Target Report: Brown, Nelson keep on racking up catches for owners

The very existence of columns like this one rests on the foundation that targets are a receiver’s lifeblood. With about half of the fantasy football season in

The very existence of columns like this one rests on the foundation that targets are a receiver’s lifeblood. With about half of the fantasy football season in the books, we have enough data to take a look at just how important targets are to every single pass-catcher in the league.

Right now, the top-10 receivers in standard-scoring leagues are, in order: Antonio Brown, Jordy Nelson, Steve Smith, Julio Jones, Randall Cobb, Demaryius Thomas, Jeremy Maclin, Dez Bryant, T.Y. Hilton and DeSean Jackson. All of those guys, other than Cobb and Jackson, are among the receivers with the top-10 most targets.

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The top-10 tight ends in standard-scoring leagues are as follows: Julius Thomas, Greg Olsen, Antonio Gates, Martellus Bennett, Delanie Walker, Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Dwayne Allen, Larry Donnell and Travis Kelce. All but Thomas, Allen and Kelce are among the tight ends with the top-10 most targets, as well, and Thomas is on a historic touchdown pace.

Now, of course, there is a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation here. Do these players get so many targets because they’re great players, or are they great players because they get so many targets? Realistically, it’s probably a little of both, though for some of the elite players -- especially the receivers -- they drive their targets more than their targets fuel their numbers. We don’t need to know the answer, though, to know that fantasy owners should follow the targets to glory.

And with that, let’s get to the Week 6 Target Report. As always, target numbers include plays negated by penalty.

Arizona Cardinals

Larry Fitzgerald – 40 targets, 8 red-zone targets, 89 percent of snaps played this season, 94 percent of snaps played last week
Michael Floyd – 37, 3, 87, 84
John Brown – 31, 4, 54, 49
Andre Ellington – 20, 3, 69, 74
John Carlson – 17, 2, 88, 84

The Nerve That Wouldn’t Fire finally changed its ways last week, and saved the fantasy value of both Floyd and Fitzgerald in the process. With Palmer back on the field for the first time since Week 1, Floyd and Fitzgerald each got into the end zone last week, something neither of them had done up to that point of the season. Palmer’s shoulder has responded well this week, and it appears he is over the bizarre nerve issue that cost him, and, essentially, Floyd and Fitzgerald three games. Assuming Palmer can stay healthy the rest of the season, both receivers are back to being WR2s, though Floyd has the higher ceiling.

Atlanta Falcons

Julio Jones – 70, 4, 91, 91
Roddy White – 37, 3, 96, 96
Devin Hester – 24, 0, 43, 52
Levine Toilolo – 20, 2, 88, 98
Devonta Freeman – 18, 3, 18, 18
Harry Douglas – 17, 1, 72, N/A
Steven Jackson – 15, 1, 38, 36
Jacquizz Rodgers – 14, 2, 31, 30
Antone Smith – 12, 1, 14, 20

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That number in the red-zone targets column for Jones is criminal. How can it be possible that one of the league’s best receivers has only had four opportunities to make a play inside the 20-yard-line in six games? Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and, to a certain extent, Matt Ryan should be ashamed of themselves. Also, fullback Patrick DiMarco has somehow played more snaps than Smith. It wasn’t just a function of Smith emerging in the last few weeks, either. DiMarco out-snapped Smith against the Bears last week.

Baltimore Ravens

Steve Smith – 57, 11, 71, 69
Torrey Smith – 38, 4, 76, 66
Justin Forsett – 28, 2, 57, 51
Owen Daniels – 26, 7, 71, 61
Lorenzo Taliaferro – 3, 0, 19, 15
Bernard Pierce – 3, 0, 27, 34

Daniels already has seven red-zone targets despite not being a serious part of the passing game until Week 4. He may have caught just two passes for 34 yards last week, but he did have one target in the end zone. He’s going to score a lot of touchdowns in Baltimore’s final 10 games of the season. Torrey Smith showed signs of life last week, catching four passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns. He still had fewer targets than Steve Smith, and didn’t catch a pass for longer than 18 yards. His ceiling remains that of a WR3, and he projects as no better than a WR4 for the rest of the season.

