This article is part of our On Target series.
Total Targets
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| PLAYER | TARGETS | REC | YARDS | TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julio Jones | 181 | 118 | 1544 | 7 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 169 | 97 | 1316 | 10 |
| Antonio Brown | 165 | 116 | 1586 | 9 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 156 | 93 | 1128 | 5 |
| Odell Beckham | 151 | 91 | 1400 | 13 |
| Brandon Marshall | 147 | 93 | 1261 | 11 |
| Jarvis Landry | 145 | 98 | 976 | 4 |
| Allen Robinson | 134 | 70 | 1145 | 13 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 134 | 99 | 1131 | 7 |
| Mike Evans | 131 | 66 | 1051 | 3 |
| Michael Crabtree | 131 | 76 | 849 | 7 |
| Calvin Johnson | 124 | 72 | 1000 | 7 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | 124 | 67 | 969 | 5 |
| Amari Cooper | 122 | 68 | 1052 | 6 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 120 | 61 | 1016 | 5 |
| Randall Cobb | 118 | 70 | 777 | 6 |
| A.J. Green | 117 | 76 | 1170 | 8 |
| Eric Decker | 117 | 72 | 930 | 10 |
| Golden Tate | 117 | 82 | 720 | 6 |
| Greg Olsen | 116 | 71 | 1048 | 7 |
| Brandin Cooks | 116 | 74 | 993 | 8 |
| Jeremy Maclin | 113 | 79 | 985 | 6 |
| Jordan Matthews | 111 | 72 | 839 | 5 |
| Travis Benjamin | 109 | 61 | 893 | 5 |
Total Targets
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Red Zone Touchdown Percentage
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Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin have absolutely been blowing the lid off the league over the last month. With Jimmy Graham and Marshawn Lynch sidelined, Baldwin has scored double-digit touchdowns over his last six games and Lockett has scored in each of his last three. I think that this week against the Rams is finally the week we see Baldwin go scoreless but I expect more big things out of Lockett. A tactical analysis of the Rams defense would suggest they are weaker against outside WR but don't have as difficult a time defending slot guys. There is no way you can bench Baldwin in your fantasy championships with how well he's been playing (and more importantly, how ruthlessly efficient Russell Wilson has been) but Lockett is the superior play this week in DFS formats. He's had at least five receptions in each of the Seahawks last three games and has had at least one deep target opportunity in each of those games as well. Sooner rather than later, Lockett is going to turn those deep targets into massive fantasy points. At his current salary in DFS across the board, Lockett is... wait for it... a lock.
Will Tye is primed to be the main beneficiary of Odell Beckham being suspended for a week. Even before ODB earned himself a week by losing his mind against Josh Norman, Tye had firmly asserted himself as a viable fantasy option in the Giants offense. He's scored two touchdowns the last two weeks and is averaging 54 yards per game over the Giants last five games. In this matchup against Minnesota (whose boundary defenders are relatively strong), I expect that Tye will be close to leading the Giants in targets. Rueben Randle will be the more popular pickup and DFS option but in games where Randle has more than 10 targets, he has a catch rate lower than 50 percent. Tye is definitely the lower-ceiling option as he is not involved down the field, but for non-Gronk or Jordan Reed playoff teams, Tye is one of the top options despite the fact that we didn't know who the guy was two months ago. Much like Larry Donnell last year, Tye has become a plug and play DFS option.
Brandin Cooks is a really interesting player to me. The NFL draft community was really split on the type of player that he could become. He was undersized for the position the Saints took him at in the draft but he was very productive relative to his NFL compatriot Markus Wheaton in the same offense. I really liked him at the time but my worst fears have been confirmed at points, as he's small and is prone to having horrific games because the offense has to be tailored to getting him open rather than letting him being open dictate what else happens. He gets a great theoretical matchup this week against the Jaguars but his quarterback is dealing with a significant injury that could keep him out of the Week 16 game. We aren't so much dealing with Cooks this week, as I think most fantasy players have better options but I do want to discuss Cooks moving forward. Assuming Brees returns to full health next year, I think the sweet spot for drafting Cooks will be around the fifth round in 12-team leagues. If his cost gets higher than that, I'm not sure there is much profit potential there. He'll never be a safe bet for either 100 catches for 10 touchdowns, and he's sort of in no man's land between being a possession receiver and a big play threat. He's too involved in the offense to be drafted as a WR3, but he isn't reliable enough to draft as a week-to-week WR2.
