Teams are passing 55% of the time this season, which is 1% higher than in 2008. Using the exact format I used one week ago in the NFC Depth Chart Notes, for each team this week, I will first list the percentage of each team’s plays that were pass attempts through 3 games followed by their league rank in that department (1 is pass heaviest team, 32 is run heaviest team). In my team analysis, I will discuss that percentage’s impact on the team.
Buffalo: 55% (17) – The Bills have run a balanced offense so far and Trent Edwards has done a nice job managing it. He is about league average in yards per attempt and completion and better than average in touchdowns per completion and interceptions per attempt. Marshawn Lynch will return from his suspension in week 4 and will split carries with early-season stud Fred Jackson, who leads the NFL in looks and has carried the ball on 81% of Buffalo’s run plays. He’s also been targeted on a team-high 22% of Edwards’ throws. Terrell Owens has been targeted only 15% of the time, which is likely less than he was expecting when signing up with Buffalo. Lee Evans (19%) is seeing more of the looks. Edwards likes to use his tight end and Derek Schouman (pre-injury) and Derek Fine are reaping the benefits. 29% of Edwards’ pass attempts have gone to a tight end. Josh Reed has been targeted 11% of the time and has responded by catching all 10 of those targets.
Miami: 48% (29) – Only three teams have run the ball at a higher rate than the Dolphins, who have put Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to good use. Brown has taken care of 51% of the carries and 9% of the targets. Williams has carried it 33% of the time and has been targeted 11% of the time. Ted Ginn has been targeted a team-high 30% of the time, but most of that is due to 16 looks in week 2. Totaling 13 catches on 27 targets for 134 yards, he was shut out on 6 targets in week 3 and isn’t even the team’s leading receiver as Davone Bess (21% of targets) has 17 catches on 19 targets for 140 yards. Greg Camarillo (8%) and Brian Hartline (6%) have also been involved. No team has used their tight ends less than Miami. Starter Anthony Fasano has seen just 7% of the targets (6 total). Most of that production was with Chad Pennington behind center. Now that Pennington is out for the season, it will be interesting to see if Chad Henne distributes the ball similarly.
New England: 63% (3) – The Patriots are throwing it a ton, but it hasn’t shown on Tom Brady’s stat sheet…yet. Brady’s 3.4% TD/Completion rate is one of the worst in the NFL and should only improve. His 10 yards-per-completion rate is also well below league average. Fred Taylor appears to be the go-to running back after his 21 carry effort in week 3. He has carried the ball on 46% of the Patriots run plays so far. Laurence Maroney is second on that list at 24%, with Kevin Faulk (13%), and Sammy Morris (9%) not far behind. Randy Moss has been one of the most targeted players in NFL history through 3 weeks and he’s responded with 26 catches on 40 targets. 28% of Brady’s passes have gone to Moss. 11% have gone to Welker, but that figure is misleading considering Welker missed 2 of the team’s 3 games. Joey Galloway (13%) and Julian Edelman (15%) have also been targeted more than 15 times. Ben Watson has been quiet since a big week 1, but has still seen 10% of Brady’s passes directed at him. Chris Baker (4%) is not seeing as many as most expected. Faulk has seen 9% of Brady’s targets come his way, the highest mark for a Patriot running back.
Tom Brady has thrown it a ton thus far, but that hasn’t translated into many touchdowns. That should change as the season goes on.
New York: 44% (32) – The Jets are league’s run heaviest offense through three weeks. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have been splitting a majority of the looks. Jones has carried it 46% of the time and was targeted 4% of the time for a total of 51 looks. Washington has carried it 39% of the time and has seen 13% of the targets for a total of 52 looks. That is what you call a platoon. Jericho Cotchery (30%) and Chansi Stuckey (25%) have seen a similar amount of targets, but Cotchery has caught 8 more passes than Stuckey. Brad Smith (4%) and David Clowney (1%) have been non-factors in the offense. Dustin Keller (19%) has seen around 5 balls a game thrown his way.
Houston: 63% (4) – Matt Schaub has been fantastic after a rough week 1 and the Texans playcallers are letting him do his thing by calling passes more than all but 3 NFL teams. Steve Slaton has struggled thus far, but was better in week 3 and is getting 59% of the team’s carries. Chris Brown is getting a bit more than expected at 30%. Overall, Slaton is getting significantly more looks, thanks to him also seeing 13% of the targets, compared to just 3% for Brown. Andre Johnson has been targeted a team high 28% of the time. Owen Daniels isn’t far behind at 21%. Kevin Walter missed two games, but made up for it in week 3 by catching all 7 of his targets. WRs David Anderson, Jacoby Jones, and Andre Davis (who has also missed time) each have seen between 5%-9% of the targets each. It’s worth noting that should Owen Daniels go down with an injury, Joel Dreessen appears to be the Texans tight end to replace him in the passing game. Dreessen is the only other Houston tight end with a target (4, 4% of team total).
