One more week and half of the season will have came and gone and that's just wild because it feels like we just started the season! Antonio Brown has established himself -- once again -- as the league's best wide out, but who else has caught our eye? Who else leads his respective team in targets inside and out of the redzone? We took a dive into the numbers and here's this week's data!
| Player Name | Team | Pass Att | Rec | Targets | Yds | TD | RZ Tgt | RZ Tgt% | Drops | Tgt% |
| Antonio Brown | PIT | 245 | 52 | 84 | 765 | 3 | 8 | 50% | 0 | 34.28% |
| Jarvis Landry | MIA | 204 | 45 | 68 | 365 | 3 | 6 | 83.33% | 4 | 33.33% |
| Keenan Allen | LAC | 256 | 36 | 67 | 487 | 1 | 9 | 11.11% | 7 | 26.17% |
| Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | 281 | 45 | 65 | 494 | 3 | 12 | 58.33% | 1 | 23.13% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | 187 | 37 | 65 | 382 | 6 | 8 | 75% | 1 | 34.75% |
| Adam Thielen | MIN | 234 | 43 | 65 | 529 | 0 | 5 | 0% | 0 | 27.78% |
| Pierre Garcon | SF | 279 | 38 | 63 | 483 | 0 | 5 | 60% | 0 | 22.58% |
| Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 238 | 44 | 59 | 329 | 2 | 7 | 85.71% | 1 | 24.78% |
| Dez Bryant | DAL | 206 | 28 | 58 | 327 | 4 | 12 | 50% | 4 | 28.15 |
| Zach Ertz | PHI | 232 | 39 | 58 | 494 | 5 | 9 | 77.78% | 1 | 25% |
| Amari Cooper | OAK | 234 | 29 | 58 | 356 | 3 | 6 | 16.67% | 9 | 24.78% |
| A.J. Green | CIN | 189 | 35 | 57 | 545 | 3 | 4 | 75% | 1 | 30.15% |
| Mike Evans | TB | 241 | 34 | 57 | 459 | 4 | 9 | 33.33% | 1 | 23.65% |
| Alshon Jeffrey | PHI | 232 | 26 | 54 | 354 | 2 | 5 | 60% | 0 | 23.27% |
| Davante Adams | GB | 252 | 30 | 53 | 351 | 5 | 12 | 66.67% | 2 | 21.03% |
| Michael Thomas | NO | 220 | 35 | 53 | 403 | 2 | 6 | 50% | 2 | 24.09% |
| Evan Engram | NYG | 260 | 30 | 53 | 342 | 3 | 4 | 100% | 3 | 20.38% |
| Devin Funchess | CAR | 238 | 31 | 52 | 346 | 3 | 6 | 50% | 1 | 21.48% |
| Doug Baldwin | SEA | 218 | 36 | 51 | 376 | 2 | 4 | 50% | 0 | 23.39% |
| Demaryius Thomas | DEN | 215 | 30 | 50 | 389 | 0 | 4 | 25% | 2 | 23.25% |
| Julio Jones | ATL | 203 | 34 | 50 | 466 | 1 | 5 | 40% | 1 | 24.63% |
| Delanie Walker | TEN | 218 | 32 | 49 | 324 | 0 | 3 | 0% | 0 | 22.47% |
| Travis Kelce | KC | 228 | 37 | 49 | 423 | 3 | 7 | 57.14% | 1 | 21.49% |
| Tyreek Hill | KC | 228 | 36 | 49 | 515 | 3 | 1 | 100% | 2 | 21.49% |
| Golden Tate | DET | 225 | 36 | 48 | 363 | 2 | 4 | 100% | 2 | 21.33% |
| Rob Gronkowski | NE | 262 | 29 | 48 | 452 | 4 | 9 | 33.33% | 2 | 18.32% |
| T.Y. Hilton | IND | 219 | 27 | 48 | 512 | 1 | 6 | 33.33% | 0 | 21.91% |
| Rishard Matthews | TEN | 218 | 27 | 48 | 393 | 1 | 5 | 40% | 1 | 22.01% |
| Chris Hogan | NE | 262 | 28 | 47 | 378 | 5 | 10 | 50% | 3 | 17.93% |
| James White | NE | 262 | 38 | 47 | 280 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 17.93% |
| Brandin Cooks | NE | 262 | 28 | 46 | 537 | 3 | 1 | 100% | 5 | 17.55% |
| Marqise Lee | JAX | 199 | 24 | 46 | 363 | 0 | 3 | 33.33% | 4 | 23.11% |
| Robby Anderson | NYJ | 222 | 21 | 46 | 331 | 2 | 4 | 25% | 3 | 20.72% |
| DeSean Jackson | TB | 241 | 22 | 44 | 360 | 2 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 18.25% |
| Robert Woods | LAR | 224 | 27 | 44 | 381 | 0 | 3 | 33.33% | 2 | 19.64% |
| Kelvin Benjamin | CAR | 238 | 29 | 44 | 436 | 1 | 4 | 25% | 2 | 18.48% |
| Marquise Goodwin | SF | 279 | 20 | 43 | 349 | 0 | 9 | 22.22% | 3 | 15.41% |
| Melvin Gordon | LAC | 256 | 29 | 43 | 228 | 4 | 8 | 75% | 3 | 16.79% |
| Duke Johnson Jr. | CLE | 273 | 32 | 43 | 314 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 15.75% |
| Cooper Kupp | LAR | 224 | 23 | 43 | 316 | 3 | 11 | 54.55% | 3 | 19.19% |
| Jason Witten | DAL | 206 | 31 | 42 | 283 | 3 | 7 | 71.43% | 1 | 20.38% |
| Jordy Nelson | GB | 252 | 26 | 42 | 303 | 6 | 9 | 77.78% | 1 | 16.67% |
| Le'Veon Bell | PIT | 245 | 33 | 42 | 214 | 0 | 5 | 60% | 1 | 17.14% |
| Jared Cook | OAK | 234 | 27 | 41 | 316 | 1 | 4 | 25% | 2 | 17.52% |
| Michael Crabtree | OAK | 234 | 28 | 41 | 328 | 6 | 5 | 60% | 2 | 17.52% |
| Jimmy Graham | SEA | 218 | 24 | 41 | 230 | 2 | 8 | 37.50% | 4 | 18.80% |
| Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | 215 | 25 | 41 | 266 | 2 | 6 | 83.33% | 2 | 19.06% |
| Marvin Jones Jr. | DET | 225 | 20 | 41 | 280 | 3 | 3 | 33.33% | 2 | 18.22% |
| Andre Ellington | ARI | 281 | 28 | 41 | 257 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 14.59% |