Buffalo Bills

Sammy Watkins – 48, 5, 96, 99
Robert Woods – 45, 3, 91, 90
Fred Jackson – 38, 4, 60, 75
Scott Chandler – 28, 4, 71, 77
C.J. Spiller – 17, 2, 37, 17
Mike Williams – 16, 5, 51, 0

Look, Watkins was always going to be a boom-or-bust player this year. He's a wildly talented rookie with a shaky quarterback situation, and there’s no way for that setup to result in anything but an uneven season. However, you have to like his usage rate -- he has played at least 85 percent of Buffalo’s snaps in every game this year, and at least 99 percent in all but two games, which came in the first two weeks of the season. Chandler has 15 targets in the two games Orton started, and is slowly creeping toward fantasy relevance. He’s still a bit off the overall radar because of the depth of the tight end pool, but specific roster situations (such as losing Jimmy Graham for a few weeks) could crate an opening for the veteran.

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Carolina Panthers

Kelvin Benjamin – 59, 7, 87, 79
Greg Olsen – 54, 10, 96, 100
Jerricho Cotchery – 30, 1, 78, 79
Jason Avant – 29, 3, 56, 69
Darrin Reaves – 8, 1, 53, 64
Jonathan Stewart – 7, 0, 48, N/A
Fozzy Whitaker – 2, 0, 32, 32
DeAngelo Williams – 2, 0, 34, N/A

Benjamin bounced back from his worst game as a pro to catch seven of his eight targets for 49 yards and a touchdown last week. Despite being a rookie, he has already proved that he's one of the most dangerous deep threats in the league. He’s fourth with 14 targets that have traveled at least 20 yards in the air. Benjamin has caught five of those for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

Chicago Bears

Matt Forte – 57, 9, 91, 90
Alshon Jeffery – 53, 7, 83, 93
Martellus Bennett – 53, 14, 88, 88
Brandon Marshall – 48, 12, 91, 93
Santonio Holmes – 12, 1, 41, 12

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We all knew that Marshall would be fourth on the Bears in targets through six games, right? Of course we did. In all seriousness, that stat speaks to the depth of this passing attack. And yet, despite that depth, Forte, Jeffery, Marshall and Bennett are all sure-fire fantasy No. 1s at their positions. This team throws a ton, and the offensive line does a great job of protecting Jay Cutler. It should come as no surprise that both Jeffery and Marshall went north of 100 yards in their first game this season with both at or near 100 percent for the entire 60 minutes.

Cincinnati Bengals

Mohamed Sanu – 47, 5, 94, 99
A.J. Green – 28, 4, 64, N/A
Giovani Bernard – 26, 1, 72, 68
Jermaine Gresham – 20, 3, 93, 99
Brandon Tate – 16, 1, 63, 78
Jeremy Hill – 10, 0, 28, 33

With Marvin Jones on IR and Green still dealing with a toe injury, Sanu is going to be a WR2 for the foreseeable future. He caught 10 of his 12 targets last week for 120 yards and a touchdown, doing an impressive tight-rope walking routine along the left sideline to stay in bounds and find the end zone. Sanu is a tough cover at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, but he has also proven to be a weapon down the field, when he holds onto the ball. He has two catches and two drops on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, and both catches turned into six points. Green could miss the Bengals’ showdown with the Colts in Week 7.

Cleveland Browns

Andrew Hawkins – 44, 3, 69, 54
Miles Austin – 30, 5, 61, 41
Taylor Gabriel – 25, 5, 55, 47
Jordan Cameron – 22, 3, 76, 93
Travis Benjamin – 13, 3, 34, 41
Terrance West – 4, 1, 45, 0
Isaiah Crowell – 2, 0, 30, 29
Ben Tate – 2, 0, 54, 71

While Tate is still the clear No. 1 running back in Cleveland, Crowell is a true nuisance. Cameron finally looked like himself two weeks ago, suggesting that a breakout game for this season is nigh. It came as little surprise to see him score on a 51-yard hookup with Brian Hoyer and finish with 102 yards on the day. He’s back to being a rock-solid TE1. Hoyer attempted just 17 passes in the win over Pittsburgh, so the game’s target numbers have to be put in that context, but it’s little surprise that a healthy Cameron got more targets than any of the receivers. Hawkins was completely shut out, while Gabriel had four targets and Austin had three. None is a fantasy starter now that Cameron is 100 percent.

