Fantasy Football NFL Week 2 Target Report: Rams Now Without Nacua & Kupp
We now have DOUBLE the data we had following Week 1 - how exciting is that? And, with multiple data points for our NFL Fantasy Football Week 3 Target Report, we can now start to establish TRENDS. Trends are the secret to fantasy football success as we need to use as much info from the past as possible to predict the future.
The more info we have and the more the trends line up, the easier that becomes. Not only does it matter for finding the studs but it’s crucial to understand who might step up if guys like Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua go down.
And this target report has been huge for us in fantasy football. It used to be something we would just include in the draft guide but, this year, it has come to life. We’re going to continue updating the chart every week with notes on every single team below as to how the target reports are trending for each team. The target pecking order for these teams is more important than you might think.
2024 Fantasy Football NFL Week 3 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 3 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 3 target report has a note for every single team. So, let’s take a look!
Fantasy Football Target Chart 2024 NFL Week 3
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 3 Target Report Advice & Takeaways
NOTE: If a team moved from where they were in the Week 2 NFL target report, they will be denoted with ***
Clear Top Two
Arizona Cardinals
- Trey McBride
- Marvin Harrison Jr
- We kept the Arizona Cardinals in this section despite a lackluster performance in Week 1 from Marvin Harrison And we were rewarded with a monster performance. Greg Dortch has gotten some looks but he’s actually played less than 50% of the offensive snaps on the year.
Cincinnati Bengals
- Ja'Marr Chase
- Tee Higgins
- This should be how it sorts out assuming that Higgins comes back playing like himself. In the meantime, AndreI Iosivas and Mike Gesicki have earned spots in our streaming article. Gesicki primarily plays his snaps at WR and has played less than 50% of the snaps so both players probably go back in the bottle here when Higgins returns.
Kansas City Chiefs
- Rashee Rice
- Travis Kelce
- For the first time maybe ever, it’s starting to feel like Travis Kelce maybe isn’t the go-to target for the Chiefs. Don’t get me wrong - he’s still obviously a focal point. But they have certainly put an emphasis on getting the ball to Rashee Rice. And he has delivered so far. Xavier Worthy is obviously an explosive name to keep an eye on, but he still only had four catches through two games.
Las Vegas Raiders
- Davante Adams
- Brock Bowers
- We wanted to see one more week before moving them up here. And, for now, we are comfortable doing it. It’s starting to look like Brock Bowers is clearly a top two target on this Raiders team along with Davante Adams. And that’s all you need to have massive upside at TE in fantasy.
Miami Dolphins
- Tyreek Hill
- Jaylen Waddle
- I’m not worried about the number of targets for these two. I’m worried about the quality of targets with Skylar Thompson at QB. De’Vone Achane has also been used a decent amount in the slot so he’s been eating into Waddle’s target share. On more of those games for Achane and this team moves to “highly consolidated”.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Chris Godwin
- Mike Evans
- Both these guys are great. In certain matchups one will obviously do better than others at times but they should both be rock solid starts whenever healthy. And, if one does get banged up, we’ll be adding Jalen McMillan wherever we can.
High Consolidation
Baltimore Ravens
- Zay Flowers
- Mark Andrews
- Isaiah Likely
- No major change from what we envisioned. Zay Flowers is out front with 18 targets but Mark Andrews swung the pendulum back his way this week. Isaiah Likely actually played less than half the snaps in a surprising turn so we’ll have to monitor that.
Detroit Lions
- Amon Ra St. Brown
- Sam LaPorta
- Jameson Williams
- Jahmyr Gibbs
- It is not a good sign that the Lions have attempted a league leading 84 passes yet Sam LaPorta only has 7 targets through two games. We’re still confident he’ll have himself some big games at some point but, with Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs emerging, it’s no longer just ARSB and LaPorta at the top here.
Houston Texans
- Nico Collins
- Stefon Diggs
- Tank Dell
- As we mentioned last week, no more fullback means that all three WRs can play a lot and split the targets. Nico Collins is out front early in a big way, but it might not always be like that.
New Orlean Saints
- Chris Olave
- Rashid Shaheed
- Alvin Kamara
- The crazy thing about the success of this team so far is that they have actually been dead last in pass attempts with 40. To put that in perspective, the Lions have thrown DOUBLE that with 84. These three are the clear stars and they have big games to come.
Philadelphia Eagles
- A.J. Brown
- DeVonta Smith
- Dallas Goedert
- Saquon Barkley
- AJ Brown is out so Smith and Goedert get a boost. When AJ Brown returns, it goes back to business as usual. Have to be happy with DeVonta Smith right now if you drafted him. Goedert has been exactly Goedert - boring but somewhat reliable.
San Francisco 49ers
- Brandon Aiyuk
- Deebo Samuel
- George Kittle
- Christian McCaffrey
- Deebo Samuel has 19 targets but now he’s set to miss with a calf strain. It’s much easier to start these guys when one of the others is out. Jordan Mason and Jauan Jennings are on the menu until CMC and Deebo return.
One Stud, Then Uncertainty
Chicago Bears***
- DJ Moore
- We figured this one would have Moore and Allen at the top for targets given how much of a target hog Allen has been historically. But this heel issue for Keenan Allen could linger and that throws him back into the pot with Rome Odunze and the tight ends. Hopefully someone can emerge here, and we’ll have two fantasy relevant assets. That would also require Caleb Williams to step up.
