1. Alshon Jeffery's Usage Is Underrated
In his first six games with the Philadelphia Eagles, Alshon Jeffery has had the immense pleasure of facing in some capacity each of Josh Norman, Janoris Jenkins, Casey Hayward, and Patrick Peterson. He has not had a soft cornerback matchup to date. And yet, the guy's still getting some solid opportunity.
Entering Week 7, Jeffery has a 23.53% target market share in the Eagles' offense. That's despite a four-target game against Peterson and just six targets in Week 4. In the two games where Jeffery didn't face a household name at corner, he totaled 23 targets. Things get much better the next two weeks with a Norman-less Washington team followed by the San Francisco 49ers, so he could become a focal point in the offense.
It's not just the raw targets that are there for Jeffery, either. He also has 34.88% of the targets at least 16 yards downfield, seeing at least one in every game. Given the competition he was facing, that has to snag your attention.
The lack of production has allowed Jeffery's price to slip to $6,600 on FanDuel for the Thursday through Monday slate. He'll be well-rested and facing a team that could be without its top two corners. Now's not a bad time to start plugging in Jeffery before the difficult matchups pick back up.
2. Hunter Henry Continues to Rise
Through the first four games, Hunter Henry was more of a myth than a sentient object. He had 10 total targets, and he was being out-snapped by the player formerly known as Antonio Gates. The past two weeks have been just a wee bit different.
Henry has at least seven targets in each, accounting for 19.23% of the team's total targets in that span. Perhaps most impressively, four of those targets were at least 16 yards downfield, and four were in the red zone. Not only is he getting volume, but it's of the high-leverage variety.
A clear rebuttal to this is that the Los Angeles Chargers faced a pair of teams that struggle to defend tight ends. But Henry also played 75.6% and 83.1% of the snaps in those games, respectively, both of which are great numbers for a tight end. On top of that, his next matchup -- with the Denver Broncos -- is against a team that funnels targets to tight ends. This solid usage may not just dry up.
Henry has clearly separated himself from Gates, which was the big obstacle to his fantasy relevancy. Now, he just needs to keep getting the targets. With the way things have gone the past two weeks, it's enough to think this trend will continue, making him a viable option in both season-long and DFS.
3. Evan Engram May Bathe in Targets
Speaking of the Broncos, we saw that tight-end funnel on full display Sunday night. You had to know Evan Engram would see increased volume with Odell Beckham out, but he may have exceeded even those expectations.
Although the New York Giants threw just 19 times, 7 of those throws went Engram's way. He was the only player on the team to top 15 receiving yards, sitting all the way up at 82. So not only was the usage there, but the production was, too.
Even when you include Engram's Week 5 dud, he still has 18.35% of the team's targets this year, and that's while including the looks that Beckham and Brandon Marshall got prior to their season-ending injuries. With those two out of the picture, it seems clear that Engram will be the focal point of the passing game.
That's all fine and dandy, but we do need to keep in mind the limitations that Engram possesses. Specifically, he plays in an offense that is still without its best player for the rest of the season. That means touchdown drives may not be overly abundant the rest of the way, preventing Engram from having monster upside. He's still going to be a guy we can target liberally in favorable matchups, but we should also proceed with caution when the Giants face tougher assignments as they will in Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks.