RADIO
In the NFL and fantasy football, things can change as easily as the snap of a finger from campaign to campaign. One season, somebody breaks a record, and the next, they are fighting for targets and struggling to produce.
Based on the game script, chemistry, and availability of weapons, targets can fluctuate for pass-catchers. In a position like WR, targets could be hard to come by at all depending on which team you are on and the competition and pecking order at the position. Just a few tight ends are real threats to get big chunks of the WRs' pie in terms of targets, but offenses packed full of wide playmakers can make it tough even for the best of those to play at the position.
Heading into 2022, there are quite a few WRs who should be due for a target increase. Let’s look at some candidates who are due for more targets come next season.
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Wide Receivers To See More Targets?
DeVante Parker, New England Patriots
As is the case with most players highlighted in this column, Parker also moved places this offseason, basically forcing a trade to New England while not being a free agent yet. Parker saw the opportunity in the Patriots' offense and the limited reps/touches/opportunities he would have gotten had he stayed in Miami and he decided to take advantage of the promising situation. And hey, his decision (and Bill Belichick's) seems to be the correct one these days judging by New England's offseason/draft moves--or lack of them--regarding the pass-catching corps.
Parker is probably going to be NE's no. 1 receiver from the get-go with the tight ends (Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith) as his strongest competitors vying for Mac Jones' targets. His WR partners are Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, and Nelson Agholor... Yikes.
Parker had a 2021 season to forget, getting fewer than 100 targets for the first time in the past two seasons. Yes, he missed seven games, but even then, his per-game production registered the lowest figure (10.4 FPPG) in any season in which he got targeted 60+ times in Miami. Parker is probably a bit short of being a weekly WR1 but he could easily turn into a perennial WR2 (he already did it in 2019) with the proper amount of targets going his way in New England.
Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
This isn't so clear in terms of pure talent and opportunity--of course, second-year man Ja'Marr Chase is going to eat--but there is a strong chance Boyd bounces back a bit given the mega-outlier season from Chase in 2021. Chase got 128 targets to Boyd's 94. It's the first time since he became a bona fide "starter" that Boyd fell below the 100-target mark, obviously coinciding with the arrival of the rookie from LSU. There could be a rebound, considering Boyd had logged 108, 148, and most recently 110 targets in the prior three seasons to the last one.
Boyd actually performed to WR31 levels last season even on that "low" volume. His Catch% of 71.3% stayed above 70% for the third time in the past four seasons, so there is no reason to keep handing him chances. With Boyd posting better (or similar) numbers in YPR and TDs scored, odds are Cincy keeps him active and uses him a little bit more often--not to mention defenses putting more eyes than ever on Chase and focusing on him, thus opening the doors for other receivers on the team to thrive.
Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns
Cooper was traded from Dallas to Cleveland before all of the free-agency hooplas, joining a then-without-QB team that had Baker Mayfield as the starter--though nobody believed he'd be the man starting for the Browns came Week 1. Then Cleveland signed extraordinary quarterback Deshaun Watson and all of a sudden Cooper looked like a bonafide winner: he was joining an excellent passer and a barren of talent receiving corps. Can't ask for more.
As I'm writing this, the Browns have Cooper as their WR1 followed by middling Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Bell (rookie), and Anthony Schwartz in the depth chart. Other than that, the backfield is loaded and TE David Njoku is probably the only other threat when it comes to lowering Cooper's target ceiling. Cooper, by the way, has gotten 96+ targets each and every season in the NFL but last year dropped to his second-lowest mark ever with 104. The Browns' receiving unit is definitely not better than that of the 2021 Cowboys, Cooper knows how to deal with WR1 responsibilities, and once DW is back, Cooper will get peppered. He's a must-draft for next season.
Allen Robinson, Los Angeles Rams
A-Rob aka The QB Whisperer aka The Can't-Escape-Bad-Quarterbacking Receiver. Robinson is moving from Chicago to the Super Bowl Champ Los Angeles Rams. Not bad. More importantly, though, is the fact that Robinson is leaving rookie QB Justin Fields/mediocre QB Andy Dalton behind to join forces with outstanding QB Matthew Stafford. That's quite a jump if you ask me, and definitely one that will most probably serve A-Rob well.
Robinson is coming off a putrid season, the worst of his career other than the 2017 one when he only appeared in just one game. Robinson played just 12 games last year, yes, but his average FPPG was all the way down to 7.3, and his targets went down to 66--already 28 fewer targets than his prior lowest mark happening in his first year in Chi-Town. Even sharing the field with mighty Cooper Kupp and tight end Tyler Higbee, odds are A-Rob's numbers go up on all fronts come next season. One of those "can't get any worse" players.
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