Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 14! We have one more week full of byes before most leagues enter the fantasy playoffs. With playoff births potentially on the line, let’s examine the target trends heading into one of the most important weeks of the season. As usual, I’ll begin this article by looking at the overall target leaders so far this season.
Target Trends
CeeDee Lamb remains atop the target leaderboard, now up to 124 on the season. Garrett Wilson checks in next with 118, followed closely by Malik Nabers at 116. Nabers carries the highest average in the league at 11.6 targets/game.
The player with the fourth most targets in the NFL is Brock Bowers with 113. That easily leads all tight ends, with Travis Kelce in second at 101. They are the only two tight ends to surpass 100 targets. Trey McBride is currently third at the position with 92.
Alvin Kamara is still running away with the target lead out of the backfield. His 79 targets are 15 more than De’Von Achane, who checks in at second. Breece Hall sits in third, just two behind Achane with 62. No other running back has topped 60.
I’ll continue to lead off this article with season-long target leaders each week, but for now, let’s check out the weekly target trends heading into Week 14.
Cleveland Browns Pass Catchers
Jameis Winston went bonkers Monday night with 58 pass attempts and 44 condensed on three of Cleveland’s pass-catchers. David Njoku led the way with a career-high 17 targets, which is also the most by any tight end this season. Elijah Moore came in next with 14 targets, also a career-high. Jerry Jeudy was right behind with 13. He is now averaging 9.8 targets/game when Winston starts. Jeudy has been the most reliable, but all three Browns catchers are viable fantasy options.
DJ Moore – 16 targets, 8 rec
It’s hard to believe with a wideout as established as Moore, but his 16 targets on Thanksgiving Day set a new career-high for the veteran, surpassing his previous record from Week 10 of 2019. The bad news? He only caught half of the targets that went his way. The good news? He turned them into the WR8 performance of the week. He has seen 10.0 targets/game and a 26% team target share since Thomas Brown took over play-calling for the Bears.
Drake London – 16 targets, 9 rec
London is yet another player to set a new career high in targets this week. He caught one more than Moore but produced fewer yards and did not find the end zone. London has averaged 11.7 targets over the last three games following his two-target dud in Week 9.
Brock Bowers – 14 targets, 10 rec
Bowers now has double-digit targets in three consecutive games, averaging 13.3 targets/game since coming off their Week 10 bye. He’s on pace for 160 targets on the season. That would not only demolish the rookie tight end target record, it would top the all-time tight end target record of 156 set by Zach Ertz in 2018.
Travis Kelce – 13 targets, 7 rec
Kelce started slow again this season but has seen double-digit targets in five of 12 games, including four of the last six. His 101 targets lead the Chiefs and are 40 more than the next closest on the team, Xavier Worthy with 61. Kelce is on pace for 143 targets, which would be the fourth-highest total of his 12-year career.
Malik Nabers – 13 targets, 8 rec
No matter who is starting at quarterback, the Giants continue to pepper Nabers with targets. The 13 that he has from Drew Lock are the most he’s had since Week 8, though he continues to lead the NFL with 11.6 targets/game and a ridiculous 36.3% target share. He’s on pace for 174 targets in just 15 games, which would be enough to break the all-time rookie target record of 167.
Ladd McConkey – 12 targets, 9 rec
McConkey racked up double-digit targets for the first time in his career, including nine in the first half of the game. He has seen six or more targets in 10 of 12 games this season and his total of 81 is nearly as many as teammates Quentin Johnston (46) and Josh Palmer (41) combined. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury later in the game and is considered questionable for Week 14.
Mike Evans – 12 targets, 8 rec
Future Hall of Famer Mike Evans isn’t slowing down in his 11th season. He turned 12 targets into what was the WR1 performance of Week 13 before Jerry Jeudy went bananas on Monday night. It was the 28th time in his career that Evans has been targeted at least 12 times. It also translated to a 35% team target share, his highest of the season.
Miami Dolphins Pass Catchers
Jonnu Smith once again led the Dolphins in targets, tying his career high of 11 in consecutive weeks. De’Von Achane and Tyreek Hill were next, seeing nine targets apiece, while Jaylen Waddle had just four targets go his way. Over the last three weeks, Jonnu leads Miami with 30 targets, Hill is next with 23, Achane is third with 17, and Waddle is fourth with 16.
Cincinnati Bengals Pass Catchers
Tee Higgins once again led the way with 10 targets for the Bengals, while Ja’Marr Chase was right behind with nine. Higgins has seen 23 targets over the last two weeks since returning from injury and has a team-leading 28.7% target share when he’s played this season. Chase isn’t far behind at 25.5% and currently sits as the WR1 in total fantasy points at the position.
Jacksonville Jaguars Pass Catchers
It was a busy day for the Jacksonville pass-catchers as Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones combined for 42 pass attempts. Parker Washington, who had just 21 targets last season and 18 through the first 11 games, led the team with 12 targets. Rookie Brian Thomas was second with 10 targets, which sets a new season-high for the rookie. Evan Engram checked in with nine targets, his highest total since Week 9. Targets will likely continue to condense around these three pass-catchers, though it’s less than ideal if they are coming from Mac Jones.
Arizona Cardinals Pass Catchers
Jonathan Gannon said they would get the rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. going this week and the result was 12 targets, a new season high. Trey McBride also saw 12 targets, fresh off his career-high 15-target outing in Week 12. The tight end has a 35% target share over the last two weeks and a 28.2% target share on the season. That season-long rate is the highest among tight ends and the seventh highest in the entire league.
Kyle Pitts – 2 targets, 0 rec
Pitts has now seen three or fewer targets in three of the last four weeks. His 13.9% target share ranks 22nd among all tight ends and he has just one more target than Will Dissly on the season. He is averaging just 4.5 targets/game, the lowest of his career. He has become unplayable in fantasy football.
from Fantasy Footballers Podcast https://ift.tt/ad2E6R8
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