Fantasy Football NFL Week 14 Target Report: How To Beat The Bye Week
The glory of Thanksgiving football weekend is in our rearview mirror now. And ahead of us is a daunting journey. Before we get to fantasy football playoffs we have a week with SIX bye weeks to overcome. For a lot of us, the playoffs have essentially already begun.
With these reports we are really going to start narrowing down who can actually be utilized in your fantasy playoffs or not. We’ll let you know who the must-start studs are as well as our thoughts on any players operating on the fringe. And guys to avoid completely, of course.
2024 Fantasy Football NFL Week 14 Target Report Preview
Why do we do this? Well, historically incredibly rare for a team to have three players all get 100+ targets. It’s happened only once over the last three years and less than 3% of the time over the last five years.
More teams will have ZERO players get 100+ targets than have three. And, last year, every top 24 WR except one got 100+ targets (and that was Deebo Samuel who scored 5 rushing touchdowns). That’s why the NFL Fantasy Football Week 14 Target Report is so important.
In the chart below you will see our PROJECTION for what we believe will happen. That projection is a mix of what we are seeing on the field, who is actually healthy, and what we predict for the rest of the season.
Naturally, that is going to change from week to week and it’s important to check the notes section at the bottom as to why. Our 2024 NFL Fantasy Football Week 14 Target Report has a note for every single team. So, let’s take a look!
Fantasy Football Target Chart 2024 NFL Week 14
125+ Pace | SE = Split End |
100+ Pace | FL = Flanker |
Possible 100+ Pace | SL = Slot |
Unlikely 100+ Pace | FS = Field Stretcher |
Well below 100+ Pace | TE = Tight End |
RB = Running Back |
Fantasy Football Week 14 Target Report Advice & Takeaways
NOTE: If a team moved from where they were in the Week 13 NFL target report, they will be denoted with ***
Clear Top Two
Arizona Cardinals
- Trey McBride
- Marvin Harrison Jr
- Signs of life from Marvin Harrison Jr just in time for fantasy football playoffs - you love to see it. And Trey McBride is locked into your lineup. The only other note here is that Michael Wilson played more slot WR than usual with Zay Jones playing more out wide and Greg Dortch playing less. But that is more a deep league/DFS concern.
Atlanta Falcons
- Drake London
- Darnell Mooney
- Kyle Pitts has now entered unstartable territory after the last two weeks. He only has 52 targets on the season which is actually fewer than Ray-Ray McCloud (56) and Bijan Robinson (52). He would have to do big things this week for us to trust him again.
Cincinnati Bengals
- Ja'Marr Chase
- Tee Higgins
- This one is nice and easy. Chase and Higgins are stars. Everyone else is on the back burner now. Even with the few games without Tee Higgins, Gesicki only has 52 targets on the season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Brian Thomas Jr
- Evan Engram
- Trevor Lawrence briefly returned but now he’s done for the season. That doesn’t change the scheme or the fact that Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis are also done for the season. But the quality of targets will certainly be lower.
Las Vegas Raiders
- Brock Bowers
- Jakobi Meyers
- We moved Jakobi Meyers up to this section a couple weeks ago and he has been nothing but dependable. In fact, since Davante Adams played his last game as a Raider, Jakobi Meyers is WR7 in receptions per game with 6.4. These two are both PPR machines.
Los Angeles Rams
- Puka Nacua
- Cooper Kupp
- Having these two healthy is a beautiful thing. If Demarcus Robinson misses time it would be Tutu Atwell but he would be a DFS or deep league dart throw at best. Tyler Higbee is expected back at some point but Nacua and Kupp are the two guys you can trust. Two is more than we get from most teams.
Philadelphia Eagles
- AJ Brown
- DeVonta Smith
- Injuries have caused each of AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert to miss three games. But they are still clearly the top options. Goedert could now miss more time which makes Grant Calcaterra a bye week or DFS play. But we couldn’t even trust Goedert.
