ARI
With DeAndre Hopkins out for the year, it was always going to be interesting to see who stepped up as the alpha and that goes to Christian Kirk. He led the team with 12 targets while A.J. Green and Antoine Wesley saw eight targets. Wesley actually played more snaps and had five more targets than Rondale Moore, which was extremely disappointing to see. Moore cannot be rostered at this point in the season.
With Chase Edmonds back, neither he nor James Conner played a role in the passing game as they combined for three targets. Zach Ertz on the other hand had 11 targets, which was the most he’s had since being traded to Arizona.
ATL
Atlanta’s target tree is very small and has not let any newcomers climb said tree. Russell Gage, Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson. End list.
BAL
Even with Tyler Huntley under center, Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews were the dominant forces once again and nobody else was relevant in the passing game. Unfortunately, Rashod Bateman has once again taken a fantasy backseat. Just two targets a week after having a career game. He’s absolutely someone we cannot trust in our fantasy football postseason.
BUF
With Emmanuel Sanders out, Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis trailed Cole Beasley in targets as the former two had seven and the latter had eight. We know Diggs is the top dog here and his 127 targets prove that, but Beasley has pushed over the century mark as well.
CAR
It’s brutal to roster Carolina skill position players because of how bad the quarterback play has been recently. That hasn’t led to a decrease in targets for Robby Anderson and DJ Moore, but Moore is the only viable option in fantasy right now as he’s coming off his third straight 10+ target outing.
One thing else that’s probably worth mentioning is that Ameer Abdullah had another four targets for the sixth time in seven games. REALLY deep field FLEX option if you’re absolutely desperate, especially in a game they’re likely going to be playing from behind in for Week 16.
CHI
With Allen Robinson out , the targets were spread out fairly evenly. Darnell Mooney saw seven, Damiere Byrd and David Montgomery had six and Cole Kmet led the team with nine. Kmet has been fantastic in the volume department lately, notching 32 targets over his last four games. Two of those games were with Allen Robinson, so even if/when Robinson returns, Kmet holds plenty of fantasy value.
CIN
In the most meaningful fantasy game of the year, the two horses the Bengals have in their receiving corps were nowhere to be found. Tee Higgins had just three targets while Ja’Marr Chase had four. Good thing Tyler Boyd had the big game! We all were so happy that happened! That hasn’t happened much this year and it may not happen again.
CLE
With essentially everyone out in the COVID-19 protocols, Donovan Peoples-Jones led the way with eight targets but with Jarvis Landry set to come off COVID-19 list, DPJ leading the way may be a one-week thing and you likely missed your chance to use him in any capacity.
DAL
Even though Dak Prescott hasn’t looked great under center recently, he’s fed CeeDee Lamb as many targets as Lamb can handle lately. Lamb has seen 32 targets over the last three weeks, compared to Amari Cooper’s 14 and Michael Gallup’s 23. The latter two guys are hurting in terms of value as we approach semi finals in fantasy match-ups.
Dallas likes using it’s running backs in the passing game, but with both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard healthy, they split the work through the air. Someone who isn’t splitting with anyone at his position is Dalton Schultz as he had eight targets in Week 15, only trailing Lamb by one. Schutlz is a great option to have heading into Week 16.
DEN
Man, this situation is a nightmare. Even with Courtland Sutton getting seven targets, Jerry Jeudy, Sutton and Tim Patrick all are not startable right now. Maybe it’ll be better with Drew Lock under center, but there’s no real evidence of this happening.
DET
With T.J. Hockenson and D’Andre Swift out, Amon-Ra St. Brown has been dominant and has been peppered with targets. He’s had 11 or more in three straight games but will that continue as it looks less likely Jared Goff will play? If you’re thinking that way about St. Brown, Josh Reynolds is definitely someone you don’t want to play in your fantasy football playoff match-up.
GB
We can spend hours talking about Davante Adams, but can we touch on the fact that Marquez Valdes-Scantling has had five or more targets in four straight games? He had as many targets as Adams did in Week 15! He’s played himself into a weekly FLEX play.
HOU
We mentioned it last week but with Davis Mills under center, Brandin Cooks looks like a brand new receiver. He’s had double-digit targets over his last two games and has six double-digit target performances this season. Cooks is absolutely an elite option with Mills under center, unfortunately he’s been placed in the health and safety protocols.
