It can be useful, I think, to look at what teams are doing inside the 10-yard line. That’s where most touchdowns are scored, so it makes sense to look at which players are being targeted the most.
Some of the leaders come as no surprise – Cooper Kupp, Mike Williams, Tyreek Hill – but there are some names that are getting more attention in this part of the field than you would expect.
Randall Cobb, most noticeably, with 9 targets, tying for 2nd-most in the league. I’m not a big Cobb fan, but if Davante Adams were to miss any more games, I would think Cobb would make sense as a fill-in starter.
There are only six players with at least 8 targets inside the 10, and the Rams surprisingly have half of them. Kupp, of course, but also Robert Woods and Tyler Higbee. I take this as evidence that there will be more than just Kupp posting viable touchdown numbers down the stretch. Some combination of Odell Beckham and Van Jefferson will need to play a meaningful role in that part of the field.
There are eight players with 7 targets inside the 10-yard line, and a couple of names pop out. Pat Freiermuth; he’s been hot recently, and his 7 targets ties for 2nd-most among tight ends. And A.J. Green – he’s been the most heavily targeted player for Arizona in that part of the field (though on one of those targets, of course, he didn’t look for it, resulting in a game-losing interception).
Overall, there are 67 players with at least 4 targets inside the 10, and those numbers are posted below. They include 2-point conversions, which technically aren’t plays but are useful for our purposes (I’ve bundled those numbers together, so if a player caught 3 TDs and a 2-point conversions, he shows simply at 4 TDs).
If a player had at least 25 percent of team’s targets, receptions or touchdowns inside the 10, he’s tagged with a black dot. If he hit that threshold in all three areas, I’ve also got him in bold.
The final column shows the team totals inside the 10 (targets, receptions, touchdowns).
| PLAYERS WITH 4 TARGETS INSIDE THE 10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | TD | Team |
| ••• C.Kupp, LAR | 10 | 6 | 6 | 37-16-13 |
| • M.Williams, LAC | 9 | 4 | 3 | 30-18-13 |
| •• R.Cobb, GB | 9 | 3 | 3 | 27-14-9 |
| • R.Woods, LAR | 8 | 4 | 3 | 37-16-13 |
| •• M.Pittman, IND | 8 | 4 | 2 | 28-14-9 |
| • T.Higbee, LAR | 8 | 4 | 2 | 37-16-13 |
| •• M.Evans, TB | 7 | 6 | 5 | 34-19-15 |
| ••• P.Freiermuth, PIT | 7 | 5 | 4 | 25-11-7 |
| ••• M.Andrews, BAL | 7 | 5 | 5 | 20-12-10 |
| ••• H.Renfrow, LV | 7 | 5 | 3 | 23-13-8 |
| • T.Hill, KC | 7 | 5 | 5 | 35-22-15 |
| • Z.Pascal, IND | 7 | 3 | 2 | 28-14-9 |
| •• C.Sutton, DEN | 7 | 3 | 1 | 27-12-8 |
| • A.Green, ARI | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18-9-6 |
| ••• A.Thielen, MIN | 6 | 6 | 4 | 17-12-9 |
| ••• D.Hopkins, ARI | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18-9-6 |
| ••• H.Henry, NE | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22-13-8 |
| ••• D.Moore, CAR | 6 | 4 | 3 | 22-12-8 |
| G.Bernard, TB | 6 | 4 | 3 | 34-19-15 |
| K.Allen, LAC | 6 | 4 | 2 | 30-18-13 |
| C.Godwin, TB | 6 | 4 | 2 | 34-19-15 |
| ••• K.Rudolph, NYG | 6 | 3 | 2 | 23-10-5 |
| • J.Doyle, IND | 6 | 3 | 3 | 28-14-9 |
| ••• B.Aiyuk, SF | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18-7-6 |
| • J.Chase, CIN | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19-11-10 |
| T.Patrick, DEN | 6 | 1 | 1 | 27-12-8 |
| T.Kelce, KC | 5 | 5 | 3 | 35-22-15 |
| • C.Ridley, ATL | 5 | 4 | 2 | 22-13-9 |
| ••• A.Hooper, CLE | 5 | 3 | 2 | 19-6-4 |
| ••• T.Hockenson, DET | 5 | 3 | 3 | 19-12-9 |
| • O.Zaccheaus, ATL | 5 | 3 | 3 | 22-13-9 |
| D.Parham, LAC | 5 | 3 | 3 | 30-18-13 |
| D.Adams, GB | 5 | 3 | 2 | 27-14-9 |
| •• M.Brown, BAL | 5 | 3 | 2 | 20-12-10 |
| S.Diggs, BUF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 29-16-10 |
| • D.Waller, LV | 5 | 2 | 2 | 23-13-8 |
| E.Sanders, BUF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 29-16-10 |
| J.Smith, NE | 5 | 2 | 1 | 22-13-8 |
| K.Pitts, ATL | 5 | 2 | 1 | 22-13-9 |
| •• M.Jones, JAX | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19-6-4 |
| V.Jefferson, LAR | 5 | 0 | 0 | 37-16-13 |
| •• T.Tremble, CAR | 4 | 4 | 2 | 22-12-8 |
| • E.Elliott, DAL | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20-13-9 |
| •• D.Goedert, PHI | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19-11-8 |
| •• T.Conklin, MIN | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17-12-9 |
| •• T.Higgins, CIN | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19-11-10 |
| • J.Meyers, NE | 4 | 3 | 2 | 22-13-8 |
| J.Waddle, MIA | 4 | 3 | 3 | 26-15-13 |
| M.Gesicki, MIA | 4 | 3 | 3 | 26-15-13 |
| J.Cook, LAC | 4 | 3 | 3 | 30-18-13 |
| D.Knox, BUF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 29-16-10 |
| M.Gaskin, MIA | 4 | 3 | 2 | 26-15-13 |
| • N.Harris, PIT | 4 | 3 | 1 | 25-11-7 |
| D.Williams, KC | 4 | 3 | 0 | 35-22-15 |
| • R.Anderson, CAR | 4 | 2 | 2 | 22-12-8 |
| C.Lamb, DAL | 4 | 2 | 2 | 20-13-9 |
| • D.Samuel, SF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18-7-6 |
| D.Johnson, PIT | 4 | 2 | 1 | 25-11-7 |
| Q.Watkins, PHI | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19-11-8 |
| A.St. Brown, DET | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19-12-9 |
| • D.Johnson, HOU | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13-6-5 |
| J.Jefferson, MIN | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17-12-9 |
| C.Brate, TB | 4 | 1 | 1 | 34-19-15 |
| N.Gray, KC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 35-22-15 |
| •• T.McLaurin, WAS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12-2-1 |
| A.Trautman, NO | 4 | 1 | 0 | 25-14-8 |
| • R.Seals-Jones, WAS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12-2-1 |
—Ian Allan