Last week, this column highlighted red zone opportunities for running backs, tight ends and wide receivers, focusing on those who had the best success rate in that crucial area of the field. This week, we take it a step further, comparing fantasy points earned with total offensive snaps and snaps played within the red zone. On average, the players listed below play 13.1 percent of their snaps in the red zone. You'll notice that players with higher red zone participation, in general, tend to be among the leaders at their respective positions in fantasy scoring. You will also see that many players who are underperforming have lower rates of red zone plays.

QB scoring leaders

RB scoring leaders

WR scoring leaders

TE scoring leaders

• Ryan Tannehill has the same number of fantasy points as Tony Romo and Matt Ryan. However, Tannehill has participated in approximately twice as many red zone plays as either of the other two. That's an unsustainable trend and should affect your valuation of Tannehill as a fantasy option going forward.

• LeSean McCoy has scored 76 fantasy points despite playing in 456 total offensive plays. Jeremy Hill has scored 75 fantasy points on only 221 offensive plays. If you are waiting for the old McCoy to emerge, you might be backing the wrong horse. Not convinced? Try this then: McCoy has played the same number of red zone snaps -- and only 20 fewer overall -- as DeMarco Murray, yet Murray has outscored him by 99 fantasy points.

• As Travis Kelce owners are well aware, the biggest threat to Kelce not becoming a stud at the tight end position is playing time. If he were to have played in 450 snaps so far this season and maintained his current rate of production, he'd be the third-highest-scoring tight end with about 97 fantasy points. Unfortunately, Kelce's blocking isn't strong enough yet to warrant that additional playing time.

• Rob Gronkowski's unusually high red zone percentage is driven by the New England Patriots' decision to limit his snaps outside the red zone during the first few weeks of the season. Don't look further into it than that.

• Mike Wallace's near 20 percent red zone play percentage is ridiculously high. Like Tannehill, that rate is unsustainable and likely means a drop in fantasy production for Wallace during the remainder of the season.

On target

Receiving yardage is the most variable form of yardage, which makes sense because so much of it is dependent on where the quarterback elects to throw the ball. Because of this, variations in the number of times a player is targeted by his quarterback can greatly change a player's value. So while your receiver may have scored 10 fantasy points last week, you need to know if it's reasonable to expect he can repeat that type of performance on a routine basis. If he had one target that he turned into a 40-yard touchdown, you need to realize that he was one quarterback decision away from posting a goose egg. Conversely, if your wideout had 12 targets and finished with 108 receiving yards, his prospects for consistent fantasy production are significantly greater.

Note: Targets are not an official NFL statistic. Based on the methodology that stat services use, the number of targets listed may be different than target values listed elsewhere. The philosophy of ESPN Stats & Information is to count a target when the analyst thinks the pass was actually intended for the player. Therefore, if a quarterback is obviously throwing a ball away, the analyst will not record a target for that pass. This gives a truer representation of what a target is -- i.e., a pass thrown to a particular player with the intent for that player to catch the ball -- and therefore should be more helpful to the fantasy community.

Targets report, past four weeks

Fantasy insights based on Week 10

• Any concern about the return of Calvin Johnson significantly impacting Golden Tate's opportunities were put to bed on Sunday. Tate still saw 12 targets and can be counted on as a top-15 option at the wide receiver position without worry.

• Martavis Bryant might be setting records all over the place, but getting just 6.3 targets per game is not sufficient to keep up his current pace of fantasy production. If I owned him, I'd be shopping him 24/7 until I lock down a deal that returns a safer wide receiver for the stretch run.

• Mychal Rivera has posted three solid fantasy games in a row, but it is worth mentioning that he amassed just 15 yards before gaining 49 yards and a touchdown during an Oakland Raiders drive that started with just 4:30 left in the game. If you are viewing Rivera as a sure thing, it is way too early for that.

• Allen Robinson's nine targets per game need to be replaced in the Jacksonville Jaguars' offense. Look for Cecil Shorts III to earn those chances and to re-establish himself as a weekly starter going forward.

Big plays and up close

• In Week 10, nine players totaled at least three rushes that gained 10 or more yards each: Marshawn Lynch (6), Russell Wilson (5), C.J. Anderson (4), Mark Ingram (3), Justin Forsett (3), Jamaal Charles (3), DuJuan Harris (3), DeMarco Murray (3) and Bryce Brown (3). That is four more than the number of players with at least three rushes of 10 or more yards in Week 9.

• Meanwhile, seven players had at least two carries from the opponent's 5-yard line or closer: Marshawn Lynch (6), Terrance West (2), LeGarrette Blount (2), Jonathan Stewart (2), Joe Flacco (2), Chris Ivory (2) and Ben Tate (2). From that group, only Blount, Flacco and Ivory failed to score at least once from that range.

• I've been high on C.J. Anderson since Knowshon Moreno left Denver. He's a good runner and better than average in pass protection. With Ronnie Hillman likely to miss at least two weeks and Montee Ball's status still up in the air, Anderson should be the top waiver claim this week.

• West and Tate each scored on 50 percent of their carries from the 5 or closer this week. Going into the game, they had each managed only a 25 percent success rate on such carries. That's progress, but Isaiah Crowell scored on his only carry from that range, so a timeshare remains likely.

• For as bad as the Chicago Bears have been this year, DuJuan Harris is the first running back to record three big-play rushes in one game against them. The only other player to manage a similar performance was Colin Kaepernick.

• In case you forgot, Mark Ingram's status for the game against the San Francisco 49ers was up in the air due to a shoulder injury. Ingram ran with brute force and churned out big play after big play. For as long as Pierre Thomas is out, Ingram is, without question, a must-start.

Red zone play selection

Below is a list of all teams sorted by the number of offensive snaps they have had in the red zone. For the purposes of this analysis, pass plays are defined as all snaps that resulted in a pass attempt or sack, with all other snaps being classified as rushes.

Red zone breakdown, this season

The Minnesota Vikings are actually rushing on a greater percentage of red zone plays this season compared to last. Of course, last year they averaged almost eight red zone snaps per game, while that number is 6.7 this season.

Carlos Hyde has played on 45 red zone snaps for the 49ers, while Frank Gore has participated on 35 such snaps. If you own Gore, that likely bothers you a lot.

Until next week, thanks for reading.