How Important is the Redzone?

During Sunday’s throughout the fall and winter many people watch the Redzone channel. Many people don’t understand how important it is for NFL fantasy football advice. When a team is 20 yards or closer to the goal line they are in the redzone. For daily fantasy football top picks, this area is where they get the majority of their points.

On DraftKings, touchdowns are six points for receiving and rushing. Throwing touchdowns account for four points. In 2015, the Carolina Panthers scored touchdowns on 69.44% of their red zone trips. This made Cam Newton and the rest of the Panthers offense the best in the NFL and gave Newton his first MVP award. Picking the right tight end could be the difference between making money and losing money. The two most devastating tight ends to defenses last year were Jordan Reed of the Washington Redskins and Tyler Eifert of the Cincinnati Bengals. Reed caught all eleven of his touchdowns last year while in the redzone. Eifert caught eleven of his thirteen touchdowns while in the redzone in 2015.

Tight ends are not the only ones that make a living in the red zone. Many wide receivers catch many touchdowns there as well. The big, physical wide receivers are the ones that get the majority of the touchdowns. Allen Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars, 6’3" 209 lbs., caught twelve of his league leading fourteen touchdowns in the red zone last year. Brandon Marshall of the New York Jets, 6’4" 224 lbs., caught ten of his league leading fourteen touchdowns in the red zone last year.

In the new NFL, where running backs are a second option for most teams it is completely different in daily fantasy sports, where touchdowns are a must have. Devonta Freeman of the Atlanta Falcons scored ten of his league leading eleven rushing touchdowns in the redzone in 2015. Also tied for the league lead in touchdown last year, Jeremy Hill scored nine of his eleven rushing touchdowns in the red zone. In the 2015 season Allen Robinson and Brandon Marshall ranked in the top six of wide receivers in DraftKings points last season. Also, Tyler Eifert and Jordan Reed ranked in the top six of tight ends in DraftKings points last season.

This coming fall and winter make sure to tune in to the red zone channel and be aware of the touchdown frenzy that will be happening. Be sure to check out the touchdown celebrations as these guys will need to create new ones after being there so much last season. The name of the game in fantasy is the importance of the touchdowns. A player can rack up yards all day and help their team move down the field with ease but, if they aren’t able to cross the goal line their fantasy value is going to be greatly diminished.

Leo Aranas is an online writer and blogger.