Week 9 Target Watch: AFC
Welcome to the Week 9 AFC Target Watch. I Below I have all the targets for each player over the last seven weeks and then their average number of targets for the season in parentheses and then below that I have the red zone targets and touches for each player for the last five weeks. The NFC version is right HERE if you're interested.
Baltimore Ravens
Steve Smith: 7-10-7-6-5-9- 8 (8.6), Owen Daniels: 1-6-7-3-9-dnp- 9 (5.6), Torrey Smith: 8-3-8-5-5-2- 7 (5.3), Justin Forsett: 5-4-8-0-1-5- 8 (4.6), Mike Campanaro: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1-3- dnp (2), Kamar Aiken: 0-1-1-3-1-6- 1 (1.9), Kyle Juszczyk: 4-2-2-3-1-1- 2 (1.8), Marlon Brown: 1-3-2-dnp-dnp-1- 3 (1.6), Jacoby Jones: 1-1-1-1-0-1- 0 (1.4), Lorenzo Taliaferro: 0-0-0-2-0-3- 3 (1), Phillip Supernaw: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- 1 (1), Crockett Gillmore: 0-0-0-2-1-2- 2 (0.8), Bernard Pierce: dnp-dnp-0-0-1-dnp- 0 (0.5)
Steve Smith still leads in targets, but Torrey Smith has taken over in production with four good games in his last six compared to just two for Senior. Smith is doing it on fewer targets, which is a little scary for his continued production, but as you can see below we’re getting more red zone looks for Torrey of late. Production will remain tenuous for these two as long as there isn’t one of the two dominating the looks.
Owen Daniels returned quickly from surgery and led the team in targets and they dropped my man Phillip Supernaw, so it looks like he’s good to go as a top play in Gary Kubiak’s tight end friendly scheme.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Owen Daniels: Run 0/ Tar 6, Torrey Smith: Run 0/ Tar 4, Kamar Aiken: Run 0/ Tar 3, Kyle Juszczyk: Run 0/ Tar 2, Justin Forsett: Run 8/ Tar 2, Steve Smith: Run 0/ Tar 2, Crockett Gillmore: Run 0/ Tar 1, Mike Campanaro: Run 0/ Tar 1, Bernard Pierce: Run 8/ Tar 0, Joe Flacco: Run 0/ Tar 0, Lorenzo Taliaferro: Run 5/ Tar 0
The goal line and red zone looks were spread out in this game with not one player seeing more than one target and Justin Forsett getting one target and one rushing attempt.
Buffalo Bills
Sammy Watkins: 8-9-12-3-14-6- BYE (8.4), Robert Woods: 8-12-4-10-5-3- BYE (6.4), Fred Jackson: 10-7-9-6-3-dnp- BYE (6), Scott Chandler: 5-5-6-9-6-2- BYE (4.5), Bryce Brown: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-3- BYE (3), Mike Williams: 4-6-2-dnp-0-0- BYE (2.6), C.J. Spiller: 3-3-4-1-1-dnp- BYE (2.3), Chris Hogan: 0-0-2-6-6-1- BYE (1.9), Marquise Goodwin: 1-dnp-1-3-dnp-dnp- BYE (1.2), Chris Gragg: dnp-0-1-0-2-0- BYE (0.7), Frank Summers: 0-1-2-0-1-0- BYE (0.6), Anthony Dixon: 0-0-0-0-4-0- BYE (0.5), Lee Smith: 0-0-0-0-0-2- BYE (0.3)
Robert Woods was the early target leader in this one, but was injured and had to leave the game, but we all knew that Sammy Watkins would get his and he did, on just six targets. We of course saw him caught from behind due to premature celebration on his first long reception, but I think his fantasy owners will take his three receptions, 157 yard, one touchdown game, especially if they can block out that play from their memory.
Watkins led the team with those six targets as Kyle Orton only threw the ball 17 times and completed just ten on the day. Amazingly of those ten receptions, four of them went for touchdowns. That’s efficient.