Dallas Cowboys

Dez Bryant – 56, 4, 84, 88
Jason Witten – 32, 2, 100, 100
Terrance Williams – 30, 7, 80, 68
DeMarco Murray – 26, 2, 78, 71
Cole Beasley – 21, 2, 45, 40

Murray leads all running backs with 21 carries in the red zone, but a direct casualty of all those carries is Bryant’s red-zone targets. That he has had the ball thrown his way just four times in the red zone in six games borderline shocking. What might be even more surprising is that the Cowboys are 5-1 in those six games. They have no reason to mess with the winning formula, and right now that calls for as many carries for Murray as he can handle. That’s why Bryant’s rest-of-season ceiling is below that of fellow top-tier receivers Nelson, Jones, Brown, Marshall and Jeffery. Now would also be a good time to shop Williams. He has five touchdowns on just 18 receptions and 30 targets. That is simply an unsustainable touchdown rate.

Denver Broncos

Demaryius Thomas – 60, 11, 94, 94
Emmanuel Sanders – 51, 4, 97, 99
Julius Thomas – 30, 10, 93, 89
Wes Welker – 17, 0, 66, 47
Ronnie Hillman – 9, 0, 47, 74
Juwan Thompson – 1, 0, 9, 24
C.J. Anderson – 1, 0, 9, 1

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No team in the league has two players dominating red-zone looks quite like the Broncos do with the Thomases. Sure, Martellus Bennett (14) and Brandon Marshall (12) have more red-zone targets than either Thomas, but when the Broncos get into scoring range, it’s clear where Manning wants to throw. Julius Thomas averages about 30 yards per touchdown, which, in most cases is completely unsustainable (hat tip to Michael Salfino of Yahoo!, Wall Street Journal and others for the stat). While his touchdown rate has to slow down, the regularity with which the Broncos visit the red zone and efficiency with which they hit paydirt once inside the 20-yard-line would lend to some seemingly unsustainable yards per touchdown numbers.

Detroit Lions

Golden Tate – 57, 4, 81, 79
Calvin Johnson – 37, 4, 70, N/A
Reggie Bush – 28, 4, 46, N/A
Eric Ebron – 21, 4, 45, 67
Joique Bell – 19, 1, 53, 64
Jeremy Ross – 13, 0, 64, 86
Theo Riddick – 6, 1, 9, 27

We talked a little about Ebron’s usage last week, and it is again the most newsworthy item in Detroit’s target report. He played a season-high 67 percent of the team’s snaps last week. He only got four targets, catching two of them for 23 yards, which came as a bit of a surprise since Matthew Stafford threw 33 passes and the Lions had no more than a 10-point lead until the fourth quarter. Eventually, spending more time on the field is going to result in more production. He’s still a TE2, but can be streamed in the right matchup.

Green Bay Packers

Jordy Nelson – 72, 15, 95, 100
Randall Cobb – 42, 11, 90, 91
Davante Adams – 26, 6, 60, 78
Andrew Quarless – 20, 5, 65, 66
Eddie Lacy – 13, 3, 61, 49
James Starks – 12, 0, 31, 48
Jeff Janis – 2, 0, 8, 4

If you heard any of Aaron Rodgers’ quotes after last week’s win over the Dolphins, you know he wants to get Adams more involved in the offense. He has been on the field for at least 70 percent of the snaps each of the last three weeks, and is a very intriguing receiver in deep leagues for the rest of the year. Otherwise, it’s status quo in Green Bay. Nelson got 16 more targets last week, while Cobb caught a red-zone touchdown. Ho hum.

