Fantasy Football Player Notes

One of the benefits of being a team's No. 1 receiver is that you'll get targeted the most. One of the drawbacks is that you'll see the opposing No. 1 cornerback more often than not. McLaurin had to deal with Darius Slay last week and will now deal with Patrick Peterson this week. In their matchup against the 49ers, he didn't allow a single catch on the three targets he saw in coverage. Now, that was against essentially all backups, but Peterson has been one of the best cornerbacks in football for quite some time. Still, we can't anticipate Washington getting the ball in their opponent's territory over and over like they did last week, which should lead to a lot more than the 31 pass attempts that Haskins had last week. We can't ignore all the volume McLaurin can get as the top option, either. He was able to muster up 5/61/0 on seven targets against Slay last week, too. You should be willing to play him as a low-end WR2 in this matchup, and one who comes with a solid floor.

We knew this backfield would be hard to predict, right? Well, it's clear what roles these two running backs have. Barber totaled 17 carries, though they amounted to just 29 yards. He did, however, score two touchdowns. Fun fact: He had 10 red zone carries, which was the most in the league. There were just four teams of running backs who finished with more than that. Gibson was more efficient while totaling 36 yards on his nine carries, but he totaled just two targets, which won't get it done. Still, it's only a matter of time before they realize he should be the primary back. The Cardinals aren't a team to be worried about as a matchup, though they're also not one that's a must-attack, either. They allowed just 10 running backs to post top-24 numbers against them last year, which says a lot considering how many points per game they were allowing. It should be noted that they allowed 7.13 yards per target to running backs last year, which was the eighth-most in the league. But when Jd Mckissic is still getting five targets per game, it's clear we can't rely on a massive role in the passing game for Gibson. The Cardinals were very good at holding running backs in check on the goal-line, as they allowed a touchdown every 42.0 carries, which ranked as the eighth-highest mark in football. I wouldn't recommend Barber as anything more than a touchdown-dependent RB4, while Gibson is the upside RB4 who should continue to see his role grow.

We knew this backfield would be hard to predict, right? Well, it's clear what roles these two running backs have. Barber totaled 17 carries, though they amounted to just 29 yards. He did, however, score two touchdowns. Fun fact: He had 10 red zone carries, which was the most in the league. There were just four teams of running backs who finished with more than that. Gibson was more efficient while totaling 36 yards on his nine carries, but he totaled just two targets, which won't get it done. Still, it's only a matter of time before they realize he should be the primary back. The Cardinals aren't a team to be worried about as a matchup, though they're also not one that's a must-attack, either. They allowed just 10 running backs to post top-24 numbers against them last year, which says a lot considering how many points per game they were allowing. It should be noted that they allowed 7.13 yards per target to running backs last year, which was the eighth-most in the league. But when Jd Mckissic is still getting five targets per game, it's clear we can't rely on a massive role in the passing game for Gibson. The Cardinals were very good at holding running backs in check on the goal-line, as they allowed a touchdown every 42.0 carries, which ranked as the eighth-highest mark in football. I wouldn't recommend Barber as anything more than a touchdown-dependent RB4, while Gibson is the upside RB4 who should continue to see his role grow.

We talked about how tough Sims' matchup was last week, so to see him get just three targets is no surprise. He turned them into 50 yards, so it wasn't a bad performance with all things considered. The Cardinals had second-year cornerback Byron Murphy covering the slot when the Eagles went three-wide last week, so we should probably assume that happens again this week. Murphy didn't play so well last year on the perimeter in his rookie year, but he got off to a great start in 2020 when he broke up two passes on five targets in coverage and allowed just 27 yards total. It's just one game, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm expecting Washington to throw the ball a bit more this week, which should lead to five-plus targets for Sims, so he should be considered a decent floor WR5-type play, particularly in PPR formats.

Remember last week when I said we needed to watch Thomas' role after hearing about him doing well in training camp? Well, he played 52 snaps and saw eight targets against the usually dominant against tight ends Eagles defense, turning them into 4/37/1. He's someone to consider for streamers if that's how things are going to go. The Cardinals were the team that allowed the all-time most fantasy points to tight ends in 2019. Seriously, there were 13 tight ends who finished top-10 against them, and another two tight ends who finished TE16 and TE17. On the season, they allowed 311.3 PPR points to the position while no other team in the league allowed more than 242.9 points. They drafted Isaiah Simmons in the first round to help with that, and it looked good on paper, though George Kittle's injury skews the overall numbers. Kittle and Jordan Reed combined for 6/56/0 on seven targets, so it was still a decent performance. Thomas is far from a guarantee, but if you're looking for a streamer with a good matchup, he's got it.