Targets and Touches Report

Each week of the NFL season, we will be highlighting some players who have seen an increase in targets and/or touches. We will be diving deep to find players whose offensive roles are trending upward in order to find high floor and high upside plays for your DFS lineups each week.

Wide Receivers

Josh Gordon, Cleveland Browns

AVG Targets/Game: 11
AVG Receptions/Game: 4
Catch%: 36.4

Targets in Week 13: 11
Catches in Week 13: 4

DraftKings Salary: $5,500
FanDuel Salary: $6,700

Look who’s back! One of the most infamous “bad boys” of the NFL in recent memory just wrapped up his first game since 2014, and already provided a spark to the NFL’s worst scoring offense (14.7 PPG). Although the Browns still managed just 10 points, Gordon was a major factor, as he was targeted a whopping 11 times by DeShone Kizer in the loss. In fact, only seven WR were targeted more in Week 13 than Gordon, which bodes well for his potential moving forward.

The ineptitude of the Browns’ offense shouldn’t scare you away from Flash Gordon, as we already saw their desire to get him involved early and often. While it remains to be seen if Gordon will return to his pre-suspension form, he still has the type of upside that can win you a GPP (he had a two-game stretch with 498 receiving yards and 3 scores in 2013…yes, four-hundred and ninety-eight).

With the Browns far, far out of the playoff picture, it makes sense for them to feature Gordon at every opportunity, as he is still just 26 years old, and has played just one full 16-game season (2012).

Mostly due to game flow (they are ALWAYS losing), the Browns have thrown the ball on 62.35% of offensive plays this season, a number that is the sixth-highest in the NFL. Here’s a crazy stat for you: in last week’s loss to the Chargers, Kizer attempted 32 passes. Here’s the breakdown of those targets:

Gordon (WR): 11
David Njoku (TE): 6
Duke Johnson, Jr. (RB): 4
Corey Coleman (WR): 4 (zero catches)
Seth DeValve (TE): 3
Kenny Britt (WR): 3
Isaiah Crowell (RB): 1

Notice anything? Of the 32 pass attempts by Kizer, 18 went to a WR, and not only did Gordon see 11 of them, but Britt and Coleman COMBINED for 2-10 on seven targets. It seems like this one may just be an easy situation to exploit moving forward, as the Browns seem to have already crowned Gordon the #1 target in the offense…by a lot.

Robby Anderson, New York Jets

AVG Targets/Game: 6.7
AVG Receptions/Game: 3.7
Catch%: 55.4

Targets in Week 13: 10
Catches in Week 13: 6

DraftKings Salary: $6,300
FanDuel Salary: $7,200

Although it seems to be too late to jump aboard the Anderson bandwagon at a discount, it isn’t too late to take notice of what he has been doing in a relatively stagnant Jets offense. Anderson has scored six touchdowns in his last five games (including two last week), and has reached the 100-yard mark twice in that span.

Despite all of his success, “Mr. Anderson” has seen more than eight targets just twice (10 Week 12 vs. CAR, 12 Week 6 vs. New England). The Jets throw the ball on 58.07% of their offensive plays, which is right around league average, but he draws a juicy matchup this week against the Chiefs.

Kansas City ranks 20th against the pass, per Football Outsiders, and even better, they are 28th against #1 WR, and Anderson has clearly established himself as the class of the Gang Green receivers.

Among all WR in the NFL, Anderson’s seven touchdowns on the season are tied for fourth, and his 16 plays of 20+ yards are good for a third place tie with the likes of Julio Jones and Adam Thielen.

While the entire Jets offense has been inefficient (20.7 PPG), they have been marginally better over their last three (23.7), and have remained competitive, despite a 4-7 record on the season. Look for Anderson to continue his success this week against the Chiefs, but be cautious the following two weeks against the Broncos and Saints.

Marqise Lee, Jacksonville Jaguars Jaguars at Ravens 12/14/14

AVG Targets/Game: 7.5
AVG Receptions/Game: 3.9
Catch%: 56.7

Targets in Week 13: 10
Catches in Week 13: 7

DraftKings Salary: $5,500
FanDuel Salary: $6,600

Lee has been a benefactor of key injuries for Jacksonville, as both “Allens” (Robinson and Hurns) have missed significant time this season. Over the first seven weeks of the season, Lee saw double-digit targets just twice, but he has seen 9+ in four of the last five weeks. Not only that, but Lee has been productive over that span, scoring three times and reaching the 75-yard mark twice.

