Fantasy Football Red Zone Report: Cole Kmet, Zach Charbonnet, Gus Edwards

Logically, one would think that as a team gets closer to the end zone, they would have more plays in their arsenal that gravitate to the short game, utilizing their running backs and tight ends. But for the season, out of the top five targeted receivers in the red zone, only Jake Ferguson of the Cowboys is a TE. The other four (Davante Adams, Ja’Marr Chase, Michael Pittman, and D.K Metcalf) are all WRs

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Fantasy Football Red Zone Report Week 9

Receiver Red Zone Report

But a statistical anomaly occurred this week, as there were six receivers who had two red zone receptions … and they were all TEs. More ironically, none of them were named Jake Ferguson.

Here they are:

1. T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings: 12 targets, 3 red zone targets, 69 yards
2. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans: 11 targets, 3 red zone targets, 130 yards, and 1 TD
3. Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Bucaneers: 9 targets, 3 red zone targets, 70 yards, and 2 TDs
4. Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears: 8 targets, 2 red zone targets, 55 yards, and 2 TDs
5. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns: 6 targets, 2 red zone targets, 26 yards, and 1 TD
6. Tyler Conklin, New York Jets: 6 targets, 2 red zone targets, 66 yards

It is also ironic that two of the best TEs in the league, who are each in the top five in red zone catches for the season, aren’t on that list either. Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce are tied for fifth with nine red zone receptions this season, behind Michael Pittman who has 12, and Stefon Diggs, Ja’Marr Chase, and Davante Adams who each have 10 red zone catches.

Running Back Red Zone Report

There were 83 red zone rushes from RBs this past week. Oftentimes the percentage of an RB's rushes that come inside the red zone is one of the most important metrics to look at. This week there were seven RBs with at least 30% of their rushes occurring inside the red zone.

Here they are:

1. Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles: 3 rushes, 2 red zone rushes (66%), 1 TD
2. Zach Charbonett, Seattle Seahawks: 4 rushes, 2 red zone rushes (50%)
3. Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens: 5 rushes, 2 red zone rushes (40%), 2 TDs
4. Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons: 12 rushes, 4 red zone rushes (33%), 1 TD
5. D’Andre Swift, Philadelphia Eagles: 18 rushes, 6 red zone rushes (33%)
6. Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 20 rushes, 7 red zone rushes (35%), 2 TDs
7. Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers: 20 rushes, 6 red zone rushes (30%), 1 TD

Only Charbonnet and Swift didn’t have a TD, but in Swift’s case, fellow Eagles RB Gainwell did find the end zone … on only three total rushes. And Edwards found the endzone twice on only five total rushes.

For the season 49ers All-World RB Christian McCaffrey still has the most red zone rushes, with 36, but Raiders RB Josh Jacobs is catching up, with 34. And Cowboys RB Tony Pollard is lurking with 33, although he hasn't actually scored since Week 1.

For a while, it seemed that McCaffrey would run away and hide with all the RB records this year and be in line for MVP consideration. And although it’s true his numbers are amazing, the Niners are regressing as a team, which is taking some of CMC's shine away.

He still leads all RBs in rushing yards with 652, and total yards with 944, but Miami’s Raheem Mostert is catching up. He’s actually tied with McCaffrey with 13 total TDs, and he’s within 50 rushing yards. Considering Mostert isn’t nearly as vital to the Dolphins' offense as McCaffrey is to the 49ers, what he’s doing may be even more remarkable. He’s done it with 74 fewer snaps, 41 fewer touches, and 28 fewer rushes. On the year he has a much better average per rush, 5.6 to 4.8.