Targets, targets, targets and more..targets! That's what we're looking at here. We had some interesting things take place in Week 4 that hasn't been the case the first three weeks. Who's stock is on the rise due to their target share and who's is plummeting? I broke down EACH team below! Enjoy!
Arizona Cardinals
It was a great week for A.J. Green...again. He’s been the most productive Cardinals receiver this season and seen the most consistent work. He’s playing a boatload of snaps and although DeAndre Hopkins has one more target, he was taken in the second round of drafts. Green went undrafted in a lot of leagues.
For Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore, it’s very hard to trust them in redraft right now. Kirk is at least on the field running a ton of routes. Moore played very few snaps in Week 4 and has just five targets over the last two games. He’s the fourth option in this receiving corps.
Prior to the season I cited I thought Chase Edmonds was a dark horse candidate for 90+ catches this year and although that seems unrealistic at this point, 90 targets does not. He’s actually on a 106 targets pace through 17 games. He’s been elite this year and there’s no reason to think his production can’t continue, especially with how many targets he’s seeing.
Has Williams had productive weeks? Yeah, he has, but they haven’t been on a consistent basis. There are so many options for Kyler Murray to turn to, it’s very hard to trust anyone outside of Hopkins, Green and Edmonds and even Hopkins hasn’t been a reliable source of production that we’re used to seeing.
Atlanta Falcons
This receiving corps is about one guy and one guy only; Calvin Ridley. The production hasn’t been there, but positive regression is on the way. Well, it’ll have to wait, because Ridley’s been ruled out for Week 5. As has Russell Gage for a third consecutive game. Is it Olamide Zaccheaus season?
Both running backs have been involved in the passing game, but Cordarrelle Patterson has shined. He’s become a fantasy STAR. He’s likely going to run a lot of routes here due to necessity. Patterson is such a safe Week 5 play as he could very well see his largest snap share of the year. Mike Davis’ value for Week 5 should actually increase as well considering Patterson could be used out wide more.
Despite Kyle Pitts being a disappointment based on his ADP and production, he’s seventh among all tight ends in targets and is coming off his most targeted game of the year, seeing nine looks in Week 5. If there was ever a week he was going to break out in, it’s Week 5, as he’s not only facing the Jets, but the Falcons are without Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage.
Baltimore Ravens
It’ll be interesting to see how the target distribution plays out in Baltimore moving forward. The Ravens are throwing far more than we expected them to and Rashod Bateman is off injured reserve and expected to return soon. Maybe as early as Week 5. I suspect Marquise Brown’s 22.6% target share stays mostly intact, but Sammy Watkins’ 23.4% clip takes a hit. In terms of priority, it remains Brown first, but I’d actually put Bateman second the moment we find out he’s going to be on the field.
It was a slow start for the recently PAID Ravens tight end, but he’s notched 15 targets over his last two games and has now put up 176 yards over that span as well. He hasn’t scored yet either, and this is a guy who scored 17 touchdowns in the last two seasons. Continue to play Andrews weekly as a TE1.
Buffalo Bills
It’s quite clear the alpha in this offense is still Stefon Diggs. Positive regression is going to strike so hard here, it’s so obvious. Diggs is WR19, which is still solid, but this is a guy we drafted as a top three option. Look at all those chickens (targets)!
After Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders has been far more consistent than Cole Basley or Gabriel Davis has been. Beasley has 26 looks in two of his games and six in the other two. Sanders has at least six targets in all four games this year. He’s the clear-cut number two option in Buffalo right now.
The snaps continue to be around 80% or better, the red zone looks are there and so are the touchdowns. Knox should be treated as a TE1 while he’s receiving this much attention from his quarterback and is seemingly his favorite red zone target.
Carolina Panthers
Cooper Kupp, Keenan Allen, Davante Adams. Those are the only three receivers with more targets than DJ Moore this year. Moore’s 29.5% target share ranks seventh in the league as well. He’s one of two receivers that have three WR1 finishes through the first four weeks. Moore is maybe the most sure thing at WR we have going for us right now.
It was nice to see a resurgent week in terms of looks for Robby Anderson in Week 4. He saw 11 targets, which was only one fewer than DJ Moore. This could be somewhat of a sign on what’s to come or it could’ve just been based on the game script as Carolina was down against Dallas early and often. There was also no Christian McCaffrey here, which may not be the case in Week 5.
When it comes to Terrace Marshall, he’s teetering on the cut line. It’ll be hard to trust him weekly when Christian McCaffrey returns.
Chicago Bears
I mean, we saw how much Justin Fields favored Darnell Mooney to Allen Robinson in Week 4 and now that Fields has been named the starter, should we view it this way moving forward? I’m not ready to do so, but Week 5 could be a tell tale in that regard. Both receivers are FLEX plays at best.
The running backs have been very involved in the passing game this year. With David Montgomery slated to miss four to five weeks, Damien Williams could really thrive as a checkdown for Justin Fields here. Williams has 143 career receptions throughout his career and has just 13 starts. Now is his time to shine and be the safety blanket for Fields.
You heard our resident tight end guru, Andrew Cooper...Kmet’s value is at its peak with Andy Dalton under center. Well, Justin Fields has been named the starter moving forward. That does Kmet no good.
Cincinnati Bengals
Without Tee Higgins the last two weeks, Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd have stood out as elite fantasy assets. Each of them had double-digit targets with Higgins in the lineup the first two weeks, but Higgins was the leader with 15 targets. If Joe Mixon misses anytime in the upcoming weeks, the Bengals could revert back to 2020 form and throw 40 times per game. If that’s the case, all three of the receivers have standalone value.
Uzomah’s production is directly correlated to Tee Higgins’ health right now. With Higgins out, we saw Uzomah have a career game and the first two weeks he did absolutely nothing. He had more targets in Week 4 than he had in the first three weeks combined.
Cleveland Browns
It’s not great news that the starting quarterback has a torn labrum and is going to play through it. Could that be the reason why he missed so many throws in Week 4? It’s quite possible, but that’s not the most encouraging thing in the world if you roster some of these pass catchers. The only rosterable receiver while Jarvis Landry is on IL is Odell Beckham Jr. anyways. OBJ could have had a massive Week 4, the volume was there, but Baker Mayfield missed him on three separate occasions and twice he could’ve turned them into touchdowns.
Kareem Hunt continues to dominate the passing work out of this backfield while Demetric Felton is second fiddle. Nick Chubb has four targets through four games and that’s actually an even worse pace than he was on in 2020. Not great Bob, not great.
I mean, they’re all just sharing the work. They’re all getting snaps. They’re all seeing targets -- for the most part, and none of them are really turning it into fantasy production. None are very fantasy relevant unless one separates themselves from the pack.
Dallas Cowboys
With Dallas being so run dominant and so tight end dependent lately, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb have really taken a step back since they had 32 combined targets in Week 1. Cooper at least scored a touchdown in Week 4 to compensate for it. They’re both still WR2’s at this point and we should be confident starting them as such.
The targets have been disappointing on the Elliott front. He’s had three seasons of 70+ targets including a season with 90+. He’s on pace for just 34 targets this year. That being said, he’s still the RB6 with room for upside when he starts catching passes.
Both tight ends have been productive this year. Schultz is getting all the love, but Jarwin has been good himself. Schultz is the guy to own right now, but that could change on a dime, as Jarwin has always been deemed the more athletic and better of the two.
Denver Broncos
There are only two Broncos receivers worth a damn right now. Jerry Jeudy is hurt and KJ Hamler is out for the year. Courtland Sutton is the alpha in the offense, notching 28 targets through four games. His 21% target share is amongst the top-30 receivers in the league.
Tim Patrick has been solid on a volume standpoint. He’s a WR3/FLEX play on a weekly basis as long as Jeudy is out. Patrick has been a favorite red zone target for Denver as he’s gotten three looks in the red zone already. He’s converted two for touchdowns.
After not being too involved in the passing game the first two weeks, Denver’s running backs have seen six or more targets in back-to-back games. Williams has had Alvin Kamara comparison’s by this Broncos coaching staff, so they should probably get him the ball in the passing game like they have been in Week 3 and 4.
Fant has moved into fifth place amongst all tight ends in targets. His production in the target department could take a hit when Jerry Jeudy eventually returns, but this near seven target per game pace puts him on track to see just under 115 looks. That’s TE1 production.
Detroit Lions
This is a situation I really don't love. Quintez Cephus is the best option of the group, but he’s been outpaced by Kalif Raymond and Amon-Ra St. Brown recently. The running backs and T.J. Hockenson are the only guys I have weekly interest in.
It was another great game for D’Andre Swift from a target perspective notching six looks and has now seen five or more in all four games this season. Even though his Week 4 production wasn’t great, he’s still an RB1 while he’s this involved in both the passing and rushing game.
After two tremendous weeks to start the year, the production has fallen off for Hockenson, but Week 4 was much better from a volume perspective. He saw eight targets, which was tied for the fourth most targets from the tight end position overall.
