If Week 7’s target leaders featured some surprising names, Week 8 was largely a return to normalcy. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how many players had eight or more targets but caught fewer than 50 percent of those targets. Then again, when players like Jermaine Kearse and Willie Snead are getting double-digit targets, a large number of incompletions isn’t exactly shocking.
Player | Team | Games | Targets | Rec | Yards | TDs | Drops | Catch % | ADoT | Yards Per Reception | Yards Per Target |
Adam Thielen | MIN | 8 | 95 | 74 | 925 | 6 | 3 | 78 | 9.7 | 12.5 | 9.7 |
Odell Beckham Jr. | NYG | 8 | 87 | 61 | 785 | 2 | 1 | 70 | 11.4 | 12.9 | 9 |
Jarvis Landry | CLV | 8 | 85 | 49 | 528 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 10.2 | 10.8 | 6.2 |
Zach Ertz | PHI | 8 | 82 | 61 | 644 | 3 | 3 | 74 | 7.7 | 10.6 | 7.9 |
Antonio Brown | PIT | 7 | 79 | 46 | 552 | 8 | 1 | 58 | 11.5 | 12 | 7 |
Stefon Diggs | MIN | 8 | 78 | 58 | 587 | 4 | 0 | 74 | 10.2 | 10.1 | 7.5 |
Julio Jones | ATL | 7 | 77 | 53 | 812 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 14.9 | 15.3 | 10.5 |
DeAndre Hopkins | HST | 8 | 77 | 53 | 789 | 6 | 0 | 69 | 13.3 | 14.9 | 10.2 |
A.J. Green | CIN | 8 | 76 | 45 | 687 | 6 | 5 | 59 | 14.1 | 15.3 | 9 |
Davante Adams | GB | 7 | 72 | 52 | 690 | 6 | 4 | 72 | 10.8 | 13.3 | 9.6 |
James White | NE | 8 | 70 | 55 | 459 | 6 | 2 | 79 | 3 | 8.3 | 6.6 |
Michael Crabtree | BLT | 8 | 69 | 38 | 440 | 2 | 9 | 55 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 6.4 |
Saquon Barkley | NYG | 8 | 68 | 58 | 497 | 2 | 2 | 85 | -0.2 | 8.6 | 7.3 |
Mike Evans | TB | 7 | 67 | 46 | 770 | 4 | 3 | 69 | 16.1 | 16.7 | 11.5 |
JuJu Smith-Schuster | PIT | 7 | 66 | 46 | 594 | 2 | 2 | 70 | 9.8 | 12.9 | 9 |
Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | 8 | 64 | 50 | 658 | 3 | 1 | 78 | 9.6 | 13.2 | 10.3 |
Michael Thomas | NO | 7 | 64 | 58 | 669 | 4 | 3 | 91 | 7.6 | 11.5 | 10.5 |
Tyreek Hill | KC | 8 | 64 | 44 | 705 | 7 | 4 | 69 | 15.7 | 16 | 11 |
Robert Woods | LAR | 8 | 63 | 46 | 672 | 3 | 1 | 73 | 11.8 | 14.6 | 10.7 |
Travis Kelce | KC | 8 | 63 | 44 | 642 | 4 | 3 | 70 | 9.9 | 14.6 | 10.2 |
Golden Tate | DET | 7 | 62 | 44 | 517 | 3 | 6 | 71 | 6.2 | 11.8 | 8.3 |
Tyler Boyd | CIN | 8 | 61 | 49 | 620 | 5 | 1 | 80 | 9.2 | 12.7 | 10.2 |
Eric Ebron | IND | 8 | 60 | 36 | 394 | 7 | 1 | 60 | 10.5 | 10.9 | 6.6 |
Willie Snead IV | BLT | 8 | 57 | 38 | 390 | 1 | 4 | 67 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 6.8 |
Sterling Shepard | NYG | 8 | 57 | 40 | 542 | 2 | 3 | 70 | 10 | 13.6 | 9.5 |
Alvin Kamara | NO | 7 | 57 | 47 | 393 | 2 | 2 | 82 | 1.6 | 8.4 | 6.9 |
Demaryius Thomas | DEN | 8 | 56 | 36 | 402 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 7.2 |
John Brown | BLT | 8 | 56 | 31 | 586 | 4 | 3 | 55 | 20.4 | 18.9 | 10.5 |
Larry Fitzgerald | ARZ | 8 | 55 | 34 | 357 | 2 | 2 | 62 | 9.9 | 10.5 | 6.5 |
