Week 6 Target Watch: NFC
Welcome to the Week 6 NFC Target Watch. Below I have all the targets for each player for each week and then their total number in parentheses and then below that I have the red zone targets and touches for each player for the season to date. The AFC version is right here if you are so inclined.
Arizona Cardinals
Michael Floyd: 7-6-9-BYE-7-7 (36), Larry Fitzgerald: 4-10-7-BYE-7-6 (34), John Brown: 5-4-6-BYE-7-6 (28), Andre Ellington: 5-3-4-BYE-7-9 (28), John Carlson: 1-3-3-BYE-3-6 (16), Ted Ginn: 3-0-3-BYE-2-1 (9), Rob Housler: 3-0-dnp-BYE-1-3 (7), Stepfan Taylor: 3-0-0-BYE-0-2 (5), Jonathan Dwyer: 3-0-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (3), Robert Hughes: 1-1-0-BYE-0-1 (3), Jaron Brown: dnp-0-1-BYE-0-1 (2), Darren Fells: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-dnp-0 (1), Troy Niklas: 0-1-0-BYE-0-dnp (1)
Carson Palmer’s back! And that makes Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd awful happy as both scored their first touchdowns of the season. The targets stayed the same, but from Palmer they were much more productive.
With Palmer’s shoulder/arm not 100% he did end up targeting Andre Ellington nine times, of which he caught six for just 26 yards. At least that’s a boost in PPR.
John Brown saw as many targets as Fitzgerald (6) and just one less than Floyd and hauled in four of those for 43 yards. Those aren’t big numbers, but it’s still a good sign that he can be used in deeper leagues.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Larry Fitzgerald: Run 0/ Tar 7, John Brown: Run 0/ Tar 3, Michael Floyd: Run 0/ Tar 3, Andre Ellington: Run 5/ Tar 3, Rob Housler: Run 0/ Tar 2, Ted Ginn: Run 0/ Tar 2, Stepfan Taylor: Run 0/ Tar 2, Robert Hughes: Run 0/ Tar 1, John Carlson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jonathan Dwyer: Run 5/ Tar 0, Drew Stanton: Run 3/ Tar 0
The red zone targets were split evenly with five players each getting a single look, but Fitzgerald is the clear leader so far this season. We’ll see if that can continue and convert into actual touchdowns.
Atlanta Falcons
Julio Jones: 9-13-11-8-16-12 (69), Roddy White: 7-8-dnp-14-4-6 (39), Levine Toilolo: 6-3-2-2-2-6 (21), Devin Hester: 6-1-1-7-4-1 (20), Devonta Freeman: 2-4-1-2-6-3 (18), Harry Douglas: 7-8-2-dnp-dnp-dnp (17), Steven Jackson: 3-1-0-2-6-2 (14), Antone Smith: 1-4-0-0-3-4 (12), Jacquizz Rodgers: 1-1-1-4-2-1 (10), Eric Weems: dnp-0-5-0-0-1 (6), Patrick DiMarco: 0-0-3-1-0-0 (4), Courtney Roby: 0-dnp-2-0-0-dnp (2)
There were plenty of targets to go around in this one, but plenty of drops as well. Matt Ryan’s final stats were 19 completions on 37 attempts, but if you turn those drops into receptions and take away throwaways, Ryan would have been 26 of 32.
So there was plenty of blame for the poor performance to go around. Really, the only blameless player (other than Ryan) may be Antone Smith, who once again scored a long touchdown. His numbers remain startling. On just 23 touches this season he ranks as the 10th best fantasy running back in standard leagues. Of course he has Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers and Devonta Freeman also getting touches in that backfield and is almost impossible to start with his 19% of the snaps. That snap percentage and his six touches were both career highs.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Julio Jones: Run 0/ Tar 4, Roddy White: Run 0/ Tar 3, Devonta Freeman: Run 0/ Tar 3, Levine Toilolo: Run 0/ Tar 2, Patrick DiMarco: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jacquizz Rodgers: Run 4/ Tar 1, Harry Douglas: Run 0/ Tar 1, Steven Jackson: Run 9/ Tar 1, Antone Smith: Run 2/ Tar 1, Devin Hester: Run 1/ Tar 0
The Falcons didn’t run a single play inside the red zone. They actually didn’t run one from inside the thirty-yard line after averaging 12.4 plays there over the first five weeks.
