In 2009, the NFL Network created “NFL Redzone,” which is an exclusive channel broadcasting every single touchdown that occurs on Sundays between 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm. When an NFL team enters the red zone (from the 20 yard line to the goal line), the channel immediately switches to that game and broadcasts live. The coverage often leads to multiple games being shown on one screen, sometimes as many as four games being shown at once. It is an very popular channel among fantasy football fans, who get to watch uninterrupted, commercial-free action for seven consecutive hours. It plays perfectly into the two main characteristics of the fantasy football community;<\/p>\n
Fantasy football players love scoring and have incredibly short attention spans.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the heart and soul of weekly fantasy football battles: the red zone. Watching a player on your fantasy team with the ball in the red zone is pure nirvana. Regardless of the position they play, it is that immediate possibility of scoring that tantalizes the fantasy brain.<\/p>\n
When deciding between multiple players during your fantasy draft, it is important to assess the respective red zone efficiency. This can mean the difference between a fantasy steal or bust. Should you take Drew Brees<\/a> of Aaron Rodgers<\/a>? Mike Evans<\/a> or Antonio Brown<\/a>? Devonta Freeman<\/a> or DeMarco Murray<\/a>? The answer lies in the red zone.<\/p>\n Here are this season’s best projected red zone players by position.<\/p>\n (All statistics from PlayerProfiler <\/a>and Pro Football-Reference).<\/p>\n No fantasy quarterback is more prolific in the red zone than Drew Brees<\/a>. He was the only quarterback with at least 65 red zone pass attempts that attained a 60 percent completion percentage on throws inside the 20 yard line and 10 yard line. Brees led the league with 113 total red zone pass attempts and was second in red zone completion percentage (65.5 percent). He is pure fantasy gold, and is the best red zone quarterback in fantasy football.<\/p>\n Ranking just a notch below Drew Brees<\/a> is Packers quarterback\u00a0Aaron Rodgers<\/a>. The Green Bay star quarterback finished second in red zone pass attempts (108), and red zone passing yards (384). Rodgers was the most accurate passer inside the 10 yard line, with an incredible 67.4 percent completion percentage last season. He threw a league leading 24 touchdown passes inside the 10 yard line, with zero interceptions. Rodgers remains one of the best red zone quarterbacks in football.<\/p>\n Brady is just as efficient as Brees and Rodgers, but simply lacks the red zone volume. While only playing 12 games last season, Brady finished with the best red zone completion percentage at 69.2 percent. In a full 16 game schedule in 2015, Brady ranked fourth overall with 87 red zone attempts, while leading the league with 27 red zone touchdown passes. New England was much more likely to run the ball at the goal line, thus Brady’s ranking falls below Brees and Rodgers. However, with LeGarrette Blount<\/a>‘s departure, it would be easy to see Brady vaulting up to the top spot this season.<\/p>\n One of my most targeted fantasy quarterbacks is Philip Rivers<\/a>, who has incredible red zone pass volume. In 2013, Rivers was fifth with 91 red zone pass attempts (91). In 2016, Rivers was third with 101 red zone pass attempts.\u00a0 The commonality in those two years was the presence of offensive coordinator\u00a0Ken Whisenhunt<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 In the two seasons in-between, Rivers only averaged 73 red zone pass attempts. Also, since becoming the starter in 2006, Rivers has never missed a regular season game. He is rated below the big three because of his mediocre 47.1 percent red zone completion percentage (29th among quarterbacks). With a current QB15 ADP, Rivers is one of the best values in all of fantasy.<\/p>\n Many will be surprised to see Bradford on this list, but he absolutely deserves to be here. He completed 64.1 percent of his red zone passes, second best among all quarterbacks with at least 65 attempts. Bradford broke the all-time NFL record for completion percentage<\/a> when he ended the season at 71.6 percent. He is extremely accurate under pressure as well, leading all quarterbacks with a 45 percent Pressured Completion Percentage<\/a>. This was behind an injury ravaged Minnesota offensive line, and without the benefit of training camp after being traded from Philadelphia in early September. The best news for fantasy owners is that Bradford isn’t even getting drafted in most seasonal leagues with a current QB24 ADP.<\/p>\n The “Red Zone King,” Johnson received 73.6 percent of all Arizona red zone rushing attempts last season and was the only running back to receive over 80 percent of his team’s rushing attempts inside the 10 yard line. The closer the Cardinals get to the goal line, the more they rely on Johnson. He also tied LeGarrette Blount<\/a> <\/strong>with 12 touchdowns scored inside the five yard line. With perfect blend of volume and success, no one can also boast the red zone efficiency that David Johnson<\/a> does.<\/li>\n Last season was a complete reversal in red zone efficiency for Melvin Gordon<\/a>. In his rookie season of 2015, Gordon only had 12 red zone carries (48th among all running backs) and failed to convert a single touchdown. Gordon exploded last season, finishing tied for third with 50 red zone rushing attempts despite missing three games due to a hip strain. He received a league leading 85 percent of his team’s rushing attempts inside the five yard line, converting nine for touchdowns. Neither Branden Oliver<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0nor Kenneth Farrow<\/a><\/strong> pose any threat to his workload. Gordon projects for as much red zone volume as any other back in the league.