2026 red zone targets & goal-line carries
Targets and carries inside the 20, the 10 and the 5, and who gets them.
Red-zone usage through Week 3
Receivers, tight ends and backs ranked by red-zone targets, Weeks 1–3, 2+ games — 175 players.
Small sample: 3 weeks. Red-zone chances come a handful a game, so one game plan, blowout or missed game can reorder this board — read it as a lead, not a verdict.
Swipe for share, catches and TDs
| # | Player | Pos | G | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaxon Smith-NjigbaSEA | WR | 3 | 9 | 50% | 5 | 4 | 3.0 | 5 |
| 2 | Amon-Ra St. BrownDET | WR | 3 | 9 | 41% | 8 | 4 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 3 | Trey McBrideARI | TE | 3 | 8 | 40% | 4 | 2 | 2.7 | 6 |
| 4 | Christian WatsonGB | WR | 3 | 6 | 33% | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Luther Burden IIICHI | WR | 3 | 6 | 33% | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 6 | Juwan JohnsonNO | TE | 3 | 6 | 32% | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 7 | Elic AyomanorTEN | WR | 3 | 5 | 42% | 2 | 1 | 1.7 | 2 |
| 8 | Courtland SuttonDEN | WR | 3 | 5 | 31% | 2 | 0 | 1.7 | 3 |
| 9 | George KittleSF | TE | 3 | 5 | 29% | 5 | 3 | 1.7 | 3 |
| 10 | Kenneth Walker IIIKC | RB | 3 | 5 | 28% | 4 | 2 | 1.7 | 2 |
| 11 | Jalen CokerCAR | WR | 3 | 5 | 25% | 4 | 1 | 1.7 | 4 |
| 12 | Michael WilsonARI | WR | 3 | 5 | 25% | 2 | 1 | 1.7 | 2 |
| 13 | Tetairoa McMillanCAR | WR | 3 | 5 | 25% | 1 | 0 | 1.7 | 4 |
| 14 | Jahmyr GibbsDET | RB | 3 | 5 | 23% | 5 | 2 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 15 | Sam LaPortaDET | TE | 3 | 5 | 23% | 3 | 1 | 1.7 | 4 |
| 16 | Isaiah LikelyNYG | TE | 3 | 4 | 44% | 4 | 2 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 17 | Mack HollinsNE | WR | 3 | 4 | 44% | 1 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 18 | Ja'Marr ChaseCIN | WR | 3 | 4 | 40% | 3 | 2 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 19 | Dontayvion WicksPHI | WR | 3 | 4 | 40% | 2 | 1 | 1.3 | 3 |
| 20 | Khalil ShakirBUF | WR | 3 | 4 | 36% | 1 | 0 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 21 | Josh DownsIND | WR | 3 | 4 | 33% | 3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 22 | Stefon DiggsWAS | WR | 3 | 4 | 31% | 4 | 3 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 23 | Bucky IrvingTB | RB | 3 | 4 | 29% | 3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 24 | Cody WhiteLV | WR | 3 | 4 | 24% | 3 | 3 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 25 | Ashton JeantyLV | RB | 3 | 4 | 24% | 4 | 2 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 26 | Jake FergusonDAL | TE | 3 | 4 | 22% | 4 | 3 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 27 | Matthew GoldenGB | WR | 3 | 4 | 22% | 2 | 1 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 28 | Rashee RiceKC | WR | 3 | 4 | 22% | 4 | 1 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 29 | Xavier WorthyKC | WR | 3 | 4 | 22% | 4 | 1 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 30 | AJ BarnerSEA | TE | 3 | 4 | 22% | 2 | 0 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 31 | Ryan FlournoyDAL | WR | 3 | 4 | 22% | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 32 | Chris OlaveNO | WR | 3 | 4 | 21% | 3 | 0 | 1.3 | 2 |
| 33 | Justin JeffersonMIN | WR | 3 | 3 | 50% | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 34 | Braelon AllenNYJ | RB | 3 | 3 | 38% | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 35 | Jaylen WarrenPIT | RB | 3 | 3 | 38% | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 36 | Denzel BostonCLE | WR | 3 | 3 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 37 | Malik NabersNYG | WR | 3 | 3 | 33% | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 38 | Tre HarrisLAC | WR | 3 | 3 | 30% | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 39 | Tyler WarrenIND | TE | 3 | 3 | 25% | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 40 | Keenan AllenIND | WR | 3 | 3 | 25% | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 3 |
| 41 | Wan'Dale RobinsonTEN | WR | 3 | 3 | 25% | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 42 | Gunnar HelmTEN | TE | 3 | 3 | 25% | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 43 | Parker WashingtonJAX | WR | 3 | 3 | 23% | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 44 | Nate AdkinsDEN | TE | 2/3 | 3 | 19% | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 3 |
| 45 | Deebo Samuel Sr.SF | WR | 3 | 3 | 18% | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 46 | Christian McCaffreySF | RB | 3 | 3 | 18% | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 47 | CeeDee LambDAL | WR | 3 | 3 | 17% | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 48 | Javonte WilliamsDAL | RB | 3 | 3 | 17% | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 49 | Colston LovelandCHI | TE | 3 | 3 | 17% | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 50 | George PickensDAL | WR | 3 | 3 | 17% | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 3 |
Showing 50 of 175.
G is games he threw, was targeted or carried in; 2/3 means 2 of his team's 3, and his team's chances in the game he missed still count toward his share.
Tgt red-zone targets · Share his share of his team's targets inside the 20 · Rec catches on those targets · TD receiving TDs on those plays · Tgt/G per team game · In-10 of those, targets inside the 10.
Who gets the ball near the goal line
Who gets the ball when a touchdown is a few yards away — targets and carries inside the 20, the 10 and the 5, each player's share of his team's chances there, and what he did with them. Counted play by play, so every look is one you can trace.
Most red-zone targets so far: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR, 9), Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR, 9) and Trey McBride (TE, 8). The busiest goal-line back is Derrick Henry (9 carries inside the 5). Switch boards for inside-10 targets and red-zone carries, or tap a column to re-rank.
Through Week 3, play-by-play via nflverse as of .
How a red-zone look is counted
The zone is where the ball was snapped. A play from the opponent's 20 or closer is a red-zone play; from the 10 or closer it is inside the 10; from the 5 or closer, inside the 5 — the goal line. A target at the 12 counts for the red zone only. A play that starts at the 25 and ends in the end zone is not a red-zone play.
A target is any pass thrown his way — caught, dropped or intercepted. A carry is a designed run or a quarterback scramble. A kneel-down is not a chance to score, so it never counts as a red-zone carry.
What is left out. Two-point tries are not counted: they are not downs, and the league's season stats leave them out of targets and carries too, so every number here is part of the target and carry totals on the rest of the site. A play wiped out by a penalty — defensive pass interference included — counts for no one; a play that stands with a penalty added on still counts.
Share is his targets (or carries) in the zone divided by all of his team's in the zone, over his team's games in the window. A game he missed adds his team's chances and none of his, so it is his slice of everything his offense ran there. /G is per team game, and a traded player is measured against the team he played for that week.
TD counts the touchdowns he scored on those plays — a catch or a carry that reached the end zone. The windows are calendar weeks: Season is every week so far, Last 3 the three most recent. The minimum-games filter defaults to half the window's weeks, rounded up.
What red-zone numbers can't tell you
These are small numbers. A team runs a handful of red-zone plays a game, and even the league leader sees only a few looks a week. One blowout, one game plan or one missed game reorders the board, especially early in the season — read it as a lead, not a verdict.
Chances are steadier than touchdowns. Whether a goal-line carry scores swings from week to week; who keeps getting it is the part that tends to hold. That is why the boards rank by looks and share first and put touchdowns beside them.
A share is only as big as the offense. Half of a team's inside-5 carries is a lot more work on an offense that lives near the goal line. For how much of the whole field he is getting, see the target share leaders; for what it added up to, the fantasy points leaders.
Related tools
- Target share leaders — targets, air yards and WOPR across the whole field.
- Fantasy points leaders — the season-to-date scoring leaderboard, by position and format.
- Waiver wire risers — this week's biggest snap, target and carry jumps on the waiver wire.
- NFL injury report — who is out, doubtful and questionable this week.
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Next step
Goal-line work is half of it. Check the targets.
2026 target share, air-yards share, WOPR and carries for every WR, TE and RB — season, last 3 weeks or last week, sortable by any column.
Open target share leaders