The running backs saw plenty of use in this one, but no production to speak of. Starter Anthony Dixon had 22 carries for 44 yards. That’s tough to do. Bryce Brown had seven carries for 15 yards and three targets, but no receptions. We’ll chalk this one up to a tough Jets run defense for now.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Scott Chandler: Run 0/ Tar 6, Sammy Watkins: Run 0/ Tar 3, Fred Jackson: Run 6/ Tar 2, Chris Hogan: Run 0/ Tar 2, C.J. Spiller: Run 2/ Tar 1, Bryce Brown: Run 0/ Tar 1, Robert Woods: Run 0/ Tar 1, Mike Williams: Run 0/ Tar 1, Lee Smith: Run 0/ Tar 1, Chris Gragg: Run 0/ Tar 1, Frank Summers: Run 2/ Tar 0, Anthony Dixon: Run 6/ Tar 0
Orton had a couple short passing touchdowns from the red zone to tight ends Lee Smith and Scott Chandler and Frank Summers was able to get in from the goal line. A host of fantasy studs!
Cincinnati Bengals
Mohamed Sanu: 8-BYE-9-15-9-9- 8 (8.4), A.J. Green: 9-BYE-7-dnp-dnp-dnp- 6 (6.2), Jermaine Gresham: 1-BYE-4-7-12-4- 6 (5.2), Giovani Bernard: 3-BYE-3-5-5-2- dnp (4.9), Tyler Eifert: dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (3), Brandon Tate: 1-BYE-0-5-2-2- 1 (2.5), Greg Little: dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-2-5- 0 (2.3), Jeremy Hill: 0-BYE-4-4-1-4- 1 (2), Dane Sanzenbacher: 0-BYE-1-5-2-0- dnp (1.7), Rex Burkhead: dnp-BYE-dnp-0-0-dnp- 3 (1), James Wright: 1-BYE-1-1-2-0- 0 (0.9), Ryan Hewitt: 1-BYE-0-0-0-1- 2 (0.7), Cedric Peerman: 0-BYE-0-0-1-0- 4 (0.6), Kevin Brock: 1-BYE-0-0-0-0- 0 (0.2)
The Bengals at times played down to their opponent in this one while at other times we saw the Jaguars play up to theirs. The good news for the Bengals is they have two capable running backs and A.J. Green returned for this game.
Green wasn’t a full go and wasn’t at his best with a fumble and lining up off sides on a touchdown reception, but he did find the end zone another time, but Mohamed Sanu remained the lead receiver with eight targets and four receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown. It’s hard to know how much work Sanu will continue to see when and if Green gets back to near 100%, but with Marvin Jones gone and Giovani Bernard hurting, I think we’ll see him used prominently.
Jeremy Hill topped off a good game with a 60-yard touchdown run to make it a great game as he totaled 24 attempts for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Bernard is likely to miss tonight’s game as well, so we’ll see if Hill can keep it up.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jermaine Gresham: Run 0/ Tar 4, Mohamed Sanu: Run 0/ Tar 4, Greg Little: Run 0/ Tar 2, A.J. Green: Run 1/ Tar 2, Brandon Tate: Run 0/ Tar 2, Dane Sanzenbacher: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jeremy Hill: Run 9/ Tar 0, Andy Dalton: Run 4/ Tar 0, Cedric Peerman: Run 1/ Tar 0, Giovani Bernard: Run 12/ Tar 0,
Hill saw two attempts and scored on one while Sanu led the way with two targets and caught one for a touchdown.
Cleveland Browns
Andrew Hawkins: 10-BYE-9-2-9-9- 8 (8.6), Jordan Cameron: 3-BYE-7-5-6-5- dnp (5.2), Miles Austin: 7-BYE-3-3-8-2- 5 (5.1), Taylor Gabriel: 2-BYE-6-4-7-3- 6 (4.8), Travis Benjamin: 1-BYE-4-1-4-2- 4 (2.9), Gary Barnidge: 0-BYE-0-0-1-1- 4 (1.5), Jim Dray: 0-BYE-4-1-0-2- 1 (1.5), Ben Tate: dnp-BYE-2-0-2-1- 4 (1.5), Terrance West: 2-BYE-0-dnp-1-2- 1 (1.1), Ray Agnew: 0-BYE-2-1-1-dnp- dnp (1), Isaiah Crowell: 0-BYE-0-0-2-1- 0 (0.5)
Andrew Hawkins led in targets again, but only caught three of eight for 34 yards while Taylor Gabriel led the way in production by catching five of six targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. This group remains tough to predict, but Josh Gordon will return and become the main man after this week.
The running game has also become tough to predict as Terrance West took over the majority of the snaps this week over Ben Tate who has been ineffective. It was still a committee approach with West getting 16 touches to Tate’s 14, but it’s likely that West has taken over the committee.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Taylor Gabriel: Run 0/ Tar 4, Andrew Hawkins: Run 0/ Tar 4, Terrance West: Run 6/ Tar 3, Travis Benjamin: Run 0/ Tar 2, Jordan Cameron: Run 0/ Tar 2, Jim Dray: Run 0/ Tar 1, Gary Barnidge: Run 0/ Tar 1, Miles Austin: Run 0/ Tar 1, Isaiah Crowell: Run 1/ Tar 0, Ben Tate: Run 21/ Tar 0
West had three rushing attempts and one target in the red zone and caught the target for a short touchdown. Both Tate and West saw two attempts each inside the five-yard line.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 9-BYE-16-12-9-12- 11 (10.9), Emmanuel Sanders: 15-BYE-9-6-3-9- 16 (9.5), Julius Thomas: 4-BYE-7-6-6-6- 2 (5.5), Wes Welker: 9-BYE-9-1-3-2- 8 (5.3), Ronnie Hillman: 3-BYE-1-5-4-4- 10 (4.5), Montee Ball: 3-BYE-3-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (2.8), Jacob Tamme: 3-BYE-1-1-0-1- 5 (1.5), Andre Caldwell: 0-BYE-1-0-1-0- 0 (1), C.J. Anderson: 1-BYE-dnp-0-0-0- 4 (0.7), Juwan Thompson: 0-BYE-0-1-0-1- 1 (0.4), Virgil Green: 1-BYE-0-0-0-0- dnp (0.3)
Getting Peyton Manning way behind in a game doesn’t happen often, but when it does 57 attempts and 438 yards seem about right. Manning wasn’t his usual elite self, but he still topped 20 fantasy points in standard leagues, which he has yet to dip below that number this season.
His top target was Emmanuel Sanders who caught 10 of a whopping 16 targets for 151 yards. Wes Welker continues to decline and was hurt on a pass he bobbled and was in turn intercepted. I think we can feel safe that Sanders and Demaryius Thomas will remain the target leaders.
Julius Thomas had been on a long two game touchdown drought, but found the end zone this week. The problem is he did it on just two targets. He’s now averaging 5.5 per game, which is not enough for top tight end upside, especially with Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham back at it.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Demaryius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 9, Julius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 7, Ronnie Hillman: Run 12/ Tar 6, Emmanuel Sanders: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jacob Tamme: Run 0/ Tar 2, Wes Welker: Run 0/ Tar 2, C.J. Anderson: Run 1/ Tar 0, Peyton Manning: Run 0/ Tar 0, Juwan Thompson: Run 7/ Tar 0
Ronnie Hillman scored two touchdowns from inside the red zone, one on the ground and one through the air. For some reason Jacob Tamme saw two red zone targets.
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 11-7-8-12-9-12- 7 (9.1), DeAndre Hopkins: 9-6-6-2-9-11- 11 (7.1), Arian Foster: dnp-10-5-4-6-6- 3 (4.9), Damaris Johnson: 2-2-2-3-2-4- 2 (2.4), Garrett Graham: 6-5-1-1-3-1- 1 (2.4), Alfred Blue: 1-3-0-0-1-1- 2 (0.9), Keshawn Martin: 2-1-1-0-1-0- 1 (0.7), C.J. Fiedorowicz: 0-1-0-1-1-0- 0 (0.5), Jay Prosch: 1-2-0-0-0-0- 0 (0.3), Ryan Griffin: 0-0-1-0-0-0- 0 (0.3), Jonathan Grimes: 1-0-0-0-0-0- 0 (0.1)
Ryan Fitzpatrick completed less than 50% of his passes and most of those incompletions were his fault. That may be why we are seeing Ryan Mallet this week. But when the ball got close to DeAndre Hopkins we saw him put on a show, catching six of 11 targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. He had to work for those numbers on Sunday.
