Fantasy Football: Week 11 Target Report
Welcome to the Week 11 Target Report, where each week I highlight several key players who jump out to me in terms of their target share.
Dez Bryant: 14 Targets
Things did not go well for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in Week 11 in the absence of LT Tyron Smith. He repeatedly targeted his outside receivers as opposed to the more shallow options such as TE Jason Witten and slot receiver Cole Beasley who combined for 5 targets. It was a very different approach than what we saw from Dak in his rookie season when he often leaned on his underneath pass catchers when facing adversity on the field. Coming off of back to back underwhelming performances, I would expect to see Dak return to what has helped him have success in the past, which is getting the ball to his TEs, slot receivers and RB’s in space on shorter routes.
Travis Kelce: 14 Targets
Kelce finished Week 11 tied for the most targets among all pass catchers which is no surprise given that he faced the defense that has given up the most fantasy points in the league at the TE position by a significant margin. Any TE playing the Giants should see a significant boost in targets and be able to capitalize.
Keenan Allen: 13 Targets
Keenan Allen is 8th in the league in total targets, 2nd in targets on third down, tied for 10th in red zone targets, and 9th in the league in total fantasy points in PPR scoring. And yet, we’ve been a little disappointed with him this season. Most of this disappointment stemming from the fact that he had zero TDs from Week 2 to Week 10. The pendulum finally swung in the other direction in Week 11 with his 2 TDs. Going forward, I would expect something closer to what he’s done for the majority of the season; reliable volume and fluky hard to predict TD numbers. Especially now that Mike Williams, who also attracted 8 targets in Week 11, is healthy giving Philip Rivers yet another option in the red zone.
Corey Coleman: 11 Targets
Corey Coleman finally returned to the fold from IR after breaking his hand for the second season in a row. His welcoming party came in the form of the stingiest defenses in the league against the WR position. A worse matchup for fantasy purposes literally doesn’t exist and still, he put up a respectable line of 6 receptions for 80 yards. That’s enough for me, he’s the only thing that currently resembles a WR in Cleveland for Week 12, so for this week, I’m all in. We’ll cross that Josh Gordon bridge when we come to it.
Michael Crabtree: 11 Targets
Three TDs in the last 8 weeks really isn’t what you signed up for when you drafted or traded for Michael Crabtree. He currently ranks outside of the top 20 in red zone targets at the WR position, trailing players such as Mohamed Sanu, Marquise Goodwin, Paul Richardson, and Bennie Fowler etc. His red zone usage or lack thereof is concerning, confusing, and frustrating to all. He also has 18 less total targets than Amari Cooper who might very well be the most volatile receiver in the league.
Davante Adams: 10 Targets
Adams remains the only startable WR in Green Bay in the post-Aaron Rodgers fall-out. The offense is anemic and awful in just about every way, lead by the seemingly completely inept Brett Hundley. I would prefer not to start any pass catchers from this offense because of the limited upside, but if you’re looking for safety in weekly target volume, it would appear that Adams is your guy.
Alex Collins: 7 Targets
He only caught 4 of these targets, but considering both Javorius “Buck” Allen and Danny Woodhead were active in this game, I felt that it was worth noting he lead the team in targets for Week 11. This is not a trend I expect to continue and it may not ever repeat itself again for the remainder of the season, but it does help to accentuate the point that the Ravens really seem to have taken a shine to Alex Collins. He seems to have a stranglehold on the early down, between the tackles work which should put him in weekly flex consideration, or even RB2 status in the right matchups.