FSH NOTEBOOK: THE WEDNESDAY WATERCOOLER

October 11th, 2023

David’s Daily Digest

Wednesday Evening Edition

The Wednesday Watercooler

Targets Equal Opportunities

5 weeks in and with week 6 on the horizon, there’s still one formula to success in fantasy football. Your guy needs to get the ball. In fantasy football luck will always play its part, but success is all about chances and opportunities. You can’t win if you don’t have the ball and your dudes can’t score fantasy points if they don’t have a chance.

Here are the weekly leaders for Receiving Targets;

Week 5

Top 10 WR

1. Ja’Marr Chase (19)

2. Adam Thielen (13)

3. Cooper Kupp (12)

4. Stefon Diggs (11)

5. DeAndre Hopkins (11)

6. Puka Nacua (11)

7. Zay Flowers (11)

8. DJ Moore (10)

9. George Pickens (10)

10. Jakobi Myers (10)

It looks like the Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp didn’t skip a beat in his week 5 return. But more importantly for fantasy owners, it appears the other Rams receiver Puka Nacua was able to continue his high volume assault in the passing game. Through five games Nacua leads the NFL with 63 targets.

Top 10 TE

1. Travis Kelce (11)

2. Logan Thomas (11)

3. Kyle Pitts (11)

4. Darren Waller (11)

5.Dalton Schultz (10)

6. Mark Andrews (10)

7. Dallas Goedert (9)

8. Chigoziem Okonkwo (9)

9. TJ Hockenson (8)

10. Evan Engram (8)

And just like that the effect of Pop-icon, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has not affected Travis Kelce’s game. Another strong performance from the Chief’s tight end in week 5, has him back on top of the fantasy tight end pedestal. Kelce ranks second among tight ends with 37 targets this season and over the past three weeks he ranks 1st with 23 receptions, 2nd with 196 yards receiving. His three receiving touchdowns is also tied for the league lead among tight ends.

Top 10 RB

1. David Montgomery (6)

2. D’Andre Swift (6)

3. Antonio Gibson (6)

4. Travis Etienne Jr (5)

5. Josh Jacobs (5)

6. Tyjae Spears (5)

7. Samaje Perine (5)

8. Tony Pollard (5)

9. Patrick Taylor (5)

10. Jaleel McLaughlin (4)

The Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is starting to look more and more like the league’s leading rusher from a year ago, but it is apparent he has elevated his pass receiving skills this season. It is evident with his 30 targets (most among running backs) and 23 receptions this season, he is also being featured more in the passing game. Last season Jacobs caught 53 balls and currently he is on a pass to exceed 75 catches.

Touches Are Fantasy Gold

Just like a receiver needs to be targeted, a running backs success leans heavily on how many times they touch (carries + catches) the rock.

Here are the weekly Touch leaders;

Week 5

Top 10 RB

1. Travis Etienne Jr (30)

2. Joe Mixon (29)

3. Derrick Henry (28)

4. Zack Moss (25)

5. Breece Hall (25)

6. Alvin Kamara (25)

7. Josh Jacobs (25)

8. D’Andre Swift (23)

9. David Montgomery (21)

10. Christian McCaffrey (21)

Over the past two weeks, since he returned to action following his three-game suspension, the Saints running back Alvin Kamara is averaging 24.5 touches per game (ranks 4th among running backs). As a result of this high-volume workload, Kamara has totaled 181 yards of offense, caught 16 passes, and scored one rushing touchdown, making him the fantasy RB8 in that span.

That's my take!

~David G. Ortega