We’re nearing the halfway point of the fantasy football season and with that there have been some new guys to surface in the Red Zone categories and they are important to note as they could be good ones to target as sleepers for fantasy rosters.

Red Zone Passing

Carson Wentz QB PHI - Wentz sent a season-high for Red Zone attempts this week with 10 and then also carried two times as well. The 12 total touches turned into three total scores, two by air and one by ground. He spread the ball around well as he used at least six different players to amass the 10 attempts and expect that trend of spreading the ball around to continue as there isn’t a clear threat in the Eagles passing attack at the moment with their top wideouts injured and Zach Ertz sidelined as well. Travis Fulgham did see the most targets though for what it’s worth.

Andy Dalton QB DAL - Dalton stepped into the starting role to start the game last week and while it wasn’t pretty as they got shellacked at home, Dalton still did his part to try and get the offense on the board with eight red zone passing attempts. Three different receivers saw at least two targets and at least four players saw a target. The defense keeps acting more like an open gate than a defense and so expect the Cowboys to continue having to throw to keep pace giving Dalton and company more shots to score in the red zone going forward.

Kirk Cousins QB MIN - Cousins has continued to be maligned for his play, and in general that’s fair, however in Week 6 he did have the best Red Zone passing day of his season, in terms of volume. The eight targets led to two of his three touchdowns and he spread the ball around well with five receivers seeing targets and the two main receiving threats each getting a touchdown in Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. The Vikings may be in a rough spot this season but Cousins is still capable of having good passing days especially with the weapons he has on the outside and Irv Smith even saw two targets on Sunday.

Ryan Tannehill QB TEN - The talk surrounding Tannehill was positive this past week as he had his best red zone week of the season and it brought the Titans to 5-0 on the season. Three receiving threats saw two targets each with five total weapons adding up to his eight targets and two scores. Even Jeremy McNichols got involved. Tannehill has been highly efficient since taking the starting role in Tennessee going 12-3 with nearly 4,000 yards and a 35:7 TD:INT ratio. If AJ Brown is back for the game in Week 7 that would be a big boost facing a top-flight Steelers pass defense.

Red Zone Rushing

David Montgomery RB CHI - The entire Bears’ offense has been a bit befuddling this year and especially in the running game as David Montgomery has been up-and-down to put it kindly. In Week 6 though, he carried it seven times in the Red Zone and four times inside the 10 but didn’t score a touchdown on any of those attempts. It was a sign of life for the Bears’ running game but now against the Rams and Aaron Donald in Week 7 it’s a tougher job at hand.

David Johnson RB HOU - Johnson had a week like we’ve been expecting, at least in a red zone sense with seven carries in Week 6. Five of those came inside the five and one was a touchdown. He has 12 total carries inside the 20 now with seven of them coming in Week 6 and it’s no shock that the best weeks have come since Bill O’Brien was fired. Johnson is the top option inside the 20 for the Texans and that shouldn’t change barring injury.

James Robinson RB JAC - Robinson has been the lead back for Jacksonville most of the season but in Week 6 he had the best red zone day of his year with five rushes and two catches and a score. He’s posted 11 total rushes this year inside the 20 so nearly half of them came in Week 6. The Jaguars face the Chargers this week and their rush defense is pretty stout which could pose a problem for Robinson.

Ronald Jones II RB TB - Jones has posted three straight 100-yard rushing days and in Week 6 he was quite good again against the Packers. He had five carries inside the 20 with two of them being touchdowns. Tampa Bay faces the Raiders in Week 7 and the Raiders have only been so-so at shutting down opponents rushing attacks and with the entire offensive line out of commission the game might get out of hand quickly which leads to more carries for Jones in the red zone.

Red Zone Targets

Julio Jones WR ATL - Jones saw three targets inside the 20 last week which accounts for 75-percent of the total targets he’s seen in the Red Zone this year. That’s been the knock on him over the last few seasons as he does the work to get down near the end zone but then disappears inside the 20. At least for one week that changed, though he still didn’t get a touchdown out of it. It’s hard to bank on the touchdowns from Jones despite him being WR1 nearly every week.

Amari Cooper WR DAL - Cooper doubled his red zone targets on the season in Week 6 alone. The three targets resulted in two catches and a score despite the blow out loss. The targets for Cooper and Gallup have stayed about the same with Dalton replacing Prescott at quarterback. With the Cowboys likely to be trailing in most games with their defense, Cooper should continue seeing lots of work in the red zone going forward this year.

T.J. Hockenson TE DET - Would it surprise you to know that Hockenson is the top red zone target on the Lions. He’s posted seven on the season and three of those came last week with two catches and one for a score. With Marvin Jones only being so-so this year and the only other real threat being Kenny Golladay , Hockenson should continue to see work in the red zone as his big target radius gives Matthew Stafford a great second option.

Zach Pascal TE IND - Trey Burton got the hype following the Week 6 game as he produced a touchdown but Pascal actually paced the receiving options in red zone targets with three. He caught one of them which went for a score. The three targets brings his season total to eight which is most on the Colts and he also has two red zone touchdowns which is also tied for the team lead as well. Tight ends have always been a favorite target of Philip Rivers in the red zone and that isn’t changing now with the Colts and so Pascal remains a deep add target.