Targets are probably my favorite football stat. Few numbers tell me more about what an offense is doing than a compilation of where the passes are going. Unfortunately, 'targets' is not an official stat and is therefore not tracked by regular media sources.

All praise to the guys at footballguys.com for being, yet again, the number one resource for target stats. Like last year, I plan to go over these numbers each week along with whatever relevant game notes.

ARZ- Larry Fitzgerald led all WRs in week one with 13 catches and 155 yards. He caught all but two of the 15 passes thrown to him. Also of note, TE Adam Bergen (an undrafted free agent I've liked since the combine) was thrown 4 of the 5 passes directed at Cardinals tight ends.

ATL- Alge Crumpler led the team (as usual) with 8 targets. Also of note is Michael Jenkins' 3 catches on 4 targets. Anyone who has watched Jenkins play this preseason/season knows that Jenkins is a rising star.

BAL- Lots of passes were thrown in the Ravens loss to Indy. Derrick Mason picked up 12 targets and caught 8 passes. The tight ends were heavily featured as well, with Daniel Wilcox taking in 10 targets and Todd Heap 7. In total, 53 balls were thrown to nine different targets. Clarence Moore looked a little out of step, as he hauled in just two of the eight balls thrown to him.

BUF- On the contrary, the Bills threw only 26 passes on Sunday. Eric Moulds led the way with 7 and Lee Evans had 5- averaging 22.7 ypc and 13.6 yards per target.

CAR- Welcome back Steve Smith. You had nearly 41% of the team's passes (13 of 32)thrown to you against the Saints. And considering that you were being covered by Mike McKenzie for most of the time, that shows that Jake Delhomme has a lot of confidence in you. You are about to continue on your path to become part of an elite group of wide receivers. When the Panthers aren't running the ball inside the 20, they're usually throwing to their TEs. Both Kris Mangum and Mike Seidman each received a RZ target.

CHI- Muhsin Muhammad is earning his money. While the Bears swapped Justin Gage, Mark Bradley, and Bernard Berrian in and out of the lineup (combining for 7 targets tota) Muhammad picked up 12 by himself. That's good for 68% of Orton's throws.

CIN- Tight ends got 1 throw all day from Carson Palmer. C.J. led the team with 10 and T.J. was behind him with 7. Also of note is the number of chances Chris Perry got (six).

CLE- I honestly don't know who Frisman Jackson is. I didn't watch much of the Browns in the preseason cause I didn't think there would be a reason to. I saw Antonio Bryant make some plays, but I must have tuned out by the time Jackson was playing. He had 9 passes thrown his was on Sunday against the Bengals. I would attribute his 8 catches for 128 yards more to the lack of depth in the Bengals secondary than anything else. Bryant led the team with 10 targets and I still consider him the best long term WR option on this team.

DAL- Surprisingly, Jason Witten was only thrown 1 ball against the Chargers. Bledsoe only threw 24 passes all day, 6 went to Patrick Crayton, 6 to Keyshawn, 6 to Julius Jones, and 5 went to Terry Glenn. Good distribution there and it's nice to see Jones getting some balls thrown to him.

DEN- As I expected, the Broncos use of Darius Watts was low. In fact, he didn't get one pass his way. Charlie Adams, the guy who really beat Jerry Rice out of a job, picked up 3. TE Jeb Putzier tied for the team lead with 12 targets. Lelie also picked up 2 red zone targets, an indication that the Broncos may be more willing to use his height and leaping ability this season. Lelie only picked up 8 RZ targets all last year.

DET- Roy Williams only caught two passes, but he was still targeted with nine throws. Joey Harrington looked to both Williams receivers once in the red zone, and Marcus Pollard twice.

GB- Obviously, this team is without its top receiver now. Favre leaned heavily on his backs against Detroit, throwing 17 passes their way.

HOU- This offense has been awful through five games. Just awful. David Carr threw just 22 passes. And they were losing the entire time. How? At least Andre Johnson picked up 7 of those passes.

IND- Brandon Stokely had the highest % of catches to targets among the receivers. He pulled in 70% of the 10 passes thrown his way.

JAX- Before the season started, there were concerns about Jimmy Smith's consistency after a few drops during the preseason. He caught 7 of 13 passes for 130 yards and 2 TDs. That's 42% of Leftwich's throws. Reggie Williams also looked sharp, bringing in 4 of 5. Matt Jones got 2 red zone looks.

KC- With an early lead, the Chiefs probably saved a lot of their offense for week two against Oakland. Priest Holmes got the ball 9 total times inside the twenty. Tony Gonzalez went just 4 for 7 and breakout TE candidate Kris Wilson did not see a ball go his way. Expect that to change this weekend.

