Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 4
Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 4! We now have three weeks of target data to sort through, and while I feel more comfortable once we complete Week 4, the important thing to remember is that we have more information available than we did last week. Let’s start, as usual, by looking at the season-long target leaders to this point.
Chris Olave is the league’s current target leader with 37 through three weeks. Puka Nacua is next with 35, and Malik Nabers rounds out the top three with 32 targets.
Also, with 32 targets, Jake Ferguson leads all TEs. Juwan Johnson is second at the position with 28, then it drops down to 24 targets for Trey McBride.
Christian McCaffrey also has 32 targets, which easily leads all RBs. De’Von Achane is next with 23. No other RB has topped 20 targets, with Bijan Robinson checking in third with 18.
I’ll continue to lead off this article with season-long target leaders, and now let’s check out this week’s target trends heading into Week 4.
Puka Nacua: 15 targets, 11 receptions
Nacua is the overall WR1 after three weeks. He’s second overall in targets, but leads the league with 29 receptions and 333 receiving yards. His 37.6% target may not be sustainable, though it wouldn’t surprise anybody if it stayed near 30% for the season.
Christian McCaffrey: 15 targets, 10 receptions
McCaffrey is the 49ers’ offense right now. He’s currently on pace for 181 targets on the season, which would demolish his own RB record of 142 set in 2019. While he isn’t likely to keep up that pace, he should remain one of the most utilized RBs in the league. His 25 receptions so far are the third most in the league, trailing only Puka Nacua and the next name in this article.
Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
Jake Ferguson: 14 targets, 13 receptions
After only seeing five targets in Week 1, Ferguson has combined for 26 over the last two weeks. He’s set new personal target records in back-to-back weeks. He may not be able to make it three in a row, but he should continue seeing plenty of work in the Cowboys’ passing game with CeeDee Lamb set to miss some time.
Chris Olave: 14 targets, 10 receptions
As mentioned earlier, Olave leads the league with 37 targets. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to turn many of those targets into fantasy points. He’s the WR35 through three weeks and has yet to top 60 receiving yards or catch a TD in a game. While the usage is encouraging, it could be a long season for Olave with the sputtering Saints offense.
Garrett Wilson: 13 targets, 10 receptions
Wilson is now up to a 39% target share, just slightly behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 40.3%. While neither is sustainable, I would wager that Wilson could maintain a target rate in the 30% range and has a legitimate chance to lead the league in target rate. Through three games, he leads the Jets with 30 targets, Breece Hall is next with 13, and no other WR has more than six.
Nico Collins: 11 targets, 8 receptions
There was some panic surrounding Collins after he caught just six passes on 14 targets over the first two weeks. Things were much better in Week 3 as he turned 11 targets into the WR4 performance for the week. His 29.1% target share is elite, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t continue moving forward.
Ricky Pearsall: 11 targets, 8 receptions
Christian McCaffrey isn’t the only 49er who gets targets. Pearsall is up to 24 targets on the season, good enough for a 21.8% target share so far. Eventually, he’ll be competing with Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, and George Kittle, but until the Niners’ pass-catching corps returns to full strength, Pearsall will remain heavily involved.
Hunter Henry: 11 targets, 8 receptions
It’s hard to believe that Henry has been playing longer than I have been writing fantasy football articles, and that he started his career with the San Diego Chargers. Regardless, the veteran TE came up just one target shy of a new career high in Week 3, and he turned two of them into TDs. With an unsettled group of pass catchers in New England, Hunter appears to be a reliable TE option.
Parker Washington: 11 targets, 4 receptions
Brian Thomas Jr.: 6 targets, 2 receptions
Brian Thomas Jr. is supposed to be an alpha WR in the Jacksonville offense, but it was Parker Washington who soaked up the targets in Week 3. Neither were productive through the air, as Trevor Lawrence threw for 222 touchdownless yards on 40 attempts. You have to keep your hopes high for BTJ, though it’s getting more difficult as he sits at WR53 after three weeks with an abysmal 28% catch rate.
Since 2000, Brian Thomas Jr.’s 28% catch rate is the lowest of any WR to see 25+ targets through 3 weeks.
For those counting, it ranks 522nd out of 522.
— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg) September 22, 2025
Darnell Mooney: 11 targets, 4 receptions
Drake London: 8 targets, 5 receptions
One spot ahead of Thomas at WR52, we find Drake London. His 25.7% target rate is respectable, but it has yet to manifest many fantasy points. As for Mooney, the 11 targets are a good sign, but until Michael Penix Jr. starts connecting, he’ll be no more than a dart throw in fantasy lineups.
Keenan Allen: 11 targets, seven receptions
Quentin Johnston: 10 targets, six receptions
Ladd McConkey: 7 targets, 4 receptions
Justin Herbert and the Chargers continue to throw the ball at a high clip, and it’s benefiting the WRs. The Keenan Allen renaissance is real, and Quge is finally looking like the first-round draft pick that he was supposed to be. Ladd McConkey has been the odd man out so far, but with a 19.6% target share, there are likely better days ahead. All three of the Chargers’ WRs are viable fantasy options at this point.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
A.J. Brown: 10 targets, 6 receptions
There was panic in the streets surrounding Brown after two weeks, but if you held strong or bought low, you were rewarded in Week 3. Brown finished the week as the WR3 on the back of a season-high 10 targets. He will likely be inconsistent, but AJB always has the potential to produce a week-winning spike game.
Alvin Kamara: 2 targets, 1 reception
It’s tough to determine how to handle Kamara moving forward. Since entering the league in 2017, no RB has more targets than Kamara (738). He only saw two targets in Week 1, then saw that number increase to six in Week 2, before crashing back down to two in Week 3. Kamara’s pass-catching appeal was arguably his strongest trait to consider during draft season, but it may be more difficult to trust in this version of the New Orleans offense.