Fantasy Football Target Report for Week 14

Week 14 and the first round of most fantasy football playoffs have wrapped up, here’s hoping you advanced! I typically use the introduction of this article to review the target landscape from a season-long perspective but the thing is, that hasn’t really changed lately. Keenan Allen (144), Travis Kelce (120), and Alvin Kamara (96) continue to lead their respective position groups for the fourth consecutive week. So instead, let’s take a look at the target breakdown for this stellar 2020 rookie class. The top-targeted rookies are featured in the following table.

There are already seven rookies with 70+ targets this season. Six of them are pacing for 100+ targets on the season. For reference, last season D.K. Metcalf became the first rookie wide receiver since 2016 to hit 100 targets in a season, and he got there with exactly 100 targets. Interestingly enough, we’ve seen three running backs (Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, and Saquon Barkley) and a tight end (Evan Engram) see over 100 targets in their debut seasons over that same time span. 

Rookie running backs and tight ends haven’t been as impressive as the wide receiver class this season. You can peruse the tables below to see where they stand. 

Now let’s get on to the best target storylines of Week 14.

Brandon Aiyuk – 16 targets, 10 rec

Aiyuk is one of the shining stars of the rookie receiving class featured in the introduction. Despite missing three games so far this season, he’s easily leading the 49ers with 81 targets. The rookie seems to be getting better and better as the season progresses; he’s seen double-digit targets in three of the last four weeks while averaging 12.3 targets/game over that time. He should continue to see all the volume he can handle with Deebo Samuel’s latest hamstring injury and George Kittle’s return still very much in doubt. 

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Stefon Diggs – 14 targets, 10 rec

Diggs career season continued Sunday night. He’s currently the second-most targeted player of 2020 with 134 targets so far, just 15 shy of his career-high set in 2018 with Minnesota. He also became the first player this season to hit the 100 reception mark. The Bills-Vikings trade this offseason appears to be working out for both sides with Diggs thriving in Buffalo and Justin Jefferson looking like a true stud receiver for the Vikings.

Allen Robinson – 13 targets, 9 rec

The list of quarterbacks that Allen Robinson has been paired with over his career has been long and unimpressive, but the latest iteration of the Trubisky-Robinson combo is working out well so far. Robinson has averaged 11 targets/game since Trubisky retook the starting reigns for Chicago in Week 12 and he’s seen exactly 13 targets in two of those three games. 

Robby Anderson – 12 targets, 8 rec

With D.J. Moore sidelined on the COVID-19 reserve list, Anderson logged double-digit targets for the first time since Week 9. He’s having a career season in his first year with the Panthers; the 114 targets he’s seen so far in 2020 match the career-high he set back in 2017 with the Jets. His 83 receptions are, impressively, already 20 more than he hauled in during that 2017 season in New York,

Keelan Cole – 12 targets, 7 rec

Cole has had some nice fantasy performances this season but this past week marked the first time since Week 5 of 2018 that he recorded double-digit targets in a game. The quarterback situation in Jacksonville is in flux, but it didn’t seem to matter for Cole. He saw an even distribution of six targets a piece from both Mike Glennon and Gardner Minshew. It was Minshew, however, that delivered Cole his touchdown reception, not to mention a target that drew a pass interference penalty and won’t show up in the box score.

Laviska Shenault Jr. – 11 targets, 6 rec

Cole wasn’t the only Jaguar with a solid target outing in Week 14. Rookie Laviska Shenault Jr’s 11 targets were his new season-high, though they weren’t as evenly distributed as Cole’s. Shenault saw seven of his targets come from Glennon in the first half, while only four of them came from Minshew in the second half. Neither is expected to be Jacksonville’s quarterback of the future and Shenault’s best days are likely still ahead of him. 

T.J. Hockenson – 11 targets, 6 rec

The number eight overall pick from last year’s NFL draft is progressing quite nicely as the current fantasy TE3 on the season. The 11 targets he racked up against Green Bay were the most seen by a tight end in Week 14. His 88 targets on the season have him tied with Evan Engram for third-most among tight ends, though they still trail second-place Darren Waller by a significant 29 targets.

Alvin Kamara – 10 targets, 7 rec

Kamara’s recent target history playing with Tayson Hill has been well documented in this article series. He only saw six combined targets over Hill’s first three starts before notching double-digit targets on Sunday for the first time since Week 8. The unexpected negative game script was likely a major factor in the turnaround but it was nice to see nonetheless. It remains to be seen if Drew Brees returns for the Week 15 showdown with Kansas City, but fantasy managers can now feel confident in Kamara regardless.

Lynn Bowden – 9 targets, 7 rec

Bowden was [deep breath] a college wide receiver turned option quarterback that was drafted by the Raiders in the third of the NFL draft to be a running back before getting traded to the Dolphins a week before the season started [inhale]. So yeah, he’s had an interesting path so far. He had only accumulated six targets on the entire season before racking up nine this week. He may be in line for more targets next week as DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki each suffered injuries in the Week 14 loss to Kansas City.

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Austin Ekeler – 9 targets, 9 rec

What might’ve been if Ekeler hadn’t missed six games in the middle of the season. He has a 16 game pace of 117 targets this season, which would surpass the career-high he set last year. He’s been even better since returning, averaging 11.3 targets/game over the last three weeks. Perhaps most notably, he’s hauled in 41 of the 51 targets thrown his way so far this season.

Other notable target counts from Week 14:

Calvin Ridley – 12
Keenan Allen – 11
DeAndre Hopkins – 11
Davante Adams – 10
Cole Beasley – 10
Rashard Higgins – 10
Travis Kelce – 10
Darren Waller – 10
A.J. Brown – 9
D.J. Chark – 9
Tyler Boyd – 9
Jarvis Landry – 9
Nelson Agholor – 9
Curtis Samuel – 9
Mack Holins – 9
Michael Thomas – 8
DK Metcalf – 8
Robert Woods – 8
Justin Jefferson – 8
Marvin Jones – 8
Tee Higgins – 8
Darius Slayton – 8
Gabriel Davis – 8
Damiere Byrd – 8
Huner Henry – 8
Tyreek Hill – 7
Diontae Johnson – 7
JuJu Smith-Schuster – 7
T.Y. Hilton – 7
A.J. Green – 7
Russell Gage – 7
Hunter Renfrow – 7
Danny Amendola – 7
Kendrick Bourne – 7
Tyron Johnson– 7
Chad Hansen – 7
Logan Thomas – 7
Cole Kmet – 7
Dawson Knox – 7
Kareem Hunt – 7
Terry McLaurin – 6
Michael Gallup – 6
Marquise Brown – 6
Breshad Perriman – 6
Mark Andrews – 6
Mike Gesicki – 6
Dallas Goedert – 6
Jordan Akins – 6
Harrison Bryant – 6
Clyde Edwards-Helaire – 6
Mike Davis – 6
Chris Godwin – 3
Corey Davis – 3
Keke Coutee – 3
Zach Ertz – 3
DeVante Parker – 2
CeeDee Lamb – 2