Fantasy football is sort of its own world. The biggest stars in the NFL tend to be the biggest fantasy football stars as well.
However, things can still be different in the fantasy universe.
One thing that remains the same though, are breakout stars. Every year the NFL sees new stars introduced into the league.
They could be rookies just getting their first taste of the NFL, or young players making improvements. At the same time, they could be veterans who have finally gotten something to click, or even players enjoying bounce-back campaigns.
Whatever the case, every year sees new players fill this role. And one position that might see the most noticeable year-to-year improvements that affect both regular and fantasy football is wide receiver.
One very easy stat to keep track of today is targets. Players that get more and more targets have a higher chance of putting up better and better numbers.
So the players that gain the most targets in 2020 compared to seasons past could be gearing up for a breakout season.
With that in mind, who is in store for those big years in 2020? Let's take a look at each team and try to determine which five players will see the biggest uptick in targets this upcoming season.
5. Tajae Sharpe
Tajae Sharpe has always been an intriguing fantasy football player.
The Tennessee Titans selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. And Sharpe promptly put up some strong numbers.
Despite being a late-round rookie, the wide receiver racked up 41 receptions for 522 yards and two touchdowns. Clearly, big things were in his future.
However, that has been his best fantasy football season so far.
2017 saw him miss the entire season due to injury. That really put a stall on his development. Sharpe was not the same upon his return.
In 2018, he reeled in 26 receptions for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Then last season, Sharpe had 25 receptions for 325 yards and four touchdowns.
While the potential is still there, something was missing. Could it have simply been usage?
In his rookie year, Sharpe had 83 targets. He had just 82 in 2018 and 2019 combined.
Now Sharpe is with the Minnesota Vikings. A Vikings team that has traded away Stefon Diggs.
Yes, Adam Thielen is still there and will be the number one, but Sharpe could be in for a pretty big role in the offense.
Another important note, Minnesota is a much more wide receiver friendly offense. Kirk Cousins has his flaws, but he's going to get wide receivers bigger numbers.
In just 15 games last season, he threw the ball 444 times. That is just two less than the entire Titans' team (286 for Ryan Tannehill, 160 for Marcus Mariota and two for punter Brett Kern).
While Cousins only had 3,603 yards last season, it was his first time with less than 4,000 yards since 2014, when he only appeared in six games.
Cousins is capable of big things. And Minnesota showed in his first season with the team in 2018 that they love to throw the ball.
Sharpe still has tons of potential. He's lightning fast with a good frame (6'2″, 194 lbs). Now that he is finally out of Tennessee, maybe he can blossom. A change of scenery and a new offense could be just what the doctor ordered.
4. Preston Williams
Preston Williams was an undrafted free agent in 2019. And the Miami Dolphins took a chance on him.
Being an undrafted free agent, it would not surprise you to hear that Williams had to fight for a role. Once he got a hold of a significant one though, he quickly made his case for an even bigger one.
Williams appeared in just eight games last season for Miami. In those eight games, he racked up 32 receptions (60 targets) for 428 yards and three touchdowns.
It is pretty clear that the coaching staff in Miami loves him. And now the Dolphins have a new quarterback in rookie Tua Tagovailoa.
While he will have his rookie bumps, Tagovailoa should add a major spark to the Miami offense. A spark that is desperately needed.
Last season, the Dolphins had Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen at quarterback. Both had some shining moments, but some pretty dreadful ones too.
There were serious inconsistencies at the quarterback position last season. Tagovailoa will have his ups-and-downs, but he should bring a lot more consistency. And that is going to be a great thing for the weapons.
As for Williams himself, he will now have 16 games to put up much bigger fantasy football numbers. And now that he does not need to fight as much for a position, he won't have games with only a few players designed for him.
Williams should be a major part of the offense. The Dolphins will look to get him involved as much as possible.
That coupled with a new quarterback and his own natural progression could mean major things are in store for Williams. And he will see a serious uptick in targets due to that.
3. Brandin Cooks
Brandin Cooks had a really bad year with the Los Angeles Rams last season.
You could blame it on a number of different things. Some could say he simply didn't have it. Others will point to the struggles of the entire team. There is an easy argument that injuries played a major role. And of course, quarterback Jared Goff's poor year did not help his cause.
Whatever the reason, Cooks is poised for a bounce-back 2020 season.
2019 saw Cooks reel in 42 receptions (on 72 targets) for 583 yards and two touchdowns. The numbers are not miserable but they aren't good either.