IND
The Colts BARELY threw the ball in Week 15 and Michael Pittman was the only Colt that had more than two targets. The Colts have really turned into a run-first, second and third team and it makes it hard to roster ANY of their receivers and that’s a tough pill to swallow considering how well Pittman was playing earlier in the year.
JAX
The first game post-Urban Meyer was much like the Urban Meyer days except the fed James Robinson the rock from start to finish here. Trevor Lawrence also looked Laquon Treadwell’s way a LOT in this one as he led the way with nine targets. Marvin Jones and Laviska Shenault are still under-used, I don’t know what else to say.
KC
In Kansas City, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill are arguably the most dominant 1-2 punch in football and it’s very hard for anyone else in this offense to stand out when they combine for 27 targets. Clyde Edwards-Helaire had four targets here and it was the third straight week he’s had at least three for what it’s worth.
LAR
I didn’t think Cooper Kupp could actually get better and be peppered with more targets than he was earlier in the year, but here we are. I think what’s more notable was how Ben Skowronek out targeted both Van Jefferson and Odell Beckham in this game. Take that with a grain of salt, however, as Van Jefferson was the only Rams’ receiver to participate in 100% of the routes run and Beckham only missed two and ran 20 more routes than Skowronek. It was an anomaly more than anything.
LAC
The Chargers have really been getting their two stud receivers as many looks as possible in recent weeks and Week 15 was no different with Keenan Allen receiving 10 targets and Mike Williams getting nine. The interesting part is they mixed Jared Cook in with seven targets and that could definitely have something to do with how limited Austin Ekeler was. Ekeler has tested positive for COVID-19 so with him out in Week 16, they could once again lean on Cook, making him an interesting option if you’re desperate for a tight end in Week 16.
LV
I think at this point we just pencil Hunter Renfrow in for the team lead in targets when Darren Waller is out, but that wasn’t the case in Week 15 so if you had that going in, hopefully you used a pencil and can erase it. Zay Jones saw nine targets compared to Renfrow’s five and with Waller not expected to suit up in Week 16, maybe Jones continues to see an uptick of volume. It’s worth mentioning because has had seven or more targets in three of his last four games.
Don't look now, but Josh Jacobs has the eighth most targets from the running back position. The EIGHTH MOST targets, you read that correctly. For a guy that we didn’t like all that much coming into the year because he didn’t catch passes, to rank where he did at this stage in the year is very impressive. Also, we finally got a Foster Moreau target share we were impressed by! We never claimed him to be Darren Waller, but he gave us virtually nothing for a few weeks. Good to see, but I’m not sure it’s sustainable if Waller misses any more time.
MIA
The Dolphins didn’t need to throw the ball all that much in Week 15 as Tua Tagovailoa dropped back to pass 31 times and only threw the ball 27 times. 16 of those attempts were to DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki as they saw eight targets each in this one. With guys out due to injury and COVID-19, and Duke Johnson dominating on the ground, Miami didn’t need to air it out and will not need to if they follow a similar game plan moving forward.
MIN
I mean, Justin Jefferson, a large gap, a few more lines down…space…space..then maybe you get to the next relevant pass catcher here. With Adam Thielen out, the Vikings used Dalvin Cook on the ground and Jefferson through the air almost exclusively. Jefferson is one of the five best receiving options in the game today.
NE
Hunter Henry got all the notoriety because he scored two touchdowns, Jakobi Meyers led the way with 12 targets. It was third time this year he’s had double-figures in terms of targets and has 41 more targets than Nelson Agholor who’s second in this receiving corps. Meyers fantasy relevance has really taken a hit because of his inability to score touchdowns. We’re almost through two seasons and he’s scored just once.
When a Patriots running back has relevance in the passing game this season, it’s mainly been Brandon Bolden. He had his sixth game with at least four targets in this one, but with Damien Harris on the way back, his role likely diminishes as he slips back into the third RB on the depth chart. Hunter Henry is having a YEAR scoring touchdowns. The eight targets he saw in Week 15 also was tied for a season-high.
