It’s Tuesday, and with all games having been played, it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous day’s NFL action.

- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks: As our graph shows, Houshmandzadeh has been the recipient of 97 targets this season, including a team-high six in Seattle’s win over the Rams last week. However, he hasn’t done much considering only seven players have gotten more looks than he has. He caught a measly two passes for 14 yards last week, and has only 56 receptions for 632 yards so far in the ’09 campaign. The high number of targets he’s received is just another reason to count him among the biggest disappointments of the fantasy football season.

- Michael Jenkins, Atlanta Falcons: Jenkins received eight targets last week in Atlanta’s win over the Buccaneers, and he came down with seven receptions for 80 yards. While Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White got more looks (12 and 13, respectively), and will continue to do so, Jenkins’ production over his last two games should not be ignored; he had six receptions for 76 yards two weeks ago. His catch totals in each of his past two games have each been season-highs, and his 80 receiving yards are a season-high.

- Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bills: The wideout with the most targets for the Bills last week wasn’t Owens, it was Lee Evans. Evans received six targets, and Owens had five, yet T.O. had far more success, catching all five of the passes thrown his way for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Evans had only two catches for 40 yards. Beware of getting caught in the trap that is Owens’ big numbers of late – he faces the Jets this weekend, and Darrelle Revis has shut nearly every big-time wide receiver down this season.

- Pierre Garcon, Indianapolis Colts: Garcon received seven targets from Peyton Manning last week in the Colts’ come-from-behind win over the Texans. That included a number of red zone looks, and Garcon responded with five receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown. His seven targets were the second-most on the team behind Dallas Clark, and were one more than Reggie Wayne.

- Chris Chambers, Kansas City Chiefs: Chambers was targeted eight times last week as the Chiefs got blown out by Chambers’ old team, the Chargers. He led the team in targets, and wound up with seven catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. He’s unquestionably the No. 1 wideout for K.C. with Dwayne Bowe out due to suspension, and his targets should reflect that.

- Other Week 10 target numbers of interest: Kenny Britt, 11; Sidney Rice, Mark Clayton, Sam Aiken, 10; Laveranues Coles, 9; Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, Chansi Stuckey, 8; Jeremy Maclin, Chaz Schilens, Sammie Stroughter, Brian Hartline, 7; Robert Meachem, 6; Chad Ochocinco, 5; Roy Williams, 4; Devin Hester, 2.

It’s Monday, so it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous day’s NFL action.

- Laveranues Coles, Cincinnati Bengals: Coles was targeted nine times in Cincinnati’s win over the Ravens this weekend. He came up with six receptions for 72 yards in what was his most productive day in a Bengals uniform. His nine targets tied Chad Ochocinco for the team high, and were four more than Andre Caldwell received. It was the most targets Coles had received in any one contest this season, and tied his total from the last three games combined.

- Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts: Clark had a whopping 16 targets en route to 14 receptions for 119 yards as Indianapolis eked by the Houston Texans on Sunday. Peyton Manning put the ball in the air 50 times during the contest, and nearly one out of every three of those throws was intended for Clark. The former Iowa tight end vaulted to fourth in the AFC and seventh in the NFL in total targets.

- James Jones, Green Bay Packers: With six targets in Green Bay’s debilitating loss to Tampa Bay, Jones now has 11 total targets in his last two contests, which is easily his highest two-game total of the season. Jones collected season highs with four catches and 103 yards in the game, along with a touchdown. With Jordy Nelson out of the lineup, Jones has taken advantage, and now has a touchdown reception in three of his last four games.

- Davone Bess, Miami Dolphins: Bess’s 14 targets were double the amount any other Dolphins player received in the team’s loss to the Patriots on Sunday. Still, he managed just six catches for 56 yards, and his lack of big-play ability is evident in the fact that he didn’t even have the most receiving yards on the team – Greg Camarillo did, with 71, despite getting the ball thrown his way just seven times.

- Lance Long, Kansas City Chiefs: If you haven’t heard of Long, don’t be alarmed; Sunday’s game was just the third time he suited up all season, and just the second time for the Chiefs. He was with Arizona in Week 1 before getting cut. But people will start to hear more about him now, considering the fact that he was targeted a team-high 11 times by Matt Cassel in K.C.’s loss to the Jags. Long wound up with eight catches for 74 yards in the game.

Other Week 9 target numbers of interest: Derrick Mason, 13; Earl Bennett, Casey Fitzsimmons, 11; Torry Holt, Pierre Garcon, Jeremy Maclin, 9; Michael Crabtree, 8; Maurice Stovall, Dwayne Jarrett, Malcolm Floyd, 7; Kevin Walter, Robert Meacham, 6; Chris Chambers, 4.

