2009 Draft Prep: Get guys who get the ball

For some reason, there's a thought that Steve Slaton is not a good receiver out of the backfield. He routinely gets passed over in leagues where receptions count for the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook and Chris Johnson.

But looking at the stats, Slaton was among the league leaders for running backs in targets (59) and receptions (50) last year. He finished with 377 receiving yards and one touchdown for the Texans.

Slaton also seems to get a bad rap for not being a goal-line back. Again, looking at the numbers, Slaton got 63 carries inside the red zone, which was second in the NFL in 2008 behind Michael Turner (70). Slaton came away with six of his nine rushing touchdowns from inside the 20-yard line.

What does this mean for Slaton this year? Well, you should draft him in the first round on Draft Day because he can do it all. It also means you might want to dig a little deeper in your draft prep for every player.

There are second-level stats that could make the difference in a Fantasy championship or a last-place finish. We're talking about targets, red-zone targets for receivers and tight ends and red-zone touches for running backs. It's not always just about yards and touchdowns.

As a Fantasy owner, you want to know who is catching the most passes and touchdowns to determine their draft value. But another example of who is getting the ball from the quarterback is a statistic Fantasy owners can count on -- targets.

A target is how many times a quarterback attempted a pass in the direction of his teammate. For example, Brandon Marshall was the most targeted player last year with 181 passes thrown his way (he finished with 104 catches for 1,265 yards and six touchdowns), and this was the second year in a row Marshall led the NFL in that category.

The other 77 passes Marshall didn't catch were from good coverage, bad throws and 12 drops, according to STATS, Inc. Marshall's quarterback last year, Jay Cutler, attempted 616 passes in 2008, so 29 percent of his throws went toward Marshall.

Now, Marshall didn't finish as the best wide receiver in the NFL last year. Larry Fitzgerald, who had 154 targets for 96 catches, 1,434 yards and 12 touchdowns, was the No. 1 wide receiver in standard-scoring Fantasy leagues.

Fitzgerald said being a favorite target is important, and he wants his quarterback, Kurt Warner, to know he can be trusted.

"You know if you do your job he's going to get you the football," Fitzgerald said in an interview with CBSSports.com this offseason. "That gives you a lot of piece of mind."

Former NFL great Jerry Rice said he always wanted the ball. He made sure he gave enough effort in practice that he deserved plenty of passes in his direction every week.

"You have to prove to the coaches that if they call your play, you have to make the play and get open," Rice said. "You have to practice like it's a game during the week and show the coaches they can count on you. Every practice for me was like a Sunday. If it worked in practice, they called it in the game. You had to be willing to sacrifice during the week, and I made those sacrifices every practice."

Tony Gonzalez led all tight ends in targets last year with 155 for 96 catches. It's the second year in a row he was the most targeted tight end, but we'll find out if he can maintain that spot now that he's going from Kansas City to Atlanta and will get a new quarterback in Matt Ryan. Some other top tight end targets were Jason Witten (121 targets, 81 catches), Chris Cooley (111 targets, 83 catches), Dallas Clark (107 targets, 77 catches), Owen Daniels (100 targets, 70 catches) and Antonio Gates (92 targets, 60 catches).

Cutler also will get a new favorite target going from Denver to Chicago, and he might depend heavily on running back Matt Forte, who was the most targeted running back in 2008 with 77 (64 catches) along with Tomlinson (52 catches). Some other top running back targets were Maurice Jones-Drew (75 targets, 62 catches), Kevin Faulk (74 targets, 58 catches), Reggie Bush (73 targets, 52 catches) and Westbrook (73 targets, 54 receptions). Bush almost certainly would have been No. 1 in targets if he played more than 10 games, which shows his prowess as a receiver out of the backfield when healthy.

These stats should help you in making decisions in leagues where receptions count. For example, Faulk might be the best New England running back in 2009. He will likely be more involved in the offense than Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris or Laurence Maroney because the Patriots are a pass-heavy team, and Faulk is the one on the field for passing downs.

Another interesting stat is red-zone targets, which shows how often a quarterback looks for a wide receiver or tight end inside the 20-yard line. It's no surprise that Fitzgerald (31 red-zone targets, 14 catches and nine touchdowns), Andre Johnson (27 red-zone targets, 18 catches and six touchdowns) and Marshall (25 red-zone targets, 12 catches and five touchdowns) were the leaders in this category, but Lance Moore was No. 4 with 25 red-zone targets, 16 catches and five touchdowns. Drew Brees favored Moore over the taller Marques Colston.

Randy Moss, who is considered a red-zone threat, only had seven catches there with five touchdowns in 22 targets. And Calvin Johnson, who should be a red-zone target because of his size (6-foot-5), isn't among the Top 20 in this category. That could change this year if the Lions are better on offense, but it shows that they didn't get inside the red zone much during last year's miserable 0-16 finish.

Also not in the Top 20 were Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith, who are top receiving threats but don't do much work in the red zone. At tight end, Kevin Boss did most of his damage there with all six touchdowns in 2008 coming from inside the 20. Anthony Fasano also had five of his seven touchdowns in the red zone, so these are tight ends to consider in touchdown-only leagues. One surprise was Witten not in the Top 20 since he only had six red-zone targets with four catches and two touchdowns. Remember, last year was a down season for Witten with only four touchdowns, but that should improve in 2009.

At running back, you want players who are active in the red zone because of the potential to score. Turner and Slaton had the most carries inside the 20, but Thomas Jones (57 carries, 11 touchdowns), Tomlinson (54 carries, 10 touchdowns) and Adrian Peterson (51 carries, six touchdowns) were also among the leaders.

Tomlinson might be past his prime at 30 and is expected to lose touches to Darren Sproles, but you can see he's still a huge part of San Diego's offense with targets and red-zone carries. It's why Tomlinson should remain a first-round pick this year because he can do it all.

Targets and red-zone touches might not be the best way to draft your Fantasy team. But when choosing between players, especially in leagues where receptions count or touchdown-only leagues, it could be a deciding factor. Remember, you want players who are productive, but you also want players who are involved in the game plan.

Have a question or a comment for Jamey about Fantasy Football? Send your thoughts or questions to DMFantasyFootball@cbs.com and he'll get to as many as he can. Be sure to put Attn: Targets in the subject field. Include your full name, hometown and state.