jackson, etc), or a player's contributions will likely be limited in at least the early going of this coming season (Dominic Rhodes, Kevin Jones, etc), the projections are qualified based on the anticipation of time or effectiveness lost.

Touches is defined as the number of times a running back carried or caught the football.
Looks is defined as the number of times a player was the intended target of a pass.

Projected 2007 Touch Leaders RANK PLAYER TEAM TOUCH 1 LaDainian Tomlinson SD 402 2 Steven Jackson STL 399 3 Larry Johnson KC 391 4 Edgerrin James ARI 385 5 Joseph Addai IND 382 6 Willie Parker PIT 374 7 Frank Gore SF 356 8 Rudi Johnson CIN 347 9 Travis Henry DEN 345 10 Willis McGahee BAL 339 11 Ronnie Brown MIA 328 12 Cedric Benson CHI 323 13 Jamal Lewis CLE 316 14 Thomas Jones NYJ 315 15 Shaun Alexander SEA 313 16 Brandon Jacobs NYG 306 17 Brian Westbrook PHI 304 18 Carnell Williams TB 299 19 Laurence Maroney NE 291 20 Clinton Portis WAS 274 21 Ahman Green HOU 259 22 Reggie Bush NO 256 23 Julius Jones DAL 252 24 Marshawn Lynch BUF 251 25 DeAngelo Williams CAR 237 26 Vernand Morency GB 236 27 Deuce McAllister NO 235 28 LaMont Jordan OAK 232 29 Jerious Norwood ATL 226 30 Maurice Jones-Drew JAC 225 31 Tatum Bell DET 222 32 LenDale White TEN 215 33 Fred Taylor JAC 212 33 Adrian Peterson MIN 212 35 Warrick Dunn ATL 207 35 Ladell Betts WAS 207 37 Marion Barber III DAL 193 37 DeShaun Foster CAR 193 39 Chester Taylor MIN 189 40 Anthony Thomas BUF 179 41 Brandon Jackson GB 177 42 Dominic Rhodes OAK 167 43 Ron Dayne HOU 164 44 Kevin Jones DET 152 45 Adrian Peterson CHI 137 46 Leon Washington NYJ 136 47 Reuben Droughns NYG 129 48 Michael Pittman TB 112 49 Mike Bell DEN 106 50 Lorenzo Booker MIA 104

Projected 2007 WR Look Leaders RANK PLAYER TEAM LOOK 1 Torry Holt STL 173 2 Donald Driver GB 165 3 Terrell Owens DAL 156 4 Andre Johnson HOU 155 5 Anquan Boldin ARI 154 6 Chad Johnson CIN 152 7 T.J. Houshmandzadeh CIN 150 8 Steve Smith CAR 149 9 Marvin Harrison IND 146 10 Laveranues Coles NYJ 144 11 Lee Evans BUF 142 12 Roy Williams DET 142 13 Reggie Wayne IND 142 14 Larry Fitzgerald ARI 139 15 Randy Moss NE 136 16 Plaxico Burress NYG 136 17 Javon Walker DEN 135 18 Chris Chambers MIA 135 19 Deion Branch SEA 130 20 Braylon Edwards CLE 129 21 Greg Jennings GB 129 22 Marques Colston NO 128 23 Jerricho Cotchery NYJ 128 24 Joey Galloway TB 125 25 Santana Moss WAS 119 26 Mark Clayton BAL 118 27 Hines Ward PIT 114 28 Bernard Berrian CHI 112 29 Jerry Porter OAK 112 30 Joe Horn ATL 110 31 Derrick Mason BAL 107 32 D.J. Hackett SEA 107 33 Calvin Johnson DET 104 33 Vincent Jackson SD 104 35 Reggie Brown PHI 103 35 Troy Williamson MIN 98 37 Mike Furrey DET 97 37 Marty Booker MIA 96 39 Kevin Curtis PHI 96 40 Muhsin Muhammad CHI 95 41 Bobby Wade MIN 91 42 Devery Henderson NO 91 43 Darrell Jackson SF 91 44 Isaac Bruce STL 91 45 Terry Glenn DAL 89 46 Dwayne Jarrett CAR 88 47 Ronald Curry OAK 88 48 Santonio Holmes PIT 88 49 Ernest Wilford JAC 87 50 Brandon Jones TEN 86 51 Drew Bennett STL 82 52 Michael Jenkins ATL 80 53 Eddie Kennison KC 78 54 Matt Jones JAC 77 55 Michael Clayton TB 77 56 Keary Colbert CAR 76 57 Kevin Walter HOU 76 58 Steve Smith NYG 76 59 Arnaz Battle SF 76 60 Bobby Engram SEA 74