Carolina Panthers
Kelvin Benjamin: 8-8-11-9-11-8 (55), Greg Olsen: 11-8-7-5-9-11 (51), Jerricho Cotchery: 4-4-dnp-7-4-10 (29), Jason Avant: 1-7-6-3-4-7 (28), Philly Brown: 0-0-9-4-1-1 (15), Mike Tolbert: 4-4-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (11), Darrin Reaves: dnp-dnp-1-5-1-1 (8), Jonathan Stewart: 3-1-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (7), Brenton Bersin: dnp-1-1-1-1-3 (7), Ed Dickson: 0-1-0-0-2-1 (4), Brandon Williams: dnp-0-0-dnp-2-1 (3), Fozzy Whittaker: 0-0-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (2), DeAngelo Williams: 1-dnp-dnp-0-dnp-dnp (1)
It finally looks like Cam Newton is feeling healthy enough to run and that means fantasy goodness. As a passer he had a nice enough day, completing 29 of 46 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but he heaped onto that pile of fantasy points, another pile of fantasy points, with 17 rushing attempts for 107 yards and another touchdown. No Panthers’ running back had topped 15 carries this season or 72 yards. On 117 rushing attempts the Carolina running backs have totaled 329 yards and three touchdowns.
There were plenty of targets to go around as four receivers had 7+. Greg Olsen led the way with 11 and caught six for 62 yards and another touchdown. He is having a solid season and with Kelvin Benjamin out there taking some heat away from him in the red zone, he’s finding pay dirt.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Greg Olsen: Run 0/ Tar 9, Kelvin Benjamin: Run 0/ Tar 4, Jason Avant: Run 0/ Tar 3, Philly Brown: Run 0/ Tar 1, Darrin Reaves: Run 8/ Tar 1, Jerricho Cotchery: Run 0/ Tar 1, DeAngelo Williams: Run 5/ Tar 0, Fozzy Whittaker: Run 2/ Tar 0, Cam Newton: Run 4/ Tar 0, Derek Anderson: Run 1/ Tar 0, Mike Tolbert: Run 4/ Tar 0, Chris Ogbonnaya: Run 1/ Tar 0, Jonathan Stewart: Run 2/ Tar 0
As I mentioned, Olsen is getting plenty of good looks in the red zone and I believe he’s helped by extra attention to the 7 foot 8 inch Benjamin (slight exaggeration). On the season Olsen has converted his nine red zone targets into four touchdowns. Last year he totaled 18 red zone targets and converted six into touchdowns. He’s beating that pace pretty nicely.
Chicago Bears
Matt Forte: 9-8-7-6-12-13 (55), Martellus Bennett: 10-8-8-11-5-8 (50), Brandon Marshall: 12-8-6-6-5-9 (46), Alshon Jeffery: 6-6-13-7-7-7 (46), Santonio Holmes: 5-2-3-0-3-0 (13), Dante Rosario: 1-1-1-1-4-0 (8), Josh Morgan: 3-dnp-0-4-0-1 (8), Micheal Spurlock: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (3), Josh Bellamy: dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (1)
Jay Cutler was white hot in this game and picked apart the Falcons’ defense. He was 28 for 34 on targeted passes for 381 yards and a touchdown. And those 381 yards came without forcing any passes. It really was a masterful day for Cutler and possibly his best as a pro.
Both of Cutler’s top receivers topped 100 yards, with Brandon Marshall catching six of nine targets for 113 yards and Alshon Jeffery catching five of seven targets for 136 yards. But the target leader was once again Matt Forte, who had 13, one up from last week’s 12. He again hit double-digit receptions with 10 and put up 77 yards receiving, but this week he did much of his damage on the ground with 17 carries, totaling 80 yards and two touchdowns. So on 27 touches he had 157 yards and two touchdowns. He now leads the league in receptions with 44 and is on pace for 122!