MIA- Chris Chambers was all over the field against Denver. He ran the ball once for 61 yards, caught 5 of the 13 balls thrown to him, and was targeted twice inside the twenty. Overall, he was a very troublesome player for Denver's banged up secondary to contend with. Keep an eye on Wes Walker too. He earned his way even or past David Boston on the depth chart with a strong preseason and Walker caught all four of the passes thrown to him.

MIN- Most fantasy leagues scored Daunte Culpepper's week at or below zero points. Jermaine Wiggins led the team with 8 targets, not including a couple of touchdowns that were called back by penalty. Moe Williams got the only two red zone chances the Vikes gave to their running backs.

NE- Like Steve Smith, injury slowed Deion Branch's ascension as a top 10 WR. Seven catches on 11 targets for 99 yards in week one. Ben Watson was targeted 5 times by Brady while Daniel Graham was left to pass block on many occasions. Watson is the Patriots' TE you want on your fantasy team..

NO- Ernie Conwell was most of the Saints' offense before he left with a concussion and jaw injury. He was 6 for 6 in targets to catches. Donte Stallworth was reliable, picking up 4 catches on 5 targets, but Joe Horn led the team with 8 targets. Deuce McAllister picked up 12 total chances inside the red zone, scoring 2 touchdowns.

NYG- Jeremy Shockey's injury doesn't look to be serious, but he did score on one of the two passes thrown to him. Plaxico Burress led all receivers with 11 targets (2 inside the twenty), almost half of Manning's 23 passes.

NYJ- Another team that looked awful, it seems like the Jets are going to need a few weeks to work out the wrinkles. Still, they spread the ball around well. And TE Chris Baker, who beat out Doug Jolley for the starting spot, went 7 for 8 for 124 yards and a score. Justin McCareins was targeted 3 times inside the red zone.

OAK- Kerry Collins only completed 46.2% of his 39 passes against the Pats. But 15 balls went to Randy Moss. Courtney Anderson is the leader of the tight ends. He brought in 3 of 4 passes and scored twice.

PHI- Speaking of... TO was targeted 18 times by Donovan McNabb. Brian Westbrook had 11. That's 29 of McNabb's 45 passes. The Eagles are in trouble if that keeps up.

PIT- Ben Burger went 9 for 11, so there isn't much here. The Steelers are at Houston this week, so don't look for them to unveil anything new before their week three matchup against New England.

SD- Without Antonio Gates, Drew Brees went to his wide outs 80% of the time against Dallas. That number was closer to 50% last season. Keenan McCardell picked up 5 red zone targets. He caught 9 passes for 123 yards and 2 TDs. The Chargers travel to Denver this week.

SEA- Bobby Engram is still the most sure-handed of the Seahawks, going 8 for 9 against the Jags. Jerramy Stevens was highly featured, with 7 targets. Look for Joe Jurevicious to become more involved. He caught 3 of 4 is playing in a relatively familiar offense.

SF- The Niners got an early lead and managed to hang on to it against the Rams. They really shut things down after half time too. Arnaz Battle was thrown 6 passes, he threw 2 more himself, and he ran the ball once.

STL- After an off-season of talking about running more, Mike Martz had Marc Bulger throw 56 passes. His splits are yet up on NFL.com, but I'd love to see how many passes he threw after halftime. Isaac Bruce picked up only 6 targets, while Kevin Curtis (a top sleeper pick by many) got 14 and 3 inside the twenty. Shaun McDonald was active too, with 10 targets, but Torry Holt led the way with 16.

TB- Gruden spreads the ball around a lot, and now that Alex Smith has 2 TDs on the year, it's likely that he'll be used as a decoy over the next few weeks inside the red zone. Still, Smith is a good talent who should have a nice first half to the season. Joey Galloway, finally healthy, looked great against Minnesota. If Brian Griese had a little better arm strength, Galloway would have finished the game with 6 catches on 7 targets, 140 or so yards and a score.

TEN- The Titans had a number of chances to score, but three turnovers put a damper on that. Steve McNair threw just as many passes (13) to his TEs as he did to his WRs. That's good news to Ben Troupe (5) owners.

WAS- Chris Cooley was highly featured with 6 targets, second behind Santana Moss' 9. And in the red zone, both Cooley and fellow TE Robert Royal were the only receivers targeted against the Bears. The Skins are on the national stage on Monday night against Dallas.

- posted by jrf @ 9/13/2005 10:20:00 PM