Another week in the National Football League is (nearly) completed, which means another look at how targets around the league stacked up. Let’s see who all those quarterbacking William Tells chose as their proverbial apples this week.

- Ted Ginn Jr., Miami: The former ninth overall pick was targeted a total of six times on Sunday by the Dolphins’ quarterback duo of Chad Pennington and Chad Henne in their loss to the Chargers. Ginn’s total number of catches? Zero. This is significant considering that only three players in the AFC, and seven players in the entire NFL have been targeted more than the 27 times Ginn has this season. Unfortunately, he has just 13 catches to show for it. It means he’s unreliable as a fantasy option, and if you do have him on your squad, he should probably only be used if injuries or bye weeks force you into playing him.

- Vernon Davis, San Francisco: Davis, the sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft, is finally proving to be a worthy fantasy option after so many years of relative disappointment. Davis was targeted 10 times by Shaun Hill in the 49ers’ loss to the Vikings in Week 3, which were double the amount looks anyone else on the squad received. Davis, who is 16th in the NFC in targets, came down with seven of those passes, good for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He’ll be a good bet to thrive again next week when San Francisco takes on the lowly Rams.

- Justin Gage, Tennessee: Gage was targeted 10 times on Sunday in the midst of another Titans loss, this time to the Jets, but came up with only four catches for 37 yards. He’s been targeted 25 times so far this year, the sixth-highest total in the AFC, yet has only caught 13 of those passes for a measly 142 yards. After a very good showing in Week 1, many thought that Gage would have a year that could make him a possible WR2. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however. Considering how often Kerry Collins looks in Gage’s direction, he’s worthy of a roster spot on your fantasy squad, but only as a spot contributor.

- Mike Sims-Walker, Jacksonville: In a win over the Texans this week, Sims-Walker was targeted 10 times by David Garrard, and he hauled in six of those throws for 81 yards. It was the second week in a row he caught six passes. Sims-Walker is 20th in the AFC with 20 targets, and it seems obvious that he is the most dangerous receiving threat on the team, despite the presence of veteran Torry Holt. If for some reason he’s available in your league, snatch him up quickly.

- Other Week 3 target numbers of interest: Santana Moss, 14; Larry Fitzgerald, 13; Nate Burleson, 12; Bryant Johnson, 11; Derek Fine, Andre Caldwell, 9; Michael Jenkins, Mike Wallace, 8; Jeremy Maclin, 6; Eddie Royal, 3.

By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard that the Philadelphia Eagles have inked Michael Vick to a two-year deal. And as you can image, reactions have been mixed. His teammates say they’ll embrace him. As receiver DeSean Jackson so eloquently put it, “Even though he did whatever he did, I don’t feel like nobody should hold a grudge on him.”

Some media types, however, aren’t so keen on the signing. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan writes, “it would be nice if Vick has changed and dedicates the rest of his life to good deeds. It would just be nice if that happens somewhere else.”

No matter what you think of the signing, the fact is that Vick will be in an NFL uniform at some point this season. And since this is a site dedicated to fantasy football, let’s examine all of the potential on-the-field consequences.

The most pressing issue is probably how this will affect Donovan McNabb this season. The answer: it probably shouldn’t. Vick, two years removed from playing in a game, is not going to supplant McNabb, barring injury. First, Vick has to get fully reinstated, which Roger Goodell says will happen by Week 6. That means it could come any time between now and then. There is no way he’ll knock the rust off of two years of inactivity and take over for one of the better quarterbacks in football. It’s just not happening.

And as the graph on the right shows you, Vick wasn’t really fantasy-friendly in his prime years of 2004-2006. His average fantasy points per game of around 15 is pretty good (for comparison, Peyton Manning averaged over 18 fantasy points per game in that same time period), but the killer was his inconsistency. An important part of winning in fantasy is having players, especially at the quarterback position, deliver relatively consistently. And due to his up-and-down ability to throw the ball, Vick couldn’t do that.

What he could always do, however, is run. And this is probably where he will get on the field most of the time for Philly. The most likely path for Vick is that he’ll be used in a variety of plays per game, in the range of 5-10. He’ll line up in the backfield with McNabb, or replace McNabb for a couple plays, which allows for potential havoc with the abilities of Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and Jackson each able to both catch the ball and run with it.

So to answer the ultimate question - is Vick worthy of a draft pick? At this early stage of the preseason, I’d say no. Not yet. If you are having your fantasy draft soon, like in the next week or so, somebody will probably take a filer on him. Let them. It’s not worth using a roster spot on Vick right now when there are so many unknowns about him. That spot would be better used on another receiver or running back. But pay attention to Vick’s work in the preseason (though he’s not eligible to play until the final two games), and what type of things the Eagles have him do. If it seems like he’ll be a regular part of their offense, then maybe selecting him in the later rounds makes sense. But for now, he belongs on the waiver wire.

There have been few times during the fantasy football era where you could draft almost any player from a team and expect him to provide you with good production.  The Dungy-Colts, the Moss-Carter Vikings, and the Greatest Show on Turf all had multiple players who I, personally, had no problem starting on gameday.  In 2009 I think another team will follow in the footsteps of those teams, but it might not be who you expect.  It’s not the Patriots, the Chargers, or the Saints…it’s actually the often-criticized offense of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The McNabb-Westbrook combination has been together longer than any other QB-RB combo in the league.  That means in a lot in terms of chemistry and instinctively reacting to the other player.  McNabb is in that second-tier of quarterbacks who will get you 3000+ passing yards and around 20 touchdowns.  But what gives McNabb a boost in terms of fantasy production is not his rushing yards, but his lack of interceptions.  Last year McNabb’s percentage of passing attempts that resulted in interceptions was 1.9, which was lower than Brees or Manning.  For his career he stands at 2.1% which is the best in NFL history for players with at least 1500 pass attempts.  With Westbrook, you know what you’re going to get, you just don’t know how many games you will get it for and with him turning 30 in September, his durability questions will get louder.  But he has help this year in a quartet of newcomers.  2nd rounder, LeSean McCoy, is similar to Westbrook in size and ability.  They both have good hands out of the backfield and prefer to run around you rather than through you.  He obviously won’t get the same number of touches as Westbrook, but there should not be a drop in production when he is on the field.  McCoy gains added value because he will be the designated “Wildcat QB” as he has experience running it from his days at the University of Pittsburgh.  Many people undervalue the role of a fullback in fantasy.  No I’m not saying go out and draft new Eagles FB Leonard Weaver, but he will upgrade an area of need for Philly.  Last year the Eagles used converted linebacker Dan Klecko and backup halfback Correll Buckhalter as the lead blocker for Westbrook.  Coincidentally or not, Westbrook responded with his lowest rushing average of his career.  Now Westbrook has a solid lead back and McNabb has another option out of the backfield in Weaver who was a tight end in college and led all fullbacks in receptions last year.

The remainder of the quartet could actually be considered a quintet if you include G Shawn Andrews who only played 2 games last year.  His return, along with his brother, RT Stacy, and LT Jason Peters mean the Eagles now have the heaviest offensive line which traditionally means wider holes for the backs to run through.  But the line is still nimble enough to ward off pass rushers as Philadelphia had the seventh fewest sacks allowed last season and Jason Peters is renowned as one of the best pass blockers in the game.  All these changes remind me of another team last year who had a 30 year old running back post the best rushing numbers of his career-the New York Jets.  In 2008 the Jets added a Hall of Fame quarterback (Favre), a 4-time pro bowl fullback (Richardson), a 7-time pro bowl guard (Faneca), and a two-time Super Bowl champion tackle (Woody).  All these seemingly minor additions helped Thomas Jones net a career high 15 touchdowns and put him in his first pro bowl.  Westbrook’s receiving totals may not jump much from last year but as long as he stays relatively healthy, then he should easily get back to over 1000 yards rushing and improve upon his 4.0 rushing average.

The Eagles wide receivers may lack the star power that other teams possess, but they make up for it with quality depth.  Rookie Jeremy Maclin is similar to 2008 rookie DeSean Jackson in terms of versatility, but because of the depth of the Eagles receiving core, he may not be called upon as much as Jackson was last year.  As is the case with most rookies, expect inconsistency with some big plays intermittingly.  Kevin Curtis was the Eagles best receiver in 2007 but struggled last year with a hernia injury.  However, he did finish strong and showed off his speed in the NFC championship game with gains of 47 and 50 yards.  He may not score many touchdowns but if you need receiving yards and are in a point-per-reception league, then he could be a late round steal.  Since none of those three receivers are over six feet tall, Hank Baskett becomes the de facto red zone threat among receivers.  But he’s more than just a big possession receiver as he has had receptions of 87, 89, and 90 yards in his three year career.  Baskett has all the tools to be an effective fantasy WR2 but his lack of consistent playing time makes him a boom-or-bust player.  The last fantasy-worthy Eagles player is TE Brent Celek who replaces the fragile L.J. Smith.  Kyle Smith detailed Celek’s potential impact in his blog and I’ll add on that unlike college receiver-turned-NFL tight end, L.J. Smith, Celek is a natural tight end who will provide some YAC which will boost not only his fantasy value, but McNabb’s as well.