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Martellus Bennett: Run 0/ Tar 12, Brandon Marshall: Run 0/ Tar 11, Matt Forte: Run 13/ Tar 9, Alshon Jeffery: Run 0/ Tar 6, Josh Morgan: Run 0/ Tar 2, Santonio Holmes: Run 0/ Tar 1, KaDeem Carey: Run 1/ Tar 0, Jay Cutler: Run 1/ Tar 0
Forte saw five looks inside the red zone and scored twice, while Martellus Bennett had three and Marshall two, but couldn’t convert a touchdown.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant: 6-14-7-6-14-10 (57), Jason Witten: 6-7-5-5-5-5 (33), Terrance Williams: 7-4-3-7-6-2 (29), DeMarco Murray: 4-2-4-1-8-6 (25), Cole Beasley: 5-1-2-2-4-2 (16), Lance Dunbar: 3-0-1-3-0-4 (11), Dwayne Harris: 2-0-0-2-3-0 (7), Gavin Escobar: 1-1-1-1-0-2 (6), Devin Street: 3-0-0-1-0-0 (4), James Hanna: 0-0-0-1-0-0 (1), Tyler Clutts: 0-0-0-0-0-1 (1)
When one of your offensive linemen wins offensive player of the week, you know something was working. The Cowboys went into Seattle and took on the defending champs and won. After Week 1 you probably could have gotten some pretty steep odds on that happening.
After Scott Linehan was hired I sure wasn’t expecting this Dallas team to be 5-1 based on the run game and defense, but that’s what has happened. The Cowboys have now ran the ball 198 times, the most in the league, while throwing it 191 times, 21st in the league. This of course has been a huge boon for DeMarco Murray’s fantasy stock as he has rushed for 100+ yards in every game. The Seahawks had only played four games on the season, but hadn’t allowed an opposing running back to top 37 yards in a game. Murray hit 115 and his backup Joseph Randle (now of cologne and underwear fame) hit 52. I think that’s a pretty good sign that your offensive line is doing its job.
Dez Bryant saw a lot of Richard Sherman and had a tough day for fantasy, but they didn’t shy away from him as he led the team in targets with 10 and caught four for 63 yards. That’s a good sign that even in a run happy offense against a tough passing matchup that Bryant still saw ten targets.
Terrance Williams got it done again on minimal targets as he caught both his targets for 70 yards. With Dez on the other side he’ll always be lagging in targets, but his targets will remain productive.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Terrance Williams: Run 0/ Tar 7, Dez Bryant: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jason Witten: Run 0/ Tar 3, Gavin Escobar: Run 0/ Tar 3, Cole Beasley: Run 0/ Tar 2, DeMarco Murray: Run 21/ Tar 2, Devin Street: Run 0/ Tar 1, Lance Dunbar: Run 1/ Tar 1, Dwayne Harris: Run 0/ Tar 1, Joseph Randle: Run 1/ Tar 0
Gavin Escobar saw two targets all game, but both came in the red zone and he converted one into a touchdown. DeMarco Murray was once again the main man in the red zone with eight looks.
Detroit Lions
Golden Tate: 6-8-7-10-9-12 (52), Calvin Johnson: 11-13-10-2-1-dnp (37), Reggie Bush: 6-3-8-6-5-dnp (28), Eric Ebron: 2-5-1-4-4-4 (20), Joique Bell: 1-11-0-4-dnp-3 (19), Corey Fuller: 0-1-2-1-4-5 (13), Jeremy Ross: 0-3-3-2-2-3 (13), Brandon Pettigrew: 1-1-1-2-3-0 (8), Theo Riddick: 0-0-0-0-dnp-6 (6), Joseph Fauria: 3-1-2-dnp-dnp-dnp (6), Ryan Broyles: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1-0 (3), Jed Collins: 0-2-0-0-0-0 (2), George Winn: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-0 (2),
With Calvin Johnson out of this game we expected Golden Tate to get the bulk of the targets and he did, seeing 12, but only caught seven for 44 yards. It was a slow day for the passing game as the defense and running game took the lead.
The most efficient pass catcher on Sunday was running back Theo Riddick who had six targets and caught five for 75 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately he aggravated his hamstring and had to leave the game.
