Week 12 started with football and turkey on Thanksgiving and continued to give great games all the way through to Monday night. News of QB changes followed throughout this past week, which may have an effect on who gets targeted and how many times in the red zone. Overall however, many of the expected names made themselves known in Week 12 yet again.

Target Monsters

Bruce Ellington- Ellington, not DeAndre Hopkins, was the most used target on Monday night with three inside the 20 in the game. It’s the first such game for him this season. He’s had five of his eight targets on the year in November, coinciding with Tom Savage’s return under center. Ellington caught two of the passes and now draws a matchup against the Packers in Week 13 who have given up the fourth-most points per game to opposing wide receivers this season, including seven touchdowns in the last four games.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins- ASJ saw the ball thrown his way three times out of the seven chances Josh McCown had against Carolina. He didn’t catch any of them but it was nice to see him getting action once again. Prior to Sunday, he’d only had one target all month, which was a departure from his productive October. He does still lead the league in target-rate from inside the 10 at 41.2% of team targets coming his way. Unfortunately for him, the Jets face the Chiefs in Week 13 who are one of the best teams in shutting down opposing TEs and have only given up one score all year to the position.

Jared Cook- The weird and sloppy game in Denver proved that when there are no better options on the field, Cook gets looks. Michael Crabtree was ejected three minutes into the game and Amari Cooper wound up getting injured, leaving Cook as the biggest target on the field. His three targets are the first time this season his had that many in a single game, and in fact five of his nine targets on the season have come against the Broncos. Cook went a month between targets before getting one against the Pats in Week 11 but there is hope he could see looks in Week 13 against the Giants, the worst team against the position in the league.

Antonio Brown- What else is new? Brown was a target focus on Sunday night. The three targets he had against the Packers, catching all three and scoring on one, combine to give him seven targets in the last two games. Everyone knows that Brown is the focus of the passing game in Pittsburgh, and has been for a few years now, but his game is really stepping up as the playoffs draw nearer. Pittsburgh faces Cincinnati on Monday night, Brown had 4-65-1 in the last meeting in Week 7 but Cincy has only given up two scores to WRs in the five games since.

 

Most Efficient

Tyler Kroft- Kroft had his second game of the season in which he saw two targets come his way near the end zone, and first since the beginning of October. He did only catch one of them, but it was for a score. In fact Kroft has caught five of his season targets on the season and all of his catches have gone for a score placing him tied for fourth in the league with five red zone scores. He had 4-23-1 against Pittsburgh last time they played, and a similar output is likely as long as he is healthy.

Sammy Watkins- Like Kroft, this was also Watkins first two-target game in quite some time. He caught one of them for a score in addition to having three 20+-yard receptions. He hasn’t been the big red zone target that Cooper Kupp has been this season but of the six targets on the year, he’s caught four of them, all of touchdowns making him quite the efficient target for Jared Goff to look for.

Rob Gronkowski- The Red Sox fans used to say it’s just “Manny being Manny” in reference to their left fielder, well Pats fans just keep saying “Gronk being Gronk” with games like Sunday’s. He saw two targets fired his way in the red zone and caught both for two scores, marking the second two-touchdown game of the season for the big TE. He is sixth in the league in red zone targets on the season with 16 with just under half (seven) coming from inside the 10. When healthy he is clearly the best TE on the field, and arguably the best receiver.

Jamison Crowder- Crowder has been an emerging talent for the Skins this season and another solid week in the red zone shows that more. Before Thursday night’s debacle against the Cowboys, he had two targets, two catches, and a score against the Giants on Thanksgiving night. The two targets kept Crowder in the team lead, one ahead of Josh Doctson. Kirk Cousins has been consistent in the back half of the season and he keeps looking Crowder’s way.

 

Ones to watch

Devin Funchess- Funchess had another two targets on Sunday against the Jets, though none came to fruition with a catch. He is the leading wide receiver in red zone targets on the team, trailing only Christian McCaffrey for the team lead. He has been Cam Newton’s favorite target since the departure of Kelvin Benjamin, regardless of field position, and the return of Greg Olsen may take some coverage off of Funchess inside the 20.

Marvin Jones- Jones caught fire in October with seven targets going his way, since then however he had just four in November, including the two on Thanksgiving, including one for a score. Jones leads the Lions in targets inside the 20 with 12 but he has caught just four of those chances, three of which have been for touchdowns. His target load makes him at least a WR3 option each week.

Austin Ekeler- The Chargers have been missing the Danny Woodhead type back for a few years now, and may have found him in Ekeler. Melvin Gordon is still the main option but Ekeler did see his first two-target game inside the 20 this past week and has caught all four of his looks in the area on the season. He is still no better than a flex-option in a PPR format, but seeing more passes near the end zone certainly doesn’t hurt.

Alvin Kamara- I know, it’s a little odd for Kamara to be in the ones to watch section given how well known he is at this point, however he had another catch on Sunday, and one that went for a score for his 13th look of the season. That puts him in the category of Adam Thielen, Zach Ertz, Mike Evans, and Jarvis Landry, and ahead of Kyle Rudolph, Christian McCaffrey, and Le’Veon Bell. He has caught 10 of those targets, which ties him for fourth in the league and tied for fifth with a 76.92% catch rate (among double-digit target players). His bona fides are well established already, despite being his rookie season, and he should be being looked at for keeper list in PPR formats.