I believe the additions of all these players spells nothing but good news for McNabb and his fantasy owners.  Last season was labeled his “rebirth” but I think he will surpass his performance from 2008 and put up his best numbers since the 2004 Super Bowl season.  Westbrook will also be more productive with the backfield additions easing some of his burden.  At the receiver position Jackson will provide the yards, Curtis the receptions, and Baskett the touchdowns with Celek emerging as a sleeper.  Be careful with the rookies though as most don’t usually have a fantasy impact right away, especially when coming off the bench as McCoy and Maclin will be.  But if you are in a keeper league, then it may be worth it to draft either of those two in the later rounds as Philly did not draft them on the first day to be career benchwarmers.

This may be the “last dance” for the Reid-McNabb-Westbrook triumvirate so bank on them turning out their best performances in years.  With an assortment of new offensive weapons and an inspired defense that will be playing in honor of Jim Johnson, 2009 could finally be the year for the Philadelphia Eagles.

With the NFL Draft now complete, analysts across the country will now put on their teacher’s hats and hand out grades to each team. We’re going to go a different way and take a look at some of the fantasy implications of the draft, along with some other thoughts. So, in the immortal words of the Joker, here … we … go:

 - Chris “Beanie” Wells: Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the second-to-last pick in the first round, Wells immediately becomes a RB2 for fantasy owners. Edgerrin James seems destined to get cut, and Tim Hightower did little to establish himself as anything more than a decent backup, despite his touchdown vulturing.

- Michael Crabtree: There really isn’t any reason that Crabtree shouldn’t be starting opposite Isaac Bruce in Week 1 for San Francisco. His diva attitude apparently turned a number of teams off prior to the draft, leading to him slipping to the  10th overall pick, but it worked out well for the 49ers and fantasy owners alike. Call him a legit WR3 to start the year, with the potential to do even more.

- Knowshon Moreno: We’re not entirely sure where Moreno fits with the Broncos in terms of playing time, not because of lack of talent, but because Denver has 11 running backs on it’s roster. That number will certainly come down before the season starts, but Moreno will still be sharing time with a number of veterans, and even if he does get his share of the carries,  it’s difficult to envision him as anything more than later-round depth for fantasy owners.

- Donald Brown: This was an interesting selection by the Colts, who certainly had other needs than a backup to Joseph Addai. Still, Addai was a killer for fantasy owners last season, as he had just four games that he averaged at least 4.0 yards per carry (not counting his one carry, four-yard performance in Week 17), and one contest where he gained 100 yards. All this for a guy who was undoubtedly a first-round selection in fantasy drafts. Due to that performance, Brown becomes an essential handcuff, but likely one you’ll have to select a bit earlier than you may truly want to.

- James Laurinaitis, Rey Maualuga: This is for the IDP owners out there. As the first two middle linebackers taken, Laurinaitis by the St. Louis Rams and Maualuga by the Cincinnati Bengals, each should become immediate starters. We think Laurinaitis could have the better overall value because he has the ability to play all three downs, whereas Maualuga is likely only a two-down ‘backer. But both will have value to IDP owners.

DRAFTS WE DIDN’T LIKE

Oakland Raiders - We’re as confused  as everyone else as to what the hell the Raiders are doing. The knock isn’t on the players they chose. It’s possible Darrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Mitchell become perennial All-Pros and Hall of Fame players. We guess. The issue is that they could have had each of these players later down the line. Especially Mitchell. If they felt that strongly about him, all accounts are they still could have gotten him in the fourth round - and though it would have still been called a reach, it would have been far less egregious.

Detroit Lions - I’ve been on record saying that I have little faith in Matthew Stafford, and greatly prefer Mark Sanchez. In time, we’ll see who develops into the better signal-caller. I dont’ quite understand the selection of tight end Brandon Pettigrew when the team  had such bigger needs elsewhere. They would have been wise to try and trade back and take one of the aforementioned middle linebackers in Laurinaitis or Maualuga.

DRAFTS WE LIKED

- Philadelphia Eagles: Getting Jeremy Maclin to line up alongside DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis gives the Eagles arguably the fastest trio of wideouts in the NFL. Taking running back LeSean McCoy - an underrated back in our estimation - to backup and eventually fill the shoes of Brian Westbrook was a great move, as were the fifth-round selections of tight end Cornelius Ingram and defensive back Victor “Macho” Harris.

- Chicago Bears:  Jarron Gilbert will only help fortify the Bears’ defensive line, as he is a great athlete for a defensive tackle who can get to the quarterback. Receiver Juaquin Iglesias brings a much-needed refined route runner to Chicago, and he was a player who very easily could have gone in the early portions of the second round. However, one of the steals of the draft came in the team’s selection of cornerback D.J. Moore from Vanderbilt. Only his relative lack of speed and height, at five-foot-nine, hurt him. He played offense, defense, and special teams at Vandy, and all he did was produce, with 13 interceptions in three seasons.