Joique Bell filled the void at running back with Reggie Bush out and carried the ball 18 times for 74 yards and a touchdown while also catching two of three targets for 23 yards. This was his best game of the season and hopefully will be a stepping-stone for him going forward.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Calvin Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 5, Reggie Bush: Run 6/ Tar 4, Golden Tate: Run 0/ Tar 4, Eric Ebron: Run 0/ Tar 3, Joseph Fauria: Run 0/ Tar 2, Joique Bell: Run 10/ Tar 1, Brandon Pettigrew: Run 0/ Tar 1, Theo Riddick: Run 1/ Tar 1, Jed Collins: Run 1/ Tar 1, George Winn: Run 1/ Tar 0, Matthew Stafford: Run 2/ Tar 0
Bell had four carries in the red zone and scored the one touchdown while Riddick had the one target and scored.
Green Bay Packers
Jordy Nelson: 14-16-7-12-3-16 (68), Randall Cobb: 9-6-6-9-4-7 (41), Davante Adams: 0-7-3-3-4-8 (25), Andrew Quarless: 4-2-5-0-2-5 (18), Eddie Lacy: 3-3-1-2-3-0 (12), James Starks: 3-0-1-0-2-5 (11), Jarrett Boykin: 0-3-4-dnp-dnp-dnp (7), Richard Rodgers: 0-1-0-2-1-0 (4), DuJuan Harris: 0-2-0-0-0-0 (2), Jeff Janis: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2-0 (2), John Kuhn: 0-1-0-0-1-0 (2)
Jordy Nelson got back into the target scene with 16 against the Dolphins on Sunday. He’s now one target behind Julio Jones for the season lead. He caught nine of those passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and is the second leading fantasy receiver in the league. With Aaron Rodgers playing as well as he is, that top receiver status shouldn’t change much for Nelson.
Davante Adams had one of his best days a pro with six receptions on eight targets for 77 yards. Rodgers seems to really trust him as he targeted him on his fake spike on the game winning drive, which he caught and ran for 12 yards and got out of bounds. Randall Cobb isn’t going anywhere, but Adams is squarely in the fantasy equation now with the Packers not having a go to tight end. And Adams did see more targets than Cobb in this one, so it appears he may be very close to him in the pecking order.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jordy Nelson: Run 0/ Tar 15, Randall Cobb: Run 0/ Tar 11, Davante Adams: Run 0/ Tar 6, Andrew Quarless: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jarrett Boykin: Run 0/ Tar 2, Eddie Lacy: Run 14/ Tar 2, James Starks: Run 4/ Tar 0, John Kuhn: Run 3/ Tar 0, Aaron Rodgers: Run 3/ Tar 0,
Nelson was targeted four times in the red zone, which gives him 15 on the season. That’s a bunch. It’s actually the most out of any player by three targets.
Minnesota Vikings
Greg Jennings: 7-4-7-4-6-6 (34), Cordarrelle Patterson: 5-7-5-4-4-8 (33), Jarius Wright: 3-3-0-10-8-6 (30), Matt Asiata: 1-7-6-4-3-2 (23), Jerick McKinnon: 0-3-5-3-5-6 (22), Kyle Rudolph: 4-8-5-dnp-dnp-dnp (17), Chase Ford: dnp-dnp-dnp-4-4-5 (13), Adam Thielen: 0-3-0-0-5-0 (8), Rhett Ellison: 1-1-2-1-2-1 (8), Charles Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3-3 (6), Adrian Peterson: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (3), MarQueis Gray: dnp-0-0-0-2-0 (2), Joe Banyard: dnp-0-0-0-2-0 (2)
Teddy Bridgewater didn’t have much help from his offensive line in this one as they allowed seven sacks and ten hurries. That of course translated into a poor game from the rookie and the rest of the offense.
