With injuries, byes and suspensions reducing the top players red zone production on the field, different players took the lead in the offenses more than normal. Some of the regular studs showed up and balled out (as the kids say) still, but practice squad players also made ridiculous one-handed catches too.
Target Monsters
Jimmy Graham - Graham led the league in targets this week with four being thrown his way. That makes it the second four-target game of the year for him, and they have come in the last three games. Graham’s target total for the year is up to 17 now, tied for the league-lead, and nearly double the next closest on his own team. He did snag three of the four targets on Thursday night including two of those for scores, brining his red zone touchdown total to six on the season.
Jermaine Gresham - Drew Stanton had six attempts inside the 20 on Thursday against the Seahawks, and three of them found their way to Gresham. The tight end caught two of the targets and one for a score. The Sunday Week 9 matchup saw him have three looks and he followed it up with three more on Thursday, more than doubling his total in the past week. He is on the uptick since Carson Palmer went down as Stanton is using Gresham as a security blanket near the end zone.
Davante Adams - Adams, with his three targets, was the definition of a target monster this past Sunday given he commanded all three attempts that Brett Hundley threw. With the three in Week 10, he is now at 17 on the season and tied for the league-lead. In addition to the target load, he has accounted for nearly 40% of the teams targets, which is also best in the NFL. Despite the injury to Aaron Rodgers, Adams is still putting up numbers and getting looks where it matters most.
Most Efficient
Austin Hooper - Hooper was a perfect two-for-two against the Cowboys and nabbed a score as part of that. He is the kind of tight end that excels in good matchups and he has gotten a fair share so far this year, as he is second on the team with nine targets (just one behind Julio Jones). He’s caught all but two of those looks to this point and with the explosive nature of the Falcons offense, generally, it’s good for fantasy owners to know that Matt Ryan has that kind of safety net near the end zone.
Marqise Lee - Lee, like Hooper, was a perfect two-for-two and had a score. The two looks brings him to seven on the season, tied for second on the team, which is encouraging given the slow start to his career. It’s debatable whether or not he’d be getting these looks if Allen Robinson hadn’t gotten injured, but he is certainly taking advantage of his chances.
Robert Woods - Generally it’s another Ram wideout that’s getting the attention here in Cooper Kupp, and for good reason. But this past week it was Woods that showed up with two catches on two targets and a score. He has just six targets on the season, which is third on the team, but he’s made up for it with the best catch-rate for anyone with five targets or more on Los Angeles. This of course is all aside from his deep threat ability that’s been on display the last several weeks.
Ones to Watch
Rod Smith - This was the first week that Ezekiel Elliott was actually suspended for, and Rod Smith showed up to help in the passing down department. Dak Prescott had only three attempts all game long against the Falcons, and all three went to Smith. He did only catch one but it’s a good sign that his first significant on field action that Smith is the main target out of the backfield.
Julius Thomas - Thomas saw two targets come his way against the Panthers, in a blowout, for the second time this season. He didn’t see any targets in September and since has added seven targets to his total. Thomas’ rapport is growing with Jay Cutler and the big tight end already has a dependable history in the red zone at previous stops.
Jamison Crowder - Crowder has been a disappointment for much of the season thus far in fantasy terms. But how many people would guess that he’s the team-leader in red zone targets for Washington? His eight on the year are solid but the problem is that they’ve been sporadic. Sunday was his first three-target game on the season and first looks since the 23rd of October. If he starts getting the looks more frequently, the consistency of Kirk Cousins could take care of the rest.