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Houston Texans

Andre Johnson – 48, 9, 90, 96
DeAndre Hopkins – 36, 3, 96, 96
Arian Foster – 22, 2, 76, 87
Garrett Graham – 15, 1, 68, 56
Alfred Blue – 4, 0, 26, 13

If you’ve been paying attention to the Target Report this year, you probably saw Johnson’s big game coming last week. He has led the team in overall and red-zone targets all season, yet it was Hopkins who kept having more productive fantasy games. It was just a matter of time before that started to correct itself, making Johnson’s 99-yard, one-touchdown effort against the Colts fairly easy to predict. Hopkins caught just one of his two targets for 12 yards. This isn’t his show yet. Johnson is a WR2, while Hopkins is no better than a mid-tier WR3.

Indianapolis Colts

T.Y. Hilton – 60, 5, 71, 68
Reggie Wayne – 53, 7, 83, 91
Hakeem Nicks – 34, 7, 54, 40
Dwayne Allen – 27, 7, 71, 83
Ahmad Bradshaw – 26, 9, 48, 51
Coby Fleener – 26, 9, 61, 59
Trent Richardson – 21, 3, 48, 49

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It was only a matter of time before Hilton got into the end zone, and he made sure to completely reward all the fantasy owners who stuck with him by racking up 223 yards to go along with his touchdown. He also caught all nine of his targets, and is now tied for fifth (with Jeremy Maclin) among all receivers in the statistic. Only Jordy Nelson, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown and Vincent Jackson have been targeted more frequently than Hilton. That doesn’t mean Andrew Luck has forgotten about Wayne, as the veteran checks in at 12th in targets. Luck also leads all quarterbacks in red-zone pass attempts.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Allen Robinson – 44, 5, 70, 91
Allen Hurns – 38, 2, 86, 64
Cecil Shorts – 29, 2, 76, 79
Clay Harbor – 17, 1, 92, 95
Marqise Lee – 17, 1, 58, 21
Toby Gerhart – 8, 1, 47, N/A
Storm Johnson – 1, 0, 20, 26

Shorts may be third on the team in overall targets, but he has racked up all of those looks in about two-and-a-half games. When healthy, there’s little doubt that he’s the No. 1 receiver in Jacksonville. All or most of the receiver value is tied up in him and Robinson. Harbor has come on strong in the last few weeks, and is the sort of athlete this offense needs. If you’re without Jimmy Graham for the next few weeks, consider rolling the dice on Harbor.

Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce – 27, 6, 48, 58
Dwayne Bowe – 25, 2, 81, 86
Donnie Avery – 22, 4, 72, 60
Anthony Fasano – 20, 3, 93, 94
Knile Davis – 14, 3, 48, 14
Jamaal Charles – 12, 4, 52, 78

The Chiefs had a bye last week, so there’s not a whole lot of new information to report here. The week off was likely further good news for Charles. He already looked like himself in the two games he played since suffering his high ankle sprain. Fantasy owners shouldn’t have any doubts about him going forward.

Miami Dolphins

Mike Wallace – 46, 8, 71, 88
Brian Hartline – 30, 7, 87, 98
Charles Clay – 28, 4, 75, 83
Jarvis Landry – 25, 3, 52, 78
Lamar Miller – 20, 4, 58, 59

With Knowshon Moreno out for the season due to a torn ACL, expect that snap percentage for Miller to rise. He has already proved himself this year, scoring the seventh-most fantasy points per game among running backs to date. Now that he has the backfield all to himself, expect him to be a sure-fire RB1 for the rest of the season. Don’t forget that the Miami offense looked so much better in the second half against Green Bay last week after Miller took over in the backfield. Jarvis Landry, meanwhile, is worth a dart throw in deeper leagues. His 78 percent of snaps played last week was a season-high.

Minnesota Vikings

Greg Jennings – 35, 6, 89, 94
Jarius Wright – 31, 4, 56, 65
Cordarrelle Patterson – 31, 1, 78, 76
Jerick McKinnon – 22, 1, 37, 68
Matt Asiata – 22, 4, 50, 24
Chase Ford – 14, 2, 58, 78
Rhett Ellison – 8, 0, 50, 43

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In each of the first four weeks of the season, Patterson played at least 78 percent of the snaps. He played at least 88 percent in three of those games. He hasn’t played more than last week’s 76 percent in either of the last two games. He’s no more than a WR4 regardless of your format, and you can feel free to outright drop him in shallow leagues. In better news, it seems that McKinnon has overtaken Asiata as the primary running back in Minnesota. He’s clearly more talented than his lumbering teammate, and can bring some much-needed explosion to the Vikings’ offense. If he’s still out there in your league, he’s worth adding. He has RB3 upside.