Green Bay Packers
This is Davante Adams’ world and all the Packers’ receivers are living in it. It is worth noting Randall Cobb, who had five targets through three games, saw six looks and got into the end zone twice. He’s really not a great add unless it’s a deeper format.
Jones has had back-to-back campaigns with 60 or more targets and is well on pace to reach that number again. He’s actually on pace for 60 targets on the dot this year. Expect that number to pick up in positive passing game scripts for Green Bay.
Imagine being a Robert Toyan believer? He finally had seven targets in Week 4 and still did nothing. Yikes.
Houston Rockets
Brandin Cooks. That’s the tweet in Houston.
Indianapolis Colts
There are only 14 players in the league with a higher target share than Michael Pittman this year. He’s been THE guy in Indianapolis and the only reason he’s not being talked about in fantasy communities more is because he hasn’t scored yet. We’re still not clear about when T.Y. Hilton is going to return and that when seems like it’s turning into an if rather quickly. No reason to think Pittman doesn’t continue to dominate the targets in Indy and eventually starts finding paydirt.
Jacksonville Jaguars
With Chark out, we saw Laviska Shenault take the step forward we all hoped he would before the year. I don’t expect many poor weeks from Marvin Jones like we saw in Week 3, especially with Chark out. This team will be in a LOT of pass heavy game scripts that will benefit all the pass catchers in this offense.
Robinson is once again on pace for right around 70 targets through the air this year, which we never would have thought possible due to the Jaguars trading up and drafting Travis Etienne in the first round this season. Robinson’s dual threat ability gives him tremendous fantasy upside on a weekly basis.
The highlighted number of targets is because Arnold’s first game with Jacksonville was last week. He wasn’t heavily involved in Carolina, but with the Jags losing James O’Shaughnessy early this year, they traded for Arnold and we expect him to be involved in this aerial attack. The Jags deployed O’Shaughnessy quite frequently in the passing game before his injury, so we’re hoping the same can be said for Arnold.
Kansas City Chiefs
It’s Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce and then it’s the rest of the guys. It will be interesting how Josh Gordon fits into things, however. It sounds like he’s going to be active and will play in Week 5 and Andy Reid has cited how quickly he’s picked things up, which is a great sign for Gordon.
He’s coming off his worst performance in recent memory. So what? He’s fine. Nothing to see here, move along.
Los Angeles Rams
We know Robert Woods’ is going to break out of his fantasy slump, right? Van Jefferson’s reign as second highest fantasy scorer on the Rams is coming to an end! Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods are going to wreak havoc on opposing defenses for the rest of this 2021 campaign.
We can continue to hate on Higbee or we can respect the volume he’s receiving in this offense with the exception of Week 2. He’s not my first choice, but if my tight end has underwhelmed -- and most likely they have unless you picked one early -- than there are worse options than Higbee.
Los Angeles Chargers
Keenan Allen is second in the league in targets and Mike Williams is top-15 at the wide receiver position. OK, go on with your day now.
Fairly certain I said this last week, but remember when we were all so worried about Austin Ekeler’s Week 1 zero target performance? It’s been smooth sailing since then hasn’t it?
It’s been somewhat surprising to see how well Jared Cook has played, but then again, it hasn’t. Cook’s in a very high powered offense in Los Angeles and has thrived with Herbert under center. He currently resides in TE1 territory as the TE12 and has a chance to stay there if he can continue to see the type of volume he has, with the exception of Week 3.
Las Vegas Raiders
It’s OK. This is a safe place. We can admit we fell for all the hype surrounding Bryan Edwards’ name this offseason. It’s been Henry Ruggs and Hunter Renfrow all along. They’ve both exceeded expectations thus far. Renfrow especially. Ruggs has stretched the field with the best of them, but Renfrow has been ol’ reliable for Derrick Carr, which is why he leads the receivers in targets.
It was great to see Jacobs see five targets. This is something that Jon Gruden said he wanted more of last year, yet he saw just 45. Yes that was an increase of 18 from rookie year to sophomore season, but if he continues to outshine Kenyan Drake in what’s supposed to be Drake’s role, Jacobs could really have some serious value, because we know he’s going to see plenty of work on the ground too.
Through four games, Darren Waller has seen eight more targets than any other tight end in the league. Eight! There is a world where Waller challenges for the league lead in targets by years end.
Miami Dolphins
With Will Fuller hurt, its time for Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker to step up. Parker’s been seeing a steady dose of targets, failing to see below seven in any game this year, but Waddle’s been inconsistent. This Miami receiving corps has a very solid match-up in Week 5 as Tampa Bay lost another CB in Carlton Davis to the IR this week. They’re reeling in the secondary.