| Jaron Brown | ARI | 281 | 20 | 41 | 311 | 1 | 6 | 33.33% | 0 | 14.59% |
| Jack Doyle | IND | 219 | 30 | 41 | 257 | 1 | 3 | 66.67% | 3 | 18.72% |
| Odell Beckham Jr | NYG | 260 | 25 | 41 | 302 | 3 | 4 | 100% | 7 | 15.76% |
| Kyle Rudolph | MIN | 234 | 26 | 40 | 244 | 2 | 6 | 80% | 0 | 17.09% |
Target Leaders
When looking at the targets leaderboard, there’s Antonio Brown and then there is everybody else. Brown has 16 targets more than everybody else and is the top dog in this category for the third straight week. We’ve seen Jarvis Landy make quite a climb since his first game in Week 2, as he’s averaged 10.2 targets per week this year.
This is the second week in a row a running back has fallen off our list as we’re down to five in the top-53 now. We have double the amount of tight ends, however, welcoming two new additions this week as we’re now up to 10. Christian McCaffrey continues to pace the running backs and is eighth in the whole league in receptions while Zach Ertz is still the top dog amongst tight ends aka business as usual for those two.
We don’t have many notable omissions from our list, but Martavis Bryant, Jordan Reed, Terrelle Pryor and Stefon Diggs are the eye popping. It’s not Diggs’ fault he missed the cut has he’s missed multiple games due to injury, but Bryant has been nowhere to be found and before Week 7, Reed was hanging on the same lonely island Bryant still is. Bryant has just five targets over the last two games and has 51 yards on eight receptions in his last three. It wouldn’t shock me if we didn’t see him on this list by years end. Reed saw 10 targets in Week 7 which was a season high and he’s looking much healthier than he did earlier in the season so it’s likely he begins to climb through the ranks as the season progresses.
Target Percentage
We continue to have just four players over the 30-percent plateau and it seems like it’s going to be three or four for the remainder of the season with A.J. Green dipping below some weeks and staying right at 30 after others. 30-percent plus is absolutely elite, so it’s hard to have many players up there with so many teams having three or even four viable options to throw the ball to.
Touching base on the last point we made, we have 18 teams in the league that have more than one player on our list of 53 players. The way the volume is spread out amongst these guys limits the target percentage ceiling that some “elite” players could have if they were in a different setting or environment.
Red Zone Targets
Each team has carved out it’s pass catchers role’s by now and it’s super interesting to see who has been the primary target for each team in the Red Zone. One name that really pops is Cooper Kupp. Kupp is fourth in the NFL — and just one behind the three leaders at the top — in red zone targets with 11. We knew coming into the season about all the attention surrounding him and that he would be a very successful player out of the slot, but the rapport he’s built with Jared Goff is amazing. He’s scored three times in the RZ on this 11 targets, essentially locking him into a WR2 spot if you combine the TD opportunity along with the volume he receives throughout the game as he checks in tied for 37 in targets in the entire league.
A few guys at or near the top of this list that we could see fall of are Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Larry Fitzgerald. The latter two are tied for the league league in RZ targets, while Nelson is just three behind. I say the type of red zone volume they’ve thus far had will drop because their quarterbacks that relied on them heavily are now out for extended period’s of time and the backups? Well, let’s just say they’re not as good.
Drops
If you bet weekly that Amari Cooper would be the league leader in drops every week thus far you’d be rich. He continues to pace the NFL with nine drops in just seven games, despite his breakout performance in Week 7. Jimmy Graham paces our lists tight ends with four drops while Andre Ellington has a three from the running back position.
Between the three Raiders on our list, they have 13 combined drops. Derek Carr has caught some slack that he hasn’t looked the same, but 11 drops from your top three pass catchers could be a large reason why. The Patriots, who have one more player than the Raiders do on our list, two FEWER drops.