There wasn’t much positive to take from this game offensively, but the promotion of Jerick McKinnon to starter was nice to see and he actually had a decent game all things considered. He rushed 11 times for 40 yards and caught all six of his targets for 42 yards and picked up four first downs on those six receptions. Against a tough Lions defense I take all of that as a plus and with Matt Asiata missing an easy reception that went on to be intercepted, I don’t see McKinnon looking over his shoulder.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Greg Jennings: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jarius Wright: Run 0/ Tar 4, Matt Asiata: Run 10/ Tar 3, Joe Banyard: Run 0/ Tar 2, Cordarrelle Patterson: Run 0/ Tar 2, Chase Ford: Run 0/ Tar 2, Kyle Rudolph: Run 0/ Tar 1, Adam Thielen: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jerick McKinnon: Run 4/ Tar 1, Adrian Peterson: Run 1/ Tar 1, Christian Ponder: Run 2/ Tar 0, Teddy Bridgewater: Run 5/ Tar 0, Matt Cassel: Run 1/ Tar 0
The Vikings had just one play in the red zone and it was an incompletion targeted at Cordarrelle Patterson.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 10-13-8-11-5-BYE (47), Brandin Cooks: 8-6-10-6-11-BYE (41), Marques Colston: 8-0-5-10-6-BYE (29), Pierre Thomas: 7-3-3-2-10-BYE (25), Kenny Stills: dnp-4-5-3-3-BYE (15), Robert Meachem: 2-5-1-1-4-BYE (13), Travaris Cadet: 1-0-0-6-5-BYE (12), Ben Watson: 1-2-1-1-7-BYE (12), Josh Hill: 0-2-2-1-3-BYE (8), Khiry Robinson: 1-0-0-3-2-BYE (6), Mark Ingram: 1-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE (5), Joe Morgan: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE (3)
Just when I start wondering about Pierre Thomas’ role in this offense he goes off for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 12 touches. It was great to see him back in the game plan and hopefully it showed Sean Payton and company that he needs more than the five touches per game he was seeing in the previous weeks. His 10 targets were more than his total from the three previous weeks.
The only player to out-target Thomas was Brandin Cooks who saw 11 targets and caught nine for 56 yards. Cooks isn’t putting up huge numbers, but he’s averaging 6.4 receptions per game and he’s ranked as the 21st best PPR receiver even though he’s only had one touchdown and hasn’t topped 77 yards. He also leads all of the Saints receivers in snaps and doesn’t look like he’ll ever be lost in the game plan.
I think it’s safe to worry about Marques Colston at this point. He has now dropped four of 19 catchable passes and unlike Justin Hunter who has dropped five of 17, Colston isn’t a young player and he’s losing targets due to his drops.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jimmy Graham: Run 0/ Tar 8, Brandin Cooks: Run 1/ Tar 6, Marques Colston: Run 0/ Tar 4, Pierre Thomas: Run 4/ Tar 3, Travaris Cadet: Run 1/ Tar 3, Robert Meachem: Run 0/ Tar 2, Josh Hill: Run 0/ Tar 2, Ben Watson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Kenny Stills: Run 0/ Tar 1, Khiry Robinson: Run 9/ Tar 0, Mark Ingram: Run 7/ Tar 0, Drew Brees: Run 3/ Tar 0
Khiry Robinson led the way with five rushing attempts in the red zone and scored one touchdown off those attempts. Travis Cadet and Pierre Thomas both caught a red zone touchdown.
New York Giants
Rueben Randle: 3-7-10-10-10-9 (49), Victor Cruz: 6-10-6-10-6-3 (41), Larry Donnell: 8-9-6-8-1-2 (34), Preston Parker: 0-2-4-5-3-1 (15), Rashad Jennings: 5-4-0-2-2-dnp (13), Jerrel Jernigan: 7-2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (9), Odell Beckham Jr: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-5-4 (9), Daniel Fells: 1-1-2-2-0-2 (8), Andre Williams: 1-4-0-1-2-0 (8), Peyton Hillis: 0-0-0-0-0-5 (5), Adrien Robinson: 0-0-0-1-1-2 (4)
Going into this game Eli Manning and the Giants had been playing well and working Ben McAdoo’s hurry up offense almost perfectly at times, but that all changed against the Eagles on Sunday night.
The Giants’ offensive line gave up eight sacks and helped the running game to just two rushing first downs while Manning completed 13 of 23 passes for 151 yards and no touchdowns. Amazingly with all that pressure he didn’t fumble or throw an interception!