New England Patriots

Julian Edelman – 63, 8, 87, 85
Rob Gronkowski – 50, 8, 61, 79
Brandon LaFell – 34, 4, 68, 70
Shane Vereen – 28, 1, 48, 51
Tim Wright – 11, 3, 20, 23
Stevan Ridley – 5, 0, 43, 34
Aaron Dobson – 5, 0, 23, 14
James White – 3, 0, 28, N/A
Brandon Bolden – 3, 0, 9, 17

The biggest changes to this team are likely to come in the backfield, now that Ridley is out for the season. We’ll have a full report on that after the Thursday night game against the Jets, but the bet here is that Bolden is the primary runner. However, you can never be sure with Bill Belichick and the Patriots. Ultimately, the big winner is most likely to be Brady. The Patriots very well could lean on the short and intermediate passing game to act as a subsitute for a rushing attack. Wright may have scored again last week, but he got just one target and isn’t playing enough to be a real fantasy option. LaFell, however, is worth a look in deeper leagues.

New Orleans Saints

Jimmy Graham – 49, 9, 69, 20
Brandin Cooks – 42, 5, 75, 75
Marques Colston – 31, 4, 72, 68
Pierre Thomas – 25, 3, 40, 32
Kenny Stills – 15, 1, 55, 48
Travaris Cadet – 14, 4, 14, 18
Ben Watson – 13, 1, 46, 86
Josh Hill – 8, 2, 24, 35
Khiry Robinson – 6, 0, 32, 48
Mark Ingram – 5, 0, 28, N/A

The Saints had a bye last week, but since they last played they learned that Graham’s sprained shoulder is a bit more serious than originally believed. He may have to sit for a couple of weeks, and that would bring down the ceiling of the whole offense. Neither Watson nor Hill should be on your radar. Ingram is likely to return this week, but he may be eased back into the gameplan.

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New York Giants

Rueben Randle – 51, 11, 91, 97
Victor Cruz – 41, 4, 89, 64
Larry Donnell – 35, 13, 76, 61
Preston Parker – 16, 1, 32, 38
Rashad Jennings – 14, 2, 59, N/A
Odell Beckham Jr. – 11, 2, 69, 88
Andre Williams – 8, 1, 37, 48

With Cruz out for the season after rupturing his patellar tendon last week, Randle, Beckham and Donnell should all see an uptick in targets. Randle is now a low-end WR2, while Beckham enters the WR3 discussion. The reason why they don’t get a more significant bump is that Cruz’s absence takes a huge bite out of the overall effectiveness of this offense. One of the best things the Giants had going was their wealth of options in the passing game. They just lost their best one for the remainder of the year. Overall, that’s a significant hit that cannot be fully offset by an increase in targets for Randle or Donnell. Beckham is the only player whose fantasy value increased in the wake of Cruz’ injury.

New York Jets

Jeremy Kerley – 39, 4, 74, 62
Eric Decker – 35, 4, 67, 89
Jace Amaro – 31, 3, 38, 57
Jeff Cumberland – 22, 0, 85, 78
Chris Johnson – 14, 2, 36, 32
Chris Ivory – 14, 2, 41, 37

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Here is Amaro’s snap percentage by week: 30, 31, 31, 34, 47, 57. Last week, he caught 10 of his 12 targets for 68 yards and a touchdown. Part of that may have had to do with Decker being at less than 100 percent, but it’s clear that Amaro can be a weapon for the Jets. Remember, the Jets selected him in the second round of last May’s draft out of Texas Tech. This was a highly regarded player coming out of college. At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, he can be a matchup nightmare in the red zone. Keep an eye on him this week. You always want to be proactive, not reactive.

