Fantasy Football Target Trends for Week 8
Welcome to the target trends article headed into Week 8! Now that we’re in the depth of bye weeks, looking at overall targets can be a bit skewed. To counter that, I’ll be referencing targets/game more frequently when looking at season-long target trends. With that in mind, let’s look at the overall target leaders to this point in the season.
Cooper Kupp continues to lead the way in targets. His 11.6 targets/game is more than a full target/game ahead of runner-up Deebo Samuel, who checks in at 10.5. Travis Kelce leads tight ends in both overall targets (65) and targets/game (9.3). Najee Harris was on a bye in Week 7, but he maintains the lead for running backs at 7.7 targets/game. D’Andre Swift isn’t far behind with 7.4.
But enough about the season-long leaders, let’s take a look at the most telling target performances from Week 8.
Tee Higgins – 15 targets, 7 rec
Ja’Marr Chase – 10 targets, 8 rec
Higgins was the target leader on the week, but Chase has the most targets this season for Cincinnati with 51. Higgins, however, leads the team when it comes to targets/game with 8.6. Chase is doing far more with his targets, averaging a ridiculous 2.52 fantasy points/target, more than twice as many as Higgins.
Marquise Brown – 14 targets, 5 rec
Hollywood saw his targets jump from 71 as a rookie to 100 in his second season. Now he’s on pace for 138 in his third professional campaign. Rookie Rashod Bateman has entered the mix the past two weeks, but it’s clear that Brown is still the WR1 in Baltimore.
Cooper Kupp – 13 targets, 10 rec
Target King. WR1. Matthew Stafford’s breakfast buddy. Any way you look at it, Kupp has been an absolute stud this season. Not much needs to be said about the target king. He’s the only player with 10+ targets in every game this season. Count your blessings if he’s on your fantasy roster.
Travis Kelce – 12 targets, 7 rec
The Kanas City offense was a disaster in Week 7, but Kelce still came through. He leads all tight ends with 65 targets and is now ahead of Darren Waller in both total targets and target/game on the season. He’s the sixth-most targeted pass-catchers in the NFL.
Terry McLaurin – 12 targets, 7 rec
McLaurin is the fifth-most targeted player in the NFL and the fantasy WR12 on the season, but he’s been anything but consistent. He’s finished as either a top-5 fantasy wideout or outside the top-40 each week. His combination of talent and target share gives him a huge weekly ceiling, but unfortunately, his team situation also gives him a lower weekly floor than you’d like.
Chris Godwin – 11 targets, 8 rec
Mike Evans – 10 targets, 6 rec
With Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski sidelined with injures, Tom Brady funneled the targets to Godwin and Evans. The next most targeted players for Tampa were Leonard Fournette and Cameron Brate, who each saw four. Evans and Godwin are neck and neck in targets on the season, with Evans just two ahead of Godwin at this point.
Alvin Kamara – 11 targets, 10 rec
Remember when everyone was panicking two weeks ago after Kamara went targetless against the Giants? That panic appears to have been overblown. He’s seen 19 targets combined in the two weeks since. He leads the Saints with a 23% target share this season.
Calvin Ridley – 10 targets, 4 rec
Kyle Pitts – 8 targets, 7 rec
We haven’t been able to use Ridley in fantasy lineups since Week 4, but he stepped right back into double-digit targets in Week 7. He’s averaging 10.4 targets/game, tied for third-most in the NFL. Meanwhile, Pitts is catching fire. He’s averaging 7.3 targets/game on the season, but that number has risen to 9.0 over his last three games.
D’Andre Swift – 10 targets, 8 rec
Swift is dominating the targets out of the backfield in Detroit. Teammate Jamaal Williams out-targeted him Week 1, but in the six games since, Swift has seen 41 targets compared to Williams’ nine. Swift is currently on pace for 126 targets on the season. For reference, J.D. McKissic led all running backs with 110 last season in 16 games.
Darius Slayton – 9 targets, 5 rec
Slayton returned for his first game since Week 3 and saw a season-high nine targets to lead the way for the Giants in Week 7. It’s been a revolving door for wideouts in New York thanks to a plethora of receiver injuries. The Giants haven’t had a single wide receiver play all seven games this season. Sterling Shepard, who’s played four games, leads the team with 36 targets.
Michael Carter – 9 targets, 8 rec
Coming off the bye week, the Jets ramped up the utilization of their rookie running back. His season-high nine targets led the team and accounted for a 22% share. With Zach Wilson set to miss a few weeks with a knee injury, the Jets could continue to run their offense through Carter.
Allen Robinson – 4 targets, 2 rec
It can’t get much worse for Robinson. If you take out his 11-target performance in Week 1, he’s down to an abysmal 4.8 targets/game. He trails teammate Darnell Mooney by four targets on the season. He’s tied with Mecole Hardman and behind the likes of Chase Claypool and Laviska Shenault in total targets, despite playing more games than them.
Check here for all the season-long target leaders.