The final numbers tell one part of the story, but fantasy football is a game of volume. Knowing any given week who is going to get the looks, and in what situations those looks are coming, can help you make important lineup decisions – touches and targets on a weekly basis play as big a role as the name on the back of the jersey. With that in mind let’s take a look back at workloads from this past weekend and start thinking forward to who may find themselves in a more favorable situation in Week 7 We focus our attention on the pass catchers in this segment but have addressed the touches and targets of ball carriers in a separate post.
Wide Receiver and Tight End Targets Week 6
- Jarrett Boykin had two drops and made just one catch on five targets, but, its worth noting that after injuries to James Jones and Randall Cobb he was the next in line for playing time, with 58 snaps logged for the Packers. Particularly if Jones misses time, he’ll see a fair bit of the field and showed on his 43 yard reception that he has great skills with the ball in his hands.
- In Miles Austin’s return to the lineup he played 2 fewer snaps than Terrence Williams (though he drew the start) while catching 0 of 4 targets. The rookie, meanwhile, was 2/2 for 27 yards and a score. This week, given Austin is presumably even further along will be the telling week. Cole Beasley, meanwhile, played just 10 snaps but was targeted 6 times on them.
- With the way the game played out you can only draw so much from the deployment of St. Louis pass catchers but: Lance Kendricks played more snaps than Jared Cook and while he was only targeted twice, he scored a TD for the 3rd straight week. Tavon Austin, meanwhile, played just 4 snaps. He’s worth the roster spot only insofar as you’re praying the light will turn on but if Keenan Allen types are available, you’re crazy to hang onto a guy that never sees the field.
- Given the state of Houston’s offense right now Andre Johnson is the only receiver I have an interest in; including Garrett Graham. DeAndre Hopkins has flashed plenty of talent but he saw just 5 targets this week and has been thrown to 7 times at most in any game this season. Johnson hasn’t had fewer than 6 and that came in a game where he sustained an injury. He drew 8 looks this week and will continue to be a must start while Hopkins is a WR4 at best until Houston starts rolling out some points.
- I don’t mean to be the leader of the anti-Bowe crusade, but, I can’t help myself after another 4 target, 3 catch, sub 50 yard performance. His 33 looks on the season are fewer than Kris Durham, good for 51st in the league, and are just 5 more than Justin Blackmon has seen… in two games.
- Steve Smith had an odd day, with 21 yards receiving on 7 targets/5 catches but his appearance in the endzone helps. As did Brandon LaFell’s long TD grab.
Jaguars WR Justin Blackmon is pacing to be a top ten WR in targets and catches, despite missing 4 games (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images).
- Justin Blackmon caught 14 balls (the only WR to reach double digits in Week 6) on 19 targets and his workload increased, of course, given Shorts’ injury and the opponent/game context, but, he posted a great game – doing work on slants in particular – and graded out as PFF’s second best pass catcher of the week at +3.5 (behind Antonio Brown). Cecil Shorts, for what it’s worth, is third in the league in targets despite getting hurt after 1 snap this week.
- Greg Jennings picked up 10 targets relative to 3 last week but he scored just 3.4 fantasy points. Go figure. Kyle Rudolph had a healthy 11 looks which is something to keep an eye on while Matt Cassel is under center (just 2 in Week 4, though).
- Emmanuel Sanders exploited a nice matchup against the Vikings but caught just 3 balls on 6 targets; while Antonio Brown was on the receiving end of 11 attempts from Ben Roethlisberger.
- With Kellen Winslow out of the lineup, Jeff Cumberland led the Jets in receiving on 4 targets (4 catches for 59 yards). Stephen Hill saw 8 looks, but, made just three catches – one accompanied by a case of the jimmy-legs.
