Target and Snap Analysis Week 7 2016

By Jen Ryan

Week 7 is upon us and it is already shaping up to be an interesting week. The Packers are placing Eddie Lacy on IR, LeSean McCoy is expected to miss time, and Vincent Jackson has also been send to injured reserve and likely played his last snap as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 1-5 Panthers are on a (much needed) bye this week, which is brutal for Greg Olsen owners. He has a league-high 33 targets over the past three weeks, a title he shares with Brandon Marshall who will be dealing with a quarterback change this Sunday. Who says it is the No Fun League? This is fun, isn’t it? Things change every single week in this game, and so do the numbers. As always, be sure to consult our targets and snaps tools before making any roster decisions.
Targets: https://www.footballdiehards.com/fantasy_football_target_stats.cfm

Snaps: https://www.footballdiehards.com/nfl-snap-counts.cfm

Here we go.

- Over the past three weeks there two players who have accounted for at least a third of their teams’ target share. Jeremy Kerley leads the way with 36.6% and Mike Evans is right behind him with 35.4%. Kerley saw his smallest target total since Week 4 with the quarterback change, notching seven targets in Week 6. Evans is coming off a bye and his WR2 has been placed on injured reserve. Oh, and Kerley and Evans play against each other this week.

- Latavius Murray catches a lot of flak for his play but surprisingly he is efficient when used in the Oakland Raiders’ passing game. Murray has only seen 11 targets but he caught ten of them, one coming in the red zone. His 91% completion rate is under the radar and if Oakland were to throw to him more often his value could increase. Murray is expected back in the lineup this week and has a road matchup against the Jaguars who have allowed three touchdowns to running backs through six games.

- Chart time! Below is every player with double digit targets in the red zone:

Four of Crowder’s red zone targets have come from the 10-zone. Jordan Reed is expected to miss another game for the Washington Redskins this week and DeSean Jackson is looking doubtful as well. Pierre Garcon would likely draw Darius Slay in coverage. Crowder could eat from the slot this week, especially in the red zone where Kirk Cousins is clearly looking his way.

- Jack Doyle scores on an impressive 13.04% of his targets and boasts an 87% completion rate. His biggest weakness is accounting for a mere 10% of his teams’ targets. His counterpart Dwayne Allen, and his 11.8% target share, is not expected to play this week. Despite facing a Titans defense that has allowed one touchdown to tight ends this season, Doyle could be in line for a big day if Andrew Luck relies on him, especially in the red zone.

- DeMarco Murray leads all running backs with 24 targets. LeSean McCoy trails him with 21 on the season. Not only is McCoy expected to miss this week but reports indicate his hamstring injury could keep him on the shelf for the foreseeable future. Reggie Bush is a perceived receiving-specialist but he has yet to see a target this season. Mike Gillislee is the next man up and has caught three of his four targets, one of them for a touchdown. He has a division matchup against the Miami Dolphins this week.

- Antonio Brown is currently the WR1 in fantasy football with 117 PPR points, a title he shares with Julio Jones. He plays on 97% of his teams’ snaps, the 2nd-highest total of all receivers. He has scored at least 22 fantasy points in four of his six games this season, and has scored five touchdowns on the year. Ben Roethlisberger had knee scope surgery that can shelf him for anywhere from two to six weeks. Brown has never caught a touchdown from a quarterback not named Roethlisberger.

- Another visual for you. Here is every player with at least 25 targets that scores on at least 10% of those targets:

Bear in mind that Martellus Bennett scored three touchdowns in one game, so his numbers are a bit inflated as I mentioned last week. Hunter Henry’s scoring percentage is intriguing, and we may have seen a change of the guard last week. Green Bay and Oakland boast receiving duos who score on at least 10% of their targets. While Crabtree remains a solid cash game play in daily fantasy, Roberts has quietly been a solid GPP play. Jesse James has the upside to benefit from the quarterback change in Pittsburgh, as he spent all of last season with the second team behind Heath Miller.

- There are three players with over 600 yards this season. Greg Olsen (610) is your current TE1 and on a bye this week. Julio Jones leads the league with 656 yards through the air and should easily add another 100 this week against the leaky Chargers’ secondary. The other player in the 600-yard club is A.J. Green, who faces an even softer secondary in the Cleveland Browns, who have given up eight touchdowns to receivers this season. Green should not only pile onto his yardage total but he could double up on the two touchdowns he has scored this year.

The links above can provide you all of the numbers I pull these stats from. Let the numbers tell you something that I have not told you today. I stress each week that this is just a small sample of what you can dig up if you spend some time sorting using our filters. Good luck this week!