Nelson Agholor | PHI | 8 | 55 | 41 | 379 | 1 | 3 | 75 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 6.9 |
Corey Davis | TEN | 7 | 55 | 30 | 395 | 1 | 2 | 55 | 9.7 | 13.2 | 7.2 |
George Kittle | SF | 8 | 55 | 37 | 584 | 2 | 4 | 67 | 7.4 | 15.8 | 10.6 |
Donte Moncrief | JAX | 8 | 53 | 29 | 383 | 2 | 3 | 55 | 13.3 | 13.2 | 7.2 |
Keenan Allen | LAC | 7 | 51 | 41 | 506 | 1 | 1 | 80 | 8.8 | 12.3 | 9.9 |
Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 7 | 51 | 44 | 300 | 2 | 0 | 86 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 5.9 |
Brandin Cooks | LAR | 7 | 49 | 35 | 643 | 2 | 1 | 71 | 15.6 | 18.4 | 13.1 |
Devin Funchess | CAR | 7 | 49 | 32 | 401 | 3 | 3 | 65 | 12.8 | 12.5 | 8.2 |
T.J. Yeldon | JAX | 8 | 48 | 37 | 336 | 4 | 6 | 77 | 1.3 | 9.1 | 7 |
Jared Cook | OAK | 7 | 47 | 36 | 474 | 3 | 1 | 77 | 7.5 | 13.2 | 10.1 |
Sammy Watkins | KC | 8 | 47 | 34 | 453 | 3 | 2 | 72 | 8.9 | 13.3 | 9.6 |
David Njoku | CLV | 7 | 47 | 31 | 297 | 2 | 7 | 66 | 8.6 | 9.6 | 6.3 |
Chester Rogers | IND | 8 | 46 | 32 | 295 | 1 | 6 | 70 | 7.5 | 9.2 | 6.4 |
Keelan Cole | JAX | 8 | 46 | 29 | 375 | 1 | 6 | 63 | 9.7 | 12.9 | 8.2 |
Marvin Jones Jr. | DET | 7 | 45 | 26 | 387 | 5 | 2 | 58 | 17.1 | 14.9 | 8.6 |
Jimmy Graham | GB | 7 | 44 | 28 | 370 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 10.2 | 13.2 | 8.4 |
T.Y. Hilton | IND | 6 | 44 | 26 | 353 | 4 | 2 | 59 | 10.4 | 13.6 | 8 |
Dede Westbrook | JAX | 8 | 44 | 33 | 433 | 3 | 4 | 75 | 8.7 | 13.1 | 9.8 |
Rob Gronkowski | NE | 7 | 43 | 29 | 448 | 1 | 1 | 67 | 13.1 | 15.4 | 10.4 |
Alshon Jeffery | PHI | 5 | 43 | 29 | 338 | 4 | 1 | 67 | 10.4 | 11.7 | 7.9 |
Allen Robinson II | CHI | 6 | 43 | 25 | 285 | 2 | 1 | 58 | 12.6 | 11.4 | 6.6 |
Taylor Gabriel | CHI | 7 | 43 | 34 | 381 | 2 | 0 | 79 | 11.8 | 11.2 | 8.9 |
Jalen Richard | OAK | 7 | 43 | 39 | 303 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 0.8 | 7.8 | 7 |
Kenny Golladay | DET | 7 | 43 | 30 | 477 | 3 | 1 | 70 | 10.6 | 15.9 | 11.1 |
Christian Kirk | ARZ | 8 | 43 | 31 | 410 | 2 | 2 | 72 | 10.2 | 13.2 | 9.5 |
Antonio Callaway | CLV | 8 | 43 | 21 | 236 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 14.8 | 11.2 | 5.5 |
Breakdowns
- Mike Evans had the most targets of the week (13), but still finished tied for 17th in receptions (6). Evans is tied for sixth in targets over the last three weeks, all Jameis Winston starts, but he was tied for 11th in targets in the four weeks Ryan Fitzpatrick started. Evans had a 74 percent catch rate Weeks 1-4 compared to 61 percent since then, and there is little reason for concern moving forward.
- I think I’m with the growing number of fantasy analysts who think Tyler Boyd isn’t a particularly special receiver, though there is a decent chance I am just being stubborn. I suspect he would turn into a pumpkin if anything ever happened to A.J. Green or Andy Dalton , but it is nearly impossible to bench him in the meantime.
