Fantasy Football Red Zone Report: Calvin Ridley, Jake Ferguson, Christian McCaffrey

We’re getting down to the wire with fantasy playoffs beginning. It is imperative to pick the right lineups over the next few weeks. Everything matters: matchups, playing time, injuries, form, and more.  This is where the rubber meets the road. Let's take a look at the players who are getting those all-important red zone looks at this all-important part of the season.

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Fantasy Football Red Zone Report Week 13

Top Red Zone Receivers Week 13

The following players were the most targeted this past week, where it matters most: in the red zone. There were eight receivers who had three or more red zone targets. Of those eight, only three had more than three, with two of them getting six red zone targets, which is a rarity. Here are all eight of them:

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys: Six of Lamb’s 17 targets were in the red zone. He had 12 catches, but only two came in the red zone.l He gained 116 yards and had a TD. Not surprisingly, Lamb leads all WRs in red zone targets for the season with 22. He definitely gets the lion's share of looks in the red zone, but has only caught 50% of them.

A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles: Six of Brown’s 13 targets were in the red zone. He wasn’t nearly as efficient as Lamb, only catching eight passes, three in the red zone. He still had a productive day, gaining 114 yards, but didn’t find the end zone. On the year, he’s eighth among receivers in red zone targets, eighth in receptions, and fourth in reception yards.

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys: Ferguson not only leads all TEs in red zone targets, but he’s tied with Lamb with 22 red zone targets, which is the most among all receivers. It is wild that the top two options are both Cowboys. He continues to be under the radar compared to other TEs like Travis Kelce and T.J. Hockenson, but especially lately, he should be the desired option instead of Kelce.

Nico Collins, Houston Texans: Three of Collins' 12 targets were in the red zone. He caught nine passes but only one in the red zone. It didn’t matter for his overall production. He had a dominating 191 receiving yards and a TD. With Tank Dell on the IR, Collins will continue to be the primary receiver getting the majority of targets for the Texans.

DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles: Smith’s numbers were almost identical to Collins in terms of targets, receptions, and red zone targets. They each had a TD, but Smith had nowhere near as many yards, gaining about half with 96.

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers: Watson is one of those players who has been on a heater as of late. He finally may have found it with QB Jordan Love. He caught seven out of nine of his targets. And he had two red zone catches out of three targets. His yardage was pedestrian with 71, but he had two big TDs. He’s the type of player who can be a difference-maker if he’s now beginning to reach his potential.

Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars: Ridley did see the ball in the red zone, but his game was ineffective. He only had four catches, with two out of three targets caught in the red zone. He didn’t score and only had 26 receiving yards.

DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks: Metcalf had a monster game. He caught six out of eight targets. He caught all three of his red zone targets. And three of his catches ended in the end zone, while gaining 134 receiving yards. 

Top Red Zone Running Backs Week 13

Every week, I point out that the numbers skew towards the RBs in the red zone. Looking at the FantasySP Red Zone report, we can see that there were only eight receivers with three or more attempts, but there were 11 RBs with at least five red zone rushes. 

Four of the 11 had more than five, and three had eight or more. (Zack Moss, James Conner, and Kyren Williams). Four of the 11 had two TDs (Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon, Chuba Hubbard, and James Conner). And just over 50% gained at least 100 total yards. 

The bigger issue at this time of year for RBs is their health. Of these 11 RBs, three have little red crosses next to their names, indicating an injury: Najee Harris, who has a knee injury, Zach Charbonnet, who also has a knee injury, and Isiah Pacheco, who has a shoulder injury.

The biggest upset on this board is that Christian McCaffrey isn’t on it. He still leads all RBs for the season with 53 red zone attempts. But on Sunday, he only had two. Look for him to stay an active part of San Francisco’s offense. He leads the league in total TDs with 17, one ahead of Raheem Mostert, and he’s only 20 yards behind Tyreek Hill in yardage. McCaffrey is well on his way to getting over 20 total TDs and 2,000 total yards. I know the MVP has become a QB award, but McCaffrey is definitely in the running. He’s currently ninth in odds at 30/1. Seven of the eight players ahead of him are all QBs … Hill is the only other non-QB ahead of him, at 15/1.