The quarterback position is the most important in the world of professional football. He has the ball in his hand on the majority of offensive snaps, and his knowledge, skill set and decision-making ultimately determine how an offense will perform. That also means he’s integral in the production of points for our fantasy teams.
As a result, it makes sense for us to know his tendencies.
What position does he target most in the pass attack? Does he take chances downfield? The answers are important to his draft value and of the value of the players around him. As a result, let’s look at which field generals targeted their offensive weapons the most and the least per skill position during last season.
QB Target Tendencies: Running Backs
In the second of a three-part series, let’s continue with the wide receivers.
1. Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (68.3%): This should come as a surprise to no one, as the Dolphins featured a pair of top-10 fantasy wideouts last season in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. I’d expect more of the same in 2023, as Hill and Waddle will continue to be focal points for Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel.
2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
2. Jalen Hurts, Eagles (65%): The same analysis for the Dolphins also applies to the Eagles, who also had two top-10 fantasy wideouts in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The offense ranked sixth in plays out of 11 personnel, and things don’t seem likely to change this season. Look for Hurts and crew to fly high again.
3. Josh Allen, Bills (62.8%): The Bills field just one fantasy superstar wideout in Stefon Diggs, but Allen still threw 363 passes to the position last season. I wouldn’t be surprised if that number dropped a bit in 2023, though, as the Bills added rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid to the pass attack. While he’s listed as a tight end, Kincaid is going to be lined up in the slot and used more as a receiver this season. That should mean more 12 personnel, which the Bills ran just 66 times (31st) in 2022.
4. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (62.2%): Lawrence loved throwing to his wideouts a season ago, as Christian Kirk and Zay Jones accounted for 254 targets alone. Now with Calvin Ridley in the mix, Lawrence’s targets to his wideouts seem destined to increase. In fact, he’s a virtual lock to finish in the top five in attempts to receivers this upcoming season. Lawrence is on the verge of a breakout.
5. Tom Brady, Buccaneers (60.7%): Yes, I know … Brady is retired, and the Bucs have a new offensive coordinator in Dave Canales. It’s still notable that the team threw to the wideouts so much because new projected starter Baker Mayfield threw to his wideouts fewer than 50% of the time in seasons where he started at least 10 games. Even if the Bucs continue to chuck it downfield, it’s tough to see Chris Godwin and Mike Evans duplicating their past stat sheet success.
6. Joe Burrow, Bengals (60.4%)
7. Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers (60.1%)
8. Kirk Cousins, Vikings (60%)
9. Derek Carr, Raiders (59.4%)
10. Jared Goff, Lions (59.3%)
