The Bears already have one go-to wide receiver in Brandon Marshall. Now, it appears, they have another and his name is Alshon Jeffery. Yesterday, he torched the New Orleans pass defense catching 10 balls for 218 yards and a touchdown in the Bears' 26-18 loss, while Marshall caught just 4 passes for 30 yards and a score. Jeffery now has 28 receptions for 429 yards and two touchdowns, and is becoming a bigger part of the Bears offense. Sunday marked the second week in a row where he went over the 100 yard mark and a score.
There was a shootout in Indianapolis on Sunday, and Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton enjoyed the fruits of the wild affair. Hilton caught five passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yarder. Hilton now has 20 receptions for 342 yards and two touchdowns on the season, and is now the Colts' big play threat on offense.
Speaking of shootouts, there was none bigger than the one in Dallas yesterday, where the Broncos outlasted the home Cowboys, 51-48, on yet another fourth quarter turnover by QB Tony Romo. Romo had his best game as a pro yesterday, throwing for 500 yards, and WR Terrance Williams was one of the beneficiaries of the offensive outburst. Williams, who got the start with WR Miles Austin sidelined with another hamstring injury, caught four balls for 151 yards and a touchdown. Williams was one of three Cowboy receivers with 100 yards receiving yesterday, along with WR Dez Bryant and TE Jason Witten. On the season, Williams has 16 receptions for 282 yards and one touchdown. After catching just five passes in the first three weeks of the season, Williams has 11 receptions for 222 yards over the last two games.
Williams teammate Dez Bryant also enjoyed a big day, catching six balls for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Bryant has now caught 29 of his 46 targets for 423 yards and a league leading six touchdowns. He would have had a seventh touchdown had he not been caught inside the five-yard line on a long catch and run yesterday.
Ravens WR Torrey Smith is becoming one of the more consistent week-to-week plays at the wide receiver position. Yesterday, he caught six passes for 121 yards and no scores in the Ravens' 26-23 win over the Dolphins. Through five games, Smith has 27 receptions for 556 yards and one touchdown, but has at least 85 yards receiving in every game this season, and has two games over 100 yards.
Injury Update
Well, it appears one of the top wide receivers in the game may miss the rest of the season. Falcons WR Julio Jones suffered a fractured foot on Monday Night Football, as reports indicate he broke the screw that was put in his foot back in 2011. Jones owners should grab Harry Douglas on the waiver wire if you need depth at the position.
The #1 wide receiver coming into the season, Calvin Johnson, missed last week's game vs. the Packers and has a 50-50 chance of playing this Sunday vs Cleveland. Patrick Edwards and Kris Durham saw the majority of snaps last week vs. Green Bay, with Durham leading the team with eight targets. Either Durham or Edwards are decent handcuffs for Megatron owners this week.
Target Practice
Taking a look at last week's target leaders, we see that Bears WR Alshon Jeffery was tied for second with 13 targets and is becoming one of Jay Cutler's favorite targets. He is a WR2 candidate in most leagues now.
We see two New York Giants atop the target leaderboard from Week 5, and this continues to prove that the Eagles' defense has no trouble stopping WR1s, but WR2s and WR3s benefit as a result. Mike Williams is a solid WR3 start this week vs. the Eagles.
Rank |
Player |
Wk 5 |
1 |
Mike Wallace |
16 |
2 |
Alshon Jeffery |
13 |
3 |
Rueben Randle |
13 |
4 |
Robert Woods |
13 |
5 |
Hakeem Nicks |
12 |
6 |
DeSean Jackson |
12 |
7 |
Victor Cruz |
12 |
8 |
Golden Tate |
11 |
9 |
Julio Jones |
11 |
10 |
Dez Bryant |
10 |
11 |
Cecil Shorts |
10 |
12 |
Andre Johnson |
10 |
13 |
Steve Smith |
10 |
14 |
Randall Cobb |
10 |
Week 6 Rankings
The Eagles, by far, have given up the most fantasy points to opponents' wide receivers this season, and that is music to the ears of Vincent Jackson owners this week. Look for him to have a good day vs. the Eagles secondary, but relying on Mike Glennon is a bit risky.
Bengals WR A.J. Green has been held to 12 catches and 112 yards over the last two weeks, but figures to have a big game vs. the Bills secondary next Sunday. Green has just one 100+ yard receiving game this season, so I look for him the break out of his four week slump.
I look for Colts WR T.Y. Hilton to continue his uptrend vs. the Chargers defense that has allowed almost 30 fantasy points per game vs. opponents wide receivers thus far in 2013.
