As much as things change in football, one thing has been consistent the majority of years, and that’s target leaders. With a few exceptions (and those tend to be historic), the leading wide receiver in targets every year tends to have somewhere between 175 and 195 targets.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Wide receivers for PPR leagues, Week 5
Players just don’t go over 200 targets, and certainly not WAY over. But some early season paces are ... interesting.
Since 1990, only four receivers have had more than 200 targets in a year: Rob Moore in 1997 (208), Herman Moore in 1995 (206), Marvin Harrison in 2002 (205) and Calvin Johnson in 2012 (204).
Pace is always a tricky thing to play with. Players will get hurt, and situations will change. That’s why “100 targets in eight games” isn’t the same as “200 in 16.” Still, through (roughly) the first quarter of the season, we are seeing some insane target numbers from wide receivers.
Demaryius Thomas has 50 targets through four weeks, despite the relative struggles of Peyton Manning. That’s a pace of 200 targets. And yet Thomas is in fourth place for season-long target pace.
Julio Jones, already near 500 yards through four games, has 52 targets, looking at 208 total at that rate. Jones’ season has all the making of a historic one, yet he’s in third, and it isn’t particularly close.
Julian Edelman is a game behind the two already mentioned, but with 42 targets in three games, he’s on pace for 224. Even with Rob Gronkowski in the fold, Edelman is the target-hog in New England, and even if he doesn’t keep up this pace, he’s as good a candidate as anyone to lead the league in targets.
DeAndre Hopkins, though. Through four weeks, Hopkins, aided by a lot of garbage time and a prolonged Arian Foster absence, has 60 targets. In other words, dude is on pace for 240 targets in a league where players almost never go over 200.
Look, Hopkins isn’t going to get targeted 240 times this year. Foster’s return will take away some of his targets. He’ll get banged up at some point. Things will happen, because things always happen. But right now, through four weeks, those guys are PPR monsters. Frankly, they are standard-league monsters as well, but in PPR? I can’t whistle, because I’m bad at things, but there’s no better time for a *low whistle* than right there.
On to our Week 5 wide receiver rankings for PPR leagues:
Wide receivers for PPR leagues, Week 5
(DK: Daniel Kelley; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska; Dan Ciarrocchi has the week off. Carolina, Miami, Minnesota and the New York Jets are on bye)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Julio Jones | ATL | WAS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Demaryius Thomas | DEN | @OAK | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Odell Beckham Jr. | NYG | SF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Randall Cobb | GB | STL | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Antonio Brown | PIT | @SD | 3 | 9 | 11 | 4 |
| 6 | Julian Edelman | NE | @DAL | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| 7 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | IND | 10 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Keenan Allen | SD | PIT | 12 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 | A.J. Green | CIN | SEA | 6 | 6 | 14 | 10 |
| 9 | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | @OAK | 11 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| 11 | Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | @DET | 13 | 11 | 8 | 9 |
| 12 | Jeremy Maclin | KC | CHI | 9 | 15 | 9 | 12 |
| 13 | Calvin Johnson | DET | ARI | 5 | 16 | 17 | 14 |
| 14 | Jordan Matthews | PHI | NO | 16 | 14 | 16 | 13 |
| 15 | T.Y. Hilton | IND | @HOU | 14 | 13 | 20 | 16 |
| 16 | Mike Evans | TB | JAC | 17 | 19 | 12 | 17 |
| 17 | Allen Robinson | JAC | @TB | 18 | 20 | 13 | 15 |
| 18 | Amari Cooper | OAK | DEN | 19 | 12 | 21 | 19 |
| 19 | Donte Moncrief | IND | @HOU | 20 | 22 | 19 | 20 |
| 20 | Vincent Jackson | TB | JAC | 21 | 23 | 22 | 23 |
| 21 | James Jones | GB | STL | 39 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| 22 | Kendall Wright | TEN | BUF | 23 | 21 | 26 | 24 |
| 23 | Pierre Garcon | WAS | @ATL | 25 | 18 | 32 | 21 |
| 24 | John Brown | ARI | @DET | 26 | 24 | 23 | 26 |
| 25 | Brandin Cooks | NO | @PHI | 22 | 32 | 27 | 27 |
| 26 | Leonard Hankerson | ATL | WAS | 24 | 25 | 33 | 28 |
| 27 | Alshon Jeffery** | CHI | @KC | 15 | -- | 15 | 30 |
| 28 | Terrance Williams | DAL | NE | 29 | 28 | 24 | 31 |
| 29 | Allen Hurns | JAC | @TB | 35 | 29 | 28 | 22 |
| 30 | Michael Crabtree | OAK | DEN | 28 | 36 | 25 | 33 |
| 31 | Percy Harvin | BUF | @TEN | 34 | 27 | 34 | 29 |
| 32 | Kamar Aiken | BAL | CLE | 32 | 30 | 30 | 38 |
| 33 | Travis Benjamin | CLE | @BAL | 27 | 31 | 29 | 44 |
| 34 | Golden Tate | DET | ARI | 41 | 34 | 36 | 25 |
| 35 | Rueben Randle | NYG | SF | 38 | 39 | 37 | 32 |
| 36 | Eddie Royal | CHI | @KC | 42 | 33 | 38 | 34 |
| 37 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | @CIN | 30 | 38 | 41 | 39 |
| 37 | Willie Snead | NO | @PHI | 36 | 41 | 31 | 40 |
| 39 | Martavis Bryant | PIT | @SD | -- | 26 | 35 | 37 |
| 40 | Anquan Boldin | SF | @NYG | 33 | 43 | 40 | 35 |
| 41 | Marvin Jones | CIN | SEA | 45 | 40 | 42 | 42 |
| 42 | Cole Beasley | DAL | NE | 40 | 45 | 43 | 46 |
| 43 | Stevie Johnson | SD | PIT | -- | -- | 39 | 36 |
| 44 | Kenny Britt | STL | @GB | -- | 35 | 48 | 45 |
| 45 | Tavon Austin | STL | @GB | 37 | 48 | -- | 47 |
| 46 | Jaelen Strong | HOU | IND | 31 | -- | -- | -- |
| 47 | Michael Floyd | ARI | @DET | -- | 49 | 46 | 41 |
| 48 | Dontrelle Inman | SD | PIT | 44 | 42 | -- | -- |
| 48 | Nelson Agholor | PHI | NO | 49 | -- | 45 | 43 |
| 48 | Jamison Crowder | WAS | ATL | 47 | 46 | 44 | -- |
| -- | Dorial Green-Beckham | TEN | BUF | 43 | 44 | -- | -- |
| -- | Jermaine Kearse | SEA | @CIN | -- | 37 | -- | -- |
| -- | Ty Montgomery | GB | STL | -- | 47 | 49 | 48 |
| -- | Torrey Smith | SF | @NYG | 48 | 50 | 47 | -- |
| -- | Marques Colston | NO | @PHI | 46 | -- | 50 | 50 |
| -- | Andre Johnson | IND | @HOU | -- | -- | -- | 49 |
| -- | Tyler Lockett | SEA | @CIN | 50 | -- | -- | -- |
SB Nation presents: NFL Week 5 sit/start fantasy football advice
