Targets – 2019 Regular Season

Super Bowl LIV lived up to the billing in my book! The Chiefs would not be denied and again came back to win (although this time the comeback was late in the game). Congratulations Kansas City! So now what? Wait until the next NFL season? There is the XFL going on now which should be interesting with the variations in rules compared to the NFL. I am not one to just sit around and wait for the next NFL Fantasy Football season. Let’s look back at the past to help prepare for the future. Initially, I would like to look back at the regular season stats that I believe I utilize the most. Yes, true to the site name, my Targets and TD’s pages for 2019. Statistics that in my view can be most beneficial in constructing a winning fantasy football team each season. This week I start with Targets!

Feel free to reference the Targets and TD’s pages to see who has gotten the looks and end-zone appearances through the regular season. Targets is a great stat to keep track of in season as well as it helps find opportunities and the next players ready to score you points in fantasy football!

Targets

Obviously with such a category as Targets the majority of the players we will come across are going to be wide receivers (they are your primary ball catchers). Other positions do mix in and as the NFL becomes more and more friendly to those throwing passes and catching them, the more I value those pass catchers (especially if they aren’t a wide receiver by position).

Of the top 50 targeted players from the 2019 regular season the list includes 6 running backs, 6 tight ends and 38 wide receivers. So the scarcity in which you find those 12 non-wide receivers is an opportunity to get wide receiver production at another position. The 12 non-wide receivers on the list are below, it may be wise to keep these names at the ready come the 2020 Fantasy Football season if they find themselves with similar opportunities.

Running Backs

• Christian McCaffrey
• Austin Ekeler
• Tarik Cohen
• Leonard Fournette
• Alvin Kamara
• James White

Tight Ends

• Travis Kelce
• Zach Ertz
• Darren Waller
• George Kittle
• Mark Andrews
• Austin Hooper

The above names I would imagine were on many playoff and probably championship fantasy football teams in 2019. They were players that consistently saw targets for their teams and we know you can’t have receptions without targets! Also the list below were probably on some championship teams too, as they are your top 10 targeted wide receivers in 2019.

Wide Receivers

• Michael Thomas
• Julio Jones
• Allen Robinson
• Julian Edelman
• DeAndre Hopkins
• Keenan Allen
• Tyler Boyd
• Robert Woods
• Jarvis Landry
• DJ Moore

Out of curiosity I looked at the players that fell in the 51-100 rankings of Targets in the 2019 regular season. This section of the list includes 9 running backs, 12 tight ends and 29 wide receivers. Again, a majority were the wide receivers but I came across more running backs and tight ends that if their roles were to increase (or if they stayed healthy for a whole 16 game season) could crack the top 50 Targets in the 2020 Regular Season. Opportunity and availability play a part but some names that may not hurt to target next season are listed below (with Targets and Games Played after their name).

Running Backs

• Le’Veon Bell – 78, 15 games
• Saquon Barkley – 73, 13 games
• Devonta Freeman – 70, 14 games
• Kenyan Drake – 68, 14 games
• Dalvin Cook – 63, 14 games

Tight Ends

• Tyler Higbee – 89, 15 games
• Dallas Goedert – 87, 15 games
• Hunter Henry – 76, 12 games
• Evan Engram – 68, 8 games
• Jared Cook – 63, 14 games

While below is your list of wide receivers who were in the 51-100 rankings of Targets in the 2019 regular season but didn’t play all 16 games (with Targets and Games Played after their name).

Wide Receivers

• Sammy Watkins – 90, 14 games
• Mike Williams – 90, 15 games
• Mohamed Sanu – 89, 15 games
• Tyreek Hill – 89, 12 games
• Golden Tate – 85, 11 games
• Darius Slayton – 84, 14 games
• Sterling Shepard – 83, 10 games
• Randall Cobb – 83, 15 games
• Deebo Samuel – 81, 15 games
• James Washington – 80, 15 games

At the end of the day (or season) the best ability is availability. Plenty of players aren’t available all season long and their production can sometimes be missed on year end stat sheets because they are not as high up in totals as maybe their per game average is compared to others. Do you pick all these highlighted players in the first few rounds of your 2020 drafts? Probably not. Although when you get to comparing them to others around their average draft position, I would tend to lean towards the player that is getting more targets than not.

Give us a follow on Twitter @TargetsandTDs to stay current on thoughts, analysis or updates. We are also on Instagram and Pinterest now if you prefer to follow us there!