Looks and Touches: Week 5

The following is a list of the Week 5 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 running back carried or caught the football.
Looks is defined as the number of times a player was the intended target of a pass.

TOUCHES
• Clinton Portis was huge in Week 5 action, garnering a league-high 31 touches (29 carries, 2 catches) and producing a league-high 158 yards of offense (145 rushing, 13 receiving). On the season, Portis leads the league in carries (115) and is second among RB in rushing yards (514) and total offense per game (112.6).

• Michael Turner continued his early trend of hits and misses in Week 5, following up 55 total yards last week with 121 rushing yards and a score on 26 carries (no catches). Turner averaged 150 yards of offense and two TD in Weeks 1, 3, and 5, and 52 yards and no scores in Weeks 2 and 4.

• Look no further than a comparison to LaDainian Tomlinson to illustrate Marion Barber's historical penchant for finding the end zone. Tomlinson scored 69 TD from 2005-07, including a league-record 31 in 2006 – he also totaled 1,169 touches in those three seasons, meaning he scored a TD every 16.9 touches. In those same three seasons, Barber scored 33 TD via 424 touches, a mark of just 12.8 touches. What I'm taking the long route to point out is that Barber is being out-Marion Barbered by teammate Felix Jones – Barber amassed 25 touches in Week 5 but failed to reach the end zone and has scored five TD on 107 touches, one for every 21.4 touches. Meanwhile, Jones had only 10 touches this past week but scored his third TD of the season – in five games, he's compiled 29 touches, scoring a TD once every 9.7 touches.

• DeAngelo Williams turned in Week 5's edition of the "Massive Performance by a RB that Didn't Help Most People Because He wasn't in Their Starting Lineups." He saw 20 carries for the first time this season and just the fourth time in his career (34 games), resulting in a career-high 123 yards and two scores, and he also caught a 25-yard TD pass. Jonathan Stewart saw nearly as much work in the 34-0 blowout of the Chiefs, but his 20 touches (19 carries, 1 catch) were just a bit less impactful (80 yards, 0 TD).

• 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 5 included: Baltimore (Willis McGahee 23, Le'Ron McClain 13), Carolina (DeAngelo Williams 21, Jonathan Stewart 20), Chicago (Matt Forte 19, Kevin Jones 12), Cincinnati (Chris Perry 16, Cedric Benson 10), Denver (Selvin Young 11, Michael Pittman 8, Andre Hall 7), Detroit (Kevin Smith 12, Rudi Johnson 8), Houston (Steve Slaton 17, Ahman Green 12), Jacksonville (Fred Taylor 12, Maurice Jones-Drew 11), Kansas City (Jamaal Charles 8, Larry Johnson 7), Miami (Ronnie Brown 25, Ricky Williams 14), New England (Sammy Morris 16, Kevin Faulk 11, Laurence Maroney 10), NY Giants (Brandon Jacobs 16, Ahmad Bradshaw 11, Derrick Ward 9), and Tampa Bay (Earnest Graham 15, Warrick Dunn 14).

• Yards-per-touch leaders for Week 5 (minimum 10 touches) included: Felix Jones (10.3, 10 for 103), Brandon Jacobs (9.06, 16 for 145), and DeAngelo Williams (7.05, 21 for 148). The bottom three: Adrian Peterson MIN (1.86, 22 for 41), Fred Taylor (2.08, 12 for 25), and Chris Johnson (2.4, 20 for 48).

LOOKS
• Just when it appeared that he was being marginalized in the Detroit passing game, Roy Williams busts out to the tune of a career-high 18 looks, matching his season total entering the game. With that said, you would have liked to have seen the results amount to something a bit more substantial than seven catches for 96 yards and no scores. Meanwhile, Calvin Johnson was targeted a season-low six times, and the results were season lows in catches (2) and yards (16).

• Say what you want about Gus Frerotte, but he's at least given the Vikings the opportunity to open up their passing game a bit. Last season, the team averaged 27 passing attempts per game – in Frerotte's three starts, he's averaged 36 attempts, the number he also attempted in Week 5. Bernard Berrian was the major benefactor this past week, turning a season-high 13 looks into six catches for a career-high 110 yards and a score. With Sidney Rice on the sidelines, Bobby Wade played the part of possession receiver, converting 11 looks into eight catches for 64 yards.

• Say what you want about Dwayne Bowe, but you can't say he's being underutilized. He enters his team's bye as the league leader in total looks (56), eighth in catches (27), and 14th in yards (324). With that said, he's 11th from the bottom in terms of reception percentage (48%) among players with at least 20 looks on the season.

• Notable names not among the Week 5 looks leaders: Anthony Gonzalez (2 looks), DeSean Jackson (2), Marshawn Lynch (3), Santana Moss (1), Greg Olsen (3), and Terrell Owens (3).

• Top 10 players in catch percentage (minimum 4 looks per game): Maurice Jones-Drew (95%, 19/20), Steve Slaton (94%, 16/17), Bo Scaife (91%, 20/22), Anthony Fasano (88%, 14/16), Matt Forte (85%, 22/26), Ike Hilliard (85%, 22/26), Frank Gore (83%, 19/23), Chansi Stuckey (82%, 14/17), Brian Westbrook (83%, 14/17), and Josh Reed (81%, 21/26).

• Bottom 10 players in catch percentage (minimum 4 looks per game): Ashley Lelie (28%, 5/18), Justin McCareins (29%, 9/31), Courtney Taylor (33%, 5/15), Jerramy Stevens (36%, 5/14), Braylon Edwards (37%, 11/30), Billy McMullen (39%, 7/18), Michael Jenkins (39%, 9/23), Roy Williams (42%, 15/36), L.J. Smith (45%, 9/20), and D.J. Hackett (45%, 10/22).

Note: Looks data provided by FFToday.com

Note: Looks data provided by FFToday.com