Now that Week 2 has come and gone, it’s time to review how the targets have played out. I’m going to do it a little differently this time. Using our NFL Volume Tool, I’ve grabbed a screenshot of relevant volume data from the first two weeks of the season. Let’s dive in and steer you to the names you should be looking at for your fantasy leagues. 

We’ll start with the wide receivers

Arizona Cardinals

We’re all trying to figure out who’s second fiddle behind DeAndre Hopkins. It’s been a guessing game through two weeks as AJ Green has played the second most snaps, but hasn’t been all too productive. Rondale Moore has played fewer snaps, but is second in targets and has made big play after big play. What has been different between the past two years of Christian Kirk and this year? Boom or bust. His Week 2 wasn’t terrible, but after two Week 1 touchdowns, he left a lot to be desired. Kirk has played more snaps than Moore in both games, but Moore is flashing more upside right about now.

Atlanta Falcons

On websites where Cordarrelle Patterson is listed as a wide receiver, it’s only a matter of time we see dual position eligibility. Matt Ryan hasn’t exactly had the best match-ups or the best start to his season, but he’s thrown the ball 81 times, which is the eighth most in the league. That kind of tells us maybe Atlanta can support a third pass catcher considering Ridley and Pitts are the clear-cut alpha’s here. I actually prefer Patterson’s flexibility than Gage’s 3.2 aDOT.

Baltimore Ravens

It’s hard enough trusting two Ravens pass catchers, but three? Fantasy suicide. Mark Andrews has not looked great, which is why it’s scary to even consider Sammy Watkins as an option. On one side of the coin, he’s played 16 of 144 offensive snaps, which is the MOST of the Baltimore receivers. On the other hand, Marquise Brown and Andrews are the 1A and 1B in the passing games and the volume for Baltimore is hard enough to trust.

Buffalo Bills

We know the alpha in this offense is Stefon Diggs, but in this high-powered passing attack, who’s the most viable outside of Diggs? After 13 targets in Week 1, Cole Beasley took a backseat to Emmanuel Sanders in not only targets but snaps. When, not if, the Josh Allen of 2020 shows back up, he should be able to support three of these pass catchers, but right now it’s Diggs, a large gap in between, then Sanders, then everyone else.

Carolina Panthers

It was a better week in the volume department for Robby Anderson, but the rapport we expected him to have with Sam Darnold due to working for the same employer in New York, is the rapport Darold and DJ Moore have together. Couple that with the safest checkdown in recent memory and suddenly Anderson is playing third fiddle. Might be time to try and move him while you still can.

Chicago Bears

Although Allen Robinson is still considered the top receiver on this team, Darnell Mooney has taken on a massive role through two weeks and has actually seen 15 targets, the same as Robinson. With Mooney’s emergence, there isn’t much room at the table for anyone else. Even the tight ends have seen very few looks. With Justin Fields ability to push the ball down field, Mooney’s 4.38 40-time can be best utilized. He’s moving into weekly FLEX territory with the type of volume he’s seeing.

Cincinnati Bengals

It took one week for EVERYONE to jump off the Tyler Boyd bandwagon for him to come back the very next game and see five targets more than Ja’Marr Chase. All three of Boyd, Chase and Tee Higgins have played a boatload of snaps, and it would be silly to write Boyd off after three straight seasons of 108-plus targets. All three are viable on a weekly basis, they just need better quarterback play.

Dallas Cowboys

It was definitely a let down that Cooper followed up his monster Week 1 with only five targets, but that could be partially due to his bruised ribs suffered in his meeting with the Chargers. With Michael Gallup sidelined for some time, people thought Cedrick Wilson would command all of his work. He was on the field for 21 of Dak Prescott’s 31 pass attempts, which is a good sign considering this team will likely be throwing 40-plus times per game more often than not. 