<\/li>\n Despite sharing carries with Tevin Coleman<\/a><\/strong>, Freeman continues to justify his expensive draft value because of red zone production. Freeman is an explosive dual threat, ranking third among all running backs in red zone rushing attempts and 16th in receiving targets. That versatility is only rivaled by Tennessee’s DeMarco Murray<\/a><\/strong>. Freeman has averaged 3.3 red zone carries per season in both 2015 and 2016. As long as he maintains that role, he will continue as one of the most valuable red zone running backs in the league.<\/li>\n Similar to Devonta Freeman<\/a>, the only threat to Murray’s efficient red zone production is teammate Derrick Henry<\/a><\/strong>. Murray is a prolific running back working behind one of the best offensive lines in football. He tied for sixth with 40 red zone rushing attempts. Murray was one of the most dominant red zone running backs, receiving 66.7 of Tennessee’s rushing attempts inside the 10 yard line, and 75 percent of the teams rushing attempts inside the five yard line. Murray was also the only other running back (besides Freeman) to have over 15 red zone receiving targets as well. If he maintains his 2016 role, DeMarco Murray<\/a> is a fantasy football RB1 lock.<\/li>\n One of the best running back values in all of fantasy football, Stewart is also a red zone machine. Despite playing only 13 games, he finished tied for sixth with 40 red zone carries. Of particular note were his 16 carries inside the five yard line, tied for fifth among all running backs. Those 16 carries represented 66.7 percent of the teams total rushing attempts from that distance. Historically, these carries have been dominated by quarterback Cam Newton<\/a><\/strong>. But in an effort to keep Newton healthy, Stewart’s touches at the goal line will continue to increase. With an ADP of RB45<\/a> (136.5), Jonathan Stewart<\/a> is an absolute steal because of his massive red zone volume.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n The best red zone receiver in the NFL is Jordy Nelson<\/a>, and it’s not very close. Nelson received 29 red zone targets in 2016, seven more than any other receiver. His 21 red zone receptions was first among all wide receivers, as were his 14 total touchdowns. Nelson was also the only wide receiver to reach double digit receptions inside the ten yard line. He is tethered to a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers that averaged 7.2 red zone passes per game. Nelson is so efficient that his WR6 ADP is actually is a value<\/em>.<\/li>\n Even at 33 years old, Fitzgerald is “Mr. Consistency” in the red zone. Each of the last two seasons he has totaled 13 red zone receptions, ranking fifth among all wide receivers both times. Fitzgerald ranked fifth overall with 20 red zone targets and was one of only four wide receivers with a 65 percent red zone catch rate or higher. The closer the Cardinals got to the goal line, the more likely they targeted Fitzgerald, who accumulated 31.6 percent of all Arizona targets from within the 10 yard line. One of the most reliable receivers in the NFL, Fitzgerald’s sure hands and high target volume make him an easy top five red zone wide receiver in 2017.<\/li>\n When Calvin Johnson<\/a><\/strong> retired prior to the 2016, most fantasy experts projected a huge increase in red zone targets for Golden Tate<\/a>. Those targets unfortunately went to Anquan Boldin<\/a><\/strong>, who finished second among all wide receivers with 22 red zone opportunities. However, with Boldin’s departure, Tate is looking at greater opportunities as the slot wide receiver.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n #Lions<\/a> OTA reports indicate Golden Tate seeing more slot work this spring. Drew 60% of his targets in the slot in 2015, only 32% last year.<\/p>\n — Evan Silva (@evansilva) June 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nFantasy Football: Don’t Stop Living In the Red<\/h2>\n
Quarterbacks<\/h2>\n
1)\u00a0 Drew Brees<\/a> <\/strong>(New Orleans):<\/h3>\n
2)\u00a0 Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> (Green Bay):<\/h3>\n
3)\u00a0 Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> (New England):<\/h3>\n
4) Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong> (Los Angeles Chargers):<\/h3>\n
5)\u00a0 Sam Bradford<\/a> <\/strong>(Minnesota):<\/h3>\n
Best of the Rest:<\/h3>\n
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Running Backs<\/h2>\n
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\u00a0David Johnson<\/a><\/strong> (Arizona):<\/h3>\n
Melvin Gordon<\/a><\/strong> (Los Angeles Chargers):<\/h3>\n
Devonta Freeman<\/a> <\/strong>(Atlanta):<\/h3>\n
DeMarco Murray<\/a> (Tennessee):<\/h3>\n
Jonathan Stewart<\/a><\/strong> (Carolina):<\/h3>\n
Best of the Rest:<\/h3>\n
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Wide Receivers<\/h2>\n
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Jordy Nelson<\/a><\/strong> (Green Bay):<\/h3>\n
Michael Thomas<\/a><\/strong> (New Orleans):<\/h3>\n
It was quite a first impression for the rookie from Ohio State University. Thomas tied with Arizona’s<\/span> Larry Fitzgerald<\/a><\/strong> for the third most red zone receptions among wide receivers. His 68.4 percent catch rate on those passes was higher than <\/span>Jordy Nelson<\/a> (65.5 percent), <\/span>Demaryius Thomas<\/a><\/strong> (66.7 percent), and <\/span>Michael Crabtree<\/a> <\/strong>(57.1 percent). He has one of the most accurate red zone quarterbacks in league throwing him the ball, and has an additional 11 red zone targets from <\/span>Brandin Cooks’<\/a> departure up for grabs this season. Thomas was particularly effective inside the ten yard line, where his six receiving touchdowns were second most among all wide receivers.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
Larry Fitzgerald<\/a> (Arizona):<\/h3>\n
Golden Tate<\/a><\/strong> (Detroit):<\/h3>\n
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