Victor Cruz suffered a season ending injury in this one and Rueben Randle took the lead with nine targets, catching five for 58 yards, all highs for the team. With Cruz out it’s the Rueben Randle show with guest start Odell Beckham Jr.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Rueben Randle: Run 0/ Tar 12, Larry Donnell: Run 0/ Tar 11, Victor Cruz: Run 0/ Tar 4, Daniel Fells: Run 0/ Tar 3, Odell Beckham Jr: Run 0/ Tar 2, Rashad Jennings: Run 17/ Tar 2, Preston Parker: Run 0/ Tar 1, Corey Washington: Run 0/ Tar 1, Andre Williams: Run 17/ Tar 1, Henry Hynoski: Run 1/ Tar 0, Peyton Hillis: Run 1/ Tar 0, Eli Manning: Run 2/ Tar 0
Philadelphia Eagles
Jeremy Maclin: 10-11-10-16-11-3 (61), Jordan Matthews: 4-4-9-7-7-6 (37), Riley Cooper: 7-3-7-8-5-7 (37), Zach Ertz: 5-6-3-6-6-5 (31), Darren Sproles: 6-7-4-4-0-4 (25), LeSean McCoy: 6-5-3-0-4-2 (20), Brent Celek: 4-1-4-2-3-5 (19), Josh Huff: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1 (2), James Casey: 0-0-1-0-0-1 (2), Jeff Maehl: 1-0-1-0-dnp-0 (2)
Nick Foles wasn’t at the top of his game once again, but the defense and LeSean McCoy both showed up, which hasn’t been the case much this season. McCoy had his best game of the year with 22 carries for 149 yards and had five runs over 15 yards breaking five tackles according to Pro Football Focus. The offensive line gave him plenty of space to run this week and then it was all on him.
It was a disappointing game for the target hound Jeremy Maclin. He had been the only receiver this season with 10 or more targets in every game and he ended up with just three in this one. We’ll mark this game down as an anomaly for now.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jeremy Maclin: Run 0/ Tar 8, Riley Cooper: Run 0/ Tar 5, Brent Celek: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jordan Matthews: Run 0/ Tar 5, Zach Ertz: Run 0/ Tar 4, Darren Sproles: Run 4/ Tar 4, LeSean McCoy: Run 18/ Tar 3
McCoy had three attempts and one target inside the red zone and if he can get back on track we know he is the main Eagles’ threat to score each week.
San Francisco 49ers
Anquan Boldin: 9-6-6-7-8-9 (45), Michael Crabtree: 4-9-11-8-4-8 (44), Steve Johnson: 2-4-9-2-2-6 (25), Vernon Davis: 6-3-dnp-3-dnp-6 (18), Brandon Lloyd: 1-dnp-4-5-5-1 (16), Derek Carrier: dnp-4-2-2-2-0 (10), Carlos Hyde: 0-2-2-1-1-1 (7), Frank Gore: 0-2-0-2-1-1 (6), Vance McDonald: 0-2-dnp-dnp-2-2 (6), Bruce Ellington: 0-1-1-0-1-0 (3), Bruce Miller: 1-0-0-0-1-1 (3)
Colin Kaepernick put together his best statistical game of the season on Monday night with 343 yards passing and three touchdowns, both highs for him this year. He didn’t do a ton on the ground, but every little bit helps as he rushed three times for 37 yards. In contrast Frank Gore rushed for 38 yards on 16 carries. With the run game not working and an early deficit, the 49ers went to the air.
Anquan Boldin led all the receivers in targets, yards and receptions with nine, seven and 94 respectively, while also getting into the end zone. He has been fairly steady this season as a real life player, but his lack of touchdowns remains a problem, with this being his first of the season.
Michael Crabtree saw a bump in snaps from his last two weeks, but still hasn’t risen to the #1 receiver numbers he’s used to. He did get eight targets, just one under Boldin, this week, but Kaepernick and he weren’t connecting as he caught just three. Thankfully for his fantasy owners he found the end zone.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Michael Crabtree: Run 0/ Tar 7, Anquan Boldin: Run 0/ Tar 6, Steve Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 5, Carlos Hyde: Run 15/ Tar 3, Vance McDonald: Run 0/ Tar 1, Brandon Lloyd: Run 0/ Tar 1, Vernon Davis: Run 0/ Tar 1, Colin Kaepernick: Run 11/ Tar 0, Frank Gore: Run 11/ Tar 0
Carlos Hyde had four rushing attempts inside the 20-yard line while Gore had one. Unfortunately for Hyde, he didn’t find much running room. On the season Hyde has 18 looks to Gore’s 11. And once they get inside the five yard line Hyde has five carries to Gore’s one.
