We're heading for the home stretch of the season as now more than half of the 2017-’18 campaign has been completed. From now until the end of the season, this list is going to change drastically, which is nothing new if we’re being honest. So without further ado, let’s dive in to some numbers!
| Player Name | Team | Pass Att | Rec | Targets | Yds | TD | RZ Target | RZ Target % | Drops | Tgt % |
| Antonio Brown | PITT | 276 | 57 | 94 | 835 | 3 | 10 | 50% | 0 | 34.05% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | 261 | 51 | 93 | 692 | 8 | 11 | 63.64% | 2 | 35.61% |
| Jarvis Landry | MIA | 290 | 56 | 87 | 430 | 4 | 7 | 85.71% | 5 | 30% |
| Amari Cooper | OAK | 313 | 38 | 77 | 462 | 3 | 6 | 16.67% | 10 | 24.60% |
| Dez Bryant | DAL | 261 | 38 | 76 | 439 | 4 | 14 | 42.86% | 6 | 29.11% |
| Adam Thielen | MIN | 277 | 48 | 75 | 627 | 1 | 7 | 14.29% | 1 | 27.07% |
| Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | 311 | 50 | 74 | 564 | 3 | 12 | 58.33% | 2 | 23.79% |
| Doug Baldwin | SEA | 304 | 49 | 74 | 538 | 3 | 5 | 60% | 0 | 24.34% |
| Alshon Jeffery | PHI | 292 | 34 | 73 | 500 | 5 | 6 | 66.67% | 3 | 25% |
| Mike Evans | TB | 307 | 40 | 73 | 532 | 4 | 9 | 33.33% | 3 | 23.77% |
| Michael Thomas | NO | 275 | 50 | 73 | 545 | 2 | 6 | 50% | 2 | 26.54% |
| Keenan Allen | LAC | 286 | 40 | 72 | 548 | 1 | 9 | 11.11% | 7 | 25.17% |
| Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 294 | 54 | 72 | 406 | 2 | 10 | 80% | 1 | 24.48% |
| Demaryius Thomas | DEN | 289 | 43 | 71 | 525 | 1 | 7 | 57.14% | 3 | 25% |
| Travis Kelce | KC | 294 | 51 | 69 | 629 | 5 | 10 | 60% | 2 | 23.46% |
| Julio Jones | ATL | 270 | 43 | 68 | 658 | 1 | 7 | 28.57% | 2 | 25.18% |
| Pierre Garcon | SF | 366 | 40 | 67 | 500 | 0 | 5 | 60% | 0 | 18.30% |
| A.J. Green | CIN | 236 | 39 | 67 | 578 | 4 | 7 | 57.14% | 1 | 28.38% |
| Golden Tate | DET | 303 | 50 | 65 | 562 | 2 | 5 | 100% | 2 | 21.45% |
| Devin Funchess | CAR | 294 | 38 | 65 | 443 | 3 | 6 | 50% | 1 | 22.10% |
| T.Y. Hilton | IND | 288 | 34 | 64 | 702 | 3 | 7 | 28.57% | 3 | 22.22% |
| Zach Ertz | PHI | 292 | 43 | 64 | 528 | 6 | 10 | 80% | 2 | 21.91% |
| Marvin Jones Jr. | DET | 303 | 33 | 63 | 515 | 5 | 9 | 22.22% | 3 | 20.79% |
| Jack Doyle | IND | 288 | 50 | 63 | 441 | 2 | 4 | 75% | 3 | 21.87% |
| Davante Adams | GB | 290 | 37 | 63 | 404 | 5 | 13 | 69.23% | 3 | 21.72% |
| Evan Engram | NYG | 298 | 34 | 63 | 412 | 4 | 5 | 100% | 6 | 21.14% |
| Tyreek Hill | KC | 294 | 40 | 59 | 617 | 4 | 2 | 50% | 2 | 20.06% |
| Rob Gronkowski | NE | 309 | 34 | 58 | 509 | 5 | 10 | 40% | 4 | 18.77% |
| Marqise Lee | JAX | 237 | 32 | 58 | 438 | 1 | 6 | 50% | 6 | 24.47% |
| Robby Anderson | NYJ | 275 | 31 | 57 | 483 | 4 | 4 | 25% | 3 | 20.72% |
| DeSean Jackson | TB | 307 | 27 | 56 | 422 | 2 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 18.24% |
| Carlos Hyde | SF | 366 | 40 | 56 | 268 | 0 | 5 | 80% | 6 | 15.03% |
| Jared Cook | OAK | 313 | 39 | 55 | 499 | 1 | 4 | 25% | 3 | 17.57% |
| Michael Crabtree | OAK | 313 | 36 | 55 | 451 | 6 | 6 | 50% | 3 | 17.57% |
| Jimmy Graham | SEA | 304 | 33 | 55 | 328 | 4 | 12 | 50% | 4 | 18.09% |
| Rishard Matthews | TEN | 246 | 31 | 55 | 463 | 2 | 6 | 50% | 2 | 22.35% |
| Delanie Walker | TEN | 246 | 37 | 54 | 395 | 0 | 3 | 0% | 0 | 21.95% |
| Chris Hogan | NE | 309 | 33 | 54 | 438 | 5 | 11 | 54.55% | 3 | 17.47% |
| Marquise Goodwin | SF | 366 | 22 | 54 | 417 | 0 | 10 | 30% | 4 | 14.75% |
| Brandin Cooks | NE | 309 | 33 | 54 | 563 | 3 | 3 | 66.67% | 5 | 17.47% |
| James White | NE | 309 | 43 | 53 | 365 | 1 | 8 | 62.50% | 1 | 17.15% |
| Kelvin Benjamin | BUF/CAR | 294 | 32 | 51 | 475 | 2 | 6 | 16.67% | 2 | 17.34% |
| Javorius Allen | BAL | 308 | 39 | 50 | 189 | 2 | 5 | 80% | 0 | 16.23% |
| Benjamin Watson | BAL | 308 | 38 | 49 | 261 | 2 | 8 | 75% | 0 | 15.90% |
| Jordy Nelson | GB | 290 | 30 | 49 | 338 | 6 | 9 | 77.78% | 1 | 16.89% |
| Robert Woods | LAR | 246 | 31 | 49 | 451 | 2 | 4 | 50% | 0 | 19.91% |
| Jason Witten | DAL | 261 | 35 | 48 | 319 | 3 | 9 | 55.56% | 1 | 18.39% |
| Jermaine Kearse | NYJ | 275 | 31 | 48 | 380 | 4 | 3 | 33.33% | 1 | 17.45% |
| Cameron Brate | TB | 307 | 32 | 48 | 414 | 4 | 9 | 44.44% | 3 | 15.63% |
| Duke Johnson Jr. | CLE | 307 | 36 | 48 | 324 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 15.63% |
| Cooper Kupp | LAR | 246 | 26 | 48 | 370 | 3 | 13 | 53.85% | 4 | 19.51% |
| Alvin Kamara | NO | 275 | 37 | 48 | 341 | 2 | 6 | 83.33% | 3 | 17.45% |
Target Leaders
After a huge Week 9, DeAndre Hopkins has closed Antonio Brown’s league lead in receptions to just one. Hopkins was the leader in receptions in Week 9, which is interesting to note as it was Tom Savage’s first week back under center. What’s interesting is it doesn’t seem as if Hopkins productivity is going to take much, if any, of a hit. He could be a buy low candidate from team’s that think Tom Savage will impact Hopkins at all and he could be someone you get discounted from where’d you’d get him if Deshaun Watson was still healthy.
