Now that Week 1 is in the books and we saw some pretty impressive offensive displays, it’s time to see who’s getting those all important Red Zone targets and attempts. As was detailed in a few pieces in the draft guide, these chances are important for fantasy football as it’s a touchdown dependent sport for the most part to win and so getting shots inside the 20 is where most of the touchdowns come from during the course of games.
Passing Attempts
Josh Allen QB BUF - It was a career day for Allen with 312 passing yards but it was also a great day for him managing the red zone offense. He had 14 passing attempts inside the 20 with six alone inside the 10 and he completed at least half of them for two passing touchdowns. That also didn’t include his rushing two rushing attempts and a rushing touchdown. We’ve seen him run the ball into the endzone plenty of time before but the improved passing game was quite notable as that’s been a problem for him in the past.
Mitchell Trubisky QB CHI - Trubisky may have not had a great first three quarters, but he sure made up for it in the fourth quarter in the comeback victory. He posted 11 attempts inside the Lions’ 20-yard line and converted two of those for passing touchdowns. His favorite target was Jimmy Graham with three of the balls coming his way including one for a score. The Bears get the Giants in Week 2 who allowed the Steelers to convert TDs on 3-of-4 Red Zone trips last Monday.
Aaron Rodgers QB GB - Shocker, Rodgers had a good Red Zone day on Sunday. But this one is notable considering how much negativity was surrounding his wide receiver corps this offseason. Rodgers put up 10 pass attempts in the red zone with a couple of those going for a touchdown. He also split the targets around quite well as no one had more than two individual targets. If he continues to move the ball around like this on a regular basis it will help his receivers perform better as there is no one guy to center a defensive scheme around.
Cam Newton QB NE - Newton made his debut with the Patriots on Sunday and while the passing offense looked roughly the same as we’ve seen the last few seasons with Tom Brady under center, the major difference came in the new wrinkle that Newton adds to the scheme. He runs far better than Brady and the Patriots used that to their advantage as Newton had five rushing attempts near the goal line and punched two in for scores. His ability to run the ball in the short field helps free up the wide receivers as the season goes on but it also adds big value to him in fantasy football.
Rushing Attempts
Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB KC - It was a great debut for the highly-anticipated rookie and that includes the workload he got inside the 20. There was some question as to exactly what his short yardage role would be as he’s not the biggest of backs but he quickly put those questions to bed as he toted the rock nine times inside the Texans’ 20-yard line with six coming inside the five. He didn’t convert those chances into a score, though he had a longer rushing TD on the night, but it’s the volume that matters here as the scores will come with that kind of volume.
Zach Moss RB BUF - A lot of talk in the preseason was about just what kind of role Moss would have with the Bills’ offense and in Week 1 we got some of those answers. While Singletary handily out-snapped Moss 51 to 39, Moss was used far more in the red zone than his second-year colleague. Moss had eight carries to Singletary’s one and Moss also had a catch that resulted in a touchdown giving him two total on the day. It appears that Singletary might be the between the 20s option and Moss will be used for the shorter yardage as the eight red zone carries was the third-most of any running back in Week 1 in the NFL.
Peyton Barber RB WAS - Not only did the Washington Football Team pull off one of the bigger surprise wins of Week 1, it was how they did it that was also surprising as they posted 27 unanswered points on Philadelphia and a big part of that was what Barger did in the red zone. His 10 red zone carries were the most of any running back across the league this week and he also punched it in the endzone twice on those carries. The other two running backs for Washington on Sunday, J.D. McKissic and everyone’s draft darling Antonio Gibson, had just two combined touches. It may have been game flow rather than indicative of anything else but Barber does weigh about the same as Gibson but is 3-4 inches shorter giving him the lower center of gravity you like to see from shorter yardage backs. If Barber continues to vulture the RB work, he’s a valuable fantasy asset.
Josh Jacobs RB LV - Volume has never really been an issue for Jacobs even going back to his rookie year and he picked up where he left off in Week 1. Jacobs carried it six times inside the 20 against the Panthers and put in the endzone three times in the 34-30 win for Vegas. Week 2’s opponent in the Saints is a far tougher test as they haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in quite some time but they did allow a near 60-percent red zone touchdown rate last year and 12 rushing touchdowns so Jacobs could yet again find his way into the endzone.
Receiving Targets
Mark Andrews TE BAL - The Ravens dismantled the Browns’ defense in Week 1 by putting up 38 points and 14 of those came from Andrews. Lamar Jackson had eight passing attempts in the red zone and four of those went to the big tight end with him catching three of those and two for scores including a spectacular one from five yards out. MAndrews as we’ve been calling him here at FA is a beast and he’s consistently been Jackson’s favorite target all over the field and this year should be no different especially with the departure of Hayden Hurst .
Calvin Ridley WR ATL - The Falcons put up over 400 yards of passing offense while trying to comeback against the Seahawks and that showed up in the nine red zone passing attempts from Matt Ryan and three of those went the way of Calvin Ridley which were turned into three catches and two touchdowns. It doesn’t matter that they mostly came in garbage time as they count the same for fantasy football purposes and if the Falcons defense doesn’t improve there is bound to be a lot more garbage time yardage coming the Falcons’ receivers way.
Emmanuel Sanders WR NO - Sanders was mostly silent during the Week 1 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday with three catches for 15 yards and a score. That score came in the red zone though as did four targets his way, even when Michael Thomas was still on the field. He saw the most work inside the 20 of any Saint and we can expect that to continue for the next few weeks as Thomas is now nursing what is thought to be a high-ankle sprain. The Saints got Sanders to be the quality second receiver they haven’t had in a while and now he has a chance to be the top threat in a high-octane offense.
Nyheim Hines RB IND - Hines wasn’t supposed to be a factor in the Colts’ backfield this season with Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor ahead of him on the depth chart but an season-ending injury for Mack has bumped Hines up and that was immediately clear in Week 1. Phillip Rivers had seven passing attempts in the red zone and Hines saw two of them, catching both and one for a score along with the four red zone rushes he had as well. Rivers has long been known to like pass-catching backs and has dumped the ball off to them quite a bit in his career and Hines figures to be no different as the alternate to Jonathan Taylor. The two targets by the way was the most for any Colts’ target on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Red Zone Defense
New York Jets - There wasn’t much to write home about in the loss the Jets had in Buffalo in Week 1 but one thing that was a solid showing was the red zone defense. With two Bills’ players in the report this week it’s a bit odd to see the Jets defense being mentioned here but overall it was an effective performance. Buffalo had eight trips to the Jets’ 20-yard line in the win and the Jets only allowed them to score on three of them. That 37.5-percent conversion rate was the fourth-best (lowest is best) in the league in Week 1 while the eight allowed trips was the second-most allowed. They clamped down when it mattered most in a bend but don’t break mentality of sorts.
Arizona Cardinals - Of any team that allowed multiple trips to the red zone by their opponent in Week 1, the Cardinals allowed the fewest scores with just one of the four 49ers trips turning into a touchdown. If the Cardinals defense is improved from last year, they could be a sneaky good team as the season goes on and in Week 2 they draw the Washington Football Team who doesn’t have the offensive weapons the the Niners did in Week 1.
Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steelers had a great defense in the second half of last season once Minkah Fitzpatrick got fully into the fold and they picked up where they left off in Week 1. While the Giants did have some big plays, namely from Darius Slay ton, they only allowed one of the three New York trips to the red zone to be converted into a score. The only thing that was missing for the Steelers last year was a competent offense and now with this defense in full force, they shouldn’t have much trouble stopping teams as the season continues.