Target Practice, Week 9: Danny Amendola, back in the game

So, fantasy owner, can you find a use for a receiver who's averaging 9.8 targets and 6.4 catches per game?

If so, then maybe scan your league's waiver wire to see if Danny Amendola is still available. He remains un-owned in 37 percent of the Yahoo! universe, which seems crazy. Amendola is expected to return from injury this week, when the Rams travel to San Francisco to face the Niners.

No, it's not an ideal match-up, but Amendola is likely to again be peppered with targets. In the four games that he's started and finished this season — remember, he suffered a separated SC joint in the first-half of the Week 5 win — these were his target totals: 9, 16, 9, and 10. Despite the fact that he's missed his team's last three games, he still leads St. Louis in receptions (32), receiving yards (395) and receiving TDs (2).

You want this guy. Especially you, PPR owner. Please note his position among the per-game target leaders below...

• In Brandon Myers' senior season at Iowa (which I actually watched faithfully), he never caught more than four passes in any game, nor did he ever top 70 receiving yards. Can't say I ever thought he'd emerge as a top-10 fantasy tight end (or top-20), nor did I think he'd become the sort of player who would regularly draw double-digit targets at the pro level. Yet here we are. Nine weeks into the season, Myers ranks eighth at his position in year-to-date fantasy points (56.2 in public league scoring, tied with Kyle Rudolph) and he's drawn 10 or more targets in two of his last three games.

Myers is coming off the best statistical effort he's had since ... well, high school (Prairie City-Monroe). He hauled in eight balls for 59 yards and two scores against Tampa in Week 9. Myers is owned in only one out of four of Yahoo! leagues at the moment, but the percentage should change this week.

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Please take note of the big week from Indy's TY Hilton, who actually drew more targets on Sunday than Reggie Wayne. Hilton didn't have a perfectly clean, drop-free-day , but he made a huge play right here, fighting through double-coverage for a go-ahead score. Hilton clearly deserves consideration as potential bye/injury coverage this week.

• You probably noticed that a bunch of Raiders made their way onto the target leader board this week. That's to be expected, when a quarterback puts the ball in the air 60-plus times as Carson Palmer did on Sunday. Oakland has a few friendly match-ups remaining on the schedule — NO and Cin in Weeks 11-12, KC and Car in Weeks 15-16 — so Palmer and Myers and Denarius Moore and Marcel Reece and (pick a Raider) are probably looking at a few more big days.

Reece, for the record, would be my preferred waiver add among the Oakland RB options. It sounds like Coach Allen doesn't fully trust Taiwan Jones just yet, for a variety of reasons.

• Calvin Johnson owners are no doubt feeling better after his semi-binge (7-129-0) at Jacksonville, but not all the post-game Megatron news was entirely favorable. Calvin reportedly received pain injections prior to Sunday's kickoff, and he's since described his knee discomfort as "something that I expect to linger." So that's not great. 'Tron owners better root hard for the 4-4 Lions to remain in playoff contention, because Johnson sure seems like a late-season shutdown candidate. Detroit has a rough schedule ahead, too. A small amount of panic is understandable.

• Antonio Brown is almost certainly going to miss Pittsburgh's Monday night tilt with Kansas City, as he's battling a high-ankle sprain. Emmanuel Sanders is the recommended add (which means that Jerricho Cotchery will probably go off).

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