While he doesn’t have the GPP-winning upside that a guy like Gordon does, what he does have is a role in an offense that is battling for playoff positioning (Jacksonville is tied for the 3rd-best record the AFC at 8-4).

No team has thrown the ball less often than the Jags’ 50.56% this season, but a slightly encouraging number is their 53.03% over the last three weeks. A tenacious defense has afforded this offense the ability to run the ball and control clock, but with a division title on the line, you can expect Blake Bortles and company to continue to look Lee’s way.

Lee has nearly twice as many targets (90) as any other WR on the team’s active roster (Keelan Cole, 49), and while his workload is being cut into by Cole and Dede Westbrook (see last week’s article for his breakdown), he remains the top option on this offense at this point. He has seen 9 RZ targets this season, which is tops on the team (Hurns has seven, nobody else has more than four), and adds a dimension to his game during the absence of Robinson and Hurns.

Check out a full list of WR targets here, WR Targets

Tight Ends

Stephen Anderson, Houston Texans

AVG Targets/Game: 3.6
AVG Receptions/Game: 2
Catch%: 55

Targets in Week 13: 12
Catches in Week 13: 4

DraftKings Salary: $3,200
FanDuel Salary: $4,500

With yet another Texan TE now on IR (C.J. Fiedorowicz), Anderson has stepped in as the top TE, and is coming off a tremendous game against the Titans, where he hauled in five of a (top TE target total) whopping 12 targets for 78 yards and a score.

Houston targets a TE on 21.7% of their passing plays, which is just above the league average this season. That bodes well for Anderson moving forward, especially because he is the only active TE on the roster (as of Wednesday). While DeAndre Hopkins will always draw the most targets on the team, he’ll also draw the most attention of the opposing defense, which should open the door for plenty of production out of Anderson.

The upcoming schedule looks tough on paper, as the Texans will face the 49ers, Jaguars, and Steelers, who rank 3rd, 15th, and 1st against the TE, respectively, per Football Outsiders. However, with volume on his side, there is no reason to believe that Anderson can’t be productive, especially at a salary that is at or near the bare minimum on both sites.

The Texans are well out of the playoff picture by this point, barring an absolute miracle, so seeing what they have with the former 2016 UDFA from Cal. Tom Savage has been anything but consistent thus far this season, but in the absence of DeShaun Watson (who LOVED to chuck it down the field to his WRs), Anderson should still see some looks in this offense. The eventual return of Will Fuller should cut into any potential opportunities for Anderson, but Savage has acted as if his #2 WR doesn’t exist, even when he is on the field.

At least for this week, give Anderson a look.

Check out the full list of TE targets here, TE Targets

Running Backs

Andre Ellington, Houston Texans

AVG Targets/Game (with Texans): 6
AVG Receptions/Game (with Texans): 5
Catch%: 83.3

Targets in Week 13: 6
Catches in Week 13: 5

DraftKings Salary: $3,600
FanDuel Salary: $5,300

Here comes your ultimate wildcard, as Ellington, the former Arizona Cardinal, who was claimed on November 21st, saw his first game action in Week 13, catching five of six targets for 56 yards (and added two carries for -4 yards).

The pass-catching specialist was actually rolled out as a WR at times last week, after Braxton Miller left with a concussion and Bruce (the OTHER) Ellington left with hamstring injury, one that has now ended his season with an IR trip.

Having first been added for RB depth after D’Onta Foreman was lost for the season, it now looks like Ellington will get some work in both the running and passing game as the injuries continue to mount. He is anything but a safe option, but as a player who has shown potential (33 catches with Arizona this season), Ellington logged 47 snaps in Week 13, which is encouraging for his potential the rest of the way.

Number two running back Alfred Blue has shown time and time again that he isn’t an effective runner, and is virtually non-existent in the passing game, so he won’t be battling with Ellington for snaps (he had just nine in Week 13).

Ellington ended up having the third-most targets on the team in Week 13 behind Hopkins and Anderson, and until Will Fuller returns, he may just be the third option in this passing attack. Throw in some work on the ground, and Ellington becomes a risky, but intriguing option moving forward.

Check out the full list of RB touches here, RB Touches

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Justin has been obsessed with sports and statistics since the moment he was born. From reading and memorizing box scores in the newspaper 25 years ago to his start in DFS in 2013, he can always be found researching and analyzing new ways to help himself and others be profitable in DFS.

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