Projected 2007 TE Look Leaders RANK PLAYER TEAM LOOK 1 Antonio Gates SD 126 2 Todd Heap BAL 116 3 Jeremy Shockey NYG 115 4 Alge Crumpler ATL 112 5 Chris Cooley WAS 111 6 Tony Gonzalez KC 104 7 Vernon Davis SF 98 8 Kellen Winslow CLE 91 9 Jason Witten DAL 91 10 L.J. Smith PHI 85 11 Benjamin Watson NE 84 12 Heath Miller PIT 67 13 Owen Daniels HOU 60 14 Bo Scaife TEN 59 15 Daniel Graham DEN 58 16 Dallas Clark IND 58 17 Eric Johnson NO 56 18 Marcus Pollard SEA 55 19 David Martin MIA 55 20 Randy McMichael STL 54 21 Greg Olsen CHI 53 22 Donald Lee GB 50 23 Desmond Clark CHI 49 24 Chris Baker NYJ 46 25 Marcedes Lewis JAC 45

RB Touches

Last season, Larry Johnson (457), Steven Jackson (436), and LaDainian Tomlinson (404) logged more than 400 touches. I'm only expecting a repeat performance from Tomlinson – Johnson will have a lighter load coming off an NFL record 416 carries and Jackson will see his role in the passing game scaled back a bit after finishing seventh in the league in receptions, but Tomlinson's workload should remain virtually unchanged.

Players who make the most substantial moves up the leaderboard – Joseph Addai (266 touches in 2006), Brandon Jacobs (107), and Laurence Maroney (197). Addai is now a featured back after sharing the load with Dominic Rhodes (223) last season – Edgerrin James averaged 372 touches from 2002-05 with the Colts. Jacobs – all 6-foot-4, 264 pounds of him – will be given every opportunity to receive the lion's share of the workload for the Giants, even if Reuben Droughns is a fairly respectable backup. Maroney may give way to Kevin Faulk on many passing downs, but he'll be on the field much more often than not now that Corey Dillon (214) is no longer a member of the same backfield.

There's never been more reason to grab two undisputed starters at RB1 with your first two picks, as plenty of platoon or platoon-like situations either already exist or appear very likely to be in place at some point during the season. They include: Atlanta (Warrick Dunn, Jerious Norwood), Carolina (DeShaun Foster, DeAngelo Williams), Dallas (Julius Jones, Marion Barber III), Detroit (Tatum Bell, Kevin Jones (INJ)), Green Bay (Vernand Morency, Brandon Jackson), Jacksonville (Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew), Minnesota (Chester Taylor, Adrian Peterson), New Orleans (Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister), Oakland (LaMont Jordan, Dominic Rhodes (SUSP)), and Washington (Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts).

WR Looks

I wouldn't anticipate the top five changing much from last season's final standings. Torry Holt has averaged 11.4 looks per game over the past two seasons; Brett Favre once again figures to lean heavily on Donald Driver (9.7 looks per game in 2005-06); everyone involved is happier when Terrell Owens gets plenty of looks; Andre Johnson remains the only reliable option at wideout in the Houston passing game; and new Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt has promised that Boldin will be at least as active in the offensive game-plan as he has been. The one change – don't expect Chris Chambers to once again see more looks than all but a few WR in the game.

Players among the biggest anticipated gainers for the upcoming season include: Deion Branch (101 looks in 2006), D.J. Hackett (67), Jerry Porter (4), Vincent Jackson (56), and Kevin Curtis (56). Branch and Hackett take over as WR1 and WR2 for the Seahawks with the departure of Darrell Jackson. Porter revolted against the Art Shell hiring in Oakland and barely saw the field in 2006, but he's back as the WR1 for the new regime. The 6-foot-5, 241 pound Jackson emerged late last season and is expected to be a solid WR1 for Philip Rivers and the Chargers. Curtis should see plenty of action as the WR2 in Philly – Donte' Stallworth averaged 6.5 looks in 12 games at the position for the Eagles last season.

TE Looks

There's little reason to expect Antonio Gates (120 looks in 2006) to finish anywhere but comfortably at the top of the TE leaderboard.

Notable TE with question marks: Alge Crumpler (103) is as physically gifted as any player at his position, but a new offense and a new QB make it hard to project his numbers. Tony Gonzalez isn't getting any younger, his looks have declined in consecutive seasons (from 148 to 116 to last season's 103), and the Chiefs' QB situation is very unsettled. Kellen Winslow is coming off of yet another surgical procedure on his knee.