Fantasy Football Player Notes

It's now been four straight games where Lockett has been outside the top-50 fantasy receivers. That comes after nine straight games as the WR46 or better. Clearly, the leg injury he sustained in that 49ers game affected him. He's playing a full complement of snaps, so we have to think he'll bounce back at some point. The Panthers are probably the best team to do it against, as they have James Bradberry and Donte Jackson on the perimeter with Ross Cockrell in the slot. While Cockrell is a solid NFL cornerback when healthy, he's not a slot cornerback. He's allowed 16-of-23 passing for 133 yards and a touchdown in his slot coverage, but just 12-of-32 passing for 212 yards and no touchdowns on the perimeter. We've seen Chris Godwin (twice), Dede Westbrook, Larry Fitzgerald, and Adam Humphries all finish as top-36 options against them. I'm trusting Lockett as a middling WR2 this week and expecting him to bounce back in a big way.

Since joining the starting lineup, Hollister has seen a rather-high 42 targets over seven games. That amounts to 6.0 targets per game, which is a number that you should be comfortable starting a tight end every week with, especially when that tight end plays with Russell Wilson. The Panthers were able to keep Austin Hooper in check last week, but that hasn't been the case for much of the season. They've allowed 8.89 yards per target to the tight end position, which ranks as the second-highest mark behind only the Cardinals. Whatever it is, teams haven't targeted their tight ends very often, as the Panthers have seen a league-low 66 target to the position, which amounts to just 5.1 targets per game. The 13.3 yards per reception is the most in the league, while the touchdown every 22.0 targets is right around the league average. The matchup against the Panthers comes down to targets, so knowing Hollister has seen at least six targets in four of the last five games, he should be in lineups as a low-end TE1.