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Week 13 WR/CB Matchups You Need To Know (Fantasy Football)

Week 13 WR/CB Matchups You Need To Know (Fantasy Football)

There are times during the year where we won’t know exactly what’s going to happen in coverage. A team may decide they want to shadow an opposing No. 1 wide receiver and there may be times where they decide that there’s too much risk in leaving the No. 2 wideout unattended. At this point in the year, we know what most team will do.

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That’s not the case with Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman this week, though, as the Chargers will have decisions to make with Casey Hayward, their top cornerback. But here, we talk about which matchups we know will take place and which ones are the easiest/toughest on wide receivers. Now just because a wide receiver is in the ‘Matchups to Worry About’ column, it doesn’t mean you bench them. It’s meant to let you know when to dial back expectations. With that being said, let’s talk about those wide receivers for Week 13.

Matchups to Exploit

Mike Evans vs. Kevin King/Davon House
It’s not only good to have Jameis Winston back, but Evans has arguably the best matchup on the week. The combination of King and House have struggled in coverage this year, allowing over a 60 percent catch rate and over 14 yards per reception. When quarterbacks target them in coverage, they have a 103.8 rating, which is slightly higher than Aaron Rodgers‘ QB Rating from this year. It now makes sense why the Packers have already allowed six 100-yard performances to wide receivers this year.

DeAndre Hopkins vs. Adoree Jackson
If you’ve been paying attention to the journey of Hopkins, you already know that he shredded Jackson back in Week 4 when he caught 10-of-12 targets for 107 yards and a touchdown. Yes, that was with Deshaun Watson under center, but he hasn’t lost much since Tom Savage took over and is actually averaging more yards per game (99.5) under Savage, though the touchdowns are down. Jackson wasn’t shadowing earlier in the year, but he’s started to recently. Remember Antonio Brown‘s massive game a few weeks ago? Yeah, Jackson covered him a majority of that game.

Tyreek Hill vs. Morris Claiborne
This is a matchup that some may be concerned about because Claiborne has played decent since joining the Jets, though there’s some concern about him keeping up with Hill. Claiborne runs roughly a 4.6-second 40-yard-dash at this point (was 4.5 at the Combine), while Hill has world-class speed. Asking any cornerback to keep up with Hill in man coverage is asking for a problem. They may actually decide to just run a zone scheme for a majority of the game to stop him. Whatever the case, Hill has a plus-matchup in Week 13.

Marqise Lee vs. Pierre Desir
The Colts just lost their only remaining starter-worthy cornerback Rashaan Melvin this past week and are now down three of their best members in the secondary. Lee will match-up with Desir, who has allowed a touchdown in his coverage once every 10 targets this year, and keep in mind he hasn’t been covering No. 1 wide receivers. Lee torched tagged them for 72 yards a few weeks back when they were healthier, so feel free to start him as a WR3.

Stefon Diggs vs. Robert Alford
It appears that Desmond Trufant is likely to miss this game with a concussion, meaning Alford would be asked to (a) slide over to LCB to take Trufant’s side, which is primarily where Diggs lines up, or (b) they leave backup cornerback C.J. Goodwin to cover Diggs. Whatever the case, this is a plus-matchup for him, and he just might turn in a WR1 performance.

Matchups to Worry About

Julio Jones vs. Xavier Rhodes
Just one week after he was in the matchups to exploit, Jones leads the matchups to worry about. The Vikings use Rhodes in shadow coverage and potentially even in the slot with someone like Jones. Knowing that the Falcons have no issue targeting everyone but Jones (he’s been underutilized throughout his career), that’s a concern in his outlook. But here’s the thing – if any team trusts a cornerback one-on-one with Jones, they won’t win that matchup. Even if Rhodes is a top-three cornerback in the league (I think he is), there isn’t a cornerback in the league who can completely shut down someone of Jones’ talent level. This is just a situation to lower your exposure to him in DFS. Similar to Antonio Brown, you can never completely fade him.

Devin Funchess vs. Marshon Lattimore
This is an extremely worrisome situation for Funchess, as Lattimore has played well enough to be considered rookie of the year, shutting down some big names. He missed last week’s game, but was already practicing on Wednesday. If he plays, it’s bad news for the entire Panthers passing game. He’s allowed just 52.6 percent of passes to be completed at just 10.7 yards per catch with no touchdowns. Funchess might be the only one Cam Newton can actually throw to, so volume should be in his favor, but he’ll need it if Lattimore plays.

Jarvis Landry vs. Chris Harris Jr.
It’s been a surprising season for Landry, especially when you consider how pathetic the Dolphins offense has looked, averaging just 15.8 points per game, the third-lowest mark in the league. This week is one to dial those expectations back, though, as he’ll face the league’s best slot cornerback in Harris Jr. It’s not just a one-year thing, either, as he’s allowed just eight touchdowns in his coverage over the last four years combined, which amounts to 317 targets. So, one touchdown every 39.6 targets. It may not be wise to trust Landry in DFS this week.

T.Y. Hilton vs. Jalen Ramsey
When looking at Hilton’s season as a whole, it doesn’t look horrible. I mean, he’s still a top-30 wide receiver who has the 10th-most yards among wide receivers. But if you look a bit closer, he’s had just three games all season with more than 4.9 fantasy points, including 2.7 or less in five of his last six games. So now you line him against the cornerback who is already in the top-three in the game? The only three wide receivers to finish top-30 against him and the Jaguars this year were players who saw 11 or more targets. Hilton hasn’t seen more than nine in one game all year. He’s more of a WR4 than he is a WR2 this week.

Sammy Watkins vs. Patrick Peterson
We’ve already read this book before, back in Week 7 when Peterson held Watkins to just three catches and 42 yards. The reason it’s hard to trust Watkins at all is because of the lack of targets he sees. When playing a cornerback as talented as Peterson, you need a bunch of chances to let your talent shine. Watkins has seen more than five targets just twice all season, which is concerning even in good matchups. Yes, Robert Woods being out helps Watkins’ potential target floor, but beware that this isn’t a week to expect big results.


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

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