Indianapolis: 57% (13) – The nightmare for Joseph Addai owners seems to be commencing. Donald Brown has seen a bigger portion of the workload each of the first 3 weeks of the season and has impressed. Overall, Addai has seen 49% of the carries, compared to 40% for Brown. Addai also has the advantage with 11% of the targets going to him, compared to 5% to Brown. However, after a 23-13 advantage in looks in week 1, the ratio dropped to 7-5 in a weird week 2 matchup vs. Miami before getting even closer at 17-16 in the team’s week 3 contest. I suspect that Addai will still get slightly more looks each week, especially considering he is averaging almost a half a yard per carry more than Brown, but that could change if the rookie continues to improve. Stay tuned. Reggie Wayne has seen 30% of the team’s targets and that number is sure to stay high all season, especially considering that Anthony Gonzalez will still be out for several more weeks. Pierre Garcon seems to be adjusting well to the WR2 role and he’s seen 13% of the targets. Austin Collie isn’t far behind at 13%. Dallas Clark has seen 24% of Peyton Manning’s passes come his way.
Jacksonville: 57% (14) – Maurice Jones-Drew has been the offensive workhorse and that will continue as long as he stays healthy. He’s seen a team-high 74% of the carries (would be even higher, but David Garrard likes to run and is responsible for 17% of the team’s run plays) and is second on the team in the targets department with 22% going his way. Backup RBs Greg Jones and Rashad Jennings would be players of fantasy relevance should MJD go down for a while, but to date, they’ve only seen 4% and 3% of the carries, respectively. Torry Holt seems to be the number one receiving option as of now, but that could change quickly as Mike Sims-Walker is coming on strong. Holt has seen 23% of the targets, while Sims-Walker has seen 20%. Nate Hughes (cut) and Troy Williamson (IR) had combined for 12% of the targets, but both are now gone. Mike Thomas will pick up the slack. At tight end, Marcedes Lewis has seen 13% of the looks, while Ernest Wilford has seen 2% in limited action.
Tennessee: 56% (16) – Tennessee has run the ball less than expected, which is largely a product of trailing in all 3 of their games. It was expected that Chris Johnson would see a larger share of the workload this season and that has been the case. He’s seen 65% of the carries, compared to 26% for LenDale White. 16% of Kerry Collins’ passes have also gone the way of Johnson. Justin Gage shot out of the gate this season and leads the team with 24% of the targets going his way. Nate Washington, on the other hand, battled injuries out of the gate in 2009, but is wheeling in Gage in targets, with 18% going to him. Kenny Britt is coming on nicely for Tennessee. 13% of Collins’ passes have gone his direction. Bo Scaife (6%) was used a lot in the opener before suffering an injury, leaving the door open for Alge Crumpler (12%) to step in. Rookie Jared Cook has yet to catch a ball on 3 targets.
Baltimore: 51% (23) – The Ravens might be the best team in the NFL and they’re doing it by passing the ball more than they did a season ago. Willis McGahee is getting a ton of hype due to his 6 touchdowns in 3 games, but it’s actually been Ray Rice who’s seen a majority of the backfield touches. Rice has been handed 38% of the team’s run plays, compared to 32% for McGahee. 16% of the targets have gone to Rice, compared to 7% to McGahee. As long as he keeps scoring touchdowns, however, McGahee will hold more fantasy value. Le’Ron McClain has carried the ball 12% of the time and 9% of the targets have gone to him. Derrick Mason (21% of targets) continues to produce, but Mark Clayton (18%) and Kelley Washington (12%) aren’t too far behind in the targets department. Todd Heap had a big week one and quietly has been targeted on 15% of Joe Flacco’s passes.
Cincinnati: 54% (19) – The team’s playcalling has been relatively balanced, but the distribution of carries has not been. 83% of the team’s run plays have gone to Cedric Benson, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Bengals. Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard were expected to see a decent amount of looks, but they’ve combined for just 7% of the carries (a total of 5). Not surprisingly, Chad Ochocinco has been the team’s go-to wide receiver, seeing 27% of the targets. Surprisingly, Andre Caldwell (21%) is second in that department. Laveranues Coles (16%) and Chris Henry (9%) have also been involved to an extent. Daniel Coats (8% of targets) is the only tight end involved much at all.
