2024 Fantasy Football WR/CB Matchup Report Week 4: Marvin Harrison Jr. Gets Commanders Matchup
Now that we've got 3 weeks of data, we can start adjusting matchup statuses more confidently and, in turn, we've got several notable names who have been adjusted this week. We're also keeping close tabs on an emerging trend; where a bad matchup will steer target volume away from certain corners and towards more favorable matchups. This can be a leading indicator of the strength of a corner that the stats will take a few weeks to catch up to.
2024 Fantasy Football WR/CB Matchup Report For Week 4
Left WR vs Right CB | |||||
Wide Receiver | Team | DK / FD $ | Cornerback | Opp | Matchup |
Michael Wilson | ARI | $4200 / $5300 | Benjamin St-Juste | WAS | Upgrade |
It's the Arizona Cardinals turn to take advantage of the Commanders’ secondary this week and Michael Wilson is in the best spot of them all. He draws Benjamin St-Juste this week, who has been peppered with 25 targets this year and is the only player in the league to have given up over 200 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. | |||||
Darnell Mooney | ATL | $4400 / $5700 | Marshon Lattimore | NO | Downgrade |
There isn’t much about Marshon Lattimore’s counting stats that would deem him a downgrade, having allowed a 50% catch rate and 16 yards per reception. The issue with running in his coverage, as Darnell Mooney will this week, is that opposing quarterbacks are outright avoiding Lattimore. On average he sees only 1.3 targets thrown his way per game. | |||||
Rashod Bateman | BAL | $4000 / $5300 | Christian Benford | BUF | Downgrade |
Christian Benford kept the strong start to his season going last week, allowing just 1 catch for 1 yard while breaking up a pass. This has him near the top of PFF’s coverage rating for the season and makes him a very tough out for Rashod Bateman this week. | |||||
Mack Hollins | BUF | $3100 / $5300 | Brandon Stephens | BAL | Neutral |
We’ve got a pretty fair fight between Mack Hollins and Brandon Stephens this week. Hollins is (somewhat surprisingly) leading the Bills in snaps and routes run this season. Stephens has an above-average catch rate in the low 60s but has allowed the most yards in the Ravens’ secondary (171). | |||||
Diontae Johnson | CAR | $5600 / $6200 | Cam Taylor-Britt | CIN | Neutral |
Diontae Johnson sure took kindly to the quarterback change in Carolina, posting an 8/122/1 statline in Andy Dalton’s 2024 debut. He’ll have a chance to keep it rolling with an “ok” matchup against Cam Taylor-Britt this week. Taylor-Britt has kept receptions and receiving yards in a respectable range this season but has been on the wrong side of a few deep catches this year, one of which went for a score. | |||||
DJ Moore | CHI | $6700 / $6500 | Tre'Davious White | LAR | Upgrade |
The LA Rams are another secondary that have been getting torched this season and now they face a Bears offense that is attempting the 2nd most passes per game. DJ Moore has been quiet through 3 games but has a chance to break out running against Tre’Davious White. White is giving up huge yardage per catch (18) and has allowed the most touchdowns in the league this season (4). | |||||
Ja'Marr Chase | CIN | $7700 / $9200 | Jaycee Horn | CAR | Downgrade |
We are fresh off the Ja'Marr Chase rebound game, after he posted a 7/118/2 line on Monday Night Football against Washington. He’ll have his work cut out for him if he wishes to repeat that production this week as he prepares to be shadowed by Jaycee Horn. As with many elite corners, Horn plays such tight defense that quarterbacks avoid throwing in his direction. He’s seen just 8 targets on nearly 100 routes covered. Chase certainly has the skills to overcome a tough matchup, but his upside will be capped. | |||||
Jerry Jeudy | CLE | $5200 / $5700 | Jakorian Bennett | LV | Neutral |
Jakorian Bennett remains on the short list of corner backs to target after posting a 35.3 coverage grade in last week’s game. He is actually doing a decent job in terms of catch rate and yards allowed per, but he simply cannot tackle. He’s missed a tackle on 50% of his attempts and that has inflated his yards after catch metric by a good bit. | |||||
Brandin Cooks | DAL | $5300 / $6000 | Deonte Banks | NYG | Upgrade |
It's been a rocky start to the season for Brandin Cooks but he has a chance to turn things around this Thursday, running against Deonte Banks of the Giants. Cooks is right up there with CeeDee Lamb in snap count and should see Banks for the majority of his routes in Week 4. Banks has allowed the most catches, yards, and touchdowns in a flawed Giants secondary. | |||||
