2021 Targets – Regular Season Recap
5 min read
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Rams on their victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20! Now what? Wait until the next NFL season? I am not one to sit around and wait for the next Fantasy Football Season because I enjoy learning! Super Bowl LVI is in the past and we are making our offseason improvements to win championships again next year in fantasy football!
Why don’t we look back at the past to help prepare for the future and the upcoming 2022 Fantasy Football Season. Initially, I would like to look back at the regular season stats that I utilize the most. True to the site name, my Targets and Touchdowns pages for the 2021 Regular Season. Statistics that in my view can be most beneficial in constructing a winning fantasy football team (and used throughout the fantasy football season to find your next pickups for your teams) each season as they speak to the specific opportunity players see through the year. This week I start with Targets from the 2021 Regular Season!
Feel free to reference the Targets and Touchdowns pages to see who has gotten the looks and end-zone appearances through the regular season. Targets are a great stat to keep track of to help find opportunities and the next players ready to score points in fantasy football!
Targets – Top 50
With Targets the majority of the players we will come across are going to be Wide Receivers since they are your primary pass catchers. Other positions do mix in and as the NFL becomes more and more friendly to throwing passes, the more I value those pass catchers (especially if they aren’t at the Wide Receiver by position) on the other end of those passes.
Player | Team | Receptions | Yards | Total TDs | Targets | Games Played | Targets/Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cooper Kupp | LA | 145 | 1,947 | 16 | 191 | 17 | 11.24 |
Davante Adams | GB | 123 | 1,553 | 11 | 169 | 16 | 10.56 |
Diontae Johnson | PIT | 107 | 1,161 | 8 | 169 | 16 | 10.56 |
Justin Jefferson | MIN | 108 | 1,616 | 10 | 167 | 17 | 9.82 |
Stefon Diggs | BUF | 103 | 1,225 | 10 | 164 | 17 | 9.65 |
D.J. Moore | CAR | 93 | 1,157 | 4 | 163 | 17 | 9.59 |
Tyreek Hill | KC | 111 | 1,239 | 9 | 159 | 17 | 9.35 |
Keenan Allen | LAC | 106 | 1,138 | 6 | 157 | 16 | 9.81 |
Mark Andrews | BAL | 107 | 1,361 | 9 | 154 | 17 | 9.06 |
Marquise Brown | BAL | 91 | 1,008 | 6 | 145 | 16 | 9.06 |
Darnell Mooney | CHI | 81 | 1,055 | 4 | 140 | 17 | 8.24 |
Jaylen Waddle | MIA | 104 | 1,015 | 6 | 140 | 16 | 8.75 |
Brandin Cooks | HOU | 90 | 1,037 | 6 | 134 | 16 | 8.38 |
Travis Kelce | KC | 92 | 1,125 | 9 | 134 | 16 | 8.38 |
Terry McLaurin | WAS | 77 | 1,053 | 5 | 130 | 17 | 7.65 |
D.K. Metcalf | SEA | 75 | 967 | 12 | 129 | 17 | 7.59 |
Michael Pittman | IND | 88 | 1,082 | 6 | 129 | 17 | 7.59 |
Mike Williams | LAC | 76 | 1,146 | 9 | 129 | 16 | 8.06 |
Ja'Marr Chase | CIN | 81 | 1,455 | 13 | 128 | 17 | 7.53 |
Hunter Renfrow | LV | 103 | 1,038 | 9 | 128 | 17 | 7.53 |
Chris Godwin | TB | 98 | 1,103 | 5 | 127 | 14 | 9.07 |
