5 NFL Red Zone Trends to Monitor for Week 9

Fallout of the Golden Tate Trade

Another marquee wide receiver trade this week was Golden Tate going from Detroit to Philadelphia.

Tate has seen 7 targets in the red zone this season, which accounts for 19.4% of the Lions' total. That puts him in second, behind Marvin Jones (27.8%) and ahead of Kenny Golladay and Theo Riddick, who were tied for third with marks of 13.9%.

Already seeing disproportionately high work in the red zone (almost a 10% higher target share than his 18% overall), don't look for Jones' role to expand much. The likely answer is that Golladay gets a chance to be what his fantasy owners had hoped when they drafted or added him this year.

We've yet to see Golladay score a red zone touchdown this year, and he has been targeted inside the 20 only five times. He has three scores from beyond 20 yards though, and the departure of Tate gives his touchdown upside a big boost to go along with the increase in fantasy floor.

But what will the move to Philadelphia mean for Tate?

Likely a big dip in touchdown upside.

The Eagles have been more run-heavy than the league average in the red zone, with a 1.13-to-1.00 pass-to-run ratio. They have fed the bulk of their red zone looks to Zach Ertz, who has a team-high 30.4% market share, while Alshon Jeffery sits second with a mark of 19.6%, despite missing three games. Even Nelson Agholor has received some decent volume, at 15.2%, and there are two other players (Wendell Smallwood and Dallas Goedert) north of 10%.

Tate could cut into some of their volume, particularly for a slot receiver like Agholor, but at best you can hope he is the number-three red zone option behind Ertz and Alshon. Not exactly indicative of a high ceiling.