Week 3 Target Report (Fantasy Football)
It was another wild week in the NFL. Now that the dust has settled on Week 3, it’s time to examine the aftermath and extract the trends that can help us in fantasy football. As usual with the target report, it’s important to remember that volume is king in fantasy football, and targets are one of the best indicators of volume. As the weeks progress and the sample sizes get larger, the trends become more obvious and useful. Here are the most notable target trends following the third week of NFL action.
Keenan Allen: 17 targets, 13 rec
Nobody should be shocked to see Allen top the list of targeted receivers this week. His 42 targets through the first three weeks lead the NFL, a healthy nine targets more than Michael Thomas and Tyler Boyd, who each check-in with 33. Allen may not be able to keep up his pace, which would be an NFL record 224 targets, but he’s got a great chance at being the highest targeted player in the league if he stays healthy.
Mike Evans: 15 targets, 8 rec
To anybody wondering if Chris Godwin’s emergence would relegate Mike Evans to a lower-tier fantasy option, the answer is a resounding “NO”. Evans had a monster week, hauling in three touchdowns while racking up 190 receiving yards. He showed that his week-winning ceiling is still there, and the Jameis Winston led Buccaneers offense should be able to sustain multiple fantasy-relevant pass-catchers throughout the season.
Darren Waller: 14 targets, 13 rec
Darren Waller’s Week 3 performance was simply amazing. His 14 targets were the third-highest on the week and his 29 targets for the season are just one shy of Evan Engram and Zach Ertz for most by a tight end. His 29.6% target share is significantly higher than Ertz (25.4%), Engram (23.2%) or any other tight end in the league. What’s even more impressive is that he’s caught 89.7% of his targets this season, outpacing Michael Thomas’ NFL record of 85% from last season. (To be fair, Thomas was at 95% through three games). Waller isn’t just a nice story, he’s a must-start tight end every week.
Tyler Lockett: 14 targets, 11 rec
Lockett joins Allen in the target report in back-to-back weeks, in large part because he’s now set personal target records in consecutive weeks. It’s been enough to see him climb into the top ten highest targeted wide receivers after three weeks, despite seeing just two targets in Week 1.
Preston Williams: 12 targets, 4 rec
The Josh Rosen era is officially underway in South Beach, and it appears Preston Williams is Rosen’s go-to target. The undrafted rookie averaged 5.5 targets per game in the first two weeks of the season before more than doubling that in Week 3 with Rosen under center. Williams isn’t your typical undrafted free agent; he was a second-team All-American in 2018 at Colorado State and would have likely been a high capital draft pick if it weren’t for off the field issues earlier in his college career. He could absolutely be a fantasy-relevant wideout as Miami will likely be playing catch-up in most of their games this season.
Alvin Kamara: 10 targets, 9 rec
After putting up a dud in Week 2, his fantasy owners weren’t sure how to view Kamara in a Brees-less Saints offense. Fortunately for them, he was back to his pass-catching ways in Week 3 as he led New Orleans in both targets, receptions, and receiving yards. He should remain the focal point of the offense while Brees recovers from his thumb injury.
David Johnson: 9 targets, 6 rec
Much like the Kamara owners, DJ owners breathed a sigh of relief this week. He showed no ill effects of the wrist injury that knocked him out for a few drives in last week’s game. Through three games he has a 12.4% target share. That may not seem like much, but it’s a relatively large slice considering the size of the passing pie with Kyler Murray and the pass-happy Cardinals, who lead the NFL with 137 pass attempts so far this season.
Adam Humphries: 9 targets, 6 rec
It seemed like Adam Humphries might be the next free agent to see his fantasy value plummet in Tennessee (See Dion Lewis). Humphries showed up with one of his classic PPR performances. One good showing doesn’t make him a lock to see big targets every week, but at least we got to see that he’s still capable of giving you a useable fantasy performance if he earns the trust of Marcus Mariota. (or Ryan Tannehill)
Nick Chubb: 7 targets, 4 rec
The top 12 fantasy running backs in 2018 saw on average of 83.25 targets on the year, which breaks down to just over five per game. It appears Chubb may be on the verge of joining this elite group. After seeing four targets in each of the first two games, he saw a career-high seven targets this week. Not only that, but he was on the field for 97% of the Browns snaps, acting as a true three-down workhorse that’s hard to find in the current NFL landscape.
Calvin Ridley 1 target, 1 rec
Just when we thought we might be able to trust Ridley as a solid WR2 for fantasy football he went and disappeared against the Colts. The single target he saw was a career-low, with the previous mark being the two targets that came in Week 1 of his rookie season. He’ll undoubtedly still have some blow-up games, but he’s too volatile to blindly trust on a week-to-week basis.
Honorable Mentions:
Brandin Cooks: 12
Cooper Kupp: 12
Christian Kirk: 12
Nelson Agholor: 12
Tyler Boyd: 11
Josh Gordon: 11
Auden Tate: 10
Julian Edelman: 10
Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 10
Marquise Brown: 9
Curtis Samuel: 7
Emmanuel Sanders: 4
D.J. Moore: 2