- DeSean Jackson had 6 catches on 6 targets, including 2/2 vs. Darrelle Revis, but it is worth noting that neither of his touchdowns came against Tampa’s top cover corner. Riley Cooper had a monster game, his best of the season by a wide margin with 5 targets, 4 catches, 120 yards and a score. This, of course, is worth noting given that it came in Nick Foles’ first game, though he has twice seen more than 5 passes thrown his way. On the other side of this one, Vincent Jackson had a 2 TD game of his own, and the Mike Glennon-Vjax connection combined for the best QB-WR Quarterback Rating of the week at 143.8.
- Over his last two games, Timothy Wright (of the Buccaneers) has had 15 targets and 12 catches for 132 yards. The bulk of that came without Mike Williams in the lineup, but, Week 4 was productive as well.
- In news that you’re no longer shocked about, Kenny Britt played just 2 snaps for the Titans this week and remains a player to keep an eye on while the trade deadline approaches. Kendall Wright led the team in targets, with 8, while Nate Washington had just 4 looks and 1 catch.
- Marques Colston is really the only Saints WR you’re starting week in and out given how many options they have and how much the ball is spread and even he is falling victim to distribution this year. His 5 touches in the last two weeks are so few that owners may be looking forward to New Orleans’ bye for an excuse to leave him on the bench. Coming out of that, it’s hard to know how he’ll be used. If Jimmy Graham misses time, he’s safe, but otherwise it is becoming tough to trust him.
- Despite playing just 9 snaps Austin Collie’s 2 catches on 2 targets in clutch-time are worth noting. So is the fact that Aaron Dobson played 80 of 88 snaps (most of any WR) and saw 9 targets (2nd highest, to Julian Edelman). He did have two more drops, though.
- Andre Roberts has just 3 catches in the last 4 weeks while Michael Floyd has been targeted 28 times during that span, including going 5/5 for 44 yards and a score this week.
- It wasn’t as if Colin Kaepernick was looking exclusively at Vernon Davis this week but he was the only one catching the ball, and, it is pretty much the Davis/Boldin show there. The two combined for 19 targets (11+8) on Kaepernick’s 29 attempts.
- Brandon Carr handled Pierre Garcon. The speedy receiver drew 14 targets, 10 against Carr, and caught just 6 balls including 2 of 10.
- There weren’t a lot of positive takeaways from the Indianapolis passing game, despite a soft matchup, but TY Hilton owners will be pleased to know that his 8 targets dwarfed Darrius Heyward-Bey who received 2 and dropped one of them.
- I won’t fill your head with any more Keenan Allen propaganda, but, his 12 targets and 9 catches cement him as San Diego’s top option. Eddie Royal, meanwhile, played in 18 snaps and didn’t see a target. Remember that early season pace?
- It’s hard to know what to make of the Ravens pass game distribution in Jacoby Jones’ return to the lineup; he played just 20 snaps and drew 2 targets but with a long TD catch was the most productive of the bunch from a fantasy perspective. However, on a weekly basis Torrey Smith will draw much more than the 3 looks he saw this weekend (5 fewer than in any other game). Marlon Brown led the receivers in targets (7) after signs suggested that it would be his snaps in jeopardy when Jones returned. Tandon Doss had a nice day as well with 6 targets, 4 catches, and 99 yards.
- Marvin Jones played in just 26 snaps and drew only 3 targets, while Mohamed Sanu caught all 5 balls thrown his way on 57 snaps, but, I’ve been feeling for a few weeks that Jones may wind up being the receiver to own before too long.
- The good news for Ryan Broyles: he played the second most snaps of Lions’ receivers for the first time this season. The bad news: he was thrown to only twice, and caught no balls, while being charged with one drop. Kris Durham, meanwhile, was the NFL’s 3rd most targeted WR this week.
- Don’t get overexcited about Greg Little’s score – he saw 5 targets, catching just two balls for 12 yards. With that said, it should be noted that he’s had 5 looks in consecutive weeks after a season low of 1 the week prior. Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron both saw plenty of looks, however, Cameron saw just 2 targets in the first half and the bulk of his looks came when the game was out of hand. Keep an eye on his use, with Weeden under center and Gordon in the lineup moving forward.
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