5 NFL Red Zone Trends to Monitor for Week 2

Running Backs Dominating the Passing Game

In Week 1, 12 teams had their running back lead or tie for the lead in red zone targets.

And in terms of raw red zone target leaders, Alvin Kamara (five) and David Johnson (four) were the only players in the NFL with more than three. Theo Riddick also saw 3, giving running backs 3 of the top 10 spots.

In 2017, you had to go all the way down to 15th to find a running back (Kamara). One week is obviously far too small a sample to draw any long-reaching conclusions about a trend like this, but it is certainly something to monitor as we go forward.

For a long time, the idea around pass-catching running backs has been that they are high-floor options (especially in point-per-reception leagues), but that you sacrifice some ceiling to get that floor. If we see a significant number of backs continuing to rack up targets in scoring range, that can give them a huge boost in value. And if you can get out ahead of that trend, reacting to backs getting big targets and not just chasing touchdown numbers, you will likely be able to find yourself some under-priced upside, especially in PPR formats.