Courtland Sutton | DEN | $5300 / $5500 | D.J. Reed | NYJ | Downgrade |
I don’t want to suggest that DJ Reed has surpassed Sauce Gardner as the more difficult out in the Jets secondary but he’s at least posting numbers that will make you take it into consideration. Reed has allowed just 3 catches and 30 total yards this season and is top-10 in separation allowed at the time of target. Courtland Sutton has had trouble converting his abundance of targets this season and I don’t think that's likely to change this week. | |||||
Jameson Williams | DET | $5700 / $6100 | Tariq Woolen | SEA | Downgrade |
Tariq Woolen continues his ascent into the conversation of the league’s elite cover corners and this week he’ll be lined up across for Jameson Williams. Williams came back to earth last week, after a hot start to the season, and will be facing a corner who’s allowed just 4 receptions this season and a 7.0 passer rating when throwing into his coverage. Jamo has the skillset to get loose on any play but this is categorically a tough spot for him. | |||||
Romeo Doubs | GB | $5500 / $5100 | Shaquill Griffin | MIN | Neutral |
Shaquill Griffin’s 58.5 coverage rating is a bit of a head-scratcher when you look at his stats. He’s held opponents to a 44% catch rate and just 10.5 yards per reception without surrendering a touchdown, which are all typically the marks of a top-tier corner. A closer look will show that a couple missed tackles and a costly Pass Interference penalty are the culprit dragging down his rating. I’ll file this as a “Neutral” matchup for Romeo Doubs but Griffin is bordering on the next tier in my opinion. | |||||
Nico Collins | HOU | $7200 / $7700 | Montaric Brown | JAC | Upgrade |
The Houston Texans are looking to pick up the pieces after a rout at the hands of the Vikings in Week 3. There is no better spot for them, or the receiving yards leader Nico Collins, to do then when facing the Jacksonville Jaguars. Collins will face Montaric Brown who is allowing a catch on nearly 78% of targets thrown his direction and is sporting a sub-60 coverage grade on PFF. | |||||
Alec Pierce | IND | $5000 / $5600 | Joey Porter | PIT | Downgrade |
It's been a fun ride to start the season for Alec Pierce managers but I fear it may be coming to an end. Partly because the return of Josh Downs chips away at Pierce’s time on the field but mostly (for this week at least) due to his matchup with Joey Porter Porter shadows at the 4th highest rate in the league and has given up just 4 catches on the entire season. Given Pierce’s role on the outside, he’ll see more than his share of Joey Porter Jr this week. | |||||
Gabe Davis | JAC | $4700 / $5700 | Kamari Lassiter | HOU | Neutral |
Around these parts, we love to target rookie cornerbacks. In the case of Kamari Lassiter, I’ve got to give credit where it's due. After a very rough Week 1, Lassiter has tightened the screws and now sits with a 33% catch rate and a 14.6 passer rating when quarterbacks throw into his coverage. If he keeps this up he’ll be in “Downgrade” territory before long. | |||||
Justin Watson | KC | $3200 / $5000 | Kristian Fulton | LAC | Neutral |
We’ve got another sample size consideration, this time with Kristian Fulton. Fulton is off to a stellar start to the season, having allowed just 13 yards on 6 receptions. His 82.3 coverage rating is a stark improvement from his career numbers so I’d like to see him sustain this performance before changing his status. | |||||
Jakobi Meyers | LV | $7400 / $7000 | Martin Emerson Jr. | CLE | Upgrade |
With Davante Adams a surprise scratch, I’m projecting Jakobi Meyers to move into his role on the left side of the offense. The Cleveland secondary is starting to develop a bit of a pass funnel, specifically in the direction of Martin Emerson Jr. Emerson’s 42.8 coverage grade is in the bottom 5th of the league and he has seen 17 targets because of it. Jakobi Meyers is in a nice spot to assert himself running against Emerson, who has already surrendered 2 receiving scores and has missed a tackle on 21.4% of his attempts. | |||||
Quentin Johnston | LAC | $4900 / $6000 | Trent McDuffie | KC | Neutral |
Quentin Johnston kept his bounceback season going last week when he scored this 3rd touchdown of the year against Pittsburgh. Johnston will face the toughest matchup in the Chiefs secondary this week in Trent McDuffie but he hasn’t been much to write home about this year. McDuffie has been the picture of mediocrity, posting league-average numbers in nearly every category. | |||||
