Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 14
Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 14! We’re on the precipice of the playoffs! If you’ve been following along all season, hopefully your spot is already secured, but if not, use the trends below to make that final playoff push. However, let’s start, as usual, by looking at the season-long target leaders to this point.
Even with a game missed due to suspension, Ja’Marr Chase is running away with the target lead. His 131 total targets are the most in the league, which breaks down to 11.9 targets/game. Drake London, who has now missed four games this season, is the only other player averaging double-digit targets per game (10.4). Rashee Rice, who missed the first six games while suspended, is getting close with 9.8 targets/game. Chris Olave is the second-most targeted WR in the league with 115, a full 16 targets behind Chase, despite playing one more game.
The second most targeted player in the NFL is TE Trey McBride. He is now on pace for 167 targets this season, which would top the record of 156 for the position set by Zach Ertz in 2018. His 118 targets so far this season are 35 more than the current runner-up, Jake Ferguson, with 83. Dalton Schultz is next with 80 targets, while six other TEs are in the 70s. Brock Bowers has 68 targets, but after missing three games earlier this season, his 7.6 targets/game is second only to McBride (9.8) at the position.
It’s a similar story at RB, where Christian McCaffrey easily leads the position with 107 targets. That puts him on pace for 140, which would fall just shy of his own record of 142 at the position that he set in 2019. De’Von Achane is second, but 35 targets behind CMC, with 72. Bijan Robinson (68) and Chase Brown (64) round out the top four, with no other RB over 60.
I’ll continue to lead off this article with season-long target leaders each week, but for now, let’s check out this week’s target trends heading into the pivotal Week 14.
Ja’Marr Chase: 14 targets, 7 rec
There isn’t much I need to say about Chase. The season’s target leader has seen double-digit targets in seven of his eleven games played this season. His 14 targets in Week 13 were only his fourth-highest total of the season. He’s locked into every lineup, and he’s more likely to see 15 targets than five.
Terry McLaurin: 14 targets, 7 rec
Zach Ertz: 13 targets, 10 rec
Welcome back, Scary Terry! McLaurin returned from a three-game absence, which was preceded by a separate four-game absence, to tie his career-high of 14 targets. Even more impressively, he did it on just 51% of Washington’s offensive snaps. The target total and his fantasy score would have been even higher if it weren’t for a holding penalty that negated a 30-yard TD pass to him in OT. As for Ertz, his 13 targets were the most he has seen this season and his highest total since Week 8 of last season.
George Pickens: 13 targets, 6 rec
CeeDee Lamb: 9 targets, 7 rec
Pickens and Lamb are arguably the best WR duo in the league. Pickens led the way in targets in Week 13, though it was Lamb who found the end zone and thus scored more fantasy points. Pickens is already just one target shy of his career high of 106 and is averaging 8.8 targets/game. Lamb’s three missed games have his target total lower, but his 9.0 targets/game are just ahead of Pickens.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
A.J. Brown: 12 targets, 19 rec
Brown saw just three targets coming out of the Philly’s Week 9 bye. He has averaged 11.0 targets/game and scored three TDs in the three games since then, including a finish as the WR1 in Week 13. The Eagles have lost two games in a row, but AJB has been putting up the numbers that fantasy managers expected when they spent a high draft pick on him back in August.
Adonai Mitchell: 12 targets, 8 rec
John Metchie III: 8 targets, 4 rec
It’s mostly a lost season for the Jets, but they may have found some promising WRs to team with Garrett Wilson going forward. Both Mitchell and Metchie have seen their target totals increase each week since joining the Jets in Week 10. It was Mitchell leading the way this week, who crushed his previous career high of seven targets. Both WRs were second-round picks in the NFL Draft and are getting a chance to revive their careers with the Jets. They are also each viable fantasy options for those in need of a WR for the playoff run.
Rashee Rice: 12 targets, 8 rec
As mentioned in the introduction, Rice is now up to 9.8 targets/game. His 59 total targets are now tied with teammate Xavier Worthy, who has played four more games, and one behind Marquise Brown, who has played six more. Travis Kelce still leads the team with 78, which breaks down to 6.5 targets/game.
Nico Collins: 10 targets, 5 rec
Collins was in this article last week, though much further down, after an uncharacteristic three-target outing. He was back in the double-digits in Week 13 for the fifth time in his last six games played. His day could have been even bigger for fantasy if he hadn’t grazed the sideline while heading into the end zone early in the game, but he made up for it later with a rushing TD.
Jameson Williams: 10 targets, 7 rec
Williams saw double-digit targets for the first time this season and the second time in his career. It’s no coincidence that it came in a game that saw Amon-Ra St. Brown exit early in the game with an ankle injury. Jame-o has been a boom-or-bust WR option all season, but if ARSB is sidelined, he becomes an automatic start in fantasy lineups.
Christian Watson: 10 targets, 4 rec
Watson has now seen his targets and target share increase each week since making his season debut in Week 8. What started as an 11% target share on four targets in Week 8 has ramped up to ten targets and a 36% target share in Week 13. If these trends continue…OK, a higher target share may be a bit unreasonable at this point, but we may finally have a definitive WR1 in Green Bay’s offense.
Jordan Addison: 10 targets, 5 rec
Justin Jefferson: 6 targets, 2 rec
T.J. Hockenson: 6 targets, 6 rec
The Minnesota pass catchers are in rough times. Addison’s ten targets follow a one-target outing in Week 12, and he hasn’t been better than WR31 for fantasy since Week 7. It’s even worse for Jefferson, at least relative to expectations. The superstar WR still has a 29.7% target share on the season, but he hasn’t been a top ten fantasy WR since Week 5. You might think Hockenson was fantasy viable after catching all six of his targets, but 59 scoreless yards puts him at TE14 for the week, which is nothing to right home about. Unfortunately, these woes will likely continue unless J.J. McCarthy shows major improvements down the home stretch of the season.
Devaughn Vele: 8 targets, 8 rec
It was Vele, not Chris Olave, leading the Saints in targets for Week 13, though Olave was just fine for fantasy with one fewer target and a TD. Vele flashed some potential as a rookie in Denver last season and has averaged 7.5 targets/game in the two weeks since New Orleans’ bye week. He played on 100% of the Saints’ offensive snaps in Week 13 and is a viable fantasy option in a pinch.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Ashton Jeanty: 8 targets, 6 rec
Jeanty’s rookie season hasn’t been as impressive as many hoped, but he has at least stayed relevant with his work through the air in recent weeks. After averaging just 3.3 targets/game over the first nine, he’s now seen exactly eight targets in each of the past three games. That’s translated to a 23% target share over that span, which helps alleviate his underwhelming work on the ground.
Marvin Harrison Jr.: 7 targets, 6 rec
Michael Wilson: 7 targets, 3 rec
Harrison returned in Week 13 with seven targets after he had seen double-digit targets in consecutive games before his Week 11 appendectomy that cost him two games. It’s worth noting that he only played 61% of the snaps this game while dealing with a heel injury. As for Wilson, his seven targets are well below the ridiculous 16.5 targets/game he averaged in Harrison’s absence, but they match his season-high while playing with MHJ.
Gunnar Helm: 7 targets, 6 rec
Helm matched his season-high from Week 12 with another seven targets in Week 13. It’s tough to trust any pass-catcher in Tennessee’s dreadful offense, but as the team’s target leader over the last two weeks, you could do worse. He is more interesting in dynasty leagues as a rookie TE who is seeing his workload increase in the second half of the season.
Jalen Coker: 6 targets, 4 rec
Tetairoa McMillan: 2 targets, 1 rec
Both WRs got home with TDs in Week 13, but the target totals, especially for McMillan, were disappointing. His two targets were the lowest of his rookie campaign, though he remains a must-start WR in fantasy leagues. As for Coker, his six targets were a new season high. He got off to a slow start after a training camp injury cost him the first six games of the season, but he will work as a deep WR play or DFS dart throw after Carolina’s Week 14 bye.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 4 targets, 2 rec
It was bound to happen eventually, right? JSN had his first down game of the season as Seattle dominated the Vikings throughout in Week 13. His four targets were good for a season-low 17% target share, which dropped his season-long share to 35.9%, which still leads the entire league.
Brian Thomas Jr: 3 targets, 2 rec
Expectations were tempered for Thomas as he returned from the ankle injury that cost him three games, but only three targets on 75% of the offensive snaps is still disappointing. However, Jakobi Meyers led the Jags with six targets, and nobody else had more than four as Jacksonville dominated the game against Tennessee from beginning to end. There should be better days ahead for BTJ, but he will be tough to trust until we see it.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Troy Franklin: 3 targets, 2 rec
Franklin has been breaking out in his second season, but his three-target performance in Week 13 marked a season low. He had averaged 9.0 targets/game in the previous five games before Sunday night’s dud. Just as he was beginning to feel like a reliable fantasy option at WR, there will now be some trepidation before slotting him into lineups.
De’Von Achane: 1 target, 0 rec
Achane was averaging 6.5 targets/game before seeing just one in Week 13. It was a season-low, but thankfully, he was his usual productive self on the ground and still finished as the RB4 on the week. There is nothing to worry about with Achane, who remains the second-most targeted RB in the NFL behind only CMC.