Week 6 was a somewhat weird week. The top three players in targets each had seven receptions, but they combined for 167 yards and zero touchdowns. Justin Jefferson had 166 yards and two touchdowns on 11 targets, and while Will Fuller , George Kittle and Julio Jones all made the most of their double-digit targets, more players did not, or had their day salvaged by a touchdown like Robert Woods .
As for the season-long target leaders, it is surprising to me how many of the names at the top of the list have bad quarterbacks. Amari Cooper , Allen Robinson , Terry McLaurin and CeeDee Lamb are all stuck with below-average quarterbacks, and it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Robinson, McLaurin and Lamb are the only receivers in the top 10 in targets with fewer than 100 fantasy points. That should serve as a stark reminder that while targets are very important, the quality of those targets is equally important.
John Brown was held without a catch for the second time in three games Monday, but I’m not ready to give up on him. I still think Josh Allen will be somewhere between the MVP candidate of the first four weeks and the slightly better version of 2019 we’ve seen the last two weeks. On top of that, we don’t know how much the knee injury that kept Brown out in Week 5 was affecting him in Week 6. If Brown and Allen do not bounce back against the Jets Sunday, I will consider dropping Brown at that point. Even then, I might wait until after the Bills face Seattle in Week 9.
Jamison Crowder had double-digit targets for the fourth straight game Sunday, but unlike those previous games, he was held to just 48 yards. If 11.8 ppr fantasy points represent his floor, you’ll probably take that, but this was a good reminder that volume isn’t everything.
Like Jamison Crowder , D.J. Chark got a ton of targets and caught half of them, but failed to do a whole lot for fantasy. Both players are hampered by poor quarterback play, but I think Chark is far more likely to bust big plays or find the end zone. Chark may have a lower week-to-week floor, but I would much rather have him the rest of the season.
Ezekiel Elliott is second in the league in targets among running backs, two behind Alvin Kamara . That buoys Elliott’s weekly floor, especially in a week when the offensive line was decimated and Elliott lost two fumbles. I think if Elliott’s owner is panicking after Monday night, you can make a strong trade offer confident in the knowledge Elliott should rack up receptions, even if he doesn’t gain a ton of receiving yards in the process.
So far Justin Jefferson has been rather boom-or-bust, but I don’t think there is anything about his game that dictates it will always be thus. Stefon Diggs was usually somewhat volatile week-to-week, so maybe that’s just a part of lining up opposite Adam Thielen in this offense. Minnesota’s bye is this week, so perhaps we will see more consistent play after the bye. It is admittedly difficult to trust Jefferson after he has scored fewer than 7.5 fantasy points in three of his six games this season, but I think we will be ranking Jefferson right around where we had Diggs last season before much longer.
My baseline assumption is that the Cowboys’ receivers will all be okay, though they will probably all be less consistent than they were before Dak’s injury. If Ezekiel Elliot holds onto the ball and the refs call the most blatant pass interference you’ll ever see, we might be talking about how the Cowboys kept the game close and Andy Dalton was fine.
The problem I have with actually trusting Dallas is that the upcoming schedule is scary. Washington and Philadelphia are strong enough up front that Dalton probably won’t have time to exploit the secondaries, and Pittsburgh might have the best defense in the league. After the bye, Dallas gets a reprieve at Minnesota before facing Washington again and Baltimore. Things can change between now and then, but it’s hard to feel good about that schedule.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is tied for seventh in running back targets, but I think anyone who says they know for sure how he and Le’Veon Bell will be used going forward is either delusional or lying. I think Edwards-Helaire is basically Devin Singletary in a better offense, and now that the Chiefs have a big back who is probably better than Darrel Williams , I suspect Edwards-Helaire will be used similarly to Singletary.
Andy Reid rotated his backs heavily at the start of last season and didn’t really lean on Damien Williams until the end of the regular season and especially in the playoffs. Unless it becomes clear that Bell can’t play anymore, or Edwards-Helaire is so undeniable that they just cannot keep him off the field, I am guessing we get a fairly even split in touches for Edwards-Helaire and Bell. If someone is willing to give up on Bell, I’ll take a chance on him, but I don’t think you can start him until we see him get at least one game with the Chiefs under his belt.
Zach Ertz is tied with Hunter Henry for second among tight ends in targets with 33, but he is 20th in receiving yards. Whenever Goedert returns, I think the expectation is that he’ll get at least as many targets as Ertz was, and likely do a lot more with them. That’s not guaranteed obviously, but I think Goedert should be 100 percent owned, even if you have to stash him on your bench for a couple of weeks.
At this point, it’s beginning to look like Chase Claypool is real, no matter how good Diontae Johnson is. I still like Johnson, and he might be someone you can trade for, but most of the doubts I had about Claypool were answered last week.
Speaking of players who erased our doubts, Julio Jones certainly looked like himself last week, catching eight of 10 targets for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He could easily get held to four targets in any given week because Matt Ryan is content to check down to receivers who will be coaching high school football in two years, but I doubt Detroit can slow Julio down in Week 7.