How much a running back, receiver or tight end is targeted per game is a great indication on how much of a part of the offense he really is and how much the quarterback has trust in him. Many owners see the catches in the box score and in the fantasy matchups, but have you ever wondered how many times the quarterback threw in the direction of that player? If a player has a high target-to-catch ratio, chances are that that player will see more targets the following week because he has trust in that player to make the catch.
Dolphins WR Devone Bess is a perfect example of that. He doesn't see the field as often as Brandon Marshall or Brian Hartline. But when he does, Chad Henne loves looking his way, as you can see from his five catches off seven targets.
If a player has a lower catch rate compared to his targets, that could be caused by a couple things:
The quarterback overthrew him a couple times.
The defender covered the receiver well throughout the game.
The player had a case of the, shudders, dropsees.
Owners should also keep in mind that there are players who are such a big part of the passing game every week, that they could easily miss a good number of targets, but still get thrown to a majority of the time the week after.
Case in point; The number one targeted player for Week One was Chargers TE Antonio Gates with thirteen, but he only caught eight of those passes. However, since Gates is such a huge part of San Diego's passing game every week, his catches-to-targets ratio can afford to be a bit lower than other players.
Every Tuesday, I will be publishing the top-targeted players for that week. This is not only a good read to see how player' targets interact with their catches, but it also acts as a great tool in helping decide your weekly starting lineups.
Here are the Top 60 players in terms of targets:
Thanks to MyFantasyLeague.com and their GameDay program for the stats.
CTCHS = CATCHES
YDS = RECEIVING YARDS
TGTS = TARGETS