NO
New Orleans pass catchers have had just an awful year. Things didn’t get any better with Taysom Hill under center either. Marquez Callaway did find some success in Week 15 with a season-high nine targets, but no other receiver had more than three. Tre’Quan Smith, who was flashing some upside in the middle of the year, has put up back-to-back three target outings. The Saints are without Hill this week and fourth-round rookie draft pick, Ian Book, will be starting at QB, which makes things a little more interesting but a lot more worrisome because of how unknown of a situation this is.
NYG
For a fourth straight week, Kenny Golladay has been targeted five or more times. He hasn’t really done ANYTHING of note. The volume is all we’ve had. Maybe a move from Mike Glennon to Jake Fromm is what Golladay needs? Either way, his 2021 is absolutely LOST.
The Giants have, however, tried to get Saquon Barkley involved as much as they possibly can. They threw the ball his way eight times in Week 15 and have now fed him the rock through the air five or more times in four of the five games since he returned from injury. This is a guy with a 121 target season on his ledger, so being peppered with targets out of the backfield is something he’s used to.
NYJ
This passing game was almost as bad as we thought it would be without Elijah Moore. Jamison Crowder led the team with eight targets and no other receiver had more than three. It’s been a completely lost season for Denzel Mims, so hopefully he finds a new home in the near future.
It’s worth mentioning that with Ty Johnson inactive for this game (healthy scratch), the Jets got nothing from their backs through the air. Two targets. That’s it. Zach Wilson showed us early on that he likes to try and keep plays alive and instead of hitting the checkdown, he holds onto the ball. He’ll need to develop in that facet of his game.
PHI
We love DeVonta Smith the player, but he has not been a great fantasy asset this year. What has developed recently is Dallas Goedert who could possibly be a weekly top-five tight end at this point. He’s had big game after big game and it hasn’t mattered whether it’s Jalen Hurts or Gardner Minshew, it matters that Zach Ertz is in Arizona.
PIT
This was the worst game of the year for Diontae Johnson, bar none. The worst. It wasn’t his lowest target output, that was in Week 5, but he at least made a big play in that game. He really didn’t do anything here, which pretty much is what the entire Steelers offense did. They laid an egg, but defense and special teams balled out enough to get them the win.
SEA
Just once over the last six games DK Metcalf had less than eight targets, but the targets he’s receiving aren’t turning to gold like they did last year. He had 12 targets in Week 15, which was a season high, but turned that into just six catches for 52 yards. With Tyler Lockett returning for Week 16, it’ll be tough for Metcalf to duplicate because Russell Wilson’s rapport since returning from injury has simply been better with Lockett.
SF
Week 15 was not a great week for 49ers pass catchers and they didn’t need it to be because they dominated the ground game with Jeff Wilson Jr. Jauan Jennings actually led all receivers with six targets while running back Deebo Samuel had five and Brandon Aiyuk disappointed with two. If you watched Andrew Cooper’s “Coops Scoops” for Week 15, you heard him talking about guys that you play ONLY if your back is against the wall, well, that’s where we are with Aiyuk at this point.
TB
It’s hard to judge what Tampa Bay pass catchers could’ve and would’ve done because they all got hurt. Not joking. Chris Godwin is now out for the year, Mike Evans left after just one target, Antonio Brown was suspended and Leonard Fournette left the game and has since been placed on IR.
In their stead, Tyler Johnson played a massive snap share and saw seven targets. If Evans sits and it’s just Brown and Johnson on the outside, Johnson has some deeper league appeal. He has Brady’s trust at this point and does have a moderate level of targets this year with 42. If there was ever a time that Rob Gronkowski’s value was at an all-time high in Tampa Bay, it’s right now with everyone out and banged up.
TEN
After Julio Jones left with an injury – and just one target – Nick Westbrook-Ikhine stepped up for Ryan Tannehill and had seven targets. The problem with rostering any Titans receiver outside of A.J. Brown when he’s healthy are the inconsistencies. You really can’t trust anyone in this receiving corps outside of No. 11.
WFT
We anticipated it being bad for the Washington passing attack with Garrett Gilbert under center and it was just that. His best weapon in Terry McLaurin was also very blatantly not 100% healthy either and saw just four targets.
The takeaway we do have from this contest is that Antonio Gibson CAN be featured out of the backfield as he’s had six or more targets in three of his last four games and that the tight end, no matter who it is, will be heavily involved. I’m looking at you, Ricky Seals-Jones and your seven targets.