Looks and Touches: Week 4

The following is a list of the Week 4 leaders in looks and touches. It defines those running backs and receivers who received the most attention this past weekend.

Touches is defined as the number of times a RB carried or caught the football.

Looks is defined as the number of times a player was the intended target of a pass.

TOUCHES
• There's a pair of familiar names atop the leaderboard this week. Larry Johnson and Steven Jackson finished 1-2 in both touches (33 and 29) and yards of offense (198 and 188), and combined for three scores (LJ 2, SJ 1). Johnson reached season-highs in both touches (28 carries, 5 catches) and yards – he has averaged 160 yards on 29 touches over the past two weeks after averaging 54 yards on 18 touches in the season's first two games. Jackson also had his biggest workload (24 carries, 5 catches) and offensive output – and he's averaged 158 yards on 29 touches in the past two games after averaging 82 yards on 19 touches in the first two.

• With Justin Fargas inactive and Darren McFadden limited by turf toe, Michael Bush saw the lion's share of touches (21 – 14 carries, 7 catches) for the Raiders and his 128 yards of offense (48 rushing, 80 receiving) were good for fourth among RB in Week 4. The Raiders are on a bye in Week 5, so we could be looking at a three-headed monster when they take on the Saints in Week 6 if both Fargas and McFadden get back to 100 percent during the off week.

• Earnest Graham reached 20 carries for the first time this season en route to 111 rushing yards in Week 4 (he also added 1 catch for 3 yards) – he's just 23rd in the league in carries per game (14.3) but 10th in rushing yards per game (83.5). Quick stat: Graham has 57 carries on the season, but his three longest runs to this point (68, 47, 46) combine for just under 50 percent of his total rushing yards (334).

• The Deuce appears to be loose, at least for now. Deuce McAllister led Saints' RB with 21 touches (20 carries, 1 catch) and 83 yards of offense (73 rushing, 10 receiving) and should remain heavily utilized for as long as he can stay on the field. Reggie Bush was ineffective (15 touches, 38 yards), largely due to his marginal impact in the passing game (5 catches, 7 yards) – he had entered the game averaging nine catches for 83 yards. Pierre Thomas was marginalized to the point that he saw fewer touches (1 carry) than Olaniyi Sobomehin (2 carries).

• The smallish Steve Slaton (5-foot-9, 201) emerged from a pair of tough road matchups (@TEN, @JAC) looking pretty good. He totaled 116 yards of offense (33 rushing, 83 receiving) on 18 touches (10 carries, 8 catches) in Week 4 and totaled 240 yards (149 rushing, 92 receiving) on 40 touches (28 carries, 12 catches) and two scores (1 rushing, 1 receiving) in the two games. Things (should) get easier for Slaton over the next four weeks, with some favorable matchups and all home cooking (IND, MIA, DET, CIN).

• The platoon watch notes when a team's RB2 is given at least half as many touches as the RB1, regardless of the reason. Platoon watch for Week 4 included: Arizona (Edgerrin James 14, Tim Hightower 7), Baltimore (Le'Ron McClain 19, Willis McGahee 16), Carolina (DeAngelo Williams 18, Jonathan Stewart 14), Denver (Selvin Young 11, Michael Pittman 6), Jacksonville (Fred Taylor 13, Maurice Jones-Drew 9), New Orleans (Deuce McAllister 21, Reggie Bush 15), NY Jets (Thomas Jones 20, Leon Washington 11), Pittsburgh (Mewelde Moore 11, Rashard Mendenhall 10, Carey Davis 9), Tampa Bay (Earnest Graham 21, Warrick Dunn 18), and Tennessee (Chris Johnson 20, LenDale White 11).

• Yards-per-touch leaders for Week 4 (minimum 10 touches) included: Steven Jackson (6.48, 29 for 188), Steve Slaton (6.44, 18 for 116), and Frank Gore (6.28, 18 for 113). The bottom three: Ryan Grant (0.94, 17 for 16), LenDale White (1.18, 11 for 13), and Chris Perry (2.53, 17 for 43).

LOOKS
• I'll avoid the Terrell Owens "situation" as well as I can while still pointing out his league-high 17 looks were also his highest single-game total since the 2005 season. He's currently averaging 4.3 catches and 66 yards on 9.0 looks per game – his averages from the previous two seasons (31 G) include 5.4 catches and 82 yards on 9.5 looks per game.

• Laveraneus Coles and Brett Favre appear to officially be on the same page. Coles has improved his looks, catches, yards, and TD in each of the season's four games: from 4-1-5-0 to 6-3-72-0 to 7-6-75-1 to 12-8-105-3.

• DeSean Jackson isn't showing many signs of slowing his roll – he garnered 10 looks for the second time in four games, had possession of the ball in the end zone for the first time, and he hasn't had fewer than seven looks in any single game.

• Top 10 players in catch percentage (minimum 4 looks per game): Steve Slaton (100%, 15/15), Jason Witten (96%, 27/28), Anthony Fasano (92%, 11/12), Ike Hilliard (86%, 18/21), Frank Gore (83%, 15/18), Chansi Stuckey (82%, 14/17), Matt Forte (82%, 18/22), Antwaan Randle El (82%, 18/22), Josh Reed (81%, 17/21), and John Carlson (80%, 12/15)

• Bottom 10 players in catch percentage (minimum 4 looks per game): Ashley Lelie (28%, 5/18), Justin McCareins (33%, 9/27), Michael Jenkins (33%, 6/18), Courtney Taylor (33%, 5/15), Braylon Edwards (37%, 11/30), Chris Chambers (40%, 8/20), L.J. Smith (40%, 6/15), Mark Clayton (42%, 5/12), Jerramy Stevens (42%, 5/12), and Roy Williams (44%, 8/18).

Note: Looks and touches data provided by FFToday.com

Note: Looks and touches data provided by FFToday.com