This article is part of our On Target series.
We have reached the final On Target column of the year, and what a season it has been. We've seen some of the highest-scoring games in NFL history, historic performances in the passing game and some absolutely fantastic CB play as well. My hope for all the readers of my work here on RotoWire is that you were able to learn something and take away some actionable lessons from the data that was presented here.
Courtland Sutton vs. Casey Hayward
The Chargers can still win the AFC West and will be highly motivated against the Broncos, who do not have anything to play for. Denver does have a reason to continue to evaluate Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick to determine the direction they take their offense in 2018, so this is a great spot to test Sutton. Hayward is one of the few truly good shadow corners in the NFL and Sutton has been mostly uninspiring this season. A good game here would go a long way.
Jarvis Landry vs. Brandon Carr
Carr is a really interesting cornerback to me because he has had so many different phases to his career. He was an elite corner for the Chiefs, an aggressively mediocre corner for the Cowboys and now has transitioned to being a well above average slot corner for the Ravens. Many corners struggle moving from the outside to the inside, but Carr has allowed only 0.22 fantasy points per route run against this year. Landry and the Browns
We have reached the final On Target column of the year, and what a season it has been. We've seen some of the highest-scoring games in NFL history, historic performances in the passing game and some absolutely fantastic CB play as well. My hope for all the readers of my work here on RotoWire is that you were able to learn something and take away some actionable lessons from the data that was presented here.
Courtland Sutton vs. Casey Hayward
The Chargers can still win the AFC West and will be highly motivated against the Broncos, who do not have anything to play for. Denver does have a reason to continue to evaluate Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick to determine the direction they take their offense in 2018, so this is a great spot to test Sutton. Hayward is one of the few truly good shadow corners in the NFL and Sutton has been mostly uninspiring this season. A good game here would go a long way.
Jarvis Landry vs. Brandon Carr
Carr is a really interesting cornerback to me because he has had so many different phases to his career. He was an elite corner for the Chiefs, an aggressively mediocre corner for the Cowboys and now has transitioned to being a well above average slot corner for the Ravens. Many corners struggle moving from the outside to the inside, but Carr has allowed only 0.22 fantasy points per route run against this year. Landry and the Browns are attempting to play spoiler this week and come away with their first season above .500 in forever, so their top players like Landry should all play their full complement of snaps.
Tate has been sort of an afterthought in Philly since being traded there, but he does have a few things going for him this week. The Eagles need a win if they hope to make the postseason, Washington is suffering injuries in its secondary and the unit has been brutal against slot WRs. Stroman has allowed the most fantasy points per route run against of any player with more than 100 routes defended in 2018, and Tate will be against him on about 75 percent of his routes.
Kenny Golladay vs. Jaire Alexander
While neither of these teams have anything to play for other than pride, I do expect the Packers to continue to use Alexander to shadow the opposing team's No. 1 WR, which in this case will be Golladay. Alexander has defended 412 routes this year and has allowed 0.42 fantasy points per route run against. In the words of Pete Campbell, not great, Bob! Golladay should have the upper hand here.
Cordarrelle Patterson vs. Morris Claiborne
This matchup is a Mattek special, as Patterson is one of my favorite underrated players in all of football and Claiborne was one of my favorite Cowboys draft picks (even though he didn't work out in Dallas). Claibourne has been legit good this season, allowing 0.26 fantasy points per route run against and only a 58 percent catch rate, and Patterson has been more than good every time the Patriots have called on him this year. This is must-see TV for a football nerd like me: two reclamation projects making the best use of their talents.