Seattle Seahawks
Percy Harvin: 7-1-9-BYE-5-4 (26), Doug Baldwin: 5-6-5-BYE-5-3 (24), Jermaine Kearse: 3-5-2-BYE-2-7 (19), Marshawn Lynch: 1-4-5-BYE-6-2 (18), Luke Willson: 1-0-0-BYE-4-6 (11), Bryan Walters: 0-2-5-BYE-0-3 (10), Zach Miller: 4-1-2-BYE-dnp-dnp (7), Ricardo Lockette: 3-1-1-BYE-0-1 (6), Cooper Helfet: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-1 (3), Robert Turbin: 0-2-1-BYE-0-0 (3), Derrick Coleman: 1-0-1-BYE-0-0 (2), Paul Richardson: 0-0-1-BYE-0-dnp (1)
The Dallas Cowboys defense held the Seattle Seahawks offense to 206 total yards and nine first downs. That, as you know, doesn’t lead to much in the way of fantasy fun.
Jermaine Kearse led the team in targets, which is probably just a by-product of the horrible offensive day the Seahawks had. Percy Harvin had four targets and caught zero and ran the ball once for negative two yards.
Marshawn Lynch was the only player who had a positive game, but was underutilized with just 10 rushing attempts, which he turned into 61 yards. They’ll be kicking themselves for that.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Percy Harvin: Run 2/ Tar 4, Marshawn Lynch: Run 18/ Tar 4, Doug Baldwin: Run 0/ Tar 3, Jermaine Kearse: Run 0/ Tar 2, Robert Turbin: Run 2/ Tar 1, Derrick Coleman: Run 0/ Tar 1, Russell Wilson: Run 6/ Tar 0
St. Louis Rams
Jared Cook: 8-4-9-BYE-10-11 (42), Brian Quick: 9-9-4-BYE-9-4 (35), Kenny Britt: 3-1-7-BYE-6-6 (23), Austin Pettis: 0-4-4-BYE-6-4 (18), Lance Kendricks: 3-4-7-BYE-1-2 (17), Zac Stacy: 2-0-6-BYE-5-3 (16), Benny Cunningham: 4-2-2-BYE-4-2 (14), Tavon Austin: 3-1-dnp-BYE-2-5 (11), Chris Givens: 3-2-3-BYE-dnp-dnp (8), Stedman Bailey: dnp-dnp-0-BYE-3-2 (5), Cory Harkey: 1-2-0-BYE-0-0 (3), Trey Watts: dnp-dnp-0-BYE-2-0 (2), Tre Mason: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-1 (1)
Off to a fast 14-0 lead it looked good for the Austin Davis led Rams, but then a poor offensive pass interference call on Jared Cook and an 80 yard bomb to Brandon Lloyd and it was all downhill from there.
Cook led the team in targets and if his long reception on the OPI had counted, his game would have been pretty big fantasy wise. He had 11 targets, but caught just four for 74 yards.
Brian Quick, who had nine targets in three of their four games, saw just four and caught only one. He should rebound from this game, but it goes to show you what an inconsistent quarterback can do to receivers.
The running back situation is a mess in St. Louis. Zac Stacy led the way with eight rushing attempts, but only accumulated 17 yards while Benny Cunningham had seven carries for 21 yards and rookie Tre Mason had five carries for 40 yards. I think you can see which one of those isn’t like the other. Mason looked like the best runner on the field and it will be interesting to see if this wins him more snaps.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jared Cook: Run 0/ Tar 5, Austin Pettis: Run 0/ Tar 4, Brian Quick: Run 0/ Tar 3, Lance Kendricks: Run 0/ Tar 2, Trey Watts: Run 1/ Tar 2, Benny Cunningham: Run 5/ Tar 1, Stedman Bailey: Run 0/ Tar 1, Kenny Britt: Run 0/ Tar 1, Zac Stacy: Run 10/ Tar 1, Tre Mason: Run 0/ Tar 1, Cory Harkey: Run 0/ Tar 1, Tavon Austin: Run 1/ Tar 0
Stacy rushed six times and was targeted once and totaled three yards and two first downs while inside the red zone, but Cunningham had one goal line carry and scored. That right there is a problem when trying to figure out this backfield.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Vincent Jackson: 9-7-9-10-12-13 (60), Mike Evans: 9-4-7-7-dnp-8 (35), Louis Murphy: dnp-dnp-dnp-11-7-9 (27), Bobby Rainey: 2-3-8-2-4-3 (22), Brandon Myers: 8-2-5-1-0-2 (18), Austin Seferian-Jenkins: 2-dnp-dnp-7-3-5 (17), Doug Martin: 2-dnp-dnp-2-5-2 (11), Robert Herron: 0-3-3-dnp-1-2 (9), Luke Stocker: 1-0-2-0-0-0 (3), Russell Shepard: 0-0-0-2-0-0 (2), Chris Owusu: 2-0-0-dnp-dnp-dnp (2), Mike James: 0-0-1-dnp-0-0 (1), Jorvorskie Lane: 0-1-0-0-0-0 (1)
Tampa was down 38-0 at half time, so what happened after that needs to be seen through that lens.
