NFL Target & Touches Report: Week 8

Volume and usage are two areas of Daily Fantasy Football that are key to successful lineup building. The correlation between rushing attempts or receiving targets greatly favor the amount of fantasy points a player receives at the end of the week. We are breaking down interesting player scenarios, trying to get a grip on future workloads in the NFL. We will be looking at crowded wide receiver cores on a week-to-week basis, as well as split backfields. Some will stay away from uncertainty in NFL, which gives an edge for those willing to take chances on teams with unclear usage. Injuries will also open the door for others, which can be found here.There is a lot of variance, which is what we will be covering. If there is a team or player situation that didn't get covered in the article, a comment below or finding me on Twitter (@JGuilbault11) will be the best way get it answered.

Aaron Jones - RB - Green Bay Packers

A few weeks ago we looked at this situation and figured a healthy Ty Montgomery would be more of a split backfield. After the Week 7 performance against New Orleans, Aaron Jones saw 20 touches, and out-snapped Montgomery 44-to-7. Jones finished with 17 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown. Montgomery saw five touches, and is on the verge of being out of this offense.

Jones has been impressive this season, averaging 5.6 yards per cary, and has three rushing touchdowns. Green Bay should rely on the run moving forward, and they tried for as long as they could against the Saints. Green Bay has some grind it out opponents coming up where Jones should be a 20+ touch back. We can start to look at him as an RB2 type guy in fantasy, if you weren't already. Green Bay only has two "poor" matchups against the run for the rest of the season, which is at Carolina, and Minnesota.

Doug Martin - RB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Doug Martin has been trending upwards since he got back, but this is more of a friendly reminder that he is fantasy viable. He has seen 19 touches per game, and is coming off a big 22 touch week against the Bills. Martin is averaging 19 touches a game, and has two touchdowns to his name already. He plays a tough Carolina run defense this week, but gets some favorable in-division games outside of that moving forward. He also faces the Jets and Lions at home. Good spot for Martin the rest of the way, comping off two down games in terms of efficiency. On the road at Buffalo and Arizona are two spots I would expect to struggle.

Martin is a cheap DFS play right now, and a guy not on the radar of many. In terms of season long, he is likely gone by now but is a solid RB2 and FLEX play given his volume. With Tampa Bay having their Bye Week already, you don't have to worry about that down the line. Martin has seen 26, 37, and 43 snaps over the last three weeks since returning.

Hunter Henry - TE - Los Angeles Chargers

At the moment we have a few tight ends on the elite side of fantasy things, and then a guy like Hunter Henry who has been quietly waiting his turn. Henry's production when on the field this season has been great. After playing less than 40 snaps in each of the four weeks, he has now seen over 45 in each of the last three games. Henry currently grades out as the 4th best TE, per PFF.

Henry should get a tick up in targets against the Patriots, who struggle against tight ends, but also game flow should benefit Henry. When we look at the rest of the schedule for Henry, he has three positive matchups against New England, Cleveland, and Washington. The rest are neutral outside of a matchup against Buffalo. Henry's price will dictate DFS usage, but Antonio Gates is officially out of the picture.

Terrelle Pryor - WR - Washington Redskins

In the midst of watching Monday Night Football, I have yet to see Terrelle Pryor on the field.

It is now halftime, and Pryor has played one snap.

It is now the 4th quarter, and Pryor found his first target. He dropped it.

A few targets went his way in the 4th quarter, and four to be exact.

I am not really sure what the plan is for Pryor moving forward, but it isn't good. He was only averaging 4.8 targets per game coming into this evening, and that was after 11 in his first week. He has yet to see more than five targets after that. Now you may have thought Pryor was done already, but this has hit a new low.

The four targets is nothing new, but the snaps are concerning. Pryor played 30 snaps this week, 29 of them coming in the second half. Josh Doctson had 54 and Jamison Crowder had 58. Vernon Davis was also on the field for 29 snaps, and Jordan Reed at 50. Pryor looks to be getting phased out of this offense, which is a big waste of money if that is the case.

T.Y. Hilton - WR - Indianapolis Colts

I don't want to necessarily focus on T.Y. Hilton's targets as trending downwards, I rather look at the receptions. He has 27 receptions this season, and 14 of them came against Cleveland and San Francisco. 64% of his receiving yards this season have also come in those two games.

When we look at his struggles, they are in games you would expect him to struggle (@LAR, ARI, @SEA, @TEN, JAC). Hilton has been a double-digit fantasy point scorer just twice this season, and you know which games already. I have a big concern with Hilton moving forward, given all the implications that tie into fantasy production.

No Andrew Luck and a bad offensive line is destined to have negative impacts on an offense. When we look at the matchups ahead for Hilton, he plays six defenses that are a negative matchup for WRs. Houston twice, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Denver, Jacksonville, and Buffalo. Targets might still be around the 7-9 mark, because he is a lone option in this offense, but production will be brutal.