2022 RB Target Data

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The chart below is from a data study done by Scott Barrett of FantasyPoints.com. In this study, we learn that fantasy points per target are worth almost double per carry in Half PPR, and nearly 2.5x in full PPR. This data screams out how important RB targets are for fantasy. Take a good look at Scott’s chart, and then let’s examine the target data from the 2022 season to identify some potential situations we should be interested in for 2023.

I break down everything in this article in Video format here.

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Total RB Targets:

	Team	RB Targets	Per Game	RB %	Team Targets	Per Game
1	Los Angeles Chargers	178	10.47	25.04%	711	41.82
2	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	147	8.65	19.57%	751	44.18
3	Cincinnati Bengals	133	7.82	21.80%	610	35.88
4	New York Jets	126	7.41	20.10%	627	36.88
5	Houston Texans	124	7.29	21.42%	579	34.06
6	Indianapolis Colts	123	7.24	20.36%	604	35.53
7	New England Patriots	123	7.24	22.78%	540	31.76
8	Denver Broncos	122	7.18	21.37%	571	33.59
9	Washington Commanders	121	7.12	21.84%	554	32.59
10	Green Bay Packers	116	6.82	20.60%	563	33.12
11	Detroit Lions	115	6.76	19.56%	588	34.59
12	Miami Dolphins	113	6.65	19.35%	584	34.35
13	Arizona Cardinals	112	6.59	16.87%	664	39.06
14	Kansas City Chiefs	112	6.59	17.20%	651	38.29
15	Las Vegas Raiders	112	6.59	19.11%	586	34.47
16	Buffalo Bills	112	6.59	19.51%	574	33.76
17	San Francisco 49ers	110	6.47	21.48%	512	30.12
18	New York Giants	109	6.41	20.96%	520	30.59
19	New Orleans Saints	107	6.29	20.90%	512	30.12
20	Pittsburgh Steelers	95	5.59	16.64%	571	33.59
21	Minnesota Vikings	88	5.18	13.10%	672	39.53
22	Cleveland Browns	88	5.18	16.30%	540	31.76
23	Dallas Cowboys	85	5.00	15.29%	556	32.71
24	Carolina Panthers	85	5.00	18.60%	457	26.88
25	Tennessee Titans	85	5.00	18.64%	456	26.82
26	Seattle Seahawks	84	4.94	14.66%	573	33.71
27	Jacksonville Jaguars	83	4.88	13.93%	596	35.06
28	Atlanta Falcons	66	3.88	15.90%	415	24.41
29	Los Angeles Rams	63	3.71	11.86%	531	31.24
30	Baltimore Ravens	63	3.71	12.91%	488	28.71
31	Chicago Bears	62	3.65	16.45%	377	22.18
32	Philadelphia Eagles	61	3.59	11.38%	536	31.53

In 2022, the Chargers led the lead in targets to RBs, throwing nearly 10.5 targets per game. The Buccaneers coming in at #2 with 8.65 targets per game, 147 on the year. I’m not sure we can expect this amount again from a Tom Brady-less Bucs, but perhaps they still are toward the league leaders in this category in 2023, which bodes well for Rachaad White. The Bengals at #3 is interesting, throwing 7.82 targets to RBs per game. Samaje Perine is gone and he had 51 of those 133 targets last year. This either means Joe Mixon’s 75 targets last year are in for an increase, or we should be looking for the Bengals 2023 Perine. The Jets at #4 surprised me a bit, although Mike White was checking it down at insanely high rates when he was starting. Perhaps we see this carryover with Rodgers in 2023.

I was also surprised to see the Texans at #5 with 124 targets. They threw 51 targets at Rex Burkhead last year and brought in Devin Singletary to compete for 3rd down duties with Dameon Pierce, who had 39 targets last year. I think we should expect a target bump for Pierce, I’m just not sure how much more. The other thing that stuck out to me was the Washington Commanders at #9. They threw 58 targets to Antonio Gibson and then another 40 at JD McKissic, who is no longer on the team. The off-season buzz around Gibson has been noticeable, and if some or most McKissic’s target’s go to Gibson, the hype may be for real.