Andre Johnson on the other hand also had tough targets from Fitzpatrick, but was only able to catch two of seven for 12 yards. Like I said, Fitzpatrick is the main reason for the low numbers, but Hopkins is quickly becoming the preferred target for production.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Andre Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 6, DeAndre Hopkins: Run 0/ Tar 4, Arian Foster: Run 12/ Tar 4, Damaris Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 3, Alfred Blue: Run 2/ Tar 1, Ryan Fitzpatrick: Run 2/ Tar 0
Hopkins had two targets in the red zone and caught one for a touchdown.
Indianapolis Colts
T.Y. Hilton: 6-10-12-9-9-10- 6 (9.3), Reggie Wayne: 5-8-12-9-8-dnp- 10 (9), Coby Fleener: 7-3-2-4-5-4- 11 (5), Hakeem Nicks: 4-6-6-7-1-6- 4 (4.7), Ahmad Bradshaw: 3-2-5-6-3-7- 5 (4.7), Dwayne Allen: 6-3-5-7-6-2- 5 (4.4), Trent Richardson: 4-5-5-0-5-dnp- 2 (3.2), Donte Moncrief: 5-2-0-0-2-12- 1 (2.7), Jack Doyle: 3-1-0-2-1-0- 0 (1), Griff Whalen: 0-0-0-0-0-3- 0 (0.3), Daniel Herron: 0-0-0-0-0-1- 1 (0.2)
Andrew Luck wasn’t as sharp as his numbers would suggest, but for us fantasy players the numbers aren’t suggestions, they’re just numbers at the end of the day and Luck continues to put up huge stat lines week in and week out.
As usual Luck spread the ball around and four receivers caught touchdown passes. And for some reason Coby Fleener led the team in targets. He did well enough, but Dwayne Allen is a better per target fantasy player and needs more targets. Allen actually ran more routes, but was targeted five times to Fleener’s 11.
Ahmad Bradshaw saw 58% of the snaps to Trent Richardson’s 29%, which is the biggest difference of the season when the two have both played, but the blowout may have been the culprit as Dan Herron saw eight rushing attempts as well.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Coby Fleener: Run 0/ Tar 5, Reggie Wayne: Run 0/ Tar 5, Ahmad Bradshaw: Run 10/ Tar 5, Dwayne Allen: Run 0/ Tar 4, Hakeem Nicks: Run 0/ Tar 3, Trent Richardson: Run 6/ Tar 3, T.Y. Hilton: Run 0/ Tar 2, Donte Moncrief: Run 0/ Tar 1, Andrew Luck: Run 5/ Tar 0, Daniel Herron: Run 1/ Tar 0
Dwayne Allen is the only player to get into the end zone from the red zone.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Cecil Shorts: 10-4-dnp-16-9-8- 7 (9), Allen Robinson: 10-7-11-9-7-10- 8 (7.9), Allen Hurns: 3-6-11-4-2-4- 9 (6), Marcedes Lewis: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (6), Clay Harbor: dnp-8-4-4-6-4- 2 (4.7), Marqise Lee: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-3-2- 0 (3.5), Mike Brown: 1-3-2-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (3), Denard Robinson: 1-3-2-3-1-2- 2 (1.9), Toby Gerhart: 2-1-1-dnp-dnp-1- 4 (1.9), Jordan Todman: 1-2-2-3-1-2- 1 (1.6), Mickey Shuler: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (1), Marcel Jensen: 1-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (1), Ace Sanders: dnp-dnp-2-1-1-0- 0 (0.8), Will Taufoou: 1-1-1-2-1-0- 0 (0.7), Storm Johnson: dnp-dnp-0-1-0-dnp- dnp (0.3), Nic Jacobs: dnp-1-0-0-0-1- 0 (0.3)
Allen Hurns turned things back around after having a five-week slump of no touchdowns and averaging 33 yards a game. This week he led the team in targets with nine and caught seven for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
It very much looks like Cecil Shorts has fallen into the possession receiver role and this week he was third in targets. His upside continues to fall.
Denard Robinson just continues to prove he should be the lead back as he totaled 104 yards and one touchdown. Since becoming the starter he’s averaged 19 carries for 110 yards and two total touchdowns.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Cecil Shorts: Run 0/ Tar 6, Allen Hurns: Run 0/ Tar 4, Allen Robinson: Run 0/ Tar 3, Clay Harbor: Run 0/ Tar 3, Will Taufoou: Run 0/ Tar 1, Denard Robinson: Run 7/ Tar 0, Toby Gerhart: Run 2/ Tar 0, Blake Bortles: Run 1/ Tar 0, Storm Johnson: Run 5/ Tar 0
Robinson saw the only touch within the five-yard line and scored on it, while Allen Hurns received two targets in the red zone and caught both, one for a touchdown.
