Targets TE – 2019 Regular Season

I continue to look back at the 2019 Regular Season and those statistics that I utilize most. Those being the same as the site name, my Targets and TD’s pages for 2019. Last week I reviewed the Targets RB – 2019 Regular Season and this week I want to go back to Targets and how they relate to the Tight Ends from 2019.

Earlier in the NFL off-season I spoke about the top 100 targeted players in the NFL with the Targets – 2019 Regular Season. Of those 100 players only 18 were Tight Ends (6 of those were in the top 50!). I enjoy finding opportunity and ways to get production out of my fantasy football players. At the end of the day, do I care if my pass catching player is a wide receiver or tight end? Maybe not, because I am looking to get the most total yards and touchdowns out of the player I select.

Targets are the opportunities a player sees that usually lead to more catches and receiving yards. I believe Targets are also more consistent than their counterpart Touchdowns. If you find a trend or opportunity for those players getting the targets you will have the edge! This week let’s look at top Tight Ends in Targets in 2019!

Top 10 TE in Targets

Below you will see the top 10 tight ends for targets in 2019. I went ahead and calculated their average targets and total yards per game on the right of the chart. This will be used for comparisons later. It may be wise to keep these names at the ready come the 2020 Fantasy Football season if they find themselves with similar opportunities.

The top 3 tight ends in total yards from above: Travis Kelce, Darren Waller and George Kittle. Kelce and Kittle were the no-brainers that anyone could pick out, but Waller leads to a good conversation. Especially having him ahead of the next guy, Zach Ertz who lacked in yards but made up for it with a slight edge in touchdowns and had the highest targets per game average in 2019. Will Ertz have more total yards in 2020? It gets a little tricky in 2020, as the Philadelphia Eagles have another tight end that I would imagine will see more opportunities as well, Dallas Goedert (just a little lower on this top 10 list and only 300 yards behind Ertz).

Top 11-20 TE in Targets

Below you will see the top 11-20 tight ends for targets in 2019. I calculated their average targets and total yards per game on the right of the chart.

Evan Engram and Hunter Henry stand out in this list as high rate of targets per game and total yards per game as well. It seems as though health is what’s holding these two back from the prior list. They both stay healthy and they most likely end up in front of Tyler Higbee and right behind Austin Hooper (on the top 10 list). Jared Cook was just under an average of 5 targets per game but the 9 touchdowns really stands out and helped him to great success in 2019.

Unique Takeaways

• Evan Engram is targeted on average each game like Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz. He also only had 3 touchdowns in 2019. If he stays healthy all season in 2020, a top 5 tight end season looks very possible.
• 80+ Target pace a year (5+ Targets a game) and you are more than likely looking at a productive tight end for your fantasy football team.
• 100+ Targets a year and you should be in the top 5 tight end conversation.
• Austin Hooper and Mark Andrews just missed 100 Targets but were helped by having more touchdowns (than the higher targeted guys) to put them in the same conversation. It took 10 touchdowns vs 5 touchdowns for Andrews to finish ahead of Kittle in fantasy points.
• I believe I preferred the situation for Austin Hooper in Atlanta versus the one he is now a part of with the Cleveland Browns.

TE’s Targeted like a WR

For fun I put a couple of the Tight Ends across from a similarly targeted Wide Receiver. Just to give some comparison of their pass catching ability and use on their teams. Both scored the yards, so if you miss on the Wide Receiver maybe take the Tight End in 2020.

Targets – TE Final Thoughts

So as you are reviewing the tight end position for 2020, keep in mind their targets and total yards. I think more and more total yards should be used to compare the players. I am not even mentioning the half point and full point per game production/benefit from tight ends that get more targets and most likely more receptions than the next. Targets lead to receptions, which lead to receiving yards that contribute to a players total yards each year!

The more the NFL leans to the passing game, the wide receivers and running backs aren’t the only beneficiaries. Do you pick all the highlighted players that are high in targets in the first few rounds of your 2020 drafts? Maybe 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 not. Feel free to reference the Targets and TD’s pages to see who has gotten the looks and end-zone appearances through the 2019 regular season.

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