After each week of the NFL season, we are going to take a look at the numbers from the prior week, and examine the red zone usage for players and teams! Red zone usage is vital to fantasy success and oftentimes is a great indicator of future touchdown production. This week, we’ll take a look at some recent performances in the red zone, including excellent quarterback play from Dak Prescott and Jordan Love of the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers alike. Additionally, we take a look at Breece Hall, who has been a victim of the New York Jets’ anemic offense this year, while Nico Collins continues to be one of fantasy football’s biggest breakouts this season. 

Regardless of whether it’s for your NFL DFS lineups or your seasonal teams, there’s key information for you in this article. From red zone passing to rushing, to receiving, we’ll take a look at some notable numbers from the first 13 weeks of the 2023 NFL season that can help your fantasy football teams. Using the red zone report here at Fantasy Alarm, here are the key numbers and notes to know for fantasy football in this week’s red zone report.

 

Red Zone Passing

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Prescott is making an MVP push, and he’s playing really, really good football. He’s certainly padding those stats in the red zone, that’s for sure! Over the last four weeks, not only has Dallas had the fifth-highest pass rate in the red zone, but Prescott has a sparkling 10:0 TD/INT ratio. Ten touchdowns. Zero interceptions. Prescott has multiple passing touchdowns in the red zone in six straight games, and he has at least six red zone passing attempts in four of his last five.

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Much like Prescott, Jordan Love is playing good football. He’s been the beneficiary of Matt LaFleur wanting to sling it inside the 20s, and over the last four weeks, Love has completed 61.5 percent of his passes in the red zone. He has an 8:2 TD/INT ratio during that span. Just to throw it out there how good he’s been in recent weeks, he’s 8-for-11 with six touchdowns over the last two weeks, and 11-for-15 with seven touchdowns during the team’s three-game win streak. If Green Bay is going to be pass-happy in the red zone, Love will be able to pad his stats a little bit, which fantasy managers certainly won’t complain about.

Red Zone Rushing

Breece Hall, New York Jets

Hall is an elite talent who is being plagued by the situation around him. The combination of the Jets not making it to the red zone much and being a bit pass-happy when they get there has put quite the drain on Hall’s overall fantasy outlook. He’s logged just four red zone carries over his last six games, and his last (and only) red zone rushing score came all the way back in Week 6 against the Eagles! It’s been a tumultuous year in New York, and Hall’s fantasy production has suffered because of it.

Ezekiel Elliott, New England Patriots

I’ll include the free square here. With Rhamondre Stevenson out of the mix for red zone work, Elliott has the perfect profile to be the primary red zone back for the Patriots. His 14 red zone carries this season have only resulted in two touchdowns, but with the increased workload he’ll see moving forward, he should have minimal competition for red zone carries. However, the question is just how often will the Patriots get there? And that, my friends, is a very good question. However, in deeper formats, it’s hard not to start a guy who will probably see 15+ carries every game that Stevenson misses.

Red Zone Receiving

Nico Collins, Houston Texans

Collins is breaking out before our eyes, and C.J. Stroud is utilizing his large frame in the red zone. Not only has Collins been effective in the red zone this year, scoring five touchdowns, but he’s caught 61.5 percent of his targets. He’s one of just five players in the league to have the following numbers in the red zone this season: 26 percent target share, 60 percent or higher reception percentage, and five or more touchdowns. Jakobi Meyers, Stefon Diggs, Mark Andrews, and Cortland Sutton are the other four along with Collins in this prestigious club. Collins was doing solid work already, but with the injury to Tank Dell, he could see a few extra targets in the red zone moving forward, especially if Dalton Schultz’s hamstring issue lingers.

Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers

As I talked about with Jordan Love earlier on in the article, Green Bay has gotten a bit pass-happy in the red zone, which should benefit Kraft as he’s stepping in for Luke Musgrave as the team’s top tight end. Christian Watson left last week’s game with a hamstring issue, and he had been the beneficiary of a bunch of red zone targets. So, if he were to miss time, that would open the door for Kraft to earn some more targets in the red zone passing game. Kraft does have three red zone targets over the last two weeks, so in deeper formats, you could do worse than Kraft when hoping for a handful of catches and maybe a touchdown from your tight end! With matchups forthcoming against the Giants, Bucs, and Panthers, Kraft should have opportunities for the Packers and fantasy managers alike.