Demarcus Robinson | LAR | $5100 / $5500 | Tyrique Stevenson | CHI | Neutral |
Demarcus Robinson is one of the few remaining receiving options for the LA Rams. His primary matchup this week, Tyrique Stevenson, has been generally unremarkable this season. Quarterbacks have been targeting Stevenson heavily, 22 to be exact, mainly as a means to avoid throwing toward Jaylon Johson. The additional volume raises Robinson’s floor an incremental amount this week. | |||||
Jaylen Waddle | MIA | $5900 / $6500 | L'Jarius Sneed | TEN | Upgrade |
More than anything else, for Jaylen Waddle, the biggest determining factor in his fantasy output will be the efficacy of the quarterback throwing him the ball. Whether its Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle, or Tyler Huntley; the options aren’t great. Waddle’s individual matchup against L’Jarius Sneed is a silver lining, as Sneed has the 7th-lowest coverage grade among qualifying backs. Still, proceed with caution. | |||||
Jordan Addison | MIN | $5100 / $5800 | Eric Stokes | GB | Neutral |
There is optimism that Jordan Addison makes his return this week for the Vikings. If he does, he’ll have the benefit of avoiding Jaire Alexander’s attention; instead matching up with Eric Stokes. Stokes isn’t a liability in the backfield by any means, but he also doesn’t have the shut down trades of his teammate. | |||||
K.J. Osborn | NE | $3400 / $4800 | Isaac Yiadom | SF | Neutral |
As a rule of thumb - if a team’s quarterback is avoiding their wide receivers (as New England has been), you probably should too. KJ Osborn doesn’t have much reason to be on your radar and his matchup against Isaac Yiadom doesn’t change that. We will be keeping an eye on Isaac, however, as his catch rate (76.9%) is starting to get away from him. | |||||
Rashid Shaheed | NO | $5500 / $6100 | Mike Hughes | ATL | Neutral |
It is becoming apparent that the trend of the Atlanta Falcons funneling passess to the middle of the field is going to hold in 2024. Their perimeter defenders, including Mike Hughes, are much more capable than their platoon of slot corners, safeties, and backers. Rashid Shaheed will be the primary responsibility of Hughes and the matchup is pretty close to a “push.” The only consideration is a slight downtick in volume as QBs have shied away from the outside against the Falcons. | |||||
Malik Nabers | NYG | $6800 / $7900 | Trevon Diggs | DAL | Downgrade |
If you have to choose your matchup against a tough Browns’ secondary, Martin Emerson Jr. is the one you’d pick. That isn’t offering relief, however, as Emerson has allowed just 10.7 yards per reception and a 58.3% catch rate on the season. Malik Nabers enters the matchup fresh of a statement game against the forgiving Commanders' secondary. He’ll certainly face more resistance this week, but not enough to change the matchup designation at this point. | |||||
Garrett Wilson | NYJ | $6900 / $7800 | Pat Surtain | DEN | Downgrade |
Don’t let Patrick Surtain’s 45.2 coverage grade fool you, he’s still among the elite at his position. He has allowed just 6 catches for 63 yards this season and has shut down the likes of DK Metcalf, George Pickens, and Mike Evans this year. In Week 4, Garrett Wilson will be his assignment. It’s certainly a downgrade but keep in mind that Surtain only shadows on about 2/3rds of plays. Expect Wilson to get peppered on the routes he runs outside of Surtain’s coverage. | |||||
Parris Campbell | PHI | $3000 / $5100 | Jamel Dean | TB | Neutral |
I’m going to go out on a limb and project both DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown to miss this week’s game. Back to back DNPs usually don't bode well. Assuming that's the case, it leaves Parris Campbell lining up on the left side of the offense and facing Jamel Dean this week. Dean has been the picture of average this season and doesn’t move the needle as an individual matchup. | |||||
George Pickens | PIT | $5700 / $6100 | Jaylon Jones | IND | Upgrade |
George Pickens breakout week is upon us! Probably. He is the beneficiary of the Jaylon Jones matchup this week, who has yielded the most yards in the Colts’ secondary this season. Jones is not shy about making a play on the ball, as evidenced by his 2 picks and 3rd that he dropped, and a pass breakup. That level of aggressiveness, however, can leave him exposed from a coverage standpoint and Pickens has the skills to take advantage. | |||||
