RADIO
Fantasy value is born of a convergence of opportunity and talent. As you may know, targets are the lifeblood of fantasy value for receivers and many running backs, especially in PPR leagues.
In this week’s edition of our target risers column, we’re going to take a look at some of the noteworthy players with the biggest and/or most unexpectedly high target totals from Week 6.
There were quite a few players with noteworthy and unexpected performances, organized by position below. Here are target risers and potential breakout candidates for Week 7 of the 2017 NFL season.
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Rising Target Grabbers
WIDE RECEIVERS
Marvin Jones (WR, DET) - 14 Targets
With Golden Tate forced from Sunday’s loss to New Orleans, Marvin Jones did most of the heavy lifting in the second half, catching 6 of 14 balls for 96 yards and a touchdown. Tate is already expected to miss time with a shoulder injury, so Jones’s target totals in a crazy come from behind game script could be repeatable. Unfortunately for fantasy owners the Lions are on a bye in Week 7, but Marvin Jones should see a big bump in volume for as long as Tate needs to sit out.
Adam Thielen (WR, MIN) - 13 Targets
With Stefon Diggs missing the last game with an injured groin, Thielen’s already lofty target numbers are even more secure than usual. On Sunday, he caught 9 of 13 balls for 97 yards. It would be nice to see some touchdowns, but even without a single score in his ledger, he’s the overall WR18 in PPR, and those numbers happened mostly with Diggs healthy. Thielen is the only player in the NFL with at least five catches in every game and he has been targeted at least eight times in five of six contests.
Robby Anderson (WR, NYJ) - 12 Targets
It wasn’t an efficient day for Anderson as he caught just four balls for 74 yards, but he has quietly accumulated at least 59 yards receiving in three of his last four games and has out-targeted Jermaine Kearse in three of four games over that span. Hyped in the preseason, Anderson is beginning to flirt with deep-league relevance, but he’s still just a guy to monitor for now.
Davante Adams (WR, GB) - 10 Targets
It’s worth noting that all 10 of Davante Adams’s targets came after Aaron Rodgers’s early exit. Adams was the lone Packer to post a respectable fantasy line in Week 6’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings as he caught five balls for 54 yards and a touchdown on a broken play. Everybody takes a big hit stepping down from Aaron Rodgers to Brett Hundley, but Adams might be able to salvage a good chunk of his value.
Eric Decker (WR, TEN) - 9 Targets
In four games that have seen Marcus Mariota under center for all 60 minutes, Eric Decker’s production has trended in the right direction, with his production increasing with each successive game. This culminated in his first useful fantasy day of the season in a Monday night win over the Colts, in which he caught seven balls for 88 yards and a WR13 overall finish in PPR formats in Week 6. The highlights have been scant so far this season, but he does have a very favorable matchup against the Browns’ pass funnel defense in Week 7 and is worth a look, at least as a streamer, ahead of the Titans’ Week 8 bye.
RUNNING BACKS
Chris Ivory (RB, JAX) - 10 Targets
In one of the flukier stat lines from Week 6, Chris Ivory caught 9 of 10 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown while getting essentially no work done on the ground. Ivory has never been much of a pass catcher and 10 targets is his career high in that department by far, but it is interesting insofar as rookie phenom Leonard Fournette was banged up at the end of the team’s Week 6 loss to the Rams. Although the word on Fournette out of Jacksonville is that the rookie could’ve returned to the game, and that serious injury was avoided, it seems premature to assume Fournette can play without limitations in Week 7 until we see him practice in full. With Ivory showing well in the passing game, it boosts his handcuff appeal, and it would seem he has a chance at a bigger role, if not a start in the week ahead.
TIGHT ENDS
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE, NYJ) - 11 Targets
For the second straight week, ASJ racked up big targets, catches, and scored a touchdown. If not for one of the most head-scratching replay reversals in recent memory, he’d have scored twice this week. In all he caught 8 of 11 balls for 46 yards a TD, and an apparent second score. Whatever you think of the controversial overturn that resulted in an eight fantasy point swing to the negative, it’s becoming clear that the Jets TE is experiencing the post-hype breakout that many pundits expected with his move to a talent-light Gang Green team this offseason. It’s hard to argue that ASJ isn’t a must start going forward.
Jack Doyle (TE, IND) - 11 Targets
In a season in which it has been very hard to get a feel for Colts pass-catchers with Jacoby Brissett under center, a lot of the usual suspects have managed to overcome their circumstances to post big games. While Brissett does, at the very least, reduce the consistency of the Colts playmakers in the passing game (see TY Hilton’s Week 7 line), he has still kept a couple of pieces in play. While we can’t rule out a Brissett-related donut for Doyle in the near future, Monday night’s seven catches for 50 yards and a touchdown proved that he’s still in play for fantasy purposes, especially with tight end in as bad a shape as it is league-wide.
Austin Hooper (TE, ATL) - 9 Targets
Austin Hooper was a popular sleeper for Week 6 with Mohamed Sanu on the shelf with a hamstring injury. Hooper delivered, at least for PPR purposes, with seven catches for 48 yards. Up next is a New England Patriots defense that is giving up the third most points to opposing tight ends. Given the matchup, and the likelihood of another absence from Sanu, Hooper should still have the volume he needs to remain in the TE1 ranks for Week 7.
Week 7 Potential Breakouts
Cooper Kupp (WR, LAR)
The Rams offense and Jared Goff has been in a bit of a slump since averaging 35.5 points per game through the season’s first four weeks, but a home date against the Cardinals, currently giving up the fifth most fantasy points to opposing WRs, and having just surrendered 300 yards and three TDs to Ryan Fitzpatrick could be an opportunity for Kupp to put himself back on the WR3 radar.
Taylor Gabriel (WR, ATL)
As I mentioned in my Hooper commentary, Mohamed Sanu’s hamstring injury has opened up some targets from some of the other ancillary pieces in Atlanta’s passing game. Always a threat for a big play, Gabriel’s time to shine was stolen by relative unknown Marvin Hall in Week 6, catching Matt Ryan’s only TD pass of the afternoon on a 40-yard deep ball. While Gabriel only caught four balls for 39 yards against the Dolphins, if he can repeat his eight targets in Week 7 against the leaky Pats pass defense, He should have a 50/50 shot at a long score.
Wendell Smallwood (RB, PHI)
This pick is obviously contingent on Smallwood’s ability to return to action after a two week absence, but it his season had been trending in the right direction up until the knee injury that forced him to miss the last two games. While LeGarrette Blount has acquitted himself admirably over the past two weeks, none of the other options in the Eagles backfield (Corey Clement, Kenjon Barner, etc.) figures to be a significant threat to the workload of a healthy Wendell Smallwood. Still available in 63% of Yahoo leagues, Smallwood would make for an intriguing flex option against a Redskins defense that has allowed 16 receptions to running backs over its last two games.
Bonus Stash
CJ Prosise (RB, SEA)
We’ve seen the talent from CJ Prosise, as he compiled 233 yards from scrimmage and a TD during his flirtation with feature back duties in 2016 that lasted all of three halves, before departing with a season-ending shoulder injury. With Chris Carson on the shelf, it could certainly be argued that he has the highest upside of any Seahawks RB on the roster. Tentatively expected to be active in Week 7, his return should relegate JD McKissic to healthy scratch treatment. You shouldn’t be starting Prosise this week, but he deserves an add in 12-team leagues.
