After a second Sunday of NFL (and fantasy) football, it's time to take a look around the league and see where the football was going. Targets and touches aren't always a guarantee of fantasy football production, but it certainly never hurts to get more opportunities.
Targets
It took about two quarters for the Packers offense to get going, but once it did ... wowzers! Aaron Rodgers locked in on Jordy Nelson, his favorite target, and threw him the football. Again and again and again. It helped the Packers rally from an 18-point deficit and more importantly, it helped fantasy owners post pretty good totals. We've been waiting for Randall Cobb to emerge as the go-to receiver in the Packers offense and it could still eventually happen. But so far, Cobb has seen half the number of targets as Nelson, so that emergence is on hold at least temporarily.
The infamous "double fumble" will be the lasting image of James Jones from Week 2, but it overshadowed the fact that the veteran Raiders receiver saw the football come his way quite a bit on Sunday. Rookie quarterback Derek Carr targeted Jones 14 times in Oakland's loss, leading to 112 receiving yards and a touchdown. On a roster that is struggling to find playmaking pass-catchers, Jones might have just taken the lead as the Raiders wideout to own ... if you're into that sort of thing.
Miles Austin posted the bigger numbers for Cleveland on Sunday, but for the second consecutive week, it was Andrew Hawkins who led the team in targets. Hawkins has seen 22 targets in the first two games and is far and away the team's leader in receiving yards. The fourth-year receiver's value immediately went up when Josh Gordon was ruled out and he could continue to be a quality fourth option for fantasy owners.
Other notables:Larry Fitzgerald (10), Steve Smith (10), Knile Davis (9), Martellus Bennett (8), Kelvin Benjamin (8)
Touches
Just in case you were a little freaked out about the amount of work Jeremy Hill saw in Week 2 for the Bengals, you can relax ... Giovani Bernard isn't in danger of losing his status as Cincinnati's workhorse back. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson put the ball in Bernard's hands early and often, resulting in 169 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. It was just a reminder of why the second-year runner was an early second-round pick in plenty of fantasy re-drafts.
The Cowboys were expected to throw the football a lot this season. But on Sunday, Dallas flipped the script and fed the Tennessee Titans a heavy dose of DeMarco Murray -- to great effect. Murray compiled a career-high 29 rushes for 167 yards and a touchdown. During Murray's tenure, the Cowboys have been wildly successful when he touches the ball 20 or more times, a trend that continued in Week 2. We'll see if offensive coordinator Scott Linehan pays heed to that tendency going forward.
We all expected the Kansas City Chiefs to feature their running back in Week 2 after eschewing the running game in their season-opening loss. We just didn't expect that running back to be Knile Davis. The second-year back played a starring role in the Chiefs offense after Jamaal Charles left the game with an ankle sprain. Davis was effective, too, with 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go along with 26 receiving yards. With Charles' status uncertain for Week 3 because of a high ankle sprain, Davis could again be in line for a big workload.
Other notables:Matt Forte (12+8), Andre Ellington (15+3), Jeremy Hill (15+2), Eddie Lacy (13+3), Frank Gore (13+2)
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarcasG.