Brandon Aiyuk | SF | $6400 / $7600 | Christian Gonzalez | NE | Downgrade |
While Christian Gonzalez is among the ascending corners in the league, he has not yet risen to the point where opposing quarterbacks are avoiding him. He leads the Patriots in targets (20) and receptions (13) but has done a fantastic job of minimizing the damage with just 79 yards allowed. This week he’ll be shadowing Brandon Aiyuk on approximately 85% of routes, the highest rate in the league, and that spells trouble for the 49ers’ highest paid offensive player. His floor shouldn’t be impacted but the ceiling is certainly lower this week. | |||||
DK Metcalf | SEA | $6500 / $8100 | Terrion Arnold | DET | Upgrade |
I sure do love seeing a rookie corner slated to defend one of the league’s top receivers. This week DK Metcalf, who is thriving in Ryan Grubbs’ new offense, gets to square off against Terrion Arnold. Arnold is sporting a coverage grade in the mid 40’s and is getting beat to the point where he’ll often grab his receiver to avoid a catastrophic play. Obviously penalty yards won’t help Metcalf’s fantasy day but outmatching your defender is a great spot to be in. | |||||
Mike Evans | TB | $7000 / $8000 | Quinyon Mitchell | PHI | Neutral |
Mike Evans looks to bounce back after a string of tough matchups as he gets set to face Quinyon Mitchell of the Eagles this week. Mitchell has done a solid job on the catch rate front, which is hovering around 58%, but still leads the Eagles in yards allowed this season. Evans’ significant size advantage also puts him in a good position for one of his signature jump-ball touchdowns. | |||||
DeAndre Hopkins | TEN | $5400 / $5800 | Kendall Fuller | MIA | Neutral |
The slot corner is the way we, and opposing quarterbacks, want to attack the Dolphins’ secondary. DeAndre Hopkins, playing the majority of his snaps to the offense’s left, will instead see Kendall Fuller this week. Fuller isn’t a problematic matchup onto himself, he just isn’t the turnstile that Kader Kohou is and won’t draw as many targets. | |||||
Terry McLaurin | WAS | $5800 / $6500 | Starling Thomas V | ARI | Neutral |
Terry McLaurin finally converted all those unrealized air yards and missed opportunities into a great fantasy performance on Monday; catching 4 passes for 100 yards and a score. This week he’ll look to keep the momentum going against Starling Thomas V. Thomas has had an up and down season so far and largely nets out to fall into the “Neutral” category. |
Right WR vs Left CB | |||||
Wide Receiver | Team | DraftKings/FanDuel | Cornerback | Opp | Matchup |
Marvin Harrison | ARI | $7500 / $8200 | Noah Igbinoghene | WAS | Upgrade |
As detailed above, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more favorable secondary than the one Washington presents. For Marvin Harrison Jr, that means a lot of time running against Noah Igbinoghene. Igbinoghene is fresh off getting torched by Ja’marr Chase on Monday Night Football and has little hope of slowing down Marv. | |||||
Drake London | ATL | $6200 / $6600 | Paulson Adebo | NO | Neutral |
Fortunately for Drake London, the Saints Marshon Lattimore largely plays his side and that is not where London primarily lines up. That leaves London running against Paulson Adebo, the Saints’ leader in receiving yards allowed and the most-targeted cornerback in the NFL. Adebo is no slouch but the boost to volume is a nice offset. | |||||
Zay Flowers | BAL | $6600 / $6700 | Rasul Douglas | BUF | Neutral |
Rasul Douglas, one of the better corners over the last few years, has taken a slight step backwards this year. Not to the point where he’s a favorable matchup, just closer to league average in most regards. The bigger consideration for his assignment, Zay Flowers, is whether or not the Ravens will throw enough to support his production. | |||||
Marquez Valdes-Scantling | BUF | $3000 / $4800 | Nate Wiggins | BAL | Upgrade |
Marquez Valdes-Scantling randomly popped up and led the Buffalo Bills in snaps last week. Some of this was the blowout nature of their game against the Jaguars but MVS saw plenty of snaps before garbage time. Projecting him to maintain that role, he’ll run against Nate Wiggins. Wiggins has allowed an 83.3% catch rate this season and 16.6 yards per catch. | |||||
Xavier Legette | CAR | $4800 / $5200 | Dax Hill | CIN | Neutral |