He continues to reap the rewards of having Jacoby Brissett under center. Another potential benefactor for Gesicki’s fantasy prowess is that Will Fuller’s injured...again. Mike Gesicki currently sits as your TE11 and is sixth in the position in targets ahead of Kyle Pitts and Mark Andrews.
Minnesota Vikings
Between Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, it’s impossible to make room for anyone else in this wide receiver room. K.J. Osborn is trying, but he’s just not that guy, pal. He’s just not that guy. Jefferson and Thielen will continue to run ALL the routes and get all the glory that comes with being on the field all the time.
One thing we know is that Kirk Cousins is not afraid to check the ball down. Dalvin Cook, when healthy, is going to be the third option in the passing game more often than not.
They miss Irv Smith Jr. so badly. Conklin? Really? Outside of Week 3 he hasn’t done much with his opportunity, but the key word there was opportunity. He’s getting it. We have to, at the very least, take note of that.
New England Patriots
As mediocre as the Patriots offense has been this year, Mac Jones has thrown 91 pass attempts the last two weeks, which has led to volume for these pass catchers. Jakobi Meyers has 26 (!) targets the last two weeks and is amongst the most targeted receivers in football. Nelson Agholor continues to get work too, but Kendrick Bourne has impressed the last two weeks, matching Agholor’s 13 targets. After running seven fewer routes than Agholor in Week 2 alone, Bourne has run just six fewer combined over the last two weeks. The gap is closing.
Brandon Bolden is the new James White...RIGHT? It’s funny to think about the 31-year old Bolden, who’s been with the team since 2012, suddenly in that type of role, but here we are? James White had 13 targets in the first two weeks, now Bolden has 10 the previous two. It’s deep formatted PPR leagues ONLY, but viable if you’re desperate.
Until Week 4, neither Smith or Henry had really done much. Yet, here we are and Jonnu Smith is 12th amongst tight ends in targets and Henry is tied for 15th. In terms of scoring in PPR formats, Henry is the TE18 while Smith is TE22. While neither have been great, they’re both within 12 points of being TE12 aka, a TE1.
New Orleans Saints
It’s really, really hard to trust anyone from the Saints receiving corps right now. If your bench is deep enough, hold onto Marquez Callaway, but if and when Michael Thomas returns, his value will be diminished from what it already is.
Zero targets? For a guy with 80+ receptions in each of the first four seasons in the league? The Saints are not throwing the ball very much as they’re playing very conservative football and although Kamara is getting plenty of work on the ground, what has made him a special fantasy asset in the previous few seasons was his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.
Yeah, Adam Trautman played far more snaps than Juwan Johnson. That part is absolutely true. Another part that is absolutely true is that Johnson still ran more routes, saw more targets and got into the end zone. If you have the ability to stash him due to deep rosters, I highly advise doing that.
New York Giants
Kenny Golladay made his presence felt in Week 4, but so did Kadarius Toney, who was able to create a ton of space for himself while consistently being there for Daniel Jones time and time again. He led the team with nine targets, y’all! Dallas are obviously favored against the Giants and that puts New York in a positive game script. Golladay is a WR2 and Kadarius Toney is a WR3/FLEX option if both Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton once again miss time.
He’s back. All the way back. Just enjoy the ride if you have rostered him in fantasy.
Let’s face facts. Daniel Jones will always look Evan Engram’s way if he’s on the field. He’s been on the field for two games and in each game he’s seen six targets. Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton have yet to practice this week and if they once again miss time, Engram will be one of Jones’ primary targets in Week 5.
New York Jets
We’ll see how things play out when Elijah Moore returns, but Corey Davis and Jamison Crowder absolutely dominated the targets here. Braxton Berrios fell off a cliff and nobody else carved out any type of role. Davis is still the alpha here, but it is worth noting Crowder led the team with his nine targets in just his first game back.
Philadelphia Eagles
It was a tough week for Jalen Reagor who had been so consistent through three games, but DeVonta Smith once again proved he’s the alpha in this offense. He ranks 23rd in target share in the entire NFL through just four games of his career. He’s special.
This week was the closest we’ve seen Kenneth Gainwell get to Miles Sanders in terms of snaps and in terms of volume. He had eight targets, a career high, to Sanders’ three. He also ran 22 routes compared to Sanders’ 30. Gainwell was talked about being a very good pass catcher during the preseason and if the game scripts keep falling into Philly’s lap, well, fantasy owner’s laps, well, Gainwell could have serious PPR value moving forward.