~
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 5-6-6-BYE-7-6- 10 (6.6), Donnie Avery: 3-2-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp- dnp (6), Travis Kelce: 4-9-3-BYE-4-6- 5 (5.2), Joe McKnight: 7-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp- dnp (3.5), Anthony Fasano: 2-1-7-BYE-1-4- 3 (3.5), Jamaal Charles: dnp-3-4-BYE-4-4- 4 (3.4), DeAnthony Thomas: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-2-4- 1 (2), Knile Davis: 1-2-1-BYE-1-1- 0 (2), Junior Hemingway: 2-1-4-BYE-1-0- 2 (2), A.J. Jenkins: 0-1-2-BYE-2-0- 3 (1.4), Anthony Sherman: 1-0-2-BYE-2-1- 1 (0.9), Frankie Hammond: 0-1-0-BYE-2-1- 0 (0.8), Demetrius Harris: 0-0-1-BYE-1-1- 1 (0.6), Albert Wilson: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1-0- 1 (0.5)
This was a Kansas City game through and through as they asked the defense, running game and an efficient, but conservative Alex Smith to do what they do.
Travis Kelce seems to be the secret weapon for this run based offense, but they continue to keep him extremely secret. He’s a beast and makes the most out of all his receptions with 2.85 yards per route run, which tops even Rob Gronkowski. But with just over 50% of the snaps and five targets per game, he’s going to have trouble breaking out like he could.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jamaal Charles: Run 10/ Tar 5, Travis Kelce: Run 0/ Tar 3, Dwayne Bowe: Run 0/ Tar 2, Anthony Fasano: Run 0/ Tar 2, DeAnthony Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 2, Knile Davis: Run 6/ Tar 1, A.J. Jenkins: Run 0/ Tar 1, Anthony Sherman: Run 0/ Tar 1
Jamaal Charles had seven looks in the red zone and scored one rushing touchdown. Even against a good Jets front seven Charles sees enough red zone work to get in the end zone.
Miami Dolphins
Mike Wallace: 12-4-BYE-9-8-7- 8 (8.4), Charles Clay: 4-4-BYE-5-5-3- 8 (5.4), Brian Hartline: 7-7-BYE-2-3-4- 7 (5.2), Jarvis Landry: 7-4-BYE-8-5-3- 6 (5), Lamar Miller: 5-2-BYE-3-3-3- 2 (3.5), Brandon Gibson: 4-4-BYE-dnp-dnp-3- 2 (3), Daniel Thomas: 2-2-BYE-dnp-3-2- 2 (2.2), Dion Sims: 1-2-BYE-2-2-2- dnp (2), Rishard Matthews: 1-2-BYE-0-0-2- 1 (1.4), Orleans Darkwa: 0-0-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (1), Damien Williams: 0-0-BYE-0-2-0- 2 (0.5), Gator Hoskins: 0-0-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp- 1 (0.4)
The Dolphins totaled 441 yards to the Chargers 178 on Sunday. This was a beat down led by the Dolphins defense, but also by Ryan Tannehill who had his first three-touchdown game of the season and his best fantasy day as well, while also rushing for 40+ yards for the fourth straight game. Those few extra rushing yards are making it much easier to feel good about his floor each week.
Mike Wallace led in targets, but once again had a slow game as he caught just three of eight targets for 50 yards and had his second game in a row without a touchdown.
Charles Clay now has two good games (i.e. touchdowns) out of the last three and may be healthy enough to feel good about starting him again.
Jarvis Landry also found the end zone and saw more snaps than Brian Hartline for the first time with 72% to 64%. Hartline actually out targeted Landry by one, but Landry made a great play on his touchdown and is easily the more dynamic player. With Hartline being a middling talent and Wallace and Tannehill still having trouble connecting, I could see Landry holding value.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Charles Clay: Run 0/ Tar 7, Mike Wallace: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jarvis Landry: Run 0/ Tar 4, Rishard Matthews: Run 0/ Tar 2, Lamar Miller: Run 15/ Tar 2, Brian Hartline: Run 0/ Tar 2, Damien Williams: Run 6/ Tar 1, Daniel Thomas: Run 6/ Tar 1, Brandon Gibson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Knowshon Moreno: Run 5/ Tar 1
Charles Clay had four targets and caught one for a touchdown. After Lamar Miller left due to injury, Damien Williams had seven looks and Daniel Thomas had four inside the red zone. I think 24 red zone attempts may be the high for this season by a team.
