One game remains before the fourth week of the National Football League is kaput, which means many fantasy owners are already thinking about Week 5. Let’s get a head-start on that by reviewing the all-important target statistic from Sunday’s games.

- Mohamed Massaquoi, Cleveland Browns: Massaquoi, the Browns’ rookie wideout, was targeted 13 times by Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson, and wound up with eight catches for 148 yards. In his three previous games this season, Massaquoi had just two catches for 31 yards. The Browns are desperate for offense, and the second-round pick out of Georgia brings excellent athletic ability, setting him up for big games here and there. Massaquoi could be a match-up based fantasy contributor if Anderson continues at quarterback and teams continue to focus on Braylon Edwards (who had zero catches on five targets Sunday).

- Steve Smith, New York Giants: Smith was targeted a whopping 16 times in the Giants’ win over the Chiefs, and he wound up catching 11 of those passes for 134 yards and two scores. His 16 targets were double the amount of Mario Manningham, who was second on the team in that statistic on Sunday. Smith has now been targeted 44 times, which is second in the NFL only to Randy Moss, who has 45. Eli Manning clearly trusts Smith a great deal, and Smith is now a must-start every week.

- Nate Washington, Tennessee Titans: With 12 targets on Sunday, Washington has taken over from Justin Gage as the Titans’ team leader in that category with 31, compared to Gage’s 30. Washington, who caught seven passes for 66 yards in Tennessee’s loss to Jacksonville, is now 11th in the AFC in targets, and has been targeted at least seven times in each of his past three games.

- Derrick Mason, Baltimore Ravens: Mason was targeted 11 times on Sunday, hauling in seven passes for 88 yards and a score as Baltimore fell to New England. Mason is eighth in the AFC and 13th in the NFL with 33 targets on the year, and it was the third time in the Ravens’ four games this season that Mason was targeted by quarterback Joe Flacco at least eight times. With Baltimore now willing to air it out more than last season, Mason’s fantasy value becomes increased as he is Flacco’s No. 1 option.

Other Week 4 target numbers of interest: Kenny Britt, Mike Sims-Walker, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, 11; Brandon Pettigrew, Mark Clayton, 10; Miles Austin, Chris Chambers, Johnny Knox, 8; Terrell Owens, Mike Furrey, 7; Santana Moss, 4; Ted Ginn Jr., 3.

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Brandon Pettigrew, Chris Chambers, Cleveland Browns, Derrick Mason, Fantasy Football, Johnny Knox, kenny britt, Mark Clayton, Mike Furrey, Mike Sims-Walker, Miles Austin, Mohamed Massaquoi, Nate Washington, New York Giants, Receiving Yards, Receptions, Santana Moss, Statistics, Steve Smith, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, targets, Ted Ginn Jr., Tennessee Titans, Terrell Owens, Wide Receivers

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Entry posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 7:09 am. Filed under tags: Baltimore Ravens, Brandon Pettigrew, Chris Chambers, Cleveland Browns, Derrick Mason, Fantasy Football, Johnny Knox, kenny britt, Mark Clayton, Mike Furrey, Mike Sims-Walker, Miles Austin, Mohamed Massaquoi, Nate Washington, New York Giants, Receiving Yards, Receptions, Santana Moss, Statistics, Steve Smith, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, targets, Ted Ginn Jr., Tennessee Titans, Terrell Owens, Wide Receivers,
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