- I don’t know if the Browns’ head coaching change will help Cleveland’s passing game in general and Jarvis Landry in particular, but it probably can’t hurt. Landry caught eight of 12 targets for 39 yards Sunday. He isn’t being used like Golden Tate , which is a good thing, but he isn’t being used particularly effectively, either. His 58 percent catch rate is within shouting distance of Michael Crabtree , and the only players on our leaderboard to average fewer yards per target than Landry are Christian McCaffrey and Antonio Callaway . Here’s hoping Hue Jackson’s dismissal can jumpstart Cleveland’s passing attack.
- Larry Fitzgerald was back to his old tricks in Week 8, catching eight of 12 targets for 102 yards and a touchdown. Arizona managed just 18 points Sunday, their second-highest total of the season, but it was the first game all season they topped 300 yards on offense. After watching all of his targets, I think Fitzgerald’s success had more to do with San Francisco’s poor defense than anything else. Fitz made a couple of nice contested catches, but he cannot get any separation against man coverage. I’m not sure why the 49ers ever bothered playing zone, and while Fitz did find the soft spot in the zone a couple of times, I don’t trust that to continue. At this point, what’s the difference between Larry Fitzgerald and Jermaine Kearse ? Fitz has better hands, but that’s about it.
- Two members of the target leaderboard were traded this week, and those trades will almost certainly affect their targets going forward. Golden Tate was never the most exciting player for fantasy, but with the Lions, he had a guaranteed workload every week. His floor is almost certainly lower with the Eagles. Who knows how often Carson Wentz will look Tate’s way when he has Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz getting open down the field? At the same time, Tate’s ceiling is probably higher with the Eagles as well. Tate’s 6.2 average depth of target is the lowest of any receiver on our leaderboard. He is probably capable of going downfield more often, but he was never used that way in Detroit. He also wasn’t targeted much in the red zone, and he never scored more than six touchdowns in a season with the Lions. Tate could score that many touchdowns the rest of the season with Philadelphia, but I would need to see him used differently before I would believe it.
- Demaryius Thomas ’s situation is much less straightforward. The Texans obviously needed someone to take some defensive attention away from DeAndre Hopkins , and take advantage of one-on-one looks when safeties shade towards Hopkins. Thomas is capable of doing that, but I don’t think anyone knows if he can do it consistently. Thomas’s catch rate rose to 64 percent in recent weeks, and while some of that low number can be blamed on his quarterback, Thomas’s effort and hands come and go play to play. Unlike Golden Tate , I’m not sure Demaryius Thomas ’s downside is any greater than it was in Denver, and if Deshaun Watson plays the way he did Sunday, Thomas could have top-10 upside the rest of the way.
- Time has probably run out on your opportunity to buy low on Stefon Diggs after he caught 10 of 11 targets for 119 yards and a touchdown Sunday. He is back up to sixth in the NFL in targets this season, and it was nice to see him turn his targets into production after a couple of down weeks.
- D.J. Moore showed up on the fantasy radar in Week 8 with five catches for 90 yards, and while he is certainly worth owning, especially in deep leagues, I would want to see him get a few more targets before I would consider him startable in a non-bye week. Moore had a season-high six targets Sunday, and that isn’t enough to make him anything more than a dart throw. That being said, he had five targets in each of the two games before that, so at least he is consistent. Moore has probably earned more playing time and more targets, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will get them. I think it’s great that Moore has caught 75 percent of his targets this season, but I’m not convinced it is sustainable.
- Jack Doyle led the Colts in targets and receptions in his first game back from a hip injury. He is officially startable in all leagues, even though Eric Ebron may continue to cut into his work, especially in the red zone. Doyle actually tied with Dontrelle Inman in targets and receptions. Inman is no better or worse than Chester Rogers , Ryan Grant and Zach Pascal . If any one of those players was ever able to secure a role opposite T.Y. Hilton , they could be the next Tyler Boyd . Unfortunately, that seems extremely unlikely.
- DeVante Parker is almost as annoying for fantasy as Cole Beasley . Parker had six receptions on nine targets for 134 yards Thursday, and it would be pretty shocking if that production continued, especially once Kenny Stills returns. That being said, Parker’s size and speed have never been in question, so he would be interesting if he keeps getting targets.