Jakobi Meyers | NE | 83 | 866 | 2 | 126 | 17 | 7.41 |
Deebo Samuel | SF | 77 | 1,405 | 6 | 121 | 16 | 7.56 |
Marvin Jones | JAX | 73 | 832 | 4 | 120 | 17 | 7.06 |
CeeDee Lamb | DAL | 79 | 1,102 | 6 | 120 | 16 | 7.50 |
Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | 90 | 912 | 5 | 119 | 17 | 7.00 |
Mike Evans | TB | 74 | 1,035 | 14 | 114 | 16 | 7.13 |
Cole Beasley | BUF | 82 | 693 | 1 | 112 | 16 | 7.00 |
Zach Ertz | PHI/ARI | 74 | 763 | 5 | 112 | 17 | 6.59 |
Mike Gesicki | MIA | 73 | 780 | 2 | 112 | 17 | 6.59 |
Robby Anderson | CAR | 53 | 519 | 5 | 110 | 17 | 6.47 |
Tee Higgins | CIN | 74 | 1,091 | 6 | 110 | 14 | 7.86 |
Kyle Pitts | ATL | 68 | 1,026 | 1 | 110 | 17 | 6.47 |
Tyler Lockett | SEA | 73 | 1,175 | 8 | 107 | 16 | 6.69 |
A.J. Brown | TEN | 63 | 869 | 5 | 105 | 13 | 8.08 |
Chase Claypool | PIT | 59 | 860 | 2 | 105 | 15 | 7.00 |
Amari Cooper | DAL | 68 | 865 | 8 | 104 | 15 | 6.93 |
Dalton Schultz | DAL | 78 | 808 | 8 | 104 | 17 | 6.12 |
DeVonta Smith | PHI | 64 | 916 | 5 | 104 | 17 | 6.12 |
Christian Kirk | ARI | 77 | 982 | 5 | 103 | 17 | 6.06 |
Laviska Shenault | JAX | 63 | 619 | 0 | 100 | 16 | 6.25 |
Courtland Sutton | DEN | 58 | 776 | 2 | 98 | 17 | 5.76 |
Adam Thielen | MIN | 67 | 726 | 10 | 95 | 13 | 7.31 |
Tyler Boyd | CIN | 67 | 828 | 5 | 94 | 16 | 5.88 |
Austin Ekeler | LAC | 70 | 647 | 8 | 94 | 16 | 5.88 |
Russell Gage | ATL | 66 | 770 | 4 | 94 | 14 | 6.71 |
Najee Harris | PIT | 74 | 467 | 3 | 94 | 17 | 5.53 |
George Kittle | SF | 71 | 910 | 6 | 94 | 14 | 6.71 |
Cole Kmet | CHI | 60 | 612 | 0 | 93 | 17 | 5.47 |
Darren Waller | LV | 55 | 665 | 2 | 93 | 11 | 8.45 |
Of the Top 50 targeted players from the 2021 Regular Season the list includes: 2 Running Backs, 9 Tight Ends and 39 Wide Receivers. The scarcity in which you find those 11 Non-Wide Receivers is an opportunity to get Wide Receiver production at another position. I would imagine many of those 11 were on playoff and probably championship fantasy football teams in 2021 because they were so highly targeted. They were players that consistently saw Targets for their teams, and you can’t have receptions without Targets! The 11 Non-Wide Receivers on the list are highlighted below and it may be wise to keep these names at the ready if you think they will find themselves with similar opportunities in the 2022 Fantasy Football Season.
Targets – Running Backs
- Austin Ekeler 2
- Najee Harris
Targets – Tight Ends
- Mark Andrews 2
- Travis Kelce 1
- Zach Ertz 2
- Mike Gesicki 2
- Kyle Pitts
- Dalton Schultz 2
- George Kittle 2
- Cole Kmet
- Darren Waller 1
1. Top 50 in Targets in 2020!
2. Top 100 in Targets in 2020!
Targets – Top 100
Going further down the list and out of curiosity I looked at the players that fell in the 51-100 rankings of Targets in the 2021 Regular Season. Again, most of these players will be Wide Receivers but the scarcity in which you find those Non-Wide Receivers is an opportunity to get Wide Receiver production at another position. This list of players could be ready to crack the Top 50 in Targets in the upcoming 2022 Fantasy Football Season.
