Fantasy Football: Devonta Smith's Target Share With Tanner Mckee At Qb, Plus More Key Stats That May Go Overlooked From Week 6

In fantasy football, you have to look back to move forward. Fantasy points are the goal, but how a player gets there is the key. Analyst Joel Smyth breaks down 8 numbers to know from Week 6 in order to win your matchup in Week 7 and beyond.

29

Targets in Germie Bernard’s three games playing with the starting unit. Eight targets in Week 2 without Michael Pittman Jr., up to nine last week with three wide receiver injuries and 12 on Sunday as the team’s WR2 (only 27% of routes run in the other three games). With so many injuries in Pittsburgh, the rookie stepped up, running 78% of routes and bringing in 11 receptions. Aaron Rodgers, who’s known for a lack of trust with young receivers, has been loving Bernard so far, praising him off the field and targeting him on the field. As the short-area slot receiver, Bernard’s average depth of target was an extremely low 1.83 yards. He meshes with Rodgers' veteran play style and has an increased floor in PPR leagues. I would expect this role to stick once the other Steelers receivers return. ​

3

Red-zone targets for Colston Loveland upon Caleb Williams' return. A great fantasy day that could have gone way better (to be pessimistic) if he was able to get into the end zone on his opportunities deep in the red area. Entering the day, Loveland had an oddly high 2.7 “expected touchdowns” based on his volume, where and how much. As you probably know, he scored zero until this Sunday.

Yet, once again he was out at the one yard line on one catch, and failed to settle down on another route to convert an easy end-zone target. The volume is there, the skillset is there and the touchdowns should keep coming in this offense. The Bears’ offense leads the NFL with 101 plays in the red zone and I believe Loveland will have more than one touchdown over the next 101.

Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Basketball league for the 2026-27 NBA season

18

Routes run for Luther Burden III in Week 6. Rome Odunze finished at 40, Loveland at 33, Kalif Raymond right above at 25 and even Cole Kmet at 23. Burden and Raymond have been fluctuating throughout the year as the third receiver on a team that plays a lot of two-tight end sets. Burden managed to finish with eight receptions on eight targets, but the long-term consistency is not as secure. Williams isn’t always going to go 30 for 36 and Burden’s lack of red-zone snaps and routes in general may keep him as a more volatile fantasy player. Although Chicago played 18 red-zone snaps as mentioned above, Burden was only out on the field for three of those plays, running one route. It’s a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty situation: he’s managed to produce (for the most part) in a limited role so far; it may limit him going forward, and at the same time an increase can turn him into a fantasy star.

31.8%

Target share in DeVonta Smith’s first full game with Tanner McKee. Off the injury report, Smith was targeted 14 times by the Eagles’ backup quarterback. McKee previously only had 11 pass plays in his career with Smith on the field, targeting him on six of those plays for 86 receiving yards and a TD. They continued building on that small sample size against a Panthers defense that was without two of its top corners in the lineup.

The difference in efficiency from Jalen Hurts to McKee is slightly made up for in the passing volume. It was McKee’s third career start, and his third career game with over 40 passing attempts as this offense transforms without Hurts under center, and for this season, without a run game to lean on. McKee is looking like one of the more positive backup QB situations based on his target share, although he may be more matchup-dependent without Hurts under center.

0.89

Fantasy points per route for Puka Nacua when Davante Adams is off the field since 2025. For comparison, Nacua’s 0.78 pts/route led the NFL last season, in a year where his routes were limited due to Adams being the wide receiver in on three-TE sets. Basically, he’s going to go nuclear if Adams were to miss any time. Nacua’s connection with Matthew Stafford has been flawed at times this season, with his catchable target rate dropping from 85.9% to 76.9%, and yet, he’s still averaged 23.0 PPR PPG with only one receiving touchdown! He could very well join the tier of Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson if Adams were to miss time.

11-14

The red-zone snaps for the Rams running backs the last two weeks, slightly favoring Kyren Williams over Blake Corum. Williams’ bellcow role we saw from the first month seemed to have decreased, but after going through the numbers, it was hard to see much of a difference. Corum’s snap share stayed the exact same and his rush share was up by just 1%. The red-zone work, however, flipped back to how the second half of 2025 played out. After Williams had 30 of 32 red-zone snaps, Corum has had nearly 50% the last two weeks, equaling two touchdowns. It doesn’t ruin Williams’ fantasy value, but he is sadly trending towards a lower-end RB1 profile rather than top-five after starting the first month as the fantasy RB5.

23%

Targets per route this season for Ja'Kobi Lane… Okay, if you count his nullified TD via penalty target. After being the Ravens’ training camp star, Lane looked like he was on his way to a big day in Week 1 before going down with an injury. Week 6 was his first day back from a wrist injury and he was immediately relied on after WR Rashod Bateman aggravated a shoulder injury Sunday.

Three of those targets (really four) were red-zone targets, making Lane’s usage that much more interesting. In games with Lamar Jackson, the Ravens’ offense ranks inside the top-10 with nearly four red-zone drives per game, and unlike past seasons, doesn’t have a large share of the production going to the tight end position. Zay Flowers will get a lot of the designed and underneath work, but Lane can be the top contested-catch option in the red zone going forward. ​

82%

Route share in Omar Cooper Jr.’s return. Safe to say he’s passed Isaiah Williams (6% routes). The rookie first-rounder entered the day with one route on the season and then barely came off the field in Week 6. He had multiple screens, led the team in targets and played 68% of passing plays as the Jets’ slot receiver. He didn’t let it go to waste either, bringing in a 48-yard TD as well as a near second score that was called back by penalty. Cooper is an easy add on waivers this week, but also is another threat to Garrett Wilson’s volume along with an injured Adonai Mitchell as well as Kenyon Sadiq, who was limited on Sunday. With New York still being a shaky offense as a whole, Wilson’s high-end fantasy value is more reliant on his volume.