Fantasy Football: Week 14 Target Report
Welcome to the Target Report, where each week I highlight several key players who jump out to me in terms of their target share.
Marquise Goodwin: 12 Targets
Early in the season, Goodwin was regarded as a boom or bust play due to his big play potential and lack of volume. However, the landscape in San Francisco has changed dramatically since the acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo, who is obviously a much more competent QB than CJ Beathard and seems to have an instant connection with Goodwin. All four of the other 49ers WRs that received targets last week combined for 9 total.
Jesse James: 12 Targets
Big Ben threw for over 500 yards during this game in which Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant also saw double digit targets. The other TE, Vance McDonald also had 6 targets and Juju Smith-Schuster was missing due to his 1-game suspension. All of these factors culminated into Jesse James’ season high number of targets, the first time in his career that he’s had more than 8. All signs point to this being an outlier week and not any sort of volume that you can bank on in the fantasy playoffs.
Jeremy Maclin: 11 Targets
He managed to turn only 3 Joe Flacco targets into receptions and Mike Wallace actually turned in a better fantasy performance on less than half as many targets. However, coming off of 11 targets and now facing off against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, Maclin does have some appeal. Personally, I would err on the side of caution when considering whether or not to throw him in your line-up. The Ravens are a run first offense, and have the weapons between Alex Collins, Javorius Allen and Danny Woodhead to keep the ball on the ground for most of this matchup.
Kendall Wright: 11 Targets
In each and every season since 2014, Kendall Wright has had exactly one game over 100 yards. In 2014 it was Week 13, in 2015 it was Week 1, in 2016 it was Week 6, and this year it was Week 14. Now that he’s met his yearly quota, I think you can fully expect him to once again disappear. Do not pick up or start Kendall Wright.
Eric Ebron: 11 Targets
Marvin Jones, who has been averaging 7 targets a game, only had 4 while Ebron, who has averaged 5 targets a game, had 11. The two basically switched roles last week. While I don’t think you can expect much more than his average 4-5 targets, I do recognize that the TE position for fantasy is a total crap shoot. If you can can’t find someone to stream like Ben Watson with a plus matchup, at least Ebron is somewhat consistent with his volume and is on a good offense with a good QB.
Theo Riddick: 10 Targets
Riddick got the nod this week as the starter in the absence of Ameer Abdullah who is set to return this week from a neck injury. At the moment, it seems like Detroit will stick with Riddick ahead of Abdullah although both would likely see plenty of action. Theo has a long history of being a reliable fantasy asset with a safe floor because of his pass catching ability, but it would be wise to temper expectations with Abdullah active.
Jamaal Williams: 7 Targets
He caught all 7 of his targets for 69 yards and a TD through the air, which would have been a fine stat line, even if he hadn’t had an additional 12 carries. Aaron Rodgers is now back which obviously changes the offense drastically, but we’ve seen RBs like Eddie Lacy have fantasy success while playing caddy to Rodgers in the past. The good news for those looking to play Jamaal Williams is that Aaron Jones appears to have assumed a back-seat, back-up role for the time being.