Every single week you hear people talk about fantasy matchups. Whether it be talk about the offensive line and how it will hold up against the opponent’s pass rush, or how often a defense will bring eight or more defenders into the box to stop a running back. This is all part of the giant puzzle that is fantasy football, though the most important one may be the position that this article talks about – wide receivers versus cornerbacks.

Just because you heard someone on a podcast talk about why Eric Decker is surely going to struggle against the Seahawks now that Corey Davis is out because it’ll mean that Richard Sherman covers him, doesn’t make it true. In fact, that’s a prime example of something fantasy owners get wrong. Decker won’t see Sherman in coverage about 80 percent of the time. Why? Because Decker plays in the slot 60 percent of the time, which is somewhere Sherman doesn’t travel, and then lines up at left wide receiver for 20 percent of the time, which is not Sherman’s side of the field. See what I mean?

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Seems simple enough, right? Ok, now that we understand how this works, this article focuses on the top five wide receiver/cornerback matchups to target, whether it be in season-long or DFS, as well as the five matchups to avoid if possible. It also needs to be noted that just because a player is listed in the avoid column, it doesn’t mean he automatically goes to your bench, because there are just a few cornerbacks who shadow all the time. It’s the reason Dez Bryant wasn’t in this column last week, as the Broncos play sides and Bryant was going to be away from Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib roughly half his snaps. I’ll always note that with the players below if it’s not a true shadow situation.

Matchups to Exploit

Keenan Allen vs. Phillip Gaines
Prior to the start of the season, I talked about how it was going to be difficult for Allen to see a lot of targets with all the mouths to feed in Los Angeles. That appears to be incorrect, because Rivers has targeted him 20 times through two games with a 27.4 percent target share, which is massive. So when you see a matchup with a backup slot cornerback on the schedule, your fantasy antennas should rise. Gaines was benched last year for poor play and wasn’t supposed to be on the field this year – that was until Steven Nelson got hurt and was placed on I.R. Gaines is already in mid-season form and allowed a touchdown in coverage to Alshon Jeffery last week. Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin will see Pro Bowler Marcus Peters a lot of the time, so Allen may even see a larger share of the pie this week.

Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Jalen Mills
This one seems to easy, as Mills was used and abused continually last year and was ranked as PFF’s worst cornerback in coverage. He’s allowed over 1,000 yards in his coverage since the start of the 2016 season, one of just two cornerbacks to do that. The Eagles traded for Ronald Darby this offseason to slow down players like Beckham, but he’s out for multiple weeks. He’ll also see some of Rasul Douglas, who is starting in this, his rookie season. Beckham played 34 of 56 snaps in Week 2 and left without any setbacks. They reportedly want to ramp his snaps this week into a full-time role. Let the fireworks begin.

Brandin Cooks vs. Johnathan Joseph (or Marcus Burley)
If you drafted Cooks in the second round, you’re most likely frustrated by his performance. He may make all of that up to you this week against the Texans. Their top cornerback Kevin Johnson is out with a knee sprain, and their No. 2 cornerback Joseph is highly questionable with a shoulder injury. Filling their spots would both be former undrafted free agents Marcus Burley and Eddie Pleasant. Neither of them has ever played significant game time, putting Cooks in a money spot. Even if Joseph plays, he’s 33 years old and not necessarily in his prime to handle a player like Cooks, especially at less than 100 percent.

Amari Cooper vs. Bashaud Breeland
It was back to business as usual for Michael Crabtree in the end zone last week, scoring three touchdowns and putting Cooper in the backseat. While these two do move around on the field, Crabtree plays a majority of his snaps at RWR, which is where Josh Norman lives. Despite reports that the Redskins would use him in shadow coverage, he’s playing almost all his snaps at LCB, which is across from Crabtree. Meanwhile, Cooper will see Breeland and Kendall Fuller about 75 percent of the time. This is a very good thing for Cooper, as they are underperforming cornerbacks. On top of that, the Redskins will be down two of their starting linebackers from last year in this game. The Raiders will move the ball and Cooper has already seen four red zone targets this year. If Derek Carr is as smart as I think he is, Cooper will be a busy man on Sunday night.

A.J. Green vs. Damarious Randall
Just as it was for Julio Jones last week, Green is in a spot that’s almost guaranteed to produce WR1 numbers in Week 3. Randall isn’t going to be tasked with handling Green all by himself (similar to Jones), but that didn’t stop Jones from racking up five catches for 108 yards in a game where Matt Ryan only threw the ball 28 times. Andy Dalton won’t have that issue, as the Bengals will likely have a pass-heavy game-script. Including last year, Randall has allowed 812 yards and eight touchdowns on just 81 targets in coverage. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Matchups to Avoid (if possible)

Dez Bryant vs. Patrick Peterson
After getting shut down by Janoris Jenkins in Week 1, Bryant didn’t get the shadow treatment in Week 2 and wound up with seven catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. This week he goes back to the shadow treatment against Peterson, one of the game’s premier cornerbacks. Through two games, he’s allowed a combined two catches for 22 yards, though one of those was a touchdown on a broken-down play when Matthew Stafford scrambled for multiple seconds. Bryant always has the potential to score a touchdown against any cornerback, but his odds of living up to his perceived WR1 value are extremely slim in this matchup.

Alshon Jeffery vs. Janoris Jenkins
It’s no secret that Jeffery hasn’t fared well against top tier cornerbacks since he became “the man” in the offense. With Brandon Marshall on the Bears, Jeffery scored a touchdown every 17 targets. He went to one every 26 targets without him. Jenkins is among the best shutdown corners in the game and one that does shadow the opposing No. 1 receiver. He did it well and allowed just three touchdowns in his coverage all of last year. The only hope is that Jenkins isn’t quite 100 percent after missing the Monday night game against the Lions, but Jeffery is someone to avoid in DFS this week.

Jordan Matthews vs. Chris Harris Jr.
As if you needed another reason to avoid the struggling Bills wide receiver. The move from the Eagles hasn’t been kind to the two-time top-25 fantasy wide receiver, as he’s seen just six targets through two games, four fewer than rookie Zay Jones. Don’t expect him to break out of his slump this week, as Chris Harris Jr. is the best slot cornerback in the game, and it isn’t all that close.

DeAndre Hopkins vs. Stephon Gilmore
If you know anything about the Patriots and how they handle the opposing No. 1 option, they’ll give the cornerbacks additional resources in order to essentially take them out of the game. It’s the reason Michael Thomas was held to 89 yards on 10 targets last week and why Travis Kelce was held to 40 yards on seven targets in Week 1. While you see Gilmore mentioned as the cornerback, you might as well add a safety to the matchup as well, because the Patriots will bracket Hopkins. On top of that, Deshaun Watson likely realized from his performance in Week 2 that he can’t just continue to target Hopkins relentlessly. If you start Hopkins, you’re hoping for a garbage time touchdown.

Mike Evans vs. Xavier Rhodes
This is a prime example of when a wide receiver is in this portion of the article, that it doesn’t automatically mean you sit him. You’re obviously not going to sit him in season-long, but it’s my job to let you know who to avoid in DFS. Rhodes received a big contract extension from the Vikings this offseason and he showed why last week when he held Antonio Brown to just five catches for 62 scoreless on 11 targets. The week before that, he held Michael Thomas to just five catches and 45 scoreless yards. Needless to say, he’s holding some big-name receivers in check. Because of that, it’d make sense for Jameis Winston to target DeSean Jackson a bit more in this game.

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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.