New England Patriots
Julian Edelman: 13-8-8-12-9-4- 10 (8.8), Rob Gronkowski: 6-3-11-9-10-9- 10 (8.3), Brandon LaFell: 8-10-4-6-5-11- 13 (7), Shane Vereen: 6-5-3-3-8-5- 10 (5.6), Timothy Wright: 1-0-5-1-0-7- 0 (2), Danny Amendola: 1-0-1-0-3-2- 3 (1.8), James White: dnp-3-dnp-dnp-dnp-0- dnp (1.5), Aaron Dobson: dnp-dnp-1-1-dnp-dnp- dnp (1.3), Stevan Ridley: 1-1-0-1-dnp-dnp- dnp (0.8), James Develin: 0-0-1-1-0-0- 2 (0.7), Brian Tyms: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-0-0- 0 (0.5), Brandon Bolden: 0-0-0-0-1-0- 0 (0.4), Jonas Gray: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-0- 1 (0.3), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-0-0-1-0-0- 0 (0.2)
Through the first four games of the year Tom Brady averaged 197 yards and one touchdown per game. Over his last five games he’s averaged 320 yards passing and 3.6 touchdowns per game. Rob Gronkowski rounding into form helps those numbers, but of course it can’t all be attributed to Gronk. Brady is just good at football.
Gronkowski tied for second in targets behind Brandon LaFell, but was much more efficient, catching nine of 10 targets for 105 yards and a touchdown. That’s 18 receptions for 254 yards and four touchdowns over the last two games.
Shane Vereen also had ten targets, catching just half for 38 yards and a touchdown. Over the last three games he’s had 13 receptions for 132 yards and three touchdowns to go along with some pedestrian rushing numbers. They have a tough schedule coming up, which should keep Vereen working in the receiving game, which is good for the fantasy business.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Shane Vereen: Run 4/ Tar 7, Brandon LaFell: Run 0/ Tar 7, Julian Edelman: Run 0/ Tar 6, Rob Gronkowski: Run 0/ Tar 4, Timothy Wright: Run 0/ Tar 3, Danny Amendola: Run 0/ Tar 2, Stevan Ridley: Run 6/ Tar 0, Jonas Gray: Run 8/ Tar 0, Jimmy Garoppolo: Run 0/ Tar 0, Tom Brady: Run 5/ Tar 0, James Develin: Run 2/ Tar 0, James White: Run 1/ Tar 0, Brandon Bolden: Run 2/ Tar 0
Brady was on target in the red zone as he completed six of eight passes for 28 yards and four touchdowns to four different players.
New York Jets
Eric Decker: 1-10-dnp-10-7-11- 12 (8), Percy Harvin: 9-dnp-5-4-dnp-9- 13 (6.9), Jeremy Kerley: 11-3-6-7-5-5- 4 (6), Jace Amaro: 4-5-3-12-5-5- 0 (4.3), Jeff Cumberland: 6-1-6-2-4-3- 2 (3.4), Greg Salas: 3-4-7-3-dnp-dnp- 2 (3.3), David Nelson: 7-1-4-dnp-2-dnp- dnp (2.7), Chris Johnson: 2-2-1-2-3-2- 3 (2.6), Chris Ivory: 4-6-1-2-4-2- 0 (2.2), T.J. Graham: dnp-dnp-1-1-1-1- 0 (0.8), Bilal Powell: 3-0-0-0-2-0- 0 (0.8), Chris Owusu: 0-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1- dnp (0.8), Tommy Bohanon: 0-0-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (0.5), Zach Sudfeld: 1-1-0-0-0-0- 0 (0.3), John Conner: dnp-dnp-0-1-0-0- 0 (0.2)
Michael Vick was much more in control this week and efficient. He didn’t try to do too much which resulted in turnovers the week before. The results weren’t good as the team lost, but curbing the mistakes is a good first step and finding a go to underneath receiver like Percy Harvin is also a good sign.
