This article is part of our On Target series.
TARGET LEADERS
| PLAYER | TARGETS | RECS | YDS | TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julio Jones | 119 | 80 | 1029 | 6 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 112 | 66 | 871 | 6 |
| Antonio Brown | 100 | 69 | 1002 | 3 |
| Demaryius Thomas | 93 | 61 | 745 | 1 |
| Odell Beckham | 92 | 59 | 759 | 7 |
| Keenan Allen | 89 | 67 | 725 | 4 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 87 | 43 | 703 | 3 |
| Brandon Marshall | 86 | 54 | 730 | 5 |
| Julian Edelman | 83 | 57 | 639 | 7 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | 81 | 46 | 639 | 4 |
| Allen Robinson | 80 | 40 | 707 | 6 |
| Michael Crabtree | 80 | 47 | 591 | 5 |
| Calvin Johnson | 78 | 48 | 659 | 3 |
| Jarvis Landry | 77 | 53 | 535 | 2 |
| Jordan Matthews | 75 | 48 | 531 | 2 |
| Steve Smith | 73 | 46 | 670 | 3 |
| Mike Evans | 73 | 32 | 541 | 1 |
| A.J. Green | 72 | 49 | 666 | 4 |
| Amari Cooper | 72 | 45 | 653 | 4 |
| Brandin Cooks | 72 | 45 | 603 | 4 |
| Travis Benjamin | 71 | 41 | 623 | 4 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 70 | 55 | 706 | 7 |
| Greg Olsen | 69 | 37 | 584 | 5 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 68 | 44 | 693 | 7 |
| Randall Cobb | 68 |
TARGET LEADERS
RED ZONE CONVERSION
| PLAYER | TARGETS | RECS | YARDS | TDS | RZ CONV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Eifert | 13 | 9 | 93 | 9 | 69 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 9 | 7 | 39 | 6 | 67 |
| Allen Robinson | 8 | 5 | 33 | 5 | 63 |
| Eric Decker | 11 | 7 | 49 | 6 | 55 |
| Gary Barnidge | 10 | 6 | 66 | 5 | 50 |
| John Brown | 8 | 4 | 40 | 3 | 38 |
| Danny Woodhead | 8 | 4 | 35 | 3 | 38 |
| Kyle Rudolph | 8 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 38 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 15 | 8 | 47 | 5 | 33 |
| Randall Cobb | 12 | 6 | 33 | 4 | 33 |
| Jordan Reed | 12 | 6 | 27 | 4 | 33 |
| Pierre Garcon | 9 | 5 | 33 | 3 | 33 |
| Brandon Marshall | 13 | 6 | 71 | 4 | 31 |
| Odell Beckham | 13 | 9 | 69 | 4 | 31 |
| Calvin Johnson | 10 | 6 | 44 | 3 | 30 |
| Antonio Brown | 10 | 7 | 39 | 3 | 30 |
| Julian Edelman | 17 | 11 | 82 | 5 | 29 |
| Greg Olsen | 11 | 7 | 72 | 3 | 27 |
| Julio Jones | 16 | 9 | 55 | 4 | 25 |
| A.J. Green | 12 | 5 | 41 | 3 | 25 |
| Delanie Walker | 8 | 7 | 50 | 2 | 25 |
| Antonio Gates | 8 | 3 | 32 | 2 | 25 |
| Coby Fleener | 8 | 6 | 29 | 2 | 25 |
| Martellus Bennett | 8 | 5 | 21 | 2 | 25 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 18 | 9 | 69 | 4 | 22 |
| Vincent Jackson | 9 | 4 | 40 | 2 | 22 |
| Marvin Jones | 9 | 4 | 32 | 2 | 22 |
| Travis Kelce | 9 | 4 | 30 | 2 | 22 |
| Larry Donnell | 9 | 5 | 28 | 2 | 22 |
| Devonta Freeman | 10 | 7 | 62 | 2 | 20 |
| Anquan Boldin | 15 | 6 | 52 | 2 | 13 |
| Chris Thompson | 8 | 7 | 54 | 1 | 13 |
| Theo Riddick | 8 | 6 | 40 | 1 | 13 |
| Bryan Walters | 8 | 4 | 39 | 1 | 13 |
| Matt Forte | 8 | 5 | 33 | 1 | 13 |
| Eddie Royal | 8 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 13 |
| Jimmy Graham | 8 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 13 |
| Heath Miller | 9 | 6 | 48 | 1 | 11 |
| Jordan Cameron | 9 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 11 |
| Steve Smith | 9 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 11 |
| Jordan Matthews | 10 | 6 | 49 | 1 | 10 |
| Alshon Jeffery | 10 | 4 | 46 | 1 | 10 |
| Terrance Williams | 10 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 10 |
| T.Y. Hilton | 12 | 6 | 40 | 1 | 8 |
| Jarvis Landry | 14 | 8 | 59 | 1 | 7 |
| Mike Evans | 10 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Charcandrick West | 9 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
Tyler Eifert is the main player that I want to discuss today. If we take into account the fact that he had a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens unfairly taken away (he crossed the plane, was controlling the ball... it was a touchdown), then Eifert has posted a godly 10 touchdowns on 13 targets in the red zone. Forget Baby Gronk, that is a whole new level of red zone domination. There will obviously be some regression in those numbers over the course of the season but I think Eifert has firmly cemented himself as the second-best tight end behind Gronkowski. It was Jimmy Graham, then it was supposed to be Travis Kelce, but now we have our answer. In leagues that still allow trading, adding Eifert to a strong playoff team makes a ton of sense and in daily fantasy, I'm basically treating him as a guy to get in tournament lineups every single week. Turning one slight eye to next season and it's pretty clear that Eifert with end up with a late second, early third round ADP and I honestly think that's justifiable provided Andy Dalton keeps playing like good Andy Dalton.
Allen Robinson is a player who hasn't gotten a ton of pub from me, personally, but who is having a phenomenal season. He's top 10 in the NFL in targets, top 10 in fantasy WR scoring and has an excellent matchup this week. In daily fantasy formats, Robinson is one of the best all around plays at any position. He is a really interesting case for fantasy because he defies a lot about what we know. Good fantasy wide receivers are often tied to efficient/good offenses and that isn't the case for Robinson (or Allen Hurns for that matter). While Blake Bortles has certainly piled up the volume stats for Jacksonville, there isn't a ton to suggest he's made some sort of "leap" as his adjusted yards per attempt is still only 6.7 yards. Robinson is talented enough to begin to buoy a passing offense, which is really impressive for such a young player. I called him "Dez Bryant with a boring name" when he graduated from Penn State and it appears that he is following that same developmental path, just in a worse offensive environment.
Eric Decker might be my favorite player in the league. This is going to be the last time I write about him in this space because by now you should all get the point. He's played in seven games this year (been very injured through two of them) and scored six touchdowns, all in the red zone. Since his freshmen year as a Golden Gopher, Decker has produced touchdowns at an above average rate and will continue to do so especially with Ryan Fitzpatrick, who isn't great but is good enough to get Decker the ball. You can still probably get Decker for free in any league and daily fantasy sites just give him away every week with a ridiculous salary. He hasn't been running down-the-field routes as much as he did in Denver (and it makes sense given the difference in QBs) but has more than made up for it with his red zone prowess. If you like winning at fantasy football, make it a point to invest yourself more in Decker in the future.