Player | Team | Receptions | Yards | Total TDs | Targets | Games Played | Targets/Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A.J. Green | ARI | 54 | 848 | 3 | 92 | 16 | 5.75 |
Noah Fant | DEN | 68 | 670 | 4 | 90 | 16 | 5.63 |
Rob Gronkowski | TB | 55 | 802 | 6 | 89 | 12 | 7.42 |
Van Jefferson | LA | 50 | 802 | 6 | 89 | 17 | 5.24 |
Tyler Conklin | MIN | 61 | 593 | 3 | 87 | 17 | 5.12 |
Jarvis Landry | CLE | 52 | 570 | 2 | 87 | 12 | 7.25 |
Tyler Higbee | LA | 61 | 560 | 5 | 85 | 15 | 5.67 |
Tim Patrick | DEN | 53 | 734 | 5 | 85 | 16 | 5.31 |
Brandon Aiyuk | SF | 56 | 826 | 5 | 84 | 17 | 4.94 |
Marquez Callaway | NO | 46 | 698 | 6 | 84 | 17 | 4.94 |
Leonard Fournette | TB | 69 | 454 | 2 | 84 | 14 | 6.00 |
T.J. Hockenson | DET | 61 | 583 | 4 | 84 | 12 | 7.00 |
Jared Cook | LAC | 48 | 564 | 4 | 83 | 16 | 5.19 |
Mecole Hardman | KC | 59 | 693 | 2 | 83 | 17 | 4.88 |
Odell Beckham Jr. | CLE/LA | 44 | 537 | 5 | 82 | 14 | 5.86 |
K.J. Osborn | MIN | 50 | 655 | 7 | 82 | 17 | 4.82 |
Pat Freiermuth | PIT | 60 | 497 | 7 | 79 | 16 | 4.94 |
D'Andre Swift | DET | 62 | 452 | 2 | 78 | 13 | 6.00 |
Elijah Moore | NYJ | 43 | 538 | 5 | 77 | 11 | 7.00 |
Dallas Goedert | PHI | 56 | 830 | 4 | 76 | 15 | 5.07 |
Kenny Golladay | NYG | 37 | 521 | 0 | 76 | 14 | 5.43 |
Hunter Henry | NE | 50 | 603 | 9 | 75 | 17 | 4.41 |
Evan Engram | NYG | 46 | 408 | 3 | 73 | 15 | 4.87 |
DeVante Parker | MIA | 40 | 515 | 2 | 73 | 10 | 7.30 |
Emmanuel Sanders | BUF | 42 | 626 | 4 | 72 | 14 | 5.14 |
Jamison Crowder | NYJ | 51 | 447 | 2 | 71 | 12 | 5.92 |
Dawson Knox | BUF | 49 | 587 | 9 | 71 | 15 | 4.73 |
Kalif Raymond | DET | 48 | 576 | 4 | 71 | 16 | 4.44 |
Kendrick Bourne | NE | 55 | 800 | 5 | 70 | 17 | 4.12 |
Zay Jones | LV | 47 | 546 | 1 | 70 | 17 | 4.12 |
Zach Pascal | IND | 38 | 384 | 3 | 69 | 16 | 4.31 |
Cordarrelle Patterson | ATL | 52 | 548 | 5 | 69 | 16 | 4.31 |
Robert Woods | LA | 45 | 556 | 4 | 69 | 9 | 7.67 |
Rashod Bateman | BAL | 46 | 515 | 1 | 67 | 12 | 5.58 |
Alvin Kamara | NO | 47 | 439 | 5 | 67 | 13 | 5.15 |
Ray Ray McCloud | PIT | 39 | 277 | 0 | 66 | 16 | 4.13 |
Allen Robinson | CHI | 38 | 410 | 1 | 66 | 12 | 5.50 |
Braxton Berrios | NYJ | 46 | 431 | 2 | 65 | 16 | 4.06 |
Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | 47 | 287 | 2 | 65 | 17 | 3.82 |
Aaron Jones | GB | 52 | 391 | 6 | 65 | 15 | 4.33 |
Nelson Agholor | NE | 37 | 473 | 3 | 64 | 15 | 4.27 |
DeAndre Hopkins | ARI | 42 | 572 | 8 | 64 | 10 | 6.40 |
Josh Jacobs | LV | 54 | 348 | 0 | 64 | 15 | 4.27 |
Rondale Moore | ARI | 54 | 435 | 1 | 64 | 14 | 4.57 |
Gabriel Davis | BUF | 35 | 549 | 6 | 63 | 16 | 3.94 |
Gerald Everett | SEA | 48 | 478 | 4 | 63 | 15 | 4.20 |
Myles Gaskin | MIA | 49 | 234 | 4 | 63 | 17 | 3.71 |
C.J. Uzomah | CIN | 49 | 493 | 5 | 63 | 16 | 3.94 |
Antonio Brown | TB | 42 | 545 | 4 | 62 | 7 | 8.86 |
