This article is part of our On Target series.
Another week in the books of WR/CB matchups and I think last week's results are illustrative of why this data can never be taken as gospel. D.J. Moore did in fact have a gallopingly good game against Seattle, Mike Evans wasn't a stud, Quincy Enunwa was mostly a non-factor while covered by Stephon Gilmore, and Willie Snead and Larry Fitzgerald were also no-shows. This week, we will continue to highlight the eye-catching matchups around the NFL for WRs and CBs!
Tyreek DOES move all around the formation for the Chiefs, so it is fairly likely that he will not in fact play more than 50 percent or so of his snaps against Conley. However, when Conley is responsible for Hill, I am chalking this up as a massive advantage for Tyreek. Conley allows 0.29 fantasy points per route run against, which is not horrible, but he "only" ran a 4.44 40 time, which is more than a tenth of a second slower than Tyreek's reported college time.
Jones is going to be avoided like the plague this week in DFS because of how bad this perceived matchup is. The Ravens have a solid defense and have been okay at limiting the fantasy points opposing WRs collect this year, but I think that Jones actually has an advantage on Smith. Jimmy allows 0.32 fantasy points per route run against, and a 68 percent completion rate when he is targeted in
Another week in the books of WR/CB matchups and I think last week's results are illustrative of why this data can never be taken as gospel. D.J. Moore did in fact have a gallopingly good game against Seattle, Mike Evans wasn't a stud, Quincy Enunwa was mostly a non-factor while covered by Stephon Gilmore, and Willie Snead and Larry Fitzgerald were also no-shows. This week, we will continue to highlight the eye-catching matchups around the NFL for WRs and CBs!
Tyreek DOES move all around the formation for the Chiefs, so it is fairly likely that he will not in fact play more than 50 percent or so of his snaps against Conley. However, when Conley is responsible for Hill, I am chalking this up as a massive advantage for Tyreek. Conley allows 0.29 fantasy points per route run against, which is not horrible, but he "only" ran a 4.44 40 time, which is more than a tenth of a second slower than Tyreek's reported college time.
Jones is going to be avoided like the plague this week in DFS because of how bad this perceived matchup is. The Ravens have a solid defense and have been okay at limiting the fantasy points opposing WRs collect this year, but I think that Jones actually has an advantage on Smith. Jimmy allows 0.32 fantasy points per route run against, and a 68 percent completion rate when he is targeted in coverage, which are not great numbers. Essentially, I believe a good offense beats a good defense a majority of the time, and that includes Jones versus Smith.
Kenny Stills / DeVante Parker vs. Tre'Davious White
White, despite playing for one of the worst teams in football, has put up an admirable season in coverage. He is allowing only 0.2 fantasy points per route run against in coverage and is targeted only 13 percent of the time when dropping into coverage. I am interested to see how the Bills choose to deploy him against Stills and Parker. To me, it makes more sense to use him on Parker, who better fits the physical mold of a No. 1 receiver, but Levi Wallace, the Bills other outside corner, ran a 4.63 40 at the combine and as such is a much worse fit for guarding Stills.
I already loved Cooks as a DFS play this week before I started to dig into the WR/CB matchups, simply because I think that he will continue to take a larger role with no Cooper Kupp around and Todd Gurley recovering from an ankle injury. However, when looking at his majority WR/CB matchup, I like him even more. Cooks plays on Ford's side of the formation about 55 percent of the time, and Ford is the most targeted cornerback in all of football, beting targeted on 35 percent (!!!!!) of his drops into coverage in a small sample size. We are definitely interested in Cooks this week.
The Cowboys/Saints game is going to be interesting for many reasons, but I am quite excited to see how Apple plays against Cooper. The Giants gave up on Apple, trading him for little return, but he has been great for the Saints and has really contributed to their last two dominant wins. Cooper is a perfect fit for Scott Linehan's short timing offense, and Apple seems to have immediately picked up the Saints defensive scheme. Keep a close eye on this matchup Thursday.
Golladay should have already been on the forefront of your fantasy brain all week, but he has such a great matchup this week that I think he will be one of the most owned players in DFS. Of all cornerbacks who have covered more than 100 routes, no one allows more fantasy points per route run against than Hill (who, to be fair, did have to play Chiefs in the Rams' last game). Golladay also has a massive size advantage on Hill, and that will come into play in this game.