Cleveland Browns
- Amari Cooper
- Amari has gotten 15 targets, yet he has only caught five of them for 27 yards. Brutal. Both Leijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy have 14 each though Jeudy has been more effective with them. Deshaun Watson has been pretty bad but maybe he can turn it around.
Dallas Cowboys
- CeeDee Lamb
- Perhaps we were a little hasty moving the Cowboys up to the “top two” group. We still like Brandin Cooks but a big game from Jalen Tolbert last week evened the score. As long as Jake Ferguson remains out, they are each worth spot starts.
Denver Broncos
- Courtland Sutton
- With Devaughn Vele out last week, Greg Dulcich took over the slot to mixed results. He garnered 8 targets, but he had a couple of bad drops. We’re still rooting for him, but we need to see him hold down that role when folks are healthy. Josh Reynolds is still looking like the second target for the time being.
Indianapolis Colts
- Michael Pittman
- Alec Pierce has certainly surprised some folks so far after having a brutal 2023. We still need to see what it looks like when Josh Downs returns but he’s certainly the guy to watch for now. We need Anthony Richardson to get better at the intermediate stuff - we know he has a cannon, but can he be accurate?
Minnesota Vikings
- Justin Jefferson
- Sam Darnold has actually looked pretty good. So watch out for the Vikings when Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson get back. JJ is the top dog so the battle will be between those guys for #2.
New York Giants
- Malik Nabers
- Nabers is very clearly the guy here. Wan’Dale Robinson got a lot of looks in Week 1 but came back to earth a bit in Week 2. And he’s not a full-time player. He’s the second-best bet but Nabers is the guy you want.
New York Jets
- Garrett Wilson
- For now, it’s Allen Lazard over Mike Williams but that might not hold true forever as Williams gets ramped up. Breece Hall will always get his targets so it might be hard to trust either of them either way.
Pittsburgh Steelers
- George Pickens
- If Russell Wilson doesn’t take over this team sooner rather than later, this team might not have anyone get 100+ targets. They don’t have anyone on pace as of now. We are rooting for Pickens (10 targets) and Pat Freiermuth (8 targets). The next closest is Van Jefferson with 5.
Tennessee Titans
- Calvin Ridley
- DeAndre Hopkins is unstartable in fantasy football until he actually plays a full game. With this knee issue, who knows when that might happen. He has three targets through two games so it’s Tyler Boyd as the next best bet.
Washington Commanders
- Terry McLaurin
- Jayden Daniels so far has gone the Justin Fields route of not actually throwing the ball much. In fact, they are the only two QBs attempting a pass on less than 80% of their drop backs. That’s going to hurt the targets. Zach Ertz is a temporary PPR option if you need it while you use a bench spot on an upside TE play.
Too Many Mouths To Feed?
Green Bay Packers
- Christian Watson
- Romeo Doubs
- Jayden Reed
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Josh Jacobs
- Tucker Kraft
- Luke Musgrave
- Emmanuel Wilson
- This is now a complete mess with Jordan Love out. As of now, your best bets are Romeo Doubs (who leads in snaps and targets) and Jayden Reed (who gets manufactured touches). Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks can’t offer any consistency right now.
Seattle Seahawks
- DK Metcalf
- Tyler Lockett
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Noah Fant
- Kenneth Walker
- This nagging injury for Tyler Lockett may have been enough to help JSN take a full time role and run with it. They are using more 3 WR sets in general so there are probably plenty of snaps for all of them. Targets are a different question. DK Metcalf is doing great so it’s going to boil down to JSN vs. Lockett for most of the year.
Wide Open
We are still holding out hope that Kirk Cousins returns to form here and guys like Drake London and Kyle Pitts turn it on. Vegas had this team set at 9.5 wins. But it’s been pretty bleak so far and guys like Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud are more involved than we had imagined. So this one is kind of a mess.
Yikes. Through two weeks, no Buffalo Bill has more than 8 targets. In situations like these, we still like to lean into the tight end - if the targets are going to
Well, at least we get a new QB right? And with that, the uncertainty doesn’t really change. We HOPE that he throws higher quality targets to the guys we want (like Diontae Johnson). But we are back to square one here.
Still pretty open as these are your target leaders: Gabe Davis (10), Brian Thomas (8), Brenton Strange (7), Travis Etienne (7), Christian Kirk (7). It’s starting to feel like Brian Thomas is the top dog though so he’s your best bet.
Joshua Palmer being banged up has not really given us a pure look at things here. Ladd McConkey led Week 1, Quentine Johnston did Week 2. We’re hoping someone emerges here as a clear, consistent target. For now, this team lives in the “wide open” section.
Oh dear. The Rams were already without Puka Nacua, now they are expected to miss Cooper Kupp for an extended period as well. Both players are good enough that they could get to 100 targets in half a season.
But, for now, it’s Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, Jordan Whittington, and Colby Parkinson running the show. Robinson is the safe player, Whittington is the unknown upside play, and Parkinson is at least TE-eligible. Tyler Johnson we don’t really trust but they don’t have much else.
We liked Hunter Henry - we wrote a full article about it. And we’re excited about his big game. We can’t crown him a stud just yet given the small sample size, but he has led the team in snaps and routes run (and one of the top tight ends in general in those categories as well). The concern isn’t just that they could spread the ball around though - it’s that there is a QB change looming.