Oakland Raiders

James Jones – 38, 5, 74, 80
Andre Holmes – 30, 2, 57, 81
Mychal Rivera – 22, 0, 69, 81
Denarius Moore – 21, 1, 65, 37
Darren McFadden – 17, 0, 71, 75
Marcel Reece – 16, 1, 35, 25
Rod Streater – 13, 1, 50, N/A
Brice Butler – 10, 2, 20, 39

The Raiders have finally given Holmes a chance in their last two games, and he has answered the call with nine catches, 195 yards and three touchdowns. At this point, he has to be considered the No. 1 receiver in Oakland. He’s a potential WR3 for the rest of the season, especially if this offense can find a measure of consistency. Holmes is a big guy, checking in at 6-foot-4. He’s a real threat in the red zone and, as he showed with his 77-yard touchdown reception last week, he can take the top off the defense as well.

Philadelphia Eagles

Jeremy Maclin – 61, 8, 90, 85
Riley Cooper – 41, 6, 88, 71
Jordan Matthews – 38, 5, 59, 63
Zach Ertz – 33, 4, 56, 42
Darren Sproles – 25, 3, 32, 33
LeSean McCoy – 22, 3, 70, 58

Maclin has been targeted on passes that have traveled at least 20 yards in the air 22 times this season, tops in the league. Julio Jones is second with 17 such targets. Maclin has only caught four of them for a total of 141 yards and three touchdowns, but the fact that Nick Foles pushes the ball down the field to him with such frequency is a huge asset. He’s essentially the do-everything receiver in a high-powered offense. Last week was as close as the snap counts for Cooper and Matthews have been this year. Cooper is the superior run blocker, so don’t expect Matthews to overtake him any time soon.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Antonio Brown – 65, 10, 94, 97
Markus Wheaton – 41, 6, 86, 94
Heath Miller – 37, 7, 95, 100
Le’Veon Bell – 34, 4, 78, 83
Justin Brown – 22, 7, 62, 36
LeGarrette Blount – 5, 2, 17, 14

The most important number above is the 83 all the way to the right of Bell’s name. It was just the second time this season his snap rate was at least 83 percent. He went north of 100 total yards for the sixth-straight game, but failed to find the end zone again. He hasn’t scored since Week 1, but is second among all players with 793 yards from scrimmage, trailing only DeMarco Murray. Despite that, there have been a ton of potential Bell fantasy trades floating around this week. Do not do it. He is bound to start finding the end zone.

San Diego Chargers​

Keenan Allen – 43, 6, 96, 97
Antonio Gates – 38, 10, 66, 59
Eddie Royal – 33, 3, 59, 26
Malcom Floyd – 28, 4, 79, 85
Donald Brown – 18, 4, 46, N/A
Lardarius Green – 16, 4, 41, 51
Branden Oliver – 13, 4, 44, 78

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Sometimes an event takes place, or keeps taking place, on a football field that just can’t be explained. Allen comfortably leads all San Diego wide receivers in targets and snaps played, and yet Royal and Floyd have outproduced him to this point of the season. Allen, you’ll recall, is coming off one of the best rookie seasons ever for a wide receiver. It’s not as if he lost any of his route-running ability from a year ago, either. It’s just one of those things. Problem is, with the Chargers winning, there’s probably little, if any, urgency to start force-feeding him the ball. I still think he’s a great buy-low target right now.

San Francisco 49ers

Michael Crabtree – 45, 7, 71, 77
Anquan Boldin – 44, 6, 89, 86
Steve Johnson – 26, 5, 30, 23
Vernon Davis – 21, 1, 80, 97
Brandon Lloyd – 16, 1, 42, 26
Frank Gore – 7, 0, 62, 53
Carlos Hyde – 7, 1, 33, 47

Colin Kaepernick had his best game through the air last week, throwing for 343 yards, 9.5 yards per attempt and three touchdowns. Those YPA numbers are sure to look sterling when you connect on an 80-yard score, like he did with Lloyd. The Illinois product does bring that skill to the table, but that’s essentially his only role in the offense. Crabtree and Boldin have essentially split everything right down the middle. Both project as WR3s for the remainder of the season, and will jump up into the WR2 discussion from week to week, depending on matchups.

