Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 9
Welcome to the target trends article for Week 9! We’re in the heart of the season and dealing with multiple teams on bye over the next few weeks. Target trends are more important than ever when trying to find startable fantasy options. As usual, this article will start with the overall target trends on the season.
Tyreek Hill leads the way with 92 targets on the season. That’s eight more than Cooper Kupp, though Kupp is leading the league with 12 targets per game, slightly ahead of Hill’s 11.5 targets per game. It’s a similar story at tight end, where Mark Andrews leads in overall targets at 64, but Travis Kelce is leading the way with 8.6 targets per game. Even with sitting out on bye this week, Austin Ekeler leads running backs with 61 targets, or 8.7 targets per game, on the season.
I’ll continue to lead off this article with season-long target leaders but for now, let’s check out this week’s target trends heading into Week 9.
Tyreek Hill: 14 targets, 12 rec
Hill’s massive season in Miami continues. He’s the target leader on the week and the season and is extremely productive with those targets. He’s currently on pace for 196 targets and what would be a new NFL record of 2,042 receiving yards. Hill has been so good that it’s easy to overlook Jaylen Waddle, who’s on pace for 123 targets and over 1,500 receiving yards himself. The two Miami wideouts account for a 55% team target share.
DeAndre Hopkins: 13 targets, 12 rec
Rondale Moore: 8 targets, 7 rec
You have to be happy if you held on to Hopkins through his suspension. He’s now seen 27 targets over his first two games back, a whopping 38% target share. While Hopkins is the target hog in Arizona, it’s also worth noting that Rondale Moore has seen at least eight targets in three of his last four games, primarily from the slot.
Jakobi Meyers: 12 targets, 9 rec
Meyers had seen his targets declining in three consecutive weeks, so it’s a good sign that he was peppered in Week 8 against the Jets. Meyers isn’t likely to win you any fantasy weeks, but his 26% target share means he isn’t likely to lose you a week either. He is the only New England pass-catcher that you can trust in a fantasy lineup.
A.J. Brown: 11 targets, 6 rec
Brown has now seen double-digit targets three times this season, and he made the most of them with his three-touchdown performance in Week 8. He’s on pace for 155 targets this season, which would smash his previous career-high of 106. Part of that is due to health, as Brown has never played more than 14 games in a season. He’ll set multiple career bests if he plays a full 17 games.
DJ Moore: 11 targets, 6 rec
Terrace Marshall: 9 targets, 4 rec
It was starting to look like we could trust Moore again after his ten-target outing in Week 7. After his eruption of 11 targets in Week 8, everybody should be back in on him for fantasy. With Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson off the team, Moore has seen a 37% target share over the past two weeks. He’s turned that target share into 221 receiving yards and two touchdowns and is looking like the alpha wideout that the fantasy football community has always wanted him to be. Meanwhile, it should be noted that Terrace Marshall is starting to make some noise as the number two receiver on the team. He saw a career-high nine targets and ran just one fewer route than Moore.
Mike Evans: 11 targets, 6 rec
Chris Godwin: 11 targets, 6 rec
The Tampa Bay duo of Evans and Godwin are getting plenty of targets, they just aren’t scoring touchdowns. They’ve each seen at least a 25% team target share in consecutive weeks, but neither has found the end zone. Godwin is yet to score a touchdown on the season, and Evans hasn’t scored one since Week 4. It should only be a matter of time before Tom Brady starts throwing for scores again, and Evans and Godwin will likely be the players catching them.
Alvin Kamara: 10 targets, 9 rec
After a slow start to the season, it’s back to Super Kamario for the New Orleans running back. A big reason for the uptick in fantasy points has been his increased work in the passing game. After seeing just 17 targets over his first three games, he’s now seen an impressive 28 targets over the past three. It amounted to a 26% target share over that span, the same as leading receiver Chris Olave’s team target share on the season.
Tyler Conklin: 10 targets, 6 rec
Conklin has 48 targets on the season, the fifth most among tight ends, and nearly 21% of them came in Week 8. He set a new career high with the ten targets against New England and turned them into the top tight end performance of the week. He may never catch two touchdowns in a game again, but the target volume makes him a startable tight end in fantasy football.
Kyle Pitts: 9 targets, 5 rec
Marcus Mariota attempted 28 passes in Week 8, which led to Pitts’ best fantasy performance of the season. He now has the second-highest target share among tight ends at 26.4%, trailing only Mark Andrews and his 28.8% share in Baltimore. It will likely continue to be a frustrating season with Pitts on the run-heavy Falcons, but this week was a reminder of how good he can be when he gets target volume.
Antonio Gibson: 7 targets, 7 rec
Gibson has quietly been getting consistent work in the passing game for the Commanders. He has 35 targets on the season, the same number as Saquon Barkley. Gibson has been productive with the work through the air, catching touchdowns in consecutive weeks.
Davante Adams: 5 targets, 1 rec
Things couldn’t have gone much worse for the Raiders in Week 8, and Adams was no exception. The five targets are the fewest that have gone his way since Week 6 of the 2021 season. It’s likely just a blip on the radar as Adams, who battled the flu all week, is still averaging 9.7 targets per game this season.
Elijah Moore: 1 target, 0 rec
Moore now resides in the dog house for the Jets’ offense. His single target came on one of just seven routes he ran, fewer than Denzel Mims and Jeff Smith. He averaged 10.3 targets per game over his last three healthy games last season for the Jets but has seen only one since Week 5.