Rank |
Team |
WR Fantasy Points Allowed |
Week 6 Opponent |
22 |
Giants |
118.89 |
CHI |
23 |
120.19 |
CLE |
|
24 |
122.9 |
PIT |
|
25 |
Ravens |
126.79 |
GB |
26 |
129.29 |
KC |
|
27 |
Cowboys |
131.89 |
WAS |
28 |
Broncos |
133 |
JAX |
29 |
Falcons |
139 |
BYE |
30 |
Chargers |
145.6 |
IND |
31 |
Bills |
159.8 |
CIN |
32 |
Eagles |
186.4 |
TB |
Now let's take a look at our rankings for Week 6:
Standard Leagues |
PPR Leagues |
|
Rank |
Player |
Player |
1 |
A.J. Green, CIN |
A.J. Green, CIN |
2 |
Demaryius Thomas, DEN |
Demaryius Thomas, DEN |
3 |
Dez Bryant, DAL |
Dez Bryant, DAL |
4 |
DeSean Jackson, PHI |
Wes Welker, DEN |
5 |
Vincent Jackson, TB |
DeSean Jackson, PHI |
6 |
Wes Welker, DEN |
Pierre Garcon, WAS |
7 |
Torrey Smith, BAL |
Josh Gordon, CLE |
8 |
Victor Cruz, NYG |
Vincent Jackson, TB |
9 |
Josh Gordon, CLE |
Randall Cobb, GB |
10 |
Calvin Johnson, DET |
Torrey Smith, BAL |
11 |
Brandon Marshall, CHI |
Calvin Johnson, DET |
12 |
Randall Cobb, GB |
Brandon Marshall, CHI |
13 |
Justin Blackmon, JAC |
Jordy Nelson, GB |
14 |
Jordy Nelson, GB |
Antonio Brown, PIT |
15 |
Cecil Shorts, JAC |
Victor Cruz, NYG |
16 |
Pierre Garcon, WAS |
Justin Blackmon, JAC |
17 |
Alshon Jeffery, CHI |
Larry Fitzgerald, ARI |
18 |
Larry Fitzgerald, ARI |
Eric Decker, DEN |
19 |
Eric Decker, DEN |
Cecil Shorts, JAC |
20 |
Antonio Brown, PIT |
Andre Johnson, HOU |
21 |
T.Y. Hilton, IND |
Julian Edelman, NE |
22 |
Danny Amendola, NE |
Marques Colston, NO |
23 |
Hakeem Nicks, NYG |
Steve Smith, CAR |
24 |
Andre Johnson, HOU |
T.Y. Hilton, IND |
25 |
Marques Colston, NO |
Alshon Jeffery, CHI |
26 |
Steve Smith, CAR |
Hakeem Nicks, NYG |
27 |
James Jones, GB |
James Jones, GB |
28 |
Julian Edelman, NE |
Reggie Wayne, IND |
29 |
Reggie Wayne, IND |
Dwayne Bowe, KC |
30 |
Dwayne Bowe, KC |
Steve Johnson, BUF |
31 |
Kenbrell Thompkins, NE |
Kenbrell Thompkins, NE |
32 |
Steve Johnson, BUF |
Mike Williams, TB |
33 |
Mike Williams, TB |
Denarius Moore, OAK |
34 |
Anquan Boldin, SF |
Anquan Boldin, SF |
35 |
Nate Washington, TEN |
Nate Washington, TEN |
36 |
Reuben Randle, NYG |
Harry Douglas, ATL |
37 |
Harry Douglas, ATL |
Rueben Randle, NYG |
38 |
Terrance Williams, DAL |
Jerome Simpson, MIN |
39 |
DeAndre Hopkins, HOU |
Lance Moore, NO |
40 |
Denarius Moore, OAK |
Andre Roberts, ARI |
41 |
Vincent Brown, SD |
Vincent Brown, SD |
42 |
Lance Moore, NO |
Terrance Williams, DAL |
43 |
Michael Floyd, ARI |
Brandon LaFell, CAR |
44 |
Jerome Simpson, MIN |
DeAndre Hopkins, HOU |
45 |
Brandon LaFell, CAR |
Emmanuel Sanders, PIT |
46 |
Andre Roberts, ARI |
Tavon Austin, STL |
47 |
Tavon Austin, STL |
Michael Floyd, ARI |
48 |
Jason Avant, PHI |
Jason Avant, PHI |
49 |
Greg Jennings, MIN |
Chris Givens, STL |
50 |
Keenan Allen, SD |
Keenan Allen, SD |
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