The receptions and touchdowns were both career lows. Meanwhile, the yards and targets were the lowest he had since his rookie season.
In fact, 2019 was only the second time in Cooks' career without at least 114 targets in a single season.
There was one other reason I didn't bring up. Competition. Goff wasn't great in 2019, but he wasn't bad either. He still threw the ball a ton and managed massive yard totals.
So why wasn't Cooks getting fed? Los Angeles had a lot of mouths.
Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp both emerged as legitimate superstars at the wide receiver position. Tyler Higbee had a breakout year at tight end as well.
Someone was going to get left out in the cold, and it just so happened to be Cooks.
He was traded to the Houston Texans this offseason though. And now he should be taking up the number one wide receiver role since they traded DeAndre Hopkins away.
No, he is not Hopkins and likely won't put up the same production he will. But Cooks can put up pretty similar production. He has shown it in the past.
Houston is a perfect fit for Cooks when you think about it. They have a great quarterback in Deshaun Watson. So it's not like he is going from Goff (who even in a down year did some nice things) to some unknown. Cooks still has a star quarterback.
Most importantly though, he has a lot of other weapons around him. Will Fuller V is a star. Randall Cobb is still a viable veteran threat and Kenny Stills plays a nice role as well.
None of them are going to overshadow Cooks though. They will take pressure off of him, but won't be stealing all of his targets.
Cooks is once again the main attraction in the passing game. And that could lead to him getting well over 100 targets again and being a nice fantasy football option in 2020.
2. Marquise Brown
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was selected in the first round (25th overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in 2019. He promptly became a superstar.
In his first game, he racked up four receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Great start, and unsurprisingly that was his best game of the season. The yards and touchdowns were both highs in 2019.
The second game saw Brown reel in eight receptions on 13 targets for 86 yards. The receptions and targets both ended up being highs in 2019.
Brown ended up with 46 receptions (on 71 targets) for 584 yards and seven touchdowns. Pretty big numbers for a rookie.
This offseason, he has put on plenty of weight to go from 157 lbs to 170 lbs. That difference will make him a nightmare for defenders. His elite speed isn't going anywhere and now he won't be getting bullied down the field and across the middle.
Baltimore has MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson and some nice pieces around him. Brown is set to be the star in the passing game though.
Those 71 targets should be easily outstripped. This still is a run-first team. But they will need to open up the field a lot too. And Brown's ability to go deep mixed with his newfound muscle and weight to go across the middle as well make him the top target.
1. Steven Sims Jr.
There have been some superstars, veterans and first round draft picks on this fantasy football targets list. There was also an undrafted rookie from 2019 already on this list in Williams. Now he is being joined by Steven Sims Jr. of the Washington Football Team.
Sims Jr. was a fan favorite in the preseason. But it took him a little longer to actually make an impression on the coaching staff, it appears.
Sims Jr. played sparingly at the beginning of the season. The first four weeks saw Sims Jr. appear in less than 10% of the team's offensive snaps each game.
Randomly he was in 55% of the team's week five game against the New England Patriots. But was back to not having a role right after that.
The next five games saw Sims Jr. appear in just 8%, 13%, 2%, 6% and 14% of the offensive snaps.
However, the last six games saw the receiver get 40%, 58%, 71%, 70%, 76% and 63% of the offensive snaps. In the end, he appeared in 33% of Washington's offensive snaps in 2019.
That led to Sims Jr. reeling in 34 receptions (on 56 targets) for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
20 of those receptions (on 36 targets) for 230 yards and all four touchdowns came in the last four weeks.
Clearly, Sims Jr. found a major role in the offense – the slot receiver. Washington has more confidence in quarterback Dwayne Haskins. He finished an up-and-down rookie season very strongly and has looked great this offseason.
Haskins could take the next step in 2020.
Meanwhile, Sims Jr. still has that slot role. The only true addition to the passing game was Antonio Gandy-Golden at wide receiver. And with Kelvin Harmon suffering a torn ACL and now being out for the season, it's safe to assume he will just be taking Harmon's role.
The tight end position is still a mess and Terry McLaurin is the star. But Sims Jr. has his role. Clearly Haskins loves him and his tape speaks for itself. A criminally underrated route runner with good hands and elite speed. The sky is the limit.
As the end of 2019 showed, Sims Jr. has a big role in the offense now. Those last four weeks reflect what we can expect in 2020. So the targets should be flying at him.
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