Fantasy Football Target Report for Week 2
Week 2 of the 2020 NFL season may have been the most injury-riddled week in recent memory, so let’s turn the page and try to move on. One silver lining is that we now have two weeks of data to consider. While that’s a small sample size, it does technically allow us to examine trends…so here are some intriguing target trends thus far:
- Former NFL quarterback Logan Thomas is currently tied with Dallas Goedert as the third most targeted tight end in the NFL.
- Russell Gage has seen 21 targets over the first two weeks, the 9th most in the NFL. That’s five more than teammate Julio Jones and only 4 fewer than league target leader DeAndre Hopkins. Fellow Falcon Calvin Ridley has one more target than Gage with 22.
- Christian McCaffrey broke the NFL record for targets to a running back with 142 in 2019. Through two games D’Andre Swift, Devin Singletary, Myles Gaskin, and Giovani Bernard all have more targets than CMC.
While these fun facts may or may not hold up throughout the season, they’re definitely worth noting. Now let’s look at the even smaller one-week sample size that was Week 2.
Darren Waller – 16 targets, 12 rec
Waller was a target magnet Monday night, setting a career-high and leading all pass-catchers in Week 2 with 16 targets. He’s now the most targeted tight end and the second most targeted player in the NFL through two weeks of 2020. His current 16-game pace of 192 targets is likely unsustainable, but he could end up as the most-targeted tight end of 2020.
Travis Kelce – 14 targets, 9 rec
After a pedestrian six targets in the season opener, Kelce led all pass-catchers on Sunday with 14 targets (Waller surpassed him Monday night) falling just one shy of his career-high. He may be the second-most targeted tight end in the NFL thus far, but many would argue he’s locked in as the TE1 in all of fantasy football.
Diontae Johnson – 13 targets, 8 rec
The Diontae vs. JuJu debate raged all offseason. After the first two weeks, Diontae is off to a nice lead. Johnson has led Pittsburgh in targets both games so far and has nine more targets than JuJu.
Stefon Diggs – 13 targets, 8 rec
It’s been somewhat shocking to see just how much the Bills and Josh Allen have been airing out the ball so far in the 2020 season, and Diggs has been the top beneficiary. He has a dominant 27% target market share so far and is separating himself as a true alpha wideout in the league.
N’Keal Harry – 12 targets, 8 rec
Julian Edelman stole the show with his career-high 179 receiving yards, but Harry quietly led the Patriots with 12 targets Sunday night, twice as many as he saw in Week 1. Last year’s first-round pick is showing signs of life and could have a bright future, as early as this season, in New England.
Mike Gesicki – 11 targets, 8 rec
Gesicki came up one target shy of his career-high of 12 targets, but he smashed his personal best for receiving yards in a single game by 35 yards. He leads the Dolphins with 16 targets through the first two weeks and has seen nearly a 21% target market share from Ryan Fitzpatrick. There’s no guarantee he remains the target leader if/when Tua Tagovailoa takes over at quarterback but for now, it appears we’re witnessing the true Gesicki breakout.
Dalton Schultz – 10 targets, 9 rec
Oh Blake Jarwin, what could’ve been. Schultz stepped up as the Cowboys top tight end and immediately led the team in targets. He was also the only player on the team with a receiving touchdown in the wild comeback win Sunday. Schultz should be considered a priority add for anybody in need of a tight end.
Drew Sample – 9 targets, 7 rec
Sample would have been a borderline mention most weeks with nine targets, but when you consider the fact that C.J. Uzomah saw six targets and a touchdown before exiting with a season-ending Achilles injury, you can see why we should take notice. Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow leads the NFL in pass attempts through two weeks, so any significant piece of the passing game looks to have fantasy value.
Aaron Jones – 8 targets, 4 rec
Davante Adams was the NFL’s target king of Week 1, but Jones was actually Green Bay’s target leader in Week 2. Adams only saw three targets in the game and was limited near the end of the game with a hamstring tweak, so it’s worth noting that Jones averaged 6.8 targets per game last season in the four games that Adams missed. Jones has been the RB1 through two weeks and his current 19% target share gives him a good chance to stay there.
Mike Davis – 8 targets, 8 rec
Christian McCaffrey set an NFL record last season with 142 targets, but he exited early in the 4th quarter of Sunday’s game and is expected to miss several weeks with a high ankle sprain. Journeyman running back Mike Davis stepped right in and notched seven of his eight targets as the Panther’s played catchup late in the game. He’s likely to take over as the primary back for Carolina while McCaffrey is out and looks to play a key role in the passing game.
D.J. Chark – 4 targets, 4 rec
After a breakout 2019 campaign, Chark finds himself as the fourth most targeted Jaguar through the first two games of the season. He’s been ultra-efficient, catching all seven of his targets thus far for 109 yards and one touchdown. It seems like only a matter of time before the talent wins out and Chark starts racking up the targets, but it’s understandable if fantasy managers are getting nervous.
Will Fuller – 0 targets, 0 rec
We should have known it was too good to be true when Fuller wrapped up Week 1 with 10 targets and no sign of injury. Alas, Fuller appeared to hurt his hamstring in Week 2. He still played on 63% of Houston’s snaps Sunday, but he failed to log even a single target.
Other notable target counts in Week 2:
D.J. Moore – 13
A.J. Green – 13
Tyreek Hill – 11
Keenan Allen – 10
Robby Anderson – 10
Terry McLaurin – 10
Calvin Ridley – 10
Mike Evans – 10
Amari Cooper – 9
CeeDee Lamb – 9
Russell Gage – 9
DeAndre Hopkins – 9
Allen Robinson – 9
DeSean Jackson – 9
Isaiah Ford – 9
Logan Thomas – 9
Alvin Kamara – 9
DeVante Parker – 8
Adam Thielen – 8
Chris Hogan – 8
Braxton Berrios – 8
Jordan Reed – 8
Dallas Goedert – 8
Hayden Hurst – 8
Evan Engram – 8
Hunter Henry – 8
Clyde Edwards-Helaire – 8
Zach Ertz – 7
Miles Sanders – 7
Myles Gaskin – 7
KJ Hamler – 7
LeSean McCoy – 7
Julio Jones – 4
Mark Andrews – 3
Rob Gronkowski – 1
Nyheim Hines – 1
Emmanuel Sanders – 1
Todd Gurley – 0