2021 Targets – Regular Season Recap

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!