Michael Gallup | DAL | 35 | 445 | 2 | 62 | 9 | 6.89 |
This section of the list includes: 7 Running Backs, 13 Tight Ends and 30 Wide Receivers. Again, a majority of the players were Wide Receivers but 20 of them are Non-Wide Receivers that were in the Top 100 of Targets 2021 Regular Season. The 20 Non-Wide Receivers on the list are highlighted below. It may be wise to keep these names at the ready come the 2021 Fantasy Football Season if they find themselves with similar opportunities in the 2022 Fantasy Football Season.
Targets – Running Backs
- Leonard Fournette
- D’Andre Swift
- Alvin Kamara 1
- Ezekiel Elliott 2
- Aaron Jones 2
- Josh Jacobs
- Myles Gaskin
Targets – Tight Ends
- Noah Fant 1
- Rob Gronkowski 2
- Tyler Conklin
- Tyler Higbee
- T.J. Hockenson 1
- Jared Cook
- Pat Freiermuth
- Dallas Goedert 2
- Hunter Henry 1
- Evan Engram 1
- Dawson Knox
- Gerald Everett 2
- C.J. Uzomah
1. Top 50 in Targets in 2020!
2. Top 100 in Targets in 2020!
2021 Targets – Regular Season Recap – Final Word
Always interesting how the Targets shake out each season. It seems like more Running Backs and Tight Ends are cracking the Top 100 Targets over recent years. Cole Kmet and Ezekiel Elliot were a couple of names that I wasn’t sure I would see on these lists, but here they are. I would imagine some of these players in the Top 100 could be knocking on the Top 50 list come 2022! Just some names to keep in mind as you do your offseason review, ramp up for drafting your 2022 Fantasy Football Season team or for trades to make now as you prepare for next year!
Do you pick all these highlighted players in the first few rounds of your 2022 drafts? Probably not. Although when you compare them to others around their average draft position, I would tend to lean towards the player that is getting more Targets than those players that are not.
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Targets and TDs Fantasy Football
Find players that will have: Ability – Availability – Opportunity – Consistency – Advantage/Upside – Matchup
If your players are on an offensive team that can get many Targets and Touchdowns, you know I would be interested in them! Statistics courtesy of The Football Database , a great resource for your NFL players statistics. If you enjoyed the article please share it with others (via the social media links Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest).
Missed any recent posts?!, check them out below as you get your mind focused on fantasy football opportunities!
- Super Bowl LVI – Rams at Bengals
- 2021 Conference Championship – AFC/NFC
- 2021 Divisional Round – NFC
- 2021 Divisional Round – AFC
- 2021 Wild Card – NFC
- 2021 Wild Card – AFC
I hope everyone continues to stay safe and healthy! Enjoy the journey throughout the 2021 – 2022 Fantasy Football Season!