Mike Williams (?), believe it or not, was the intended target on a league-high 17 passes when his team was inside the 10 last year. Heath Miller, A.J. Green and Kyle Rudolph, meanwhile, had the most receptions in that part of the field.
When grading receivers for fantasy purposes, you want guys who are going to catch touchdowns. And about half of all touchdown catches come inside the 10-yard line. It makes sense, therefore, to think about which players will be used most extensively in that part of the field.
The overall champs last year, it turned out, were Mike Williams and A.J. Green. They were the only pair with more than 15 attempts. Heath Miller and Kyle Rudolph, meanwhile, were awfully effective in that part of the field.
Here are all the guys with a least 7 pass attempts. I've listed pass attempts, completions and scores (which includes both touchdowns and 2-point conversions). For official league stats, a 2-point conversion isn't even a play -- they don't mix them in with receiving stats. But I think it's meaningful, so I've included them.
| RECEIVING INSIDE 10, 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tm | Pos | Player | Att | Com | TD |
| T.B. | WR | Mike Williams | 17 | 6 | 6 |
| Cin. | WR | A.J. Green | 16 | 9 | 7 |
| Pitt. | TE | Heath Miller | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Chi. | WR | Brandon Marshall | 14 | 4 | 3 |
| N.E. | TE | Rob Gronkowski | 13 | 7 | 6 |
| G.B. | WR | James Jones | 12 | 7 | 7 |
| N.O. | RB | Darren Sproles | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| Ind. | WR | Reggie Wayne | 12 | 5 | 4 |
| Atl. | TE | Tony Gonzalez | 11 | 7 | 6 |
| Den. | WR | Eric Decker | 11 | 7 | 6 |
| Atl. | WR | Roddy White | 11 | 4 | 3 |
| Minn. | TE | Kyle Rudolph | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| N.O. | WR | Marques Colston | 10 | 6 | 6 |
| N.E. | WR | Wes Welker | 10 | 7 | 5 |
| N.O. | TE | Jimmy Graham | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Atl. | WR | Julio Jones | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| Den. | WR | Demaryius Thomas | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| Det. | WR | Calvin Johnson | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Mia. | TE | Anthony Fasano | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| NYG | WR | Victor Cruz | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| N.E. | TE | Aaron Hernandez | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| St.L. | WR | Danny Amendola | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Ariz. | WR | Larry Fitzgerald | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Dall. | WR | Dez Bryant | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Jac. | WR | Justin Blackmon | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| Oak. | TE | Brandon Myers | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| Pitt. | WR | Mike Wallace | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| N.O. | WR | Lance Moore | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Car. | TE | Greg Olsen | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| NYG | TE | Martellus Bennett | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Oak. | WR | Darrius Heyward-Bey | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Sea. | WR | Sidney Rice | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Balt. | WR | Anquan Boldin | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Car. | WR | Louis Murphy | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Car. | WR | Steve Smith | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Dall. | WR | Miles Austin | 7 | 3 | 1 |
--Ian Allan