While both tight ends continue to see volume and are playing a boatload of snaps, it’s Ertz dominating the targets. At least the last two weeks. They both have value as long as they continue lining up with two tight ends above league average. They line up with two tight ends 23% of the time and the league average is 22%.
Pittsburgh Steelers
When Diontae Johnson plays, he’s the team’s go-to wide receiver. He’s had double-digit targets in all three games he’s played in and is coming off a 2020 campaign in which he was targeted 144 times. We saw the second fiddle teeter totter in weeks two and three with Chase Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Claypool has a much higher ceiling than Smith-Schuster and a lot it has to do with the fact that he does not stretch the field at all in this offense. His 6.4 aDOT is 90th in football. 90th.
If he was a receiver, he’d be tied for 17th with his 34 targets. Insane, man. The Steelers put out a quote on Thursday stating they haven’t even considered benching Ben Roethlisberger, which means Harris’ workload in the passing game is going NOWHERE.
Seattle Seahawks
It’s a two-man show. Metcalf and Lockett. If one of them were to get injured, then maybe we’d sprinkle in some Freddie Swain. Until then, this is simple.
San Francisco 49ers
We were all talking about how Mohamed Sanu was going to have more targets through four games than Brandon Aiyuk, right? I remember it vividly. It was before the season...you don’t remember? Oh, OK. Well, here we are, four weeks of the season complete and it’s Deebo Samuel and then everyone else on SF. We’ll see how Trey Lance distributes the football, but it was Deebo Samuel he found for a touchdown in Week 4.
Remember when we worried about the lack of involvement for Kittle through two games? Yeah, me neither.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s a three headed monster that seemingly can’t all put up big games together. Despite that being true, they’re still all averaging at least seven targets per game. Mike Evans seems like the top dog right now, with Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown trying to chase him down.
Tom Brady has always checked the ball down and utilized his running backs in the passing game. Think about all those glorious years with James White, Dion Lewis, Shane Vereen and the list goes on. They all have had strong campaigns alongside Brady. Leonard Fournette has been consistently catching backfield since his arrival in Jacksonville and his 19 targets through four weeks is impressive. The status of Giovani Bernard in Week 5 will give us a bit more clarity on this backfield for the Miami game.
The Bucs have thrown the football more than anybody else and it’s evident in their week by week target breakdown that the tight end is always involved. At least one of their tight ends have had five or more targets in every game this year, including two of them in Week 3. With Rob Gronkowski’s status just in limbo right now, listed as week-to-week, Cameron Brate should continue to see five targets or so per game. With how often Tom Brady looked Gronk’s way in the red zone, it’s possible Brate gets some of those looks as well. Not the worst streaming option if you missed out on Dawson Knox or Dalton Schultz on the waiver wire.
Tennessee Titans
Lots of intrigue here based on what happened in Week 4, but A.J. Brown is practicing in Week 5 and a lot of these targets could disappear rather quickly. Everyone did, however, peg Josh Reynolds as the third guy in the passing attack before the season began and he was finally active and led the receivers with nine targets. Jones hasn’t practiced yet this week and that could put Reynolds back on our radar in Week 5.
Look, Jeremy McNichols is running a bunch of routes this year and definitely has a role, but to think this was anything more than an anomaly would be, well, wild. Wild, let’s go with that. With A.J. Brown slated to return and the 30-plus touches Derrick Henry will continue to receive, McNichols will not see this type of volume again. He is viable in deeper formats in PPR leagues only, but it’s not anything I’m excited about.
Also, shout out to Derrick Henry who catches passes now. Crazy world we’re living in.
Washington Football Team
How was this passing game going to look when Curtis Samuel returned? That was the question on everyone’s mind. Well, they fed the beast that is Terry McLaurin and everyone was seemingly an afterthought. Curtis Samuel did see four targets, which was second amongst receivers and that’s impressive when you consider he only played 37% of the snaps. I think the loss of Thomas makes Samuel the biggest bump of all the Washington pass catchers.
Our hopes and dreams of Antonio Gibson seeing a legitimate passing down role is not going to exist as long as J.D. McKissic is still around. We need to face those unfortunate facts.
With Logan Thomas placed on IR, it’s Ricky Seals-Jones’ time to step up. Thomas runs a LOT of routes and Washington could lean on Seals-Jones to take his place. Seals-Jones has been thrusted into opportunities before as he saw 68 targets in 2018 with the Cardinals. Is he someone we need to roster? Absolutely not, but someone we should be keeping our eyes on.