Seattle Seahawks
- DK Metcalf
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Tyler Lockett is pretty far on the backburner here. JSN leads with 94 targets and Metcalf has 84 to only 58 for Lockett despite playing two more games. It seems clear that Lockett is in the twilight of his career where only a change of scenery (a la Adam Thielen) might resurrect it.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Mike Evans
- Cade Otton
- Cade Otton bounced back with a 7-target game even though he was not super-efficient with them. The concern here is that Mike Evans will be the top guy and then Otton, Sterling Shepard, and Jalen McMillan might split targets leading to inconsistency among them. This game this week is another test in whether we can trust Otton because he has a decent playoff schedule.
High Consolidation
Cleveland Browns
- David Njoku
- Jerry Jeudy
- Cedric Tillman
- Elijah Moore
- When one player is out, like Cedric Tillman with the concussion, things get even more consolidated. But he’s expected back which will dilute things a little bit. Jameis Winston, luckily, is willing to let it fly. But the Steelers game serves as a cautionary tale of what could happen in a low volume game. The weather should at least be better when they play the Steelers again this week.
Miami Dolphins
- Tyreek Hill
- Jaylen Waddle
- De’Vone Achane
- Jonnu Smith
- Jonnu Smith has been a pleasant surprise since taking over the “George Kittle” role in this offense. If the Dolphins don’t keep their playoff hopes alive, we could see Tyreek Hill undergo wrist surgery which could further lock in Jonnu’s role.
Minnesota Vikings
- Justin Jefferson
- Jordan Addison
- T.J. Hockenson
- For his first three games back, Hock played under 50% of the snaps. In the last two he has played 68% and 64% which is much better but a far cry from last year. That 70% threshold is the next step to move him up in the tiers. For most folks though, you don’t have many other options.
New York Jets
- Davante Adams
- Garrett Wilson
- Breece Hall
- This hasn’t really changed at all; they just haven’t been playing well. These three are the focal points of a broken offense so you just start them where you have them in most cases.
San Francisco 49ers
- Deebo Samuel
- George Kittle
- Jauan Jennings
- Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason are done. Elijah Mitchell was already out. So, it will be Isaac Guerendo and newly signed Israel Abanikanda.In the one game where Guerendo was featured he did get 4 targets, so we’ll have to see if he gets more than Jordan Mason did (12 in 9 games).
One Stud, Then Uncertainty
Baltimore Ravens
- Zay Flowers
- Diontae Johnson is actually being suspended for refusing to enter the game vs. the Eagles. Rashod Bateman could miss some time though John Harbaugh said the injury is “not a long-term thing”. Zay Flowers has always been involved but Mark Andrews has looked a lot better lately and now has a clearer path to targets. He only has 51 targets on the year so still not quite a locked in starter but this week with a lot of guys on bye he is.
Chicago Bears
- DJ Moore
- DJ Moore hasn’t been super-efficient with his targets, but he does have 93. In fact, three different players on the Bears have 70 targets in him, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze. Allen has done it in only 10 games and he’s the clear #2 here. Cole Kmet only has 50 targets and nearly half of them came in just two games where the Bears threw ~50 times so he is not to be trusted.
Dallas Cowboys
- CeeDee Lamb
- If CeeDee Lamb is OUT, Brandin Cooks and Jake Ferguson could be on the menu here down the stretch. They both need to get healthy as well though as Ferguson has not played in weeks and now Cooks is also not practicing again. If Lamb is active, it’s hard to trust Cooper Rush to support multiple fantasy relevant pass-catchers.
Denver Broncos
- Courtland Sutton
- We have wanted DeVaughn Vele - or anyone - to emere as the second pass-catcher here. But no one is doing it in terms of snaps or targets. It’s really just Sutton and then no one else for fantasy football purposes unless something drastically changes.
Detroit Lions
- Amon Ra St. Brown
- ARSB has 84 targets, and Jameson Williams is the next closest with 54. Sam LaPorta has come on a little bit lately with touchdown equity, but his targets are not nearly as consistent as last year.
Houston Texans***
- Nico Collins
- Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz have just offered no consistency from week to week, even with Stefon Diggs out. Nico Collins is a star but it’s simply tough to trust Dell and Schultz at the most important time of the year.