Harvin led the team with 13 targets and caught 11 for 129 yards. His ability can and will turn one or two of those shorter receptions into touchdowns, so if they continue featuring him in the short passing game I like his fantasy outlook.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Eric Decker: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jace Amaro: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jeff Cumberland: Run 0/ Tar 4, Chris Ivory: Run 10/ Tar 3, Jeremy Kerley: Run 0/ Tar 2, Chris Johnson: Run 3/ Tar 2, Percy Harvin: Run 1/ Tar 2, David Nelson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Bilal Powell: Run 2/ Tar 0, Michael Vick: Run 4/ Tar 0, Geno Smith: Run 2/ Tar 0
The whiny wheel got the grease in this one as Chris Johnson saw 11 rushing attempts to Chris Ivory’s eight, as well as three red zone touches to ivory’s one. It’s a pretty sharp turnaround from the week’s leading up to this game, so it will be interesting to see if we are back into a close committee.
Oakland Raiders
James Jones: 5-6-BYE-7-8-11- 5 (7.4), Andre Holmes: 2-12-BYE-8-5-7- 5 (5.8), Mychal Rivera: 4-4-BYE-3-1-9- 11 (5.5), Darren McFadden: 4-5-BYE-4-8-6- 5 (4.5), Rod Streater: 3-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (4.3), Kenbrell Thompkins: 1-dnp-BYE-0-1-8- 2 (3.7), Denarius Moore: 7-dnp-BYE-1-1-1- 2 (3.6), Marcel Reece: 7-2-BYE-3-dnp-6- 3 (3.6), Brice Butler: 0-3-BYE-5-1-2- 2 (2.1), Vincent Brown: 0-4-BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (2), Maurice Jones-Drew: dnp-2-BYE-1-0-2- 2 (1.7), David Ausberry: 0-4-BYE-0-0-dnp- dnp (0.7), Jamize Olawale: 1-0-BYE-1-1-0- 0 (0.4), Latavius Murray: 0-0-BYE-0-0-0- 2 (0.2)
After getting positive grades from Pro Football Focus over the previous three outings, Derek Carr had his worst graded game against the Seahawks as he missed most of his deep balls, fumbled and threw two interceptions. This game was actually fairly close and a good game from Carr probably would have put them over the edge against the champs.
Tight end Mychal Rivera led the way with 11 targets, catching eight for 38 yards and two touchdowns. With Carr off on his deeper throws, Rivera became his best friend in this game.
These are the kind of games you get when rostering a receiver who has a rookie quarterback, so James Jones and Andre Holmes ended up with forgettable stat lines.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mychal Rivera: Run 0/ Tar 4, James Jones: Run 0/ Tar 3, Brice Butler: Run 0/ Tar 2, Andre Holmes: Run 0/ Tar 2, Marcel Reece: Run 0/ Tar 1, Denarius Moore: Run 0/ Tar 1, Maurice Jones-Drew: Run 0/ Tar 1, Darren McFadden: Run 8/ Tar 1
You can guess who the red zone target leader was when there’s a player who scored two touchdowns and averaged 4.75 yards per reception. Yes, Mr. Rivera, come on down and receive your award!
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 10-11-12-10-13-13- 16 (11.4), LeVeon Bell: 4-7-6-6-8-7- 6 (6.2), Martavis Bryant: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-5-7- 5 (5.7), Markus Wheaton: 5-6-2-11-2-5- 4 (5.6), Heath Miller: 5-11-4-4-1-8- 2 (5.1), Justin Brown: 4-2-3-4-dnp-dnp- dnp (3.5), Lance Moore: 0-1-1-6-2-3- 1 (2), Dri Archer: dnp-1-2-1-0-1- 1 (1), Will Johnson: 1-1-1-0-1-2- 1 (0.9), LeGarrette Blount: 0-0-3-0-1-2- 0 (0.9), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 0-0-1-0-1-1- 0 (0.3), Matt Spaeth: 0-0-0-0-0-0- 1 (0.1), Michael Palmer: 0-0-1-0-0-0- 0 (0.1)
Holy Big Ben Batman! With his six-touchdown game in Week 9 he becomes the first NFL quarterback to throw for back-to-back six touchdown games. That’s not a bad stat to put on your resume.
