On Target: More Than Just The Looks

During Week 2, there was a total of 1,018 passes thrown. There were 645 receptions made for 7,410 yards and 46 touchdowns. Your job is to get yourself as big a slice of that pie as you can each week. It's my job to tell you exactly where to cut to ensure that your slice is the biggest in your league. Another week's worth of data is in the books and you can see the Targets Percentage Leaderboard (TPL) start to take shape. With each passing week, our list of the top 60 fantasy receivers will help make your decision-making process of who to start and who to sit a whole lot easier.

Before we hit the TPL, it makes sense to look at a weekly targets list before checking in with the aggregate. Quite often you'll have a receiver who a quarterback locks onto for a game, whether it's a comfort factor or just a really favorable match-up. However, that receiver may not normally be a favorite target and while his numbers might look great for the week, the chance of a repeat performance is low. How many times have you seen a guy blow up in one game and then fade into obscurity for the duration of the season? Case in point: Kevin Ogletree. During Week 1 Ogletree saw 11 targets, while this past week he saw just one in a game where Tony Romo threw 11 more passes than the game before. With a weekly targets leaderboard, we will hopefully isolate those types of instances so you don't end up using a guy coming off of a fluke performance.

Top 20 Targets – Week 2

This week, however, we don't seem to have any outliers as everyone here ranks in the top 60 in aggregate target percentage. Ideally that's the way it should be, but more often than not, we'll have a few exceptions to the rule. When there isn't though consider it a plus, because it will help you avoid the temptation to blow your waiver priority/FAAB budget on some flavor of the week that will inevitably leave some putrid taste in your mouth when he pulls an Ogletree the following week.

Targets Percentage Leaderboard

While Santonio Holmes may have gotten his wish and is now the most targeted player on the Jets, his overall value could take a hit as the season progresses. His target percentage should remain solid, but he is going to be the victim of a low catch percentage due to potential accuracy issues by Mark Sanchez and, eventually, Tim Tebow.

Seventeen tight ends on this list is probably the best way to illustrate the changes that this position has gone through over the last few seasons. Not only is it no longer a throw-away position during drafts, but it is also now suddenly becoming a lot deeper than in previous years. You'll also notice that many of them are also hot Red Zone Targets. Martellus Bennett, Dennis Pitta and Todd Heap have all seen a number of looks inside the 20 over the last two weeks.

Granted, it's just two weeks in, but there is definitely some surprise seeing Demaryius Thomas ranking above Eric Decker in target percentage. Conventional wisdom during the preseason had Decker as the possession receiver and most reliable target for Peyton Manning. However, Thomas seems to have built a strong enough rapport to get a majority of the looks.

Welcome back, Dwayne Bowe. We knew it was just a matter of time before Matt Cassel remembered that you were the go-to guy in Kansas City. Dexter McCluster should have his moments, but the bulk of the targets should head Bowe's way.

Darren McFadden, Ray Rice and Darren Sproles should be paying strong dividends throughout the year as the top pass-catching running backs in the game. Sproles is almost exclusively a pass-catcher in New Orleans but McFadden and Rice should blow up even more as they will hopefully be receiving 15 to 20 rushing attempts per game on top of their receiving work.

With another two red zone targets this week, Sidney Rice's value should continue to climb. He may not rack up the yardage, but if he remains Russell Wilson's top choice when the Seahawks get inside the 20-yard line, the points will soon follow.

Reggie Wayne may be Andrew Luck's favorite, but Donnie Avery is seeing a substantial percentage of the targets and just as much love inside the red zone. The undersized wide receiver has unbelievable speed, so he should start pulling down some serious yardage as he starts turning 12-yard passes into 40-yard receptions.

For these first few weeks, we should see a fair amount of names moving in and out of the TPL. Eventually and ideally it will stabilize, but for now let's track the movement. Many names that drop off early on due to a slow week, should continue to be monitored as they could be headed back soon enough. Here's a look at some of the notable players who are out but could head back in, and vice versa.

In But Not For Long:Greg Olsen, Kendall Wright, Michael Jenkins

Out But Not Forgotten:Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Andre Roberts, Andrew Hawkins, Antonio Gates (ribs), Greg Jennings (groin), Heath Miller, LeSean McCoy, Marques Colston, Nate Washington
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