Vacated targets are an important thing to look at year over year in fantasy football. This is the first in a series of articles reviewing each team’s vacated targets and the general narrative around what that might mean for 2019 fantasy football production. Some teams lost a lot, some teams lost a little, but no matter what, there’s something to learn from looking at the numbers.
New England Patriots – Vacated Targets: 204 / 37%
The New England Patriots easily won the AFC East last year. But this year, it could prove to be a little more difficult as they’ve lost arguably the best tight end to ever play the game in Rob Gronkowski and the future of Josh Gordon is entirely up in the air. If you remove the targets that went to those two, along with the newly departed Chris Hogan, the Patriots have the most open targets in the AFC East.
Where are most of these targets expected to go? You guessed it: rookie sensation, and first-round pick, N’Keal Harry. They also added running back depth piece Brandon Bolden, journeyman wide receiver Bruce Ellington, young riser WR Maurice Harris, and TE Matt LaCosse, all of whom have a potential to take their share of these targets as well. Look for Harry to slot in for as many as 60-80 targets of his own even as a rookie, making him well worth his price as an early first-round rookie pick.
Miami Dolphins – Vacated Targets: 108 / 25%
The Miami Dolphins focused on front office and coaching changes this offseason, opting to keep their receiving corps mostly intact. The biggest loss of their 108 vacated targets went to veteran WR Danny Amendola who accounted for 79 himself. With him moving to Detroit and veteran RB Frank Gore going to Buffalo, the Dolphins also vacated some experience as well.
So where are these targets going? The new coaching regime chose to extend WR DeVante Parker for two more years and added veteran TE Dwayne Allen to the mix. They also drafted RB Myles Gaskin to add some power to their RB group. Along with those moves, they get WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson back from IR, along with unsigned free agent WR Preston Williams, if he can make the starting squad. Hard to say who will benefit most, but I’m guessing it’s Parker who sees the biggest uptick here, and with new QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen at the helm it should be a lot more fun to watch.
Buffalo Bills – Vacated Targets: 161 / 34%
Behind only the Patriots in the AFC East in the percentage of targets vacated are the Buffalo Bills. They traded WR Kelvin Benjamin to the Kansas City Chiefs during last season and cut TE Charles Clay before the draft, two of their main targets in 2018. On top of that, they also lost TE Logan Thomas, RB Chris Ivory, and WR Deonte Thompson who were all role players in the offense last year.
This year, the Bills added a lot of talent at RB, signing both T.J. Yeldon and Frank Gore before drafting rookie Devin Singletary in April. They also drafted rookie TE Dawson Knox and added receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley to bolster the receiving corps. All in all, look for Brown to be the biggest vacuum of the long ball targets here, likely around 60-70, with Beasley, Knox, and Yeldon getting the remainder of the open targets in the short game.
New York Jets – Vacated Targets: 165 / 28%
The last place New York Jets lost most of their targets when veterans WR Jermaine Kearse and RB Isaiah Crowell left for greener pastures. The two combined for 104 of the 143 vacated targets alone, leaving a big hole to fill for the new recruits. But Darnold got some great additions this offseason, and these Jets look like they’re planning on airing it out a lot more this year.
The first big piece the Jets added this year was RB Le’Veon Bell. Bell is known for being a three-down back because not only can he punish you on the ground, but he can catch passes out of the backfield. They also added slot WR Jamison Crowder, scat back RB Ty Montgomery, and rookies WR Greg Dortch and TE Trevon Wesco, to make this new 2019 offense something to look out for. Look for Bell and Crowder to get around 60-70 targets each, and the rest to get their fill as backups and in special formations.
Hit us up on twitter @PFN365 with your thoughts on who will get the lions share of vacated targets for each team this 2019 fantasy football season. Also, continue to visit the Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis while also visiting our new Fantasy Football section.
Andrew Hall is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can follow him @AndrewHallFF on Twitter.