Martavis Bryant has been a big part of this offensive surge by the Steelers. He’s now played in three professional football games and has caught 10 passes on 17 targets for 167 yards and five touchdowns. I think five touchdowns on your first ten receptions are pretty good.
Bryant continues to split work with Markus Wheaton, but Wheaton has 11 targets to Bryant’s 17 over the last three games. The problem of course is that 12 passing touchdowns in the past two games has kept both of them in fantasy points, but it’s impossible to keep these kinds of numbers up and Bryant won’t catch five touchdowns in his next ten receptions.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Brown: Run 0/ Tar 9, LeVeon Bell: Run 8/ Tar 5, Markus Wheaton: Run 0/ Tar 5, Martavis Bryant: Run 0/ Tar 4, Lance Moore: Run 0/ Tar 3, LeGarrette Blount: Run 6/ Tar 2, Heath Miller: Run 0/ Tar 2, Justin Brown: Run 0/ Tar 2, Michael Palmer: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ben Roethlisberger: Run 3/ Tar 0
Bryant had two red zone targets and of course caught both for touchdowns.
San Diego Chargers
Keenan Allen: 2-11-7-6-10-13- 9 (8.1), Antonio Gates: 1-5-6-8-5-8- 5 (6.1), Malcom Floyd: 4-4-3-7-7-7- 5 (4.9), Eddie Royal: 6-7-3-2-5-3- 1 (4.8), Branden Oliver: 0-4-4-5-2-8- 2 (3.6), Donald Brown: 6-6-2-dnp-dnp-dnp- 2 (3.3), Danny Woodhead: 0-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (2), Ryan Mathews: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (2), Ladarius Green: 6-dnp-1-5-0-1- 1 (2), Ronnie Brown: 1-dnp-dnp-1-1-1- 1 (0.8), Seyi Ajirotutu: 0-0-1-1-0-0- 0 (0.2), John Phillips: 0-0-0-0-1-0- 0 (0.1)
With 178 total yards there isn’t going to be much for the Chargers to hang their fantasy hat on after this humiliating defeat.
Philip Rivers had thrown at least one touchdown in every game this season and in his last five he had four games with three touchdown passes. This week he had three interceptions and no touchdown passes as Miami pressured him often and he made poor decision after poor decision. This looks like one of those game tapes they bury or fire off into space or feed to some unsuspecting critter at the San Diego Zoo.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Gates: Run 0/ Tar 10, Keenan Allen: Run 0/ Tar 6, Branden Oliver: Run 13/ Tar 5, Malcom Floyd: Run 0/ Tar 2, John Phillips: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ronnie Brown: Run 1/ Tar 1, Philip Rivers: Run 0/ Tar 0, Donald Brown: Run 2/ Tar 0, Shaun Draughn: Run 1/ Tar 0
Tennessee Titans
The Titans went to their rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger in this one and as expected, J.J. Watt harassed him most of the game and then afterward he took a selfie with his flattened body. Wait, maybe I read that wrong. Whatever. The good news is that Mettenberger wasn’t afraid to throw the ball and he targeted Justin Hunter 10 times. Of course Hunter only caught four for 31 yards, but did get into the end zone. At this point we’re just looking for Hunter to get his chances in blowouts like this one and provide us some fantasy points.
Bishop Sankey was the no doubt lead back even though he ran just nine times for 35 yards. Thankfully they also used him in the passing game, targeting him four times, which he caught all four for 25 yards. It wasn’t a good fantasy game for Sankey, but hopefully his 13 touches rise as they face easier defenses.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Kendall Wright: Run 0/ Tar 5, Delanie Walker: Run 0/ Tar 4, Dexter McCluster: Run 2/ Tar 4, Nate Washington: Run 0/ Tar 3, Justin Hunter: Run 0/ Tar 3, Chase Coffman: Run 0/ Tar 2, Shonn Greene: Run 2/ Tar 1, Charlie Whitehurst: Run 0/ Tar 0, Bishop Sankey: Run 6/ Tar 0, Jackie Battle: Run 1/ Tar 0, Jake Locker: Run 1/ Tar 0,
Hunter led the team with two targets in the red zone, which is a good sign for he and Mettenberger for the rest of the season.
