One of the most electrifying and coveted positions to play in the National Football league is Wide Receiver and it’s pretty simple why. These guys aren’t allowed to be touched without the ball after five years and are constantly on the highlight reel for hauling in memorable touchdowns. From an accountability standpoint, receivers are rarely at fault because usually it is either a poorly thrown ball or better yet just good old fashion defense. For fantasy football analysis, receivers are always held to a gold standard expecting to reel in any ball in sight. In reality that’s not always possible so we will break down the value between receptions and targets.
Targets and receptions only differ with the end result similar to a field goal attempt and a field goal made. Targets are balls that are thrown in the area of the receiver but not are not completed; a reception is simply when the receiver cleanly makes a catch and controls possession. Granted different types of receivers will have different ratios when comparing receptions and targets. Possession receivers and those who run shorter routes are going to have a higher conversion rate for balls that target them; compared to the deep ball threats that only going to be a catching a few of those electrifying spirals but boy are they worth when they do! Now you should be asking yourself: Is this gonna effect my NFL fantasy picks? That depends on just how savvy a player you want to be. Granted there is no formula that will optimize your lineup to have the best conversion rates for their targets. Conversely, targets should be looked at with a grain of salt. Reason being if a player is consistently high in targets and only bringing in 50-70% of them; it shows the player’s lack of ability to create separation to easily possess these throws. At the same time,having a guy that is always catching 4-6 balls a game w/ 100% conversion on their targets shows that the player has limited opportunity thus a very limited ceiling on the maximum amount of points they can attain. Daily fantasy football picks can be darn near impossible to try and match up every receiver with their respective stat line compared to the defense's NFL fantasy ranking. Fortunately there’s plenty of resources out there to divulge into to be able to stack and spread your odds out in the most desirable way.
