Fantasy Football on Target - Week 10

November 10, 2009 @ 00:00:00

By Bryce McRae
Edited by Cory J. Bonini

Opportunity in the NFL world can translate into success in the fantasy football world. This is where targets come into play. While a wide receiver may have caught only four passes in a given week, his target total might have been double or triple that. Those targets may not have translated into catches one week, but they may in the future.

The following players gained attention because of the number of targets they received this past week. Are these numbers a trend in the making or simply an aberration?

Fantasy Football on Target

For those of you that haven't sold the Dallas Cowboys' Miles Austin yet, the 'Boys "No. 2" wideout was looked at only four times last week. This was overshadowed by his 49-yard touchdown reception - his ONLY reception of the game. He faced double coverage for the first time this year. KFFL.com's Nicholas Minnix advocated selling high on the Cowboys wideout a couple of weeks ago; do so now while you still have the chance.

Which Dallas receiver should we be talking about? Roy Williams. He was looked at eight times (for the second straight week) and the ball actually hit him this time. He finished with five receptions for 75 yards. Romo and Williams put in extra work after practice last week and it appeared to pay off on at least two plays. From head coach Wade Phillips: "At least two of the routes were not audibles but reactions to blitzes where the quarterback and the receiver had to be on the same page." Maybe Romo wasn't looking Austin's way because he saw the double coverage; if that continues, Williams could actually provide some decent fantasy value in the second half.

From doghouse to penthouse?

The Miami Dolphins' Davone Bess finished with 14 targets last week. His targets from the previous three games: 14. It appears quarterback Chad Henne actually knows Bess exists. Now, Bess converted those targets into only six catches for 56 yards. Is there reason to believe Bess could be fantasy gold in Miami's receiving corps? Maybe for a fool. Henne isn't the most accurate QB (58.9 completion percentage). Until the Dolphins develop a consistent deep threat that can catch the ball (paging Mr. Ted Ginn Jr.), teams will be able to stay in the box and crowd the short field where Bess likes to work.

Last week gave us the first glimpse at the post-Owen Daniels era for the Houston Texans. Daniels had averaged 8.5 targets in the four weeks prior to his injury. Where did they go? The biggest jump came from Jacoby Jones (two to six targets), and Kevin Walter's looks actually went down from seven to six. David Anderson's went up from three to four while tight ends Anthony Hill and Joel Dreessen were looked at two and three times, respectively; oh, and quarterback Matt Schaub threw the second most passes he has thrown all year. What does this tell us? It's a mess. No one appears to benefit, at least initially (we had Walter pegged as the top candidate last week), from the looks Daniels was receiving. Perhaps Jones could be the ultimate beneficiary of Daniels' injury, but he has been plagued by inconsistency throughout his young career.

Derrick Mason finished with just three catches for 31 yards for the Baltimore Ravens last week. He was targeted 14 times. The Cincinnati Bengals like to take away the short slant routes and shade coverage toward the vet. Maybe it'd help if quarterback Joe Flacco looked elsewhere, too; Mark Clayton was second among Baltimore wideouts with just three. It was also the second time this year Mason has been limited by Cincy; they held him off the stat sheet in Week 5. Next week he'll face the Cleveland Browns, who he torched for a season-high 118 yards and one touchdown on five receptions in Week 3.

Chris Henry's season ended early for the Bengals because of a fractured forearm. Chad Ochocinco took his usual spot atop the Bengals' looks chart, but he was challenged this week by Laveranues Coles. The Bengals were looking Coles way in the first quarter even before Henry was hurt and there could be another two or three looks here with Henry out. The vet finished with 10 targets. Coles' comfort level in the offense has been there the last couple of weeks, and he made a couple of good catches off broken plays last week.

Stepping up his game

The Chicago Bears' Devin Hester (14 targets) and Earl Bennett (11) finished with their most and second most targets of the season, respectively. Well, the Bears were down 31-3 at halftime and all plans for their offense likely were thrown out the window. Before this week, Bennett's targets have gone: 2, 4, 2, bye, 5, 7, 3 since his 15 in Week 1. Hester, on the other hand has at least nine targets in each of the last four weeks. We'll let you figure out which one is for real.

A hidden gem in the Kansas City Chiefs' receiving corps? Lance Long. Yes, Chris Chambers outshone Long with his three-reception, 70-yard, two-TD effort, but Long was looked at 11 times to just four for Chambers. We mentioned Long as far back as two weeks ago when he made his debut (five targets) with KC. Long is becoming more comfortable in the offense, and he fits the slot receiver role well. Keep in mind, Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli was largely responsible for the monster that is Wes Welker with the New England Patriots. The Chiefs offensive line doesn't deal with pressure well, either; Long could be in for a bunch of checkdowns and quick passes.

For the record, Chambers scored both of his touchdowns with less than three minutes left in the game and the Chiefs trailing. He wasn't looked at until the third quarter.

A youth movement is underway in the Bay Area. The San Francisco 49ers' Jason Hill and Josh Morgan were both involved on Sunday. Each player received four and eight looks, respectively. Morgan has the talent to be a No. 2 wideout, but he isn't there yet, per head coach Mike Singletary. He also didn't show much chemistry with quarterback Alex D. Smith; Morgan turned his eight looks into just two receptions. Hill was more efficient with his, catching all four of his looks for 50 yards. Both should be in line for more work, though, with Isaac Bruce (ankle) apparently on the outs.

Last week it was Reggie Wayne leading the Indianapolis Colts (and the league) with 20 targets; this week Dallas Clark took the torch with 18. He caught 14 of those passes. He and Wayne are now second and third, respectively, in receptions in the league.

The real news at tight end came from the Detroit Lions. Casey FitzSimmons was targeted 11 times while Brandon Pettigrew was looked at eight times. Wideout Dennis Northcutt was benched and replaced by FitzSimmons in the slot (along with Derrick Williams), which is one reason FitzSimmons saw the field so much. Regarding Pettigrew, rookie tight ends tend to take awhile to develop; Pettigrew's blocking has improved in recent weeks, which helps his PT. The other first-round rookie, quarterback Matthew Stafford, also showed some rapport with Pettigrew, who caught seven of his eight looks.

On the other side of the field, the Seattle Seahawks' John Carlson was targeted nine times last week following a seven-target Week 8. Last week, the 'Hawks were down before they started going to the sophomore tight end. He wasn't targeted until the second quarter when the Lions already had a 17-0 lead. The week before the Seahawks spent most of the day playing from behind against the Cowboys. Seattle has two tough matchups in the next two weeks (Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings), so Carlson might be called upon a bit more if they are playing behind again.

Remember: Opportunity can lead to success. Find out which of these players we recommend adding in this week's Fantasy Football Waiver Wire.

KFFLians are saying....

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1

Big John Stud, at 01:01 on 11/11/09, says: Why not produce a list of all the targets for everyone? Yahoo used to do it, but there football coverage is similar to a paperclip nowadays.

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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