At the beginning of the season, if you were to tell me that Steve Smith would be third in the NFL in targets after four weeks, I'd laugh at you and ask how you knew him. But here we are, four weeks in, and Steve Smith has more targets than players like Julio Jones and Antonio Brown.
Smith got revenge against his old team on Sunday, adding over 21 points to his season-long Reception Net Expected Points total. He was the fifth-best wide receiver according to our rankings entering the week, and will have a similar ranking exiting.
The crazy part is that this type of production can continue, as long as he's seeing volume. And if Gary Kubiak's offenses in Houston are any indication, he will. Andre Johnson averaged over 10 targets per game in six of his eight seasons under Kubiak, and 9.55 and 7.28 in the other two. Steve Smith is playing that same role.
It's not time to sell. Smith is in for a huge season. And I - like many - did not see it coming.