Amari Cooper continues his climb up the rankings as he’s now fourth in the NFL in targets. After Week 6, Cooper was sitting at just 39 targets and ranked 38th. The key has been his reliability, dropping just one pass over the recent three-game stretch even with all this volume coming his way. If this trend continues, we could see Cooper compete with Brown, Hopkins and Landry for the top spot in the NFL.
Christian McCaffrey’s excellence in the passing game has been on display all season long and is the main reason as to why he’s pacing all running backs in targets this year. He has 16 more targets than the next closest running back and that’s Carlos Hyde. McCaffrey’s role in the Panthers’ offense is only going to expand too. The trade of Kelvin Benjamin opens up targets each game so look for McCaffrey and teammate Devin Funchess, who now sits 20th in targets in the league, to pick up more volume for the remainder of the season.
Thanks to a Zach Ertz injury, Travis Kelce has seized control of the targets lead from the tight end position. Ertz is still right behind him, but Kelce has jumped him. Kelly’s been really rollin’ of late, posting back-to-back double-digit target outings and 25 total over the last three games. He’s also scored in each one of those contests so he’s as good as they come at TE right now. The race for most targets at TE will likely come down to the wire between Kelce, Ertz and Jack Doyle, who’s also been a freakin’ monster lately. The rapport he has built with Jacoby Brissett is awesome for fantasy owners. He has seven targets or more in five straight games and has gone for nine plus in three-of-four.
Target Percentage
Dez Bryant is making a bid, but there are still just three players in football with a target percentage of 30-percent or greater in Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and Jarvis Landry. Bryant’s bid could sway either way and it seemingly depends on if Ezekiel Elliot ever sits out and serves his suspension.
Only eight out of the 52 names even have a 25-percent mark. But the amount of volume quarterbacks are pumping out and spreading the wealth around is almost mind boggling. 25-percent at this rate is elite, so the 30-percent guys are the players you want to own in any which way you can.
Red Zone Targets
This kind of seems like a Dez Bryant fan account is writing this article, but he just keeps popping in our chart amongst the league leaders in multiple categories. Bryant leads the league in red zone targets with 14 and is catching them at a fairly decent 42-percent clip. Like we mentioned already and it’s pretty mentioned at nauseam, Bryant’s production will only go up with ‘Zeke suspended, so Bryant owners could be the biggest winners if he is eventually suspended.
One name that’s crept near the top of the league lead is Marquise Goodwin. The 26-year old has been known for his elite speed and ability to run vertical routs down field, hence the 16.9 yards per reception for his career. That hasn’t changed, but one thing that has is the volume he’s seeing in the red zone. He has 10 red zone targets, just four behind Dez Bryant for the league lead. He hasn’t capitalized on the opportunities as he hasn’t scored yet, but he’s averaging over one RZ target per game, something only 13 players in the NFL can say. Since we’re seeing that this isn’t a fluke, Goodwin is a really good WR3 for the remainder of the season.
Dez Bryant may lead the league in red zone targets, but Davante Adams leads the association in red zone receptions, and he has just one since Aaron Rodgers went down, which says a lot about how the remainder of his season will go. It sucks that Adams season is basically dictated by the Rodgers injury because he’s become a really good player, but Brett Hundley is having a really difficult time getting him the ball. He could plummet down this list by seasons end. I say he could, but I mean he more than likely will.
Drops
C’mon Amari Cooper. You’ve had a good couple of weeks. We know you can get out of this top spot! We just know it! He’s held this spot down for quite a while now even though he’s improved so much since the beginning of the year of just simply holding onto the ball. The amount of volume he has been getting recently will likely result in him holding down this top spot.
Maybe the most surprising name on our spreadsheet is Carlos Hyde. Hyde has six drops, and although he’s a running back and that’s not his primary job, he could and has lost snaps to Matt Breida because of it. I know this is a targets list, but this impacts all Hyde fantasy owners for the rest of the season. He simply needs to hang onto the ball.