Week 6 was a week of long bombs and depressed red zone passing attempts save for a few consistent teams. Backup quarterbacks did some of the work this week too as Brett Hundley and Ryan Fitzpatrick had two of the biggest weeks in passing attempts after coming in for injured starters. The smaller numbers don’t mean there are fewer players to talk about however.

Target Monsters

Melvin Gordon- Sunday was a day for Melvin Gordon both rushing and receiving. The four targets he saw in the red zone doubled his season total to eight and netted him three catches and a score. He saw eight targets inside the 20 all of last season and has already matched that at this point. The concerted effort to get him the ball in the air only ups his PPR value in 2017.

Bennie Fowler III- Denver may not have scored as frequently, or easily, as they have previously, but Fowler still saw three targets come his way. It was the first three-target game of the season for him, and followed Emmanuel Sanders getting injured. Even with the injury, Fowler is still the team leader in targets with seven, though only three of those have been caught. Denver draws a Chargers team that has given up the ninth-most points against WRs this season in Week 7.

Marvin Jones- Of Matthew Stafford’s seven red zone attempts, three went the way of Jones, including two inside the five. He only managed to catch one of them, which brings his season catch-rate to 50% inside the opponents 20. The main reason for his uptick in looks was the fact that he played by far the most snaps of any wide receiver at 80 this past Sunday. Detroit has a bye week in Week 7.

Donte Moncrief- Moncrief came out of witness protection on Monday night for his most yards in a game this season, and his first three red zone target game. His total on the season now comes to six, one behind teammate T.Y. Hilton for the team lead, but it also could mean there’s been an improvement in the chemistry with Moncrief and Jacoby Brissett. Unfortunately for Moncrief and company, a matchup against the best pass defense in the league looms in Week 7.

Mike Evans- The change from Jameis Winston to Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t actually hurt Evans, as he saw three balls thrown his way, of the 12 attempts Fitzpatrick had against Arizona. The problem is that he didn’t catch a single one, and still only has two catches (out of eight targets) in the red zone. Teammates Desean Jackson and Cameron Brate each saw two targets Sunday but they each nabbed one and scored. If he keeps having trouble converting the targets, he may not get as many looks.

Most Efficient

Zach Ertz- The week opened with another solid performance from the Eagles tight end as he hauled in two targets for two catches and two scores on Thursday night. His total of eight targets on the year puts him in the top-10 in all of football and his six catches tie him for fourth in the league. Ertz has caught 75% of balls thrown his way in the red zone, putting him behind only Jordy Nelson for highest catch-rate with at least eight targets. All of these numbers continue to point to Ertz remaining a top-three TE option every week, regardless of matchup.

Christian McCaffrey- The rookie running back now has the outright lead amongst his team for red zone looks after notching another two on Thursday night. He caught both thrown his way and put one in for a score. McCaffrey now has six grabs on the season and continues to be a key part of the passing game in Carolina. The loss of Greg Olsen and the ineffectiveness of Kelvin Benjamin mean McCaffrey should continue to see a lot of looks coming his way.

Davante Adams- Another week, another Adams mention here. He is tied with Larry Fitzgerald for the league-lead in targets at 12 and has the league-lead for catches with eight. Even the change to Brett Hundley, after Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone, didn’t hurt him on Sunday. Adams is also tied for third in red zone scores with four, tying him with Melvin Gordon, Zach Ertz, Cameron Brate, and Chris Hogan, and one behind teammate Jordy Nelson. A showdown with the Saints is next up.

Rob Gronkowski- Sunday was a return to Gronk being Gronk. Three targets, the most in a single game this year, turned into two catches and a score against the rival Jets. He is tied with Chris Hogan for the team-lead at nine, but has only caught three of them (two on Sunday) so far this season. Any time he is on the field, healthy, he is a threat to do what he did on Sunday, and then some.

Ones to Watch

Darren Fells- This makes the second week in a row that the Lions’ TE put up a two-target game. He wasn’t as efficient this time, only catching one of the two and not scoring, but he is still a more reliable target than Eric Ebron to this point.

Demarcus Robinson- Three of the four red zone attempts Alex Smith threw against the Steelers went Robinson’s way. It was his first game on the active roster, after Chris Conley went down with an Achilles injury, but he got the trust of Smith right away. He did get another target last night, he has yet to catch any, but four in two games is a good sign.

Evan Engram- Engram saw his first looks in the red zone in nearly a month on Sunday night and hauled in his lone target for a catch and a score. So far he has caught all three balls thrown his way inside the 20, two for touchdowns, and with the receiving corps in shambles for Big Blue, Engram is the biggest target they have near the end zone.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins- Coming off a two touchdown week against Cleveland, he had another target, catch, and should’ve been touchdown against the Pats on Sunday. His four targets on the season lead the Jets and his big, athletic, frame gives Josh McCown a tantalizing target inside the 20. ASJ and company will face the Dolphins in Week 7, a team that has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to TEs.

George Kittle- Kittle has become the go to guy in San Fran over the last two weeks. Last week he was in the “Target Monster” section after a four-target game in Indy, now he followed that up with a three-target game against Washington. Kittle only had one catch this week, and was held out of the end zone, but it’s clear that no matter the QB, either Brian Hoyer or C.J. Beathard, he will be getting looks in the red zone.