Fantasy Football Player Notes

A.J. Brown continues to be phenomenal in terms of production on a per-target basis. The problem is that the targets have not always come in bunches. That is primarily because the Eagles have dialed back the passing game with Saquon Barkley running wild and Jalen Hurts rushing for double-digit touchdowns already this year. In eight games since Brown has returned to the lineup, Hurts has averaged just 21.5 pass attempts per game. Brown has earned a 30.2 percent target share on those looks, but he has not surpassed six receptions in any game this year. Brown should continue to be an effective and efficient WR1, even if the volume is not what we would all like it to be.

Smith will be back this week. He has practiced in full all week and doesn't carry an injury designation this week. Smith has fallen to WR32 in fantasy points per game as Philly has moved toward a lower-volume passing offense. With the decreased passing volume, Smith has been incredibly volatile for fantasy football. Across his last five games played, Smith has finished as a top 24 wide receiver in weekly scoring twice (WR7, WR13), but he has also finished outside the top 50 fantasy wideouts three times (WR102, WR71, WR54). Since Week 7, Smith has had a 21.1% target share (4.6 targets per game), 1.70 YPRR (42.6 receiving yards per game), and a 30.4% first-read share. During that span, he has only two red zone targets. Since Week 8, Carolina has allowed the 13th-most receiving yards per game to perimeter wide receivers while also holding them to the fifth-fewest PPR points per target. Smith could return decent numbers this week, but the range of outcomes for his Week 14 performance is wide.