Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 7 (Fantasy Football)
Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 7! Bye weeks are in full swing, so knowing the latest target trends can be a vital data point when finding viable fill-ins for your lineup or trying to make season-altering trades. Let’s start, as usual, by looking at the season-long target leaders to this point.
- After bouncing back with 18 targets in Week 6, CeeDee Lamb has taken the overall target lead with a very nice 69. He is followed by Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 66 and Trey McBride with 65. Malik Nabers and Chris Olave round out the top five with 61 targets each.
- Puka Nacua still leads the league on a per-game basis with 13.0 targets per game in four games played.
- McBride continues to lead all TEs with his 65 targets, but Isaiah Likely is doing his best to keep up with 59. The next-highest target total at the position drops to 44, which is how many Brock Bowers has in his four games played.
- At RB, Kyren Williams is leading the way with 39 targets, followed by Ashton Jeanty at 36 and Christian McCaffrey at 35. Despite his Week 6 bye, Jahmyr Gibbs is in fourth at the position with 34 targets. Jaylen Warren is next with 30.
Now let’s check out this week’s target trends heading into Week 7.
CeeDee Lamb – 18 targets, 9 rec
George Pickens – 11 targets, 6 rec
Ryan Flournoy – 9 targets, 7 rec
The last few weeks have been a target roller coaster for Lamb. After seeing 21 targets in Week 4, his total fell to just five in Week 5, before rebounding to the most by any player in Week 6. Unfortunately, he only caught half of them and finished outside of the top 20 fantasy WRs for the week. In other Cowboy target news, George Pickens has logged double-digit targets in three of the last four weeks, while Ryan Flournoy set a new season high with nine targets.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba – 16 targets, 12 rec
Cooper Kupp – 10 targets, 5 rec
It’s no surprise seeing JSN make this article again, but it has been a while since Cooper Kupp made the cut. Before Week 6, the last time he saw double-digit targets in a regular-season game was Week 12 of the 2024 season, though he did log 12 targets in Seattle’s Super Bowl victory last season.
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Emeka Egbuka – 16 targets, 7 rec
Egbuka has now seen 25 targets over the last two weeks after logging 24 over the first four. The 16 targets he saw in Week 6 marked a new season high, though he caught fewer than half of them for just 48 yards. Hopefully the efficiency increases when Baker Mayfield returns, which could be as soon as Week 7.
Malik Nabers – 15 targets, 12 rec
Isaiah Likely – 11 targets, 6 rec
These two Giants pass catchers were featured last week, and they dominated New York’s target share again in Week 6. There was a change this week, however, as J.J. McCarthy entered the game at QB in favor of Jameis Winston in the fourth quarter. It remains to be seen which QB will start moving forward, but it is worth noting that McCarthy targeted Nabers five times and Likely three times, including a TD to the TE.
DK Metcalf – 15 targets, 11 rec
Germie Bernard – 12 targets, 11 rec
Now in his eighth NFL season, DK Metcalf’s 15 targets in Week 6 tied his career high, which he last set in 2022. It was rookie Germie Bernard, however, making headlines by catching 11 of his 12 targets and finding the end zone. Bernard has now seen 21 targets over his last two games after seeing just 11 over the first four weeks.
DeVonta Smith – 14 targets, 7 rec
After a two-week absence due to a hamstring injury, Smith returned to a very different Philadelphia team in Week 6. The Eagles have lost many offensive players in the past few weeks, most notably QB Jalen Hurts. Smith’s 14 targets from Tanner McKee translated to a 32% target share, which is good news for his fantasy managers, as McKee is now expected to start at QB for Philly moving forward.
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Jalen Coker – 13 targets, 6 rec
Coker was targeted nine times in each of the season’s first two games before suffering an injury in Week 3. He missed Week 4, then had a bye in Week 5. His Week 6 return resulted in a career-high 13 targets, one more than the 12 he saw in last year’s playoff loss to the Rams. His 24.5% target share in the games he has played this season is just slightly behind Tetairoa McMillan’s 26.4%.
Matthew Golden – 13 targets, 6 rec
Golden is now up to 57 targets this season, already surpassing the 44 he saw as a rookie last season. Perhaps even more telling, his 26% target share so far is more than double his 12% share from last year. He and teammate Christian Watson, who has 48 targets so far this season, are both top-10 fantasy WRs through the first six weeks.
Keenan Allen – 11 targets, 8 rec
Allen was a late addition to the Colts roster this summer. Now he leads the team with a 22.9% target share through six weeks. Injuries to Alec Pierce and Tyler Warren may be part of the reason, but despite missing a game himself, Keenan is still just two targets behind Josh Downs for the team lead in raw targets.
A.J. Brown – 10 targets, 3 rec
Brown saw just four targets before his early exit in Week 1 due to an ankle injury. Five weeks later, Brown returned and immediately logged double-digit targets. Unfortunately, he only caught three of them, in large part due to multiple drops. It has been a brutal start to his time in New England, and it’s tough to imagine it getting any worse.
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Christian McCaffrey – 10 targets, 9 rec
McCaffrey’s two rushing TDs did the heavy lifting when it came to his fantasy points Monday night, but he also saw a season-high ten targets. After posting eight targets in Week 1, CMC has not topped five in any of the next four games. With Mike Evans becoming the latest 49er wideout to leave with an injury, McCaffrey’s role in the passing game should remain secure.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith – 9 targets, 5 rec
How bad are the vibes in Los Angeles? Lambert-Smith led the way after Tre Harris was ruled out pregame and Ladd McConkey exited early with yet another injury, this time a concussion. Lambert-Smith entered Week 6 without a target all season, and his previous career high was five targets in a meaningless Week 18 game last season.
Omar Cooper Jr. – 7 targets, 6 rec
Garrett Wilson – 6 targets, 4 rec
Garrett Wilson has been a staple of this article series for years, but it was rookie Omar Cooper Jr. who led the way for the Jets in Week 6. Cooper, the first-round rookie, caught his only target in Week 1 before leaving early with an ankle injury that sidelined him until this week. He will likely be one of the hottest names on the Week 7 waiver wire, though it is worth noting that Adonai Mitchell should also be returning soon. Between Wilson, Mitchell, Cooper, and the other first-round rookie on the team, Kenyon Sadiq, it may be QB Geno Smith who stands to benefit the most from this suddenly deep pass-catching crew.
Kyle Pitts Sr. – 7 targets, 5 rec
In his typical fashion, Pitts has scored three TDs on 13 targets over the past two weeks after totaling just nine scoreless targets over the first four games. It could certainly be setting up for another rug pull, but Pitts needs to be considered as a viable fantasy TE.
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Michael Wilson – 7 targets, 4 rec
Wilson averaged 11.0 targets per game over the first four weeks, when Marvin Harrison Jr. was still in Arizona’s lineup. He has now seen exactly seven targets in each of the two games without MHJ. That isn’t a massive dip in volume, and the more concerning part is his combined 62 receiving yards and zero TDs in the two most recent games. It is tough to conclude that Harrison’s absence is the sole reason for Wilson’s recent dip in production, especially considering Wilson’s success when Harrison was sidelined last season, but he isn’t off to a great start in the post-Harrison era.
Marvin Harrison Jr. – 4 targets, 3 rec
Speaking of MHJ, the four targets he saw in his Houston debut may not seem impressive at first glance, but the total looks better with context. It was just one fewer than the five seen by team leader Nico Collins, despite the fact that Harrison’s nine routes run were 21 fewer than Nico’s. His target totals could soar as the routes ramp up in the coming weeks.
Travis Hunter – 4 targets, 4 rec
I believe Hunter is the first CB ever to get a write-up in this article series. After averaging 6.4 targets per game and running at least 23 routes in every game as a rookie, Hunter saw just four targets and ran seven routes in Week 6, both season highs, as his focus has shifted to the defensive side this season. Unless we see consistent signs of a role change, Hunter is nearly impossible to trust in fantasy lineups, despite the talent.
Juwan Johnson – 2 targets, 0 rec
After averaging 6.8 targets per game over the first four weeks, Johnson has now totaled just seven targets over the last two games. Not coincidentally, QB Tyler Shough has seen his pass attempts fall from 45.0 per game to 27.5 per game over the same time frame. Johnson is always a TD candidate, which is sometimes all you need from a TE, but he may see even more competition for targets when rookie Jordan Tyson comes off IR in the coming weeks.