There are some weeks where it feels there are tons of top-tier wide receivers covered by top-tier cornerbacks, making for some weird fantasy weeks when you see players like Kenny Stills and Ted Ginn atop the fantasy leaderboards. This week, however, should not be one of those weeks. There are a lot of first-round wide receiver talented players in some phenomenal matchups, while some of the players who have been performing like WR2’s and WR3’s might have their hands full in Week 8.
Get start/sit advice for free with My Playbook 
Before getting into this week’s matchups to exploit and which to worry about, I want to make something clear. Dez Bryant should NOT see a lot of Josh Norman this weekend, assuming Norman plays at all. Despite what the Redskins said before the season, they have not used Norman in a shadow role this year, not even once. Hard to imagine them changing that after he’s missed multiple weeks with a lung injury. That’s what this WR/CB matchup article is meant to do – inform you of the players who will see shadow coverage, those who won’t, and those who just have good or bad matchups regardless of which side of the field they line up on. Let’s see which wide receivers you should be targeting and those you should try to avoid.
Matchups to Exploit
Julio Jones vs. Morris Claiborne
This is a rare instance of a cornerback who shadows opposing No. 1 wide receivers, but one that you should target in this particular instance. Claiborne was a former first-round pick who had high expectations as someone who could come in and shut down wide receivers. Through the first four years of his career, he was considered a massive bust until he turned things around in 2016, though not enough to stop him from hitting the free agent market. Top-tier shutdown corners almost never hit the open market and there wasn’t a big demand for his services. Now he’ll be asked to shadow Julio Jones, possibly the best wide receiver in the game. After starting out the year playing well, Claiborne has allowed 15 catches for 177 yards over the last three weeks in his coverage. Jones could explode in this game.
Demaryius Thomas vs. Terrance Mitchell
Last week Thomas was in the matchups to worry about, though even I didn’t expect him to walk away from that game with just two catches for nine yards. He should make up for it this week when the Broncos play the Chiefs on Monday night. Thomas plays on both sides of the formation, but lines up on Mitchell’s side more than Marcus Peters’ side. It hasn’t seemed to matter for wide receivers, though, as the duo of Mitchell and Peters has allowed 949 yards and seven touchdowns in coverage already this year. Thomas himself hasn’t scored in his last 12 games, but maybe the Chiefs allow him to celebrate once again?
Alshon Jeffery vs. Rashard Robinson
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m not a huge Jeffery fan. When the Bears let him walk in free agency, I wasn’t that mad, though we could really use him right now. Anyway, he’s been a massive disappointment this year outside of one game against the Chiefs, which we discussed above, haven’t been great against the pass. This week he has another plus-matchup against the 49ers secondary that has allowed 1,167 yards (7th-most) and seven touchdowns (7th-most) on the year to wide receivers alone. His matchup with Robinson and Dontae Johnson is one of the better ones on the slate, so if Jeffery can’t get it done here, it might be time to move him for 90 cents on the dollar.
Amari Cooper vs. Shareece Wright
This one should have a slight asterisk next to it, as I’m assuming that E.J. Gaines sits this game out for the Bills. As of the time I’m writing this, he hasn’t practiced and has said to be day-to-day with a hamstring injury that knocked him out of last week’s game. Players don’t typically return that soon from a hamstring injury and if they did, they won’t be able to cover an athlete like Cooper. This would also turn into a plus-matchup for Michael Crabtree, as Cooper and him alternate from time-to-time, though Cooper should see more of the upcoming rookie Tre’Davious White. The replacement for Gaines would be Wright, who was a turnstile for the Ravens last year who allowed multiple touchdowns in two different games, including a game against the Raiders. Asked to play a larger role last week, he allowed a touchdown to O.J. Howard in his coverage. If Gaines is out, upgrade both Cooper and Crabtree.
Doug Baldwin vs. Kareem Jackson
In his toughest matchup of the year last week, Baldwin showed the fantasy world that he’s over his groin injury that limited his output the last few weeks, torching Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie for 92 yards and a touchdown. This week his matchup against Jackson is a bit easier, as Jackson has allowed the 17th most yardage in coverage this year, which is really odd for a slot cornerback who often covers the shorter routes. He’s allowing 14.8 yards per reception and not much of it is coming after the catch, meaning wide receivers are getting open pretty consistently. With the lack of pass-rush the Texans will generate without J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus, expect Baldwin to wiggle his way towards a WR1 performance.
Matchups to Worry About
Will Fuller vs. Richard Sherman
Another common error in the fantasy community is the assumption that Sherman follows around the opposing No. 1 wide receiver. That’s not the case at all, as he’s played all but two snaps on the left side of the formation this year. Knowing that Will Fuller lines up on his side of the field 67 percent of the time is concerning. He was already due for touchdown regression and matching up with Sherman won’t help matters. On the year, Sherman has allowed just 10 catches for 93 yards and one touchdown. Fuller is a very risky WR3 this week.
Marvin Jones vs. Joe Haden
This is one where I have to admit I made a mistake assuming that Haden wasn’t good anymore. He may not be great, but he’s working out well in the Steelers zone scheme. As a team, they have yet to allow a wide receiver more than 61 yards, which is better than even the Broncos, which is saying something. Jones is going to get targets in this game with Golden Tate out, but knowing that the matchup is scary, he’s just a WR3/4 option.
Jamison Crowder vs. Orlando Scandrick
From The Primer that came out yesterday (read it here), Crowder has just 149 yards… on the season. Think about that for a second. There have been 85 wide receivers and 21 running backs who have totaled more yardage than him, including Brandon Marshall and Jalen Richard. Going against Scandrick is probably the worst matchup on the field among Redskins wide receviers, too, as he’s allowed just a 57 percent catch rate out of the slot and just one touchdown on the season. He’s an above-average cornerback, something Crowder doesn’t need right now.
Brandin Cooks vs. Casey Hayward
This one is tricky because I don’t think the Chargers will deploy Hayward in full shadow coverage like he’s done a few times this year, but it’s possible. They may view Chris Hogan as just as much of a threat and stick to a zone scheme, which wouldn’t play into Cooks’ favor either. Opposing quarterbacks have only targeted Hayward three times in the last two weeks, leading to just one catch for seven yards. Outside of one bad game against the Giants, he’s played like the Pro-Bowler he was last year. It’s not a week where you sit Cooks, but rather one you tread lightly in DFS.
Nelson Agholor vs. K’Waun Williams
One of the true comeback stories of 2017, Agholor sits tight as the No. 15 wide receiver in PPR formats. This comes just a year after he was labeled as one of the worst wide receviers in the league. Playing the slot role for Carson Wentz has been a godsend for him and one that he’s taken full advantage of. This week, his matchup is much tougher than Alshon Jeffery‘s or Zach Ertz‘s, as he’ll matchup up with Williams, who is someone playing solid football this year as well. He’s allowed a 76 percent catch rate, which is somewhat high, though he’s allowed just 8.2 yards per reception in his coverage and just one touchdown. Here’s a list of some of the slot wide receviers they’ve played against with their totals: Cole Beasley (1/24/0), Jamison Crowder (3/15/0), Larry Fitzgerald (4/32/1), Cooper Kupp (2/17/0), and Doug Baldwin (6/64/0). He’s not the best cornerback in the world, but there are other places for Wentz to go this week.
Editor’s Note: K’Waun Williams has been ruled out for this game.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS
Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