Seattle Seahawks

Percy Harvin – 29, 4, 60, 53
Doug Baldwin – 26, 3, 89, 96
Jermaine Kearse – 19, 2, 85, 96
Marshawn Lynch – 18, 4, 67, 69
Luke Willson – 10, 0, 53, 90
Robert Turbin – 3, 1, 20, 6

No other team in the league has a pair of receivers playing 96 percent of the snaps that are essentially non-factors in fantasy leagues. Such is the case with the Seahawks, as neither Baldwin nor Kearse has had any fantasy value this season. Meanwhile, Harvin doesn’t have one target of at least 20 yards this season. Nothing sticks to Russell Wilson, and with good reason, but it is widely accepted that a top-level quarterback makes average receivers good and good ones great. This is not an attractive situation for fantasy owners.

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St. Louis Rams

Jared Cook – 44, 5, 75, 82
Brian Quick – 35, 5, 80, 88
Kenny Britt – 22, 1, 64, 69
Lance Kendricks – 18, 2, 61, 43
Austin Pettis – 18, 0, 38, 53
Zac Stacy – 15, 1, 45, 34
Benny Cunningham – 13, 1, 46, 51

Don’t look now, but Britt has crept back onto the fantasy radar. He played a season-high 69 percent of St. Louis’ snaps last week, catching three of his six targets for 39 yards. No one involved with this Rams’ passing attack is an automatic start, but with a few heavy bye weeks looming on the horizon, Britt could have some value for fantasy owners through Week 12. Remember, the Rams have already had their bye. Stacy’s calf injury may have something to do with his usage, but Cunningham has now played more snaps than him this year. He’s quickly trending toward RB3 territory.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vincent Jackson – 59, 7, 96, 87
Mike Evans – 37, 4, 76, 79
Louis Murphy – 29, 5, 78, 84
Bobby Rainey – 22, 2, 50, 29
Austin Seferian-Jenkins – 15, 0, 80, 84
Doug Martin – 12, 0, 63, 71

While Murphy and Evans found the end zone last week, it was Jackson who led the Buccaneers with 13 targets. It has been a frustrating season for his owners, but the volume he gets on a weekly basis makes him a reliable WR2. Evans is a touch below that, but it was very encouraging to see him make an impact immediately after returning ahead of schedule from a groin injury. Consider him a WR3 for the rest of the season.

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Tennessee Titans

Delanie Walker – 45, 7, 78, 88
Kendall Wright – 39, 4, 81, 78
Justin Hunter – 36, 3, 82, 93
Nate Washington – 28, 0, 86, 72
Dexter McCluster – 15, 5, 30, 29
Bishop Sankey – 5, 0, 31, 50
Shonn Greene – 2, 1, 27, N/A

I have a theory about Hunter. If he catches three passes, he will have a useful fantasy game. The logic is that since he gets targeted so frequently deep down the field -- 37.1 percent of his targets have traveled at least 20 yards in the air -- all he needs is three receptions to put up strong yardage numbers and/or a touchdown. It proved true two weeks ago, when he caught three passes for 99 yards and a score. It nearly did again last week. He had three receptions for 77 yards, including one where he was tackled at the 1-yard-line. I’m willing to bet on a guy like that more often than not.

Washington Redskins

Pierre Garcon – 47, 2, 86, 97
DeSean Jackson – 44, 4, 70, 90
Andre Roberts – 37, 6, 71, 82
Niles Paul – 31, 4, 61, 45
Roy Helu – 23, 0, 41, 57
Jordan Reed – 12, 1, 34, 58
Alfred Morris – 7, 0, 55, 43

Reed returned last week from a hamstring injury that had kept him out since Week 1, and caught eight of 11 targets for 92 yards. He led the team in targets and showed no ill effects from the injury. He’s back to being a TE1. On the flip side, Paul had just one reception and two targets. He does not retain any fantasy value. Garcon may lead the team in targets and snap percentage, but Jackson is the No. 1 receiver in Washington. Since getting back to full health after hurting his shoulder, he has played 91 percent of the team’s snaps and caught eight passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns.