Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 8 (Fantasy Football)
Welcome to the Target Trends article for Week 8! 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, with the season-long target leaders so far.
- After another big game on Monday night, CeeDee Lamb leads the league with 81 targets; Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Trey McBride are tied for second with 78 targets apiece. Chris Olave is next with 71, while Malik Nabers rounds out the top five with 70.
- Puka Nacua leads on a per-game basis, averaging 12.4 targets per game. CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Trey McBride, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are all averaging more than 11 targets per game.
- As you can imagine, McBride is easily setting the pace at TE. Behind him is Isaiah Likely with 63 targets, 15 fewer than McBride. Brock Bowers is another 11 targets behind Likely in third with 52.
- Ashton Jeanty leads all RBs with 44 targets. He is followed closely by Christian McCaffrey with 42 and Kyren Williams with 41. Jahmyr Gibbs is the only other RB with 40 targets, but his 6.7 targets per game lead the position.
Now let’s check out this week’s target trends heading into Week 8.
Trey McBride – 13 targets, 10 rec
McBride was the most targeted player of Week 7, which should come as no surprise. He set the NFL record for targets at the position last season with 169, and he is on pace to blow that out of the water this season. His current rate puts him on pace for 189 targets, 20 more than his record-setting total from just a season ago.
Matthew Golden – 12 targets, 6 rec
Josh Jacobs – 7 targets, 5 rec
Golden is beginning to pull away as Green Bay’s target leader. He has logged 12+ targets in four of seven games this season, and his 69 total targets are 13 more than Christian Watson. Meanwhile, Josh Jacobs was targeted seven times out of the backfield in his season debut. That is his second-highest target total as a Green Bay Packer.
Colston Loveland – 12 targets, 7 rec
After a slow start to the season, Loveland logged a season-high 12 targets on Thursday night while finishing as a top four fantasy TE in consecutive weeks. It was the most targets to go his way since he saw 15 in last season’s Wild Card playoff victory.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba – 12 targets, 9 rec
JSN continues to command targets at the highest rate in the league, literally. His current 36% target share is the same as last season, when he also led the league. That ia more than double the 17% rate he saw as a rookie and significantly higher than the 24% rate he saw in year two.
Tre Tucker – 12 targets, 5 rec
Ashton Jeanty – 8 targets, 8 rec
In a week with few target surprises, Tucker stands out most. His 12 targets were a season high and just the second time in his career he has seen double-digit targets in a game. He has put up three WR1 performances so far this season and is the WR13 overall. As for Jeanty, he continues to get it done through the air, catching all eight of the targets that went his way.
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Zay Flowers – 11 targets, 8 rec
Flowers’ target totals are a bit deceiving, as he missed Week 2 and played only about one third of the offensive snaps in Weeks 1 and 3 while battling a hamstring injury. However, he has averaged 10.3 targets per game over the last four weeks while playing a full allotment of snaps. Those four weeks just happen to coincide with Lamar Jackson’s injury.
Amon-Ra St. Brown – 11 targets, 9 rec
ARSB is another name you do not need me to tell you much about. He has seen exactly 11 targets in each of the last three games. After scoring five TDs in the first three games, he has been held out of the end zone for the past three. He tweaked his ankle in Week 7, but as long as he is on the field, he will continue to be one of the top target earners in the NFL.
KC Concepcion Jr. – 10 targets, 8 rec
Harold Fannin Jr. – 9 targets, 6 rec
Denzel Boston – 8 targets, 3 rec
Cleveland has arguably the most interesting young pass-catching corps in the NFL. Their two talented rookies are leading the way, with KC Concepcion’s 45 targets topping the group, followed closely by Boston’s 42 and Fannin’s 39. Boston leads the trio with 9.6 fantasy points per game, but it was Concepcion finally breaking through with a big day in Week 7, finishing as a top-10 fantasy WR with 19.2 fantasy points.
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Elic Ayomanor – 7 targets, 3 rec
Ayomanor has been quiet this season after showing some flashes as a rookie last year. His seven targets in Week 7 were his season high, and the most he had seen since ten went his way in the final week of last year. He also played a season-high 89% of the team’s snaps, which probably has something to do with Calvin Ridley’s absence, as the veteran missed the game with a hip injury.
Braelon Allen – 7 targets, 6 rec
Garrett Wilson – 3 targets, 2 rec
Allen isn’t known as a pass catcher, but he showed that he is capable by hauling in six of his career-high seven targets against the Dolphins. Unfortunately for his fantasy managers, his role will likely be diminished when Breece Hall returns, which could be as soon as Week 8. Even more surprising than Allen’s targets was Garrett Wilson’s lack of involvement. His three targets were his lowest total since Week 10 of last season, when he left the game early.
Keenan Allen – 3 targets, 3 rec
After totaling 29 targets in the previous three games, Allen felt like a veteran you could trust with a safe target floor. That wasn’t the case in Week 7, as he saw a season-low three targets. To be fair, no Colt saw more than four targets in the game. It is getting difficult to trust anyone other than Jonathan Taylor in Indy’s offense.