WR/CB Matchups to Target and Avoid - Week 5

Andrew Lalama evaluates key WR/CB matchups through his cornerback ratings chart to find top wide receivers to target or avoid in Week 5 fantasy football lineups.

The chart below is a snapshot of each team's cornerback group as it relates to allowing fantasy points. There are inherent flaws within the data compilation of cornerback play. The first being the fact that quantifying a 1-on-1 matchup in an NFL game is unfair because of zone coverages, mental errors, certain passing concepts, and a million other things. Assigning fantasy points against a cornerback isn't a perfect science. The purpose of this chart is to give more of a general sense of how defenses are handling opposing WR groups, rather than identifying exactly where, when, and how every single encounter happened.

The "Rtng" column is the rating of each cornerback based on film study and analytics. The lower a player is graded, the easier the matchup for the WR, so low ratings are green and high ratings are red. The "PPGA" is the number of fantasy points per game that the player has given up. A name in blue means the corner could possibly shadow the WR1. A name in red means that the player is dealing with an injury.  WRs highlighted in yellow have an easy matchup.  WRs highlighted in pink have a tough matchup.

The analysis below will help contextualize the chart, as in most cases a receiver did not score 100% of his points against the same player. However, the chart is a useful tool in getting a sense of the weakest links among corners.

Cornerback Ratings and Matchups - Week 5

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WR/CB Matchups to Target

This is an interesting week in the fact that some of the most beneficial matchups for WRs are players who aren’t realistic fantasy options. For example, Kendrick Bourne, David Moore, and Chad Beebe have three of the easiest matchups in the NFL, but obviously can’t be started in the majority of fantasy leagues. Moore deserves a look in deep leagues, but he’s not getting enough targets to start over established WRs.

There are multiple smash spots that could define the slate this week. First is Justin Jefferson against Tre Flowers or Quinton Dunbar in Seattle. Jefferson has been fantastic, and both Dunbar and Flowers have been horrid. On the other side, D.K. Metcalf gets Minnesota’s terrible outside CBs.

Darius Slayton and Golden Tate are also in great spots against Dallas.  The Cowboys have been atrocious against wide receivers this year, unable to cover WR1s or slots.  Daniel Jones has had tough matchups all season but I expect him to have his best game of 2020 in this spot.

Another intriguing spot is in that same game with the Cowboys receivers against the Giants corners.  Amari Cooper gets a tough draw with James Bradberry, but both Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb have plus matchups.

Offenses have game-planned to take advantage of slot matchups against Dallas, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Tennessee. In addition to CeeDee Lamb, Cole Beasley, Adam Humphries (if he plays), and Zach Pascal have great matchups.

Finally, the disappointing D.J. Moore gets possibly the easiest WR spot in all of football against Atlanta.  Robby Anderson has been more productive, but I expect Moore to explode against the Falcons. Dan Quinn’s defense is disturbingly bad.

WR/CB Matchups to Avoid

Many of the top WRs are matchup-proof for the most part, as Allen Robinson proved once again last week. So, while Tyreek Hill has a tough matchup on paper against Lamarcus Joyner, he is still obviously a fine play.

However, there are a handful of WR1s with tough matchups that you might want to downgrade. Diontae Johnson coming back from injury against Darius Slay is a tough spot. Odell Beckham Jr. just had his best game in years but gets a rejuvenated Xavier Rhodes and the stingy Indy pass defense. Mike Evans is banged up and has to deal with Kyle Fuller and the Bears. If Tennessee does return to action this week, A.J. Brown will have to deal with arguably the best corner in the game in Tre’Davious White.

I wouldn’t downgrade Will Fuller because Jacksonville’s PPGA WR1 stat is misleading. They’ve faced off against Corey Davis, DeVante Parker, and underachievers in T.Y. Hilton and A.J. Green. As far as Amari Cooper goes, you probably aren’t sitting him regardless, but I would not be shocked to see more work go to Gallup and Lamb.

Fringe fantasy WRs in tough matchups this week include Jamison Crowder, Hunter Renfrow, Larry Fitzgerald, Scotty Miller, Preston Williams, and John Brown.  Hopefully, you have better options.

Thanks for reading and good luck this week.

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