Denver Broncos

While everyone was debating Tim Patrick or K.J. Hamler, Courtland Sutton went buckwild and tripled Patrick’s targets and quadrupled Hamler’s. Patrick’s big frame is a definite threat in the red zone and he’s clearly the guy you want to own over Hamler. If you want any more definitive proof, Patrick played more snaps, ran more routes and blocked fewer times than Hamler did. The proof is in the pudding.

Detroit Lions

How do things change when Tyrell Williams eventually returns? Can Jared Goff continue this type of output? All things to consider, but Goff has always been comfortable throwing a LOT. He’s thrown 550 or more passes for three straight seasons and led the league with 626 in 2019. Considering the game scripts will generally be throw-centric, Goff *could* support one or two of these guys. Quintez Cephus, Tyrell Williams when he returns and Amon-Ra St. Brown are the likeliest of candidates. That Hockenson guy is around too, don’t forget.

Jacksonville Jaguars

This waiver period was a bunch of people asking if they should drop D.J. Chark...NO! He’s run 73 routes, the 11th most in football and his 242 air yards is eighth in the league. Chark will be fine, especially in the next three weeks. Big boosts to Jacksonville’s offense. Marvin Jones has proven to be Trevor Lawrence’s favorite target, which is what we saw in the preseason as well. Jones was the last of the three to be drafted this year. Let’s not give up on Laviska Shenault either, ok? 17 targets in two games is big time and with James O'Shaughnessy on IR, that 83% route participation could be on the rise.

Kansas City Chiefs

Before we rush to waivers or rush to put Mecole Hardman in our lineups we must realize that he greatly benefitted from Tyreek Hill’s worst game in recent memory. That said, the Chiefs are keeping him on the field a lot this season. He’s ran only four fewer routes than Travis Kelce has through two games. Something to pay attention to in Week 3 before pushing all your chips into the Hardman pot.

Los Angeles Rams

If I could tell you two things about this Rams receiving corps is that Cooper Kupp is definitely making old bestfriend Clayton Kershaw jealous of his relationship with Matt Stafford and that Robert Woods will be OK. In fact, go buy low on Bobby Trees. He saw nine targets in Week 2 and missed a grand total of one snap. The buy low window is closing, trust me.

Las Vegas Raiders

It’s been a mystery all offseason who would play second fiddle to Darren Waller and although Hunter Renfrow has out targeted Henry Ruggs through two weeks, we saw a glimpse of what Ruggs can be, catching five of seven targets for 113 and a score. Using Ruggs in the Nelson Agholor role from last year should do WONDERS for him. Back to Renfrow quickly..

Miami Dolphins

The volume for Parker and Waddle has been great, but with Will Fuller entering the lineup, we may need to pump the breaks on our expectations that each guy could see six-plus targets a week. PLUS, the Dolphins are without Tua Tagovailoa in Week 3. Unless you’re in dire straits, you’re not starting any of them this week.

New England Patriots

This New England pass game has been very….underwhelming. It’s led by none other than James White. Jakobi Meyers is pacing them in targets and would be the one receiver I’d have any interest in, but even then, it’s very mild. The reliance upon the run and the checkdown make it difficult for all of them.

New York Giants

Things are going to get mighty interesting with Evan Engram back in the mix. All of Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton have been heavily involved. Shepard has been the best of the three pacing them in targets, snaps and routes run. Golladay isn’t far off and we should expect the Giants to feed their highly paid receiver often in Week 3 against a bad Atlanta secondary. Darius Slayton is the most likely candidate to see his role reduced with Engram healthy.

New York Jets

Similar situation for the Jets as it was with the Giants. Why? Well Jamison Crowder is expected to return. Immediately your eyes float to the 18 targets Braxton Berrios has seen out of the slot and expect some of that -- or most of it -- to drop off. BUT, what if the Jets feel as if Berrios is playing so well, they can’t take him off the field and Crowder plays on the outside over Elijah Moore? It’s a situation I’m not comfortable with and only be starting Corey Davis in until we get more clarity.