Panthers’ rookie Xavier Legette is the beneficiary of Andy Dalton taking snaps under center and this week could provide an even greater opportunity, as Adam Thielen heads to IR and Diontae Johnson is questionable. Legette will see Dax Hill of the Bengals this week, who is allowing a pretty high catch rate (72.7%) but is doing a decent job of minimizing yardage (10.4). | |||||
Rome Odunze | CHI | $5200 / $6400 | Cobie Durant | LAR | Neutral |
It was nice to see Rome Odunze and Caleb Williams get on the same page last week. He’ll be in another favorable spot overall this week against the Rams, although his primary matchup against Cobie Durant is generally unremarkable. Durant’s catch rate and yards per reception are right in line with the league average and he has only forced 1 incompletion on the year. | |||||
Tee Higgins | CIN | $5900 / $7200 | Mike Jackson | CAR | Upgrade |
Tee Higgins made his 2024 debut last week and, despite the concerns of many, played a full complement of snaps on Monday night. He finished the game with 3 catches for 39 yards but narrowly missed the boundary on a couple of plays that would have changed his fantasy output considerably. This week he’ll face Mike Jackson of the Panthers, who has been peppered with 27 targets while quarterbacks mainly avoid throwing toward Jaycee Horn. Those targets have converted to 18 receptions and 206 yards this season. | |||||
Amari Cooper | CLE | $6300 / $6400 | Jack Jones | LV | Neutral |
Amari Cooper finally converted his “unrealized” statistics to the real thing in Week 3, finishing as WR5 with 7 catches for 89 yards and 2 scores against the porous Giants secondary. Things look ok for him again this week as he’ll face off against Jack Jones of the Raiders. Jones was rung up last week for 4 catches on 4 targets and gave up 2 touchdowns of his own. Certainly a bad game for Jones who has been closer to average on the season. | |||||
Jalen Tolbert | DAL | $4300 / $5100 | Cor'Dale Flott | NYG | Upgrade |
Marlon Humphrey is quite having a season that lives up to the lofty standard he has set for himself but he remains one of the better cover corners in the league. He’s allowing a few more balls to be caught but still boasts an impressive yards per catch average at just 6.9. Jalen Tolbert is in for a long day at the office running against Humphrey. | |||||
Josh Reynolds | DEN | $4300 / $5100 | Sauce Gardner | NYJ | Downgrade |
Josh Reynolds has brought a workmanlike quality to the Broncos’ receiving corps this season. Nothing about his underlying stats jumps off the page as he is simply a reliable veteran presence for their rookie quarterback. He’ll have a rough go of it this week as he projects to run mainly against Sauce Gardner, one of the league’s best shutdown corners. | |||||
Tim Patrick | DET | $3200 / $4300 | Tre Brown | SEA | Neutral |
There was a shakeup with the Lions’ 3rd wide receiver spot last week when Tim Patrick overtook Kalif Raymond in the pecking order. Assuming they stick with that change, Patrick will face the Seahawks’ Trey Brown this week. Brown has done well to keep opponents to a 50% catch rate and his 13.3 yards allowed per reception are inline with the league average as well. | |||||
Christian Watson | GB | $5000 / $5600 | Stephon Gilmore | MIN | Neutral |
The Vikings’ blitzing style often leaves opposing quarterbacks looking to make quick throws in the face of pressure and their corners’ stats bear that out. None more so than those of Stephon Gilmore, who has allowed an 84.6% catch rate on 19 targets but just 8.4 yards per catch. This week Gilmore will be assigned to Christian Watson who, like many Packer pass-catchers, has been quiet with Jordan Love on the sideline. Love’s availability has a great impact on Watson’s week than this “Neutral” matchup. | |||||
Tank Dell | HOU | $5400 / $5900 | Ronald Darby | JAC | Neutral |
We’ll have to watch this one closely as Tank Dell has logged back to back DNPs as he works through a ribs injury. If he plays, he’ll be in an interesting spot running against Ronald Darby. Darby is the Jag’s leader in yards allowed but much of that was an 80-yard touchdown that Tyreek Hill sprung in Week 1. Removing that outlier, Darby is much closer to the middle of the pack in the league. | |||||
Michael Pittman | IND | $5800 / $5900 | Donte Jackson | PIT | Neutral |
It has been a slow start for the Colts offense as a whole and, therefore, for Michael Pittman as well. Pittman’s matchup this week, Donte Jackson has been pretty unremarkable in most statistical categories but is clearly the preferred option over Joey Porter Jackson has allowed a fair amount of yards after catch, an area of strength for PIttman (prior to this year at least.) | |||||
