3 Fantasy Football WR/CB Matchups to Know: Week 5 (2025)

Winning in fantasy football often comes down to exploiting the right WR/CB matchups. Some receivers get dream spots against shaky coverage, while others face lockdown corners that can tank their output. Here are my favorite Week 5 fantasy football WR/CB matchups to target when setting lineups and finding an edge.

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Fantasy Football WR/CB Matchups: Week 5

Amon-Ra St. Brown vs. the Bengals Defense

It’s no surprise that the Bengals’ defense should be a weekly target for offensive playmakers. Cincinnati’s defense has given up the 12th-most passing yards per attempt and the third-most passing yards per game. Despite them constantly getting shredded by opposing offenses, they have yet to allow a single opposing wide receiver to go over 100 yards this season.

I think that changes this week, as this will be the most explosive offense the Bengals will have faced all season. The two defensive backs Amon-Ra St. Brown will see in coverage are DJ Turner and Cam Taylor-Britt. Both have struggled in 2025 with coverage grades below 60, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Michael Pittman Jr. vs. the Raiders’ Zone Coverage

Las Vegas’ defense lives in zone coverage. They play some variation of zone over 90% of the time, per Fantasy Points Data. That’s great news for Michael Pittman, as he has shredded zone coverage early on this season for 12 catches, 170 yards and three touchdowns.

This is an easy matchup to target with Pittman being the top pass-catching option for the Colts. Pittman leads the offense with an 84.1% snap share, 83.6% route run rate and 24.5% target share. The Raiders’ defense has allowed the sixth-most expected points added (EPA)/dropback and the 10th-most receiving yards per game.

Rams WRs vs. the 49ers’ Defense

Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are both strong fantasy targets this week thanks to favorable usage and exploitable matchups. Nacua continues to dominate routes at a 78.7% clip, with nearly 40% of his targets coming on the right side. That’s where he’ll see a heavy dose of Deommodore Lenoir, who boasts a 61.1 PFF coverage grade, which ranks 43rd of 103 cornerbacks.

Adams, meanwhile, draws a similarly appealing setup. Logging an elite 88.6% route participation and a healthy 28.9% targets per route rate, he’ll primarily face Renardo Green, who has surrendered over 20% of targets per route and a middling 0.36 fantasy points per route allowed. With Adams’ matchup advantage coming in at 1.45, he maintains one of the steadiest floor and ceiling combos at the position.

The 49ers have allowed the fifth-fewest amount of receiving yards per game, but they have yet to face an offense ranked inside the top 15 in receiving yards per game; the Rams rank third.