Indianapolis Colts
- Michael Pittman
- The targets, regardless of quarterback, have at least been consistent for Michael Pittman. We remain hopeful for Josh Downs as well. But the truth is that Anthony Richardson is just not a consistent passer in the NFL at this stage, so the quality of targets is a huge question mark.
Kansas City Chiefs
- Travis Kelce
- As we mentioned last week, DeAndre Hopkins simply is not a full-time player for the Chiefs. He hasn’t cracked 60% of the snaps in three weeks. It’s the Chiefs so guys like Hopkins and Worthy are on the fringe for flex plays but it’s not easy to trust them in this capacity.
Los Angeles Chargers
- Ladd McConkey
- Ladd McConkey has been one of the best rookies and has nearly 30 more targets than any other player on this team. Because he is TE eligible, Will Dissly is a viable option, but he showed this past week that his floor as not as good as we may have thought.
New Orleans Saints
- Alvin Kamara
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling is definitely on the streaming radar, especially with his matchup this week and Taysom Hill out. Juwan Johnson is also an option though the Giants have been stingy against tight ends. But Alvin Kamara is the one guy you can really trust here, he’s RB3 in PPR.
New York Giants***
- Malik Nabers
- With the recent QB changes, we have to bump Wan’Dale Robinson down. He was already a super low aDot player who only cracked 61 yards one time despite getting 11, 12, and 14 targets in different games. If he’s not going to get peppered with targets - which he hasn’t been in recent weeks - we can’t trust him. It’s hard enough to trust Nabers.
Pittsburgh Steelers
- George Pickens
- Pat Freiermuth is heating up but is it too little too late? He’s been catching everything with a catch rate of 91.1% on the season per PFF so maybe they will give him more looks. One more game with 6+ targets and he might be a guy we consider in fantasy playoffs. But Arthur Smith is scary.
Tennessee Titans
- Calvin Ridley
- Nick Westbrook-Ikhine-Ikhine has been a touchdown machine, and his usage is good enough to be on the streaming radar. But he still has 36 targets in 12 games. They have a great schedule, so Calvin Ridley is in, NWI and Chig are spot start options.
Washington Commanders
- Terry McLaurin
- Zach Ertz has been consistent enough to utilize where you need but he offers very little in the YAC department. They are on bye this week but he and Noah Brown are shaky options if you need them. McLaurin is the one guy you can really rely on though.
Too Many Mouths To Feed?
Buffalo Bills
- Khalil Shakir
- Amari Cooper
- Dalton Kincaid
- Keon Coleman
- James Cook
- We cannot get a normal game from this team with everyone healthy for the life of us. This week we not only didn’t have Dalton Kincaid, but it was a snow game which really skewed the pass numbers. Shakir is the closest thing to a “stud” this team has but they do like to spread the ball around. That part is by design after leaning so heavily on Stefon Diggs for all these years.
Green Bay Packers
- Jayden Reed
- Romeo Doubs (OUT)
- Christian Watson
- Tucker Kraft
- Josh Jacobs
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Luke Musgrave (OUT)
- The Packers, a nine win team, don’t have a single player with more than 60 targets through 12 games. Talk about a team effort. It might not be great for fantasy football but, in real life football,it’s good to have a lot of weapons. Romeo Doubs is expected back so it should be him, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Tucker Kraft as the starters.
Wide Open
Carolina Panthers
- No one is even close to a 100-target pace but, for the time being, the offense is starting to look steady. Xavier Leggette and David Moore are the full-time outside WRs with Adam Thielen in the slot. When both are healthy, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Tommy Tremble rotate though Sanders was out last week. The best bet for upside in Xavier Legette as he’s the wildcard, first round rookie with a full-time role. Adam Thielen is more of a “safe but boring” play.
New England Patriots
- Through 13 games, 76 targets would be a 100-target pace. Hunter Henry currently has 77. It’s hard to label him a “stud” given the state of this offense, but he leads the team in targets, receptions, yards, routes run etc. And he’s been fairly reliable. DeMario Douglas is next in targets though he’s a part-time player and Kayshon Boutte leads the WRs in snaps though he has been inconsistent.