With the huge deficit Mike Glennon was in pass mode much of the game, so the receiving numbers don’t look horrible as he topped 300 yards and threw two touchdowns.
Vincent Jackson led in targets with 13, but caught only four passes for 66 yards. Louis Murphy edged Mike Evans out in this one with nine targets for seven receptions, 72 yards and a touchdown, while Evans also found the end zone for his second touchdown of the year. Murphy’s usage was actually higher than Evans with 85% of the snaps to Evans’ 78%, but I’m going to chalk that up to the blowout.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Vincent Jackson: Run 0/ Tar 8, Louis Murphy: Run 0/ Tar 5, Mike Evans: Run 0/ Tar 4, Austin Seferian-Jenkins: Run 0/ Tar 3, Bobby Rainey: Run 12/ Tar 2, Brandon Myers: Run 0/ Tar 1, Chris Owusu: Run 0/ Tar 1, Robert Herron: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jorvorskie Lane: Run 0/ Tar 1, Mike James: Run 3/ Tar 0, Josh McCown: Run 2/ Tar 0, Doug Martin: Run 4/ Tar 0,
Murphy had the lone red zone target and converted from three yards out.
Washington
Pierre Garcon: 12-4-16-6-3-6 (47), DeSean Jackson: 9-2-11-4-11-5 (42), Andre Roberts: 3-5-6-5-9-9 (37), Niles Paul: 4-11-9-4-2-2 (32), Roy Helu: 3-2-1-5-7-2 (20), Jordan Reed: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-11 (12), Ryan Grant: 0-8-1-1-0-0 (10), Logan Paulsen: 2-0-2-3-3-0 (10), Alfred Morris: 0-0-0-3-1-3 (7), Darrel Young: 1-2-2-1-0-0 (6), Aldrick Robinson: 0-2-0-1-0-dnp (3)
Kirk Cousins accumulated just 76 “air yards” according to Pro Football Focus. So of the 354 total yards passing he had, 278 of them came after the catch. Of course as fantasy players that doesn’t matter, but it’s still interesting. His three fourth quarter interceptions cost him in real life and in fantasy, as he was on the verge of a good fantasy score.
Many of that YAC came from DeSean Jackson who is a YAC stud. He caught three of five targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. He has now had three amazing fantasy days and three duds. That’s who he is and you just have to ride the waves.
The return of Jordan Reed was helpful to Cousins numbers as he targeted him a team high 11 times, connecting on eight for 92 yards. His solid presence and better playmaking skills than Niles Paul should help the offense as a whole going forward.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Andre Roberts: Run 0/ Tar 6, Niles Paul: Run 0/ Tar 4, DeSean Jackson: Run 0/ Tar 3, Darrel Young: Run 1/ Tar 3, Ryan Grant: Run 0/ Tar 2, Pierre Garcon: Run 0/ Tar 2, Jordan Reed: Run 0/ Tar 1, Kirk Cousins: Run 1/ Tar 0, Robert Griffin III: Run 0/ Tar 0, Roy Helu: Run 3/ Tar 0, Silas Redd: Run 5/ Tar 0, Alfred Morris: Run 18/ Tar 0,
Washington only ran four plays in the red zone, but one of those was a five-yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon, just his second red zone target on the season.