Philadelphia Eagles

Despite Quez Watkins big play ability, he only saw two targets in Week 2 and has five on the year. It was a bad game all around for the Philly passing attack which we knew could happen given Jalen Hurts’ accuracy issues. It’s hard to hate on the type of volume DeVonta Smith and Jalen Reagor have seen thus far, but just know there will be inconsistent games due to their quarterback.

Washington Redskins
 

Unless it’s full point PPR, you shouldn’t really have any interest in Adam Humphries. He’s the third WR in three wide sets, but Logan Thomas mans the slot a LOT and is the fourth option on the field, sometimes the fifth when captain checkdown, JD McKissic is in the game. There’s something there with Dyami Brown, too, as he’s missed just 13 snaps in two games.

Onto the tight ends..

Standing out the most to me...how few tight ends have double-digit targets! We’re two weeks in and there are only 10 tight ends with 10 or more. Shame.

Most notably in this list, Mark Andrews will be fine long term. His 112 snaps in two games is the second most on the offense behind Sammy Watkins. Be patient if you have him, buy low if you don’t, especially considering it’s not like your tight end production can get worse if you don’t have Waller, Hockenson, Kelce, Gronkowski, Fant or Pitts!

Also, how about a Jack Doyle sighting? Could this be something? We know Carson Wentz LOVES targeting tight ends. When he’s on the field of course. In 2018, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert combined for 190 targets. In ‘20, they were first and second on the Eagles in targets respectively, combined for over 200 and finally last season, Ertz, Goedert and Richard Rodgers all saw 30-plus targets in a season Wentz played most of. New system? Sure, but I saved the best for last. In 2017, Reich was Wentz’s offensive coordinator in Philly and Zach Ertz had 110 targets. Something to at least consider.

Something to monitor this week is the Browns tight end group. Mainly Austin Hooper, but David Njoku if you’re desperate. Jarvis Landry is on IR and Odell Beckham has missed the first two games of the year. It wouldn’t shock me to see Hooper on this list come the Week 3 report.

How about the running backs

Look, I’m not sure how much better it can get for D’Andre Swift, but 16 targets through two weeks is outstanding. I mentioned it earlier with Goff. Sustainable? Possibly because the Lions are going to be in a LOT of negative game scripts this year.

I think we need to pump the breaks on this year’s version of James Robinson being last year’s version of James Robinson. But what we can keep pumping is that he’s still going to be fine in fantasy football. He has nine targets through two weeks and in Week 2, Urban Meyer realized he doesn’t need as much Carlos Hyde as he thought. Robinson played 41 snaps to Hyde’s 14. Robinson has great game scripts in the next three weeks and I think a lot of pass catching upside along with it.

James White has been tremendous to start the 2021 campaign. He’s caught at least six balls in each of the first two games and has been Mac Jones’ favorite target. There’s absolutely no reason to think he won’t consistently be on the field. In fact, he’s only played eight fewer snaps than Damien Harris this year.

Phony or Pho-Real

Michael Pittman, IND (12 targets in Week 2) PHO-REAL - Without T.Y. Hilton in the mix, Pittman is the alpha in this offense in terms of pass catchers. Now, he needs Carson Wentz to be effective and I’d be hard pressed to play any Colts pass catcher in Week 3, but we saw what he could do with Wentz under center. Pittman has played 134 of the 142 possible snaps. Plenty of good days ahead.

Braxton Berrios, NYJ (11 targets in Week 2) PHONY - It’s hard to trust Berrios with the uncertainty of his role when Jamison Crowder returns. Crowder played out of the slot 68% of the time last year while Berrios sits right around that mark this season. My suspicion is that Berrios is the odd man out, but the upcoming weeks will provide us clarity.

Mecole Hardman, KC (8 targets in Week 2) PHO..TBD - Hardman’s biggest output came in Tyreek Hill’s worst game in recent memory. On the other hand, he’s playing a TON of snaps. In theory, there should be room for one more on the dance floor in one of the more prolific pass offenses in the league. Let’s wait and see when Hill’s target share evens back out to normal, how Hardman fares. The jury is still out here.