Brian Thomas | JAC | $5400 / $5800 | Derek Stingley Jr | HOU | Downgrade |
It’s hard to have much confidence in any of the receiving weapons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, including Brian Thoams Jr. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Thomas will run most of his routes in the coverage of Derek Stingley this week. Stingley hasn’t lived up to the statistical standard that he’s set for himself this year but he’s still a very tough out. He’s below 10 yards per reception and quarterbacks have a 56.8 passer rating when throwing into his coverage. | |||||
Xavier Worthy | KC | $5700 / $6200 | Asante Samuel Jr. | LAC | Neutral |
It's hard to trust Xavier Worthy so far this season, despite announcing himself to the world on opening night with a 20.8-point performance. He’s obviously explosive but he has made just 2 catches in each of his 3 games this year. He’ll get a bit of a boost this week running against Asante Samuel Jr. Samuel is pretty close to average on all fronts but he has given up some yards after the catch; which Worthy will need to maximize if he is to return dividends for his fantasy managers. | |||||
Tre Tucker | LV | $3600 / $4800 | Denzel Ward | CLE | Downgrade |
If catching passes from some combination of Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell wasn’t challenging enough, this week Tre Tucker will be doing so with Denzel Ward draped all over him. Ward plays some of the tightest coverage in the league, allowing just 1.1 yards of separation on average. Because of that, his catch rate is a stingy 38.9% and he has already racked up 6 pass break ups this season. | |||||
Joshua Palmer | LAC | $4700 / $5200 | Jaylen Watson | KC | Neutral |
The Chargers are expecting the return of Joshua Palmer this week, after logging a Full Practice on Thursday. Palmer’s return finds him in the coverage of Jaylen Watson. Apart from drawing a couple of penalties already, there isn’t much about Watson’s numbers that stand out in either direction, as could be said regarding Joshua Palmer as well. | |||||
Tyler Johnson | LAR | $4500 / $5600 | Jaylon Johnson | CHI | Downgrade |
The Rams’ receiving corps has been a bit of a revolving door as they try to determine the best way to backfill Cooper Kupp and Puca Nakua. It appears, however, that they’ve settled in on Tyler Johnson as their preferred option to the right. Because of that, he’ll have a tough matchup this week against Jaylon Johnson of the Bears. A couple missed tackles have dragged down his grade incrementally but the body of his work this year is still incredibly impressive. Opposing quarterbacks have taken note as well, only throwing the ball 10 times into Johnson’s coverage this season. | |||||
Tyreek Hill | MIA | $8100 / $8800 | Jarvis Brownlee Jr. | TEN | Neutral |
As was the case with Jaylen Waddle, so goes Tyreek Hill. Unless and until the Dolphins can find competent quarterback play, individual matchups are a tertiary consideration. Tyreek Hill is certainly miles ahead of Jarvis Brownless from a skill standpoint, so he’ll remain in a startable range, but the degree of confidence with that decision is near an all-time low. | |||||
Justin Jefferson | MIN | $8700 / $9400 | Jaire Alexander | GB | Downgrade |
This is one of those marquee matchups, between two heavy-weights, that we dream about. It’s categorically a difficult spot for Justin Jefferinson, as he faces Jaire Alexander, but he’s got the skills to overcome even the most difficult of matchups. It is extraordinarily difficult to impede a receiver at Jefferson’s level, however skilled the cornerback might be. | |||||
Ja'Lynn Polk | NE | $3900 / $4900 | Charvarius Ward | SF | Neutral |
You’d be hard pressed to find a defensible argument for playing any New England wide receiver, outside of the deepest of formats. The Patriots have thrown to wide receivers a league-low 45.1% of passes. The passes thrown to Ja’Lynn Polk will be covered by Charvarius Ward, who is among the best in the league with a 46.2% catch rate allowed. | |||||
Chris Olave | NO | $6500 / $6900 | A.J. Terrell | ATL | Neutral |
Chris Olave repaid his fantasy managers’ patience with a touchdown last week but might have a harder time repeating that feat in Week 4. On the whole his primary matchup with AJ Terrell isn’t too daunting but, much like with other perimeter corner for the Falcons, pass volume is largely funneled to the middