Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 13
Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 13! We have a full allotment of games to contemplate as we head into the greatest football weekend of the year and inch closer to the fantasy playoffs! It’s as important as ever to track the target trends around the league. As usual, let’s begin this article by looking at the overall target leaders so far this season.
Target Trends
CeeDee Lamb leads the NFL with 118 targets, 10 ahead of Garrett Wilson. Malik Nabers (103) and Ja’Marr Chase (100) are the only other players in triple digits. Nabers leads on a per-game basis, averaging 11.4 targets/game. Cooper Kupp is next at 11.0 targets/game but in just seven games played.
Brock Bowers continues to lead all tight ends with 99 targets, which breaks down to 9.0 targets/game. That puts him on pace for 153 targets, which would crush the rookie record for a tight end of 128 set by Jeremy Shockey in 2002. Travis Kelce is second at the position with 88 targets while Trey McBride sits in third with 80.
Despite the Week 12 bye, Alvin Kamara still easily leads all running backs. His 73 targets are 12 more than Breece Hall, who was also on bye in Week 12. Kamara is on pace for 113 targets, which would be a new career high in his eighth season. De’Von Achane is in third with 55(!) targets.
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 13.
Trey McBride – 15 targets, 12 rec
It was a big day for McBride, who saw double-digit targets for the first time this season while setting a new career high. It equated to a season-high 44% target share in the game, bringing his season-long target share up to 28.3%. That is the highest team target share in the league among tight ends.
Jakobi Meyers – 15 targets, 10 rec
Brock Bowers – 10 targets, 4 rec
Meyers also set a new career high in targets, topping the 14 he saw with the Patriots in Week 9 of the 2020 season. He has been averaging 9.7 targets/game without Davante Adams and is up to a 24.2% target share. That is only slightly behind Brock Bowers at 25.9%. Unfortunately for Meyers and Bowers, the targets may not be as valuable coming from Aidan O’Connell or Desmond Ridder.
Chicago Bears Pass Catchers
Caleb Williams had arguably his best game of the season and Chicago’s pass catchers benefited. Keenan Allen led the way with 15 targets, his highest total since joining the Bears. Cole Kmet and Rome Odunze were next with 10 targets apiece. It’s the second week in a row that the rookie wideout has earned 10 targets. DJ Moore had the fewest targets with seven but turned them into the most yards (106) and fantasy points (23.4).
Puka Nacua – 13 targets, 9 rec
Cooper Kupp – 11 targets, 8 rec
I mentioned earlier that Kupp is second in the NFL at 11.0 targets/game but if you remove the games that Nacua exited early, either by injury or ejection, he is slightly ahead of his teammate at 11.3 targets/game. The early exits also bring his target share down to 23.1% on the season. As for Kupp, he is in good company with A.J. Brown and Malik Nabers as the only three players above a 30% team target share on the season.
CeeDee Lamb – 12 targets, 10 rec
CeeDee Lamb is still commanding targets without Dak Prescott. No other Cowboy saw more than four targets in Week 12. Unfortunately, Lamb’s targets haven’t been as productive without Dak. He was averaging 7.9 yards/target with Dak. That number has dropped to 5.3 yards/target in the three games without him.
Jonnu Smith – 11 targets, 9 rec
Week 12 marked the first game in Jonnu’s eight-year career that he topped double-digit targets in a game. His 11 targets led the team, two ahead of Jaylen Waddle and five ahead of Tyreek Hill. He’s on pace for 97 targets, which would easily surpass his career high of 70. He has seen at least six targets in all six of Miami’s games since their bye week, including the last five with the return of Tua Tagovailoa.
Courtland Sutton – 10 targets, 8 rec
Devaughn Vele – 9 targets, 6 rec
Sutton is averaging 9.6 targets/game in the five games since going targetless in Week 7. He is the WR2 over that span, trailing only Ja’Marr Chase in fantasy points at the position. Sutton is on pace for 135 targets, which would top his career-high of 124 set in 2019. It’s also worth noting that Vele saw nine targets, his most since Week 1. They accounted for a season-high 23% team target share.
Noah Brown – 10 targets, 6 rec
Brown led the Commanders with 10 targets in Week 12, his most since joining the team. It’s just the second time in his career that he earned double-digit targets in a game. He has a respectable enough 17.9% target share on the season but is tough to trust in fantasy lineups with an F in the Ballers’ consistency rating.
David Moore – 10 targets, 6 rec
Moore came out of nowhere to lead Carolina with a 30% target share against the Chiefs. He had 22 total targets heading into the game before seeing double-digits for the first time in his career. It’s hard to trust a player on his fifth team in four seasons but Moore is worth keeping on your fantasy radar.
Justin Jefferson – 5 targets, 2 rec
Despite going to overtime, it was a disappointing game for Jefferson. His final stat line would have looked different if a long touchdown hadn’t been called back due to an offensive pass interference penalty, but the volume was still lacking. He only had a 16% target share in the game but there are likely better days ahead as he still sports a 29.5% team target share on the season.
Deebo Samuel – 4 targets, 1 rec
Deebo opened the season with 19 targets in the first two weeks before missing Week 3 with a calf injury. Since then he’s averaged just 4.6 targets/game, which includes the goose egg he put up when he played just 6% of snaps against the Chiefs with pneumonia. He is third on the 49ers in targets with 56 behind Jauan Jennings (65) and George Kittle (59).
Tampa Bay Buccaneer Pass-Catchers
Otton’s three targets in Week 12 were his lowest total since Week 2. Mike Evans made his return from a three-game absence and immediately saw six targets, but it was actually Sterling Shepard who led the Bucs with seven targets against his former team. Bucky Irving also saw six targets out of the backfield, which didn’t leave many targets for Otton. He will likely still have some high-volume games, but they will be harder to predict while Evans is healthy.