Cleveland: 59% (10) – The Browns offense is not in good shape and they’ve been forced to pass a ton due to trailing on the scoreboard a majority of the time. Brady Quinn was pulled from the team’s week 3 game and replaced by Derek Anderson, who will start in week 4. Jamal Lewis missed the team’s week 3 game, but still leads the team in carries with 39% going to him. Jerome Harrison is clearly the team’s second option at RB and has taken 30% of the carries. Rookie James Davis has carried it 14% of the time. Harrison has also been targeted 12% of the time. Braylon Edwards and Mike Furrey have both seen a team-high 19% of the targets. Josh Cribbs (13%), Robert Royal (14%), and Mohamed Massaquoi (7%) have also been involved.
Pittsburgh: 60% (8) – That is not a misprint. The Steelers have been one of the pass heaviest teams thus far, which is a complete flip-flop from where they’ve been the last few years. This has allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw a lot more, but he hasn’t exactly lit it up. The 860 yards through 3 games seems nice, but consider he is below average in yards-per-completion, touchdowns-per-completion, and interceptions-per-attempt. Meanwhile, Willie Parker has carried the ball on 71% of the team’s run plays. Mewelde Moore has on 11% of the plays on has been targeted 10% of the time. Rashard Mendenhall saw no action in week 3, but overall has carried it 10% of the time. Santonio Holmes has been targeted a team-high 28% of the time, while Hines Ward has seen 20% of the passes. Mike Wallace seems be the third wide receiver, with 16% of the passes going to him, compared to just 2% to Limas Sweed. Heath Miller (17%) and Mark Spaeth (4%) have seen action at the tight end position.
Denver: 46% (31) – The Broncos are 3-0 and have protected leads by running the ball less than only the Jets. Knowshon Moreno has been a benefactor of the run heavy offense, carrying it a team-high 45% of the time. Correll Buckhalter has been a more effective runner, but has seen just 30% of the carries. Brandon Marshall has seen 23% of the targets go his direction. Eddie Royal (18%), Jabar Gaffney (17%), and Brandon Stokley (13%) have also seen a respectable amount of targets. Kyle Orton hasn’t utilized the tight end position as much as expected, with Tony Scheffler and Daniel Graham combining for just 14% of the targets.
Kansas City: 49% (26) – Also not a misprint, the Chiefs have been one of the more run heavy teams in the league. Even while being routed in Philadelphia in week 3, they ran the ball 60% of the time. Larry Johnson has carried it on 64% of the team’s carries. Jamaal Charles has seen 12% of the carries, while Jackie Battle (7%) and Dantrell Savage (4%) have also contributed. Savage (11% of targets) and Charles (10%) have also been involved in the passing game. Dwayne Bowe was out week 3, but has still seen 12% of the overall passes thrown by KC. Bobby Wade wasn’t a Chief until week 2, but has still had a team-high 16% of the teams passes directed at him. Mark Bradley (13%), Sean Ryan (13%) and Bobby Engram (5%) have also been involved.
Oakland: 49% (27) – The Raiders generally run the ball a lot and that hasn’t changed this season. Darren McFadden has been responsible for a team-high 51% of the carries and has been targeted on 14% of JaMarcus Russell’s pass attempts (emphasis on attempts). Michael Bush has carried it 34% of the time, while Justin Fargas has seen just 3%. Louis Murphy has still been the most targeted wide receiver at 26%. Darrius Heyward-Bey has seen a respectable 16% of the targets, but has caught just one. Russell likes to look for tight end Zach Miller and he’s thrown to him 18% of the time.
Chargers: 61% (5) – The Chargers were expected to revert back to more of a rushing team this season, but the success of Philip Rivers, coupled with the injuries to LaDainian Tomlinson have put them in a position where they are passing more than all but 4 teams. Tomlinson missed a part of week 1 and all of weeks 2 and 3, but still has carried it on 18% of the team’s run plays. Darren Sproles has taken advantage of Tomlinson’s absence by carrying it on 51% of the team’s run plays. He’s also been targeted on 19% of the pass plays. Michael Bennett has stepped up as the backup RB while Tomlinson is out and has carried it on 17% of the rushing plays. Vincent Jackson has been one of the league’s top wide receivers thus far and being targeted 20% of the time in a pass happy offense is a good way to do that. Antonio Gates has been targeted second most often at a clip of 21%. Chris Chambers has just 2 catches despite 13% of Rivers’ passes going his direction. Legedu Naanee appears to be the third option at WR, as 12% of the passes have gone to him. Malcom Floyd (6%) has also been involved in the passing game.
Depth Chart Notes rotate each week from the 16 NFC teams to the 16 AFC teams. If you are curious about something you see here or have a question about an AFC team (should it be a week I’m focusing on the NFC, for example), feel free to email me at mclay8823@yahoo.com, leave a comment, or shoot me a tweet @FDC_MikeClay .
on 
on 
on 
on 