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Now let’s look at the same data, just filtered by RB Target %

	Team	RB Targets	Per Game	RB %	Team Targets	Per Game
1	Los Angeles Chargers	178	10.47	25.04%	711	41.82
2	New England Patriots	123	7.24	22.78%	540	31.76
3	Washington Commanders	121	7.12	21.84%	554	32.59
4	Cincinnati Bengals	133	7.82	21.80%	610	35.88
5	San Francisco 49ers	110	6.47	21.48%	512	30.12
6	Houston Texans	124	7.29	21.42%	579	34.06
7	Denver Broncos	122	7.18	21.37%	571	33.59
8	New York Giants	109	6.41	20.96%	520	30.59
9	New Orleans Saints	107	6.29	20.90%	512	30.12
10	Green Bay Packers	116	6.82	20.60%	563	33.12
11	Indianapolis Colts	123	7.24	20.36%	604	35.53
12	New York Jets	126	7.41	20.10%	627	36.88
13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	147	8.65	19.57%	751	44.18
14	Detroit Lions	115	6.76	19.56%	588	34.59
15	Buffalo Bills	112	6.59	19.51%	574	33.76
16	Miami Dolphins	113	6.65	19.35%	584	34.35
17	Las Vegas Raiders	112	6.59	19.11%	586	34.47
18	Tennessee Titans	85	5.00	18.64%	456	26.82
19	Carolina Panthers	85	5.00	18.60%	457	26.88
20	Kansas City Chiefs	112	6.59	17.20%	651	38.29
21	Arizona Cardinals	112	6.59	16.87%	664	39.06
22	Pittsburgh Steelers	95	5.59	16.64%	571	33.59
23	Chicago Bears	62	3.65	16.45%	377	22.18
24	Cleveland Browns	88	5.18	16.30%	540	31.76
25	Atlanta Falcons	66	3.88	15.90%	415	24.41
26	Dallas Cowboys	85	5.00	15.29%	556	32.71
27	Seattle Seahawks	84	4.94	14.66%	573	33.71
28	Jacksonville Jaguars	83	4.88	13.93%	596	35.06
29	Minnesota Vikings	88	5.18	13.10%	672	39.53
30	Baltimore Ravens	63	3.71	12.91%	488	28.71
31	Los Angeles Rams	63	3.71	11.86%	531	31.24
32	Philadelphia Eagles	61	3.59	11.38%	536	31.53

Interesting takeaways for me include the 32nd ranked Philadelphia Eagles. This does not look great for D’Andre Swift, especially since they also like Kenneth Gainwell in this passing down role. Even if Swift wins the 3rd Down role, it’s not a high volume role and he very likely splits reps with Gainwell here. I was also surprised to see the Rams, Vikings and Jaguars as bottom 5 teams.

Again, notice the Commanders at #3. Gibson is the passing down back but I do expect more opportunities for 2nd Year Brian Robinson in the passing game. Keep an eye on rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. in camp.

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This next chart show’s each team’s leading RB in targets and their target share’s within their offense.

	Team	RB1	Targets	Target %	Team Targets
1	Los Angeles Chargers	Austin Ekeler	127	17.86%	711
2	New England Patriots	Rhamondre Stevenson	88	16.30%	540
3	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Leonard Fournette	83	11.05%	751
4	New Orleans Saints	Alvin Kamara	77	15.04%	512
5	New York Giants	Saquon Barkley	76	14.62%	520
6	Cincinnati Bengals	Joe Mixon	75	12.30%	610
7	Green Bay Packers	Aaron Jones	72	12.79%	563
8	Kansas City Chiefs	Jerick McKinnon	71	10.91%	651
9	Detroit Lions	D’Andre Swift	70	11.90%	588
10	San Francisco 49ers	Christian McCaffrey	65	12.70%	512
11	Las Vegas Raiders	Josh Jacobs	64	10.92%	586
12	Washington Commanders	Antonio Gibson	58	10.47%	554
13	Arizona Cardinals	James Conner	58	8.73%	664
14	Minnesota Vikings	Dalvin Cook	56	8.33%	672
15	Dallas Cowboys	Tony Pollard	55	9.89%	556
16	New York Jets	Michael Carter	54	8.61%	627
17	Pittsburgh Steelers	Najee Harris	53	9.28%	571
18	Buffalo Bills	Devin Singletary	52	9.06%	574
19	Houston Texans	Rex Burkhead	51	8.81%	579
20	Jacksonville Jaguars	Travis Etienne Jr.	45	7.55%	596
21	Cleveland Browns	Kareem Hunt	44	8.15%	540
22	Carolina Panthers	Christian McCaffrey	43	9.41%	457
23	Miami Dolphins	Raheem Mostert	42	7.19%	584
24	Tennessee Titans	Derrick Henry	41	8.99%	456
25	Indianapolis Colts	Jonathan Taylor	40	6.62%	604
26	Chicago Bears	David Montgomery	40	10.61%	377
27	Seattle Seahawks	Kenneth Walker III	35	6.11%	573
28	Denver Broncos	Latavius Murray	34	5.95%	571
29	Atlanta Falcons	Cordarrelle Patterson	31	7.47%	415
30	Philadelphia Eagles	Kenneth Gainwell	29	5.41%	536
31	Baltimore Ravens	Kenyan Drake	26	5.33%	488
32	Los Angeles Rams	Darrell Henderson Jr.	22	4.14%	531

The biggest takeaway from this chart to me is to target the situations towards the top that earned 10%+ target share’s. The Bucs are difficult to project with the QB change, but it’s safe to assume that Rachaad White will lead the team in targets, we’re just not sure on how high these numbers will be. The Saints will be without star receiving back Alvin Kamara for an unknown number of games, so we should be interested in Jamaal Williams or Kendre Miller for these suspended games. I mentioned the Bengals before and their mystery RB2. This is one of the most important training camp battles that I will be monitoring. Chase Brown or Trayveon Williams. The Bills at 18 intrigue me, as Devin Singletary leaves behind a 9% target share and James Cook already had a 5.5% target share himself last year. If Cook dominates the RB targets in Buffalo, he could be a fun PPR value in an offense that had 112 RB targets.

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The next chart shows each team’s 2nd leading RB in targets.

	Team	RB2	Targets	Target %	Team Targets
1	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Rachaad White	58	7.72%	751
2	Cincinnati Bengals	Samaje Perine	51	8.36%	610
3	Green Bay Packers	AJ Dillon	43	7.64%	563
4	Washington Commanders	J.D. McKissic	40	7.22%	554
5	Houston Texans	Dameon Pierce	39	6.74%	579
6	Cleveland Browns	Nick Chubb	37	6.85%	540
7	Indianapolis Colts	Deon Jackson	34	5.63%	604
8	Arizona Cardinals	Eno Benjamin	33	4.97%	664
9	Pittsburgh Steelers	Jaylen Warren	33	5.78%	571
10	Las Vegas Raiders	Ameer Abdullah	32	5.46%	586
11	Buffalo Bills	James Cook	32	5.57%	574
12	Denver Broncos	Melvin Gordon III	32	5.60%	571
13	New York Jets	Breece Hall	31	4.94%	627
14	Jacksonville Jaguars	JaMycal Hasty	27	4.53%	596
15	Tennessee Titans	Dontrell Hilliard	26	5.70%	456
16	Philadelphia Eagles	Miles Sanders	26	4.85%	536
17	Los Angeles Chargers	Joshua Kelley	25	3.52%	711
18	New York Giants	Matt Breida	25	4.81%	520
19	Miami Dolphins	Jeff Wilson Jr.	24	4.11%	584
20	New England Patriots	Damien Harris	23	4.26%	540
21	Kansas City Chiefs	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	23	3.53%	651
22	San Francisco 49ers	Kyle Juszczyk	23	4.49%	512
23	Dallas Cowboys	Ezekiel Elliott	23	4.14%	556
24	Detroit Lions	Justin Jackson	19	3.23%	588
25	Seattle Seahawks	DeeJay Dallas	19	3.32%	573
26	New Orleans Saints	Mark Ingram II	18	3.52%	512
27	Minnesota Vikings	Alexander Mattison	18	2.68%	672
28	Los Angeles Rams	Cam Akers	18	3.39%	531
29	Carolina Panthers	Chuba Hubbard	17	3.72%	457
30	Atlanta Falcons	Tyler Allgeier	17	4.10%	415
31	Baltimore Ravens	Patrick Ricard	13	2.66%	488
32	Chicago Bears	Khalil Herbert	12	3.18%	377

Not too many takeaways from this list, but there are a handful of RBs who could graduate up to the RB1 list. This backs include Rachaad White, Samaje Perine, Dameon Pierce, Nick Chubb, Jaylen Warren, James Cook, Breece Hall, Miles Sanders and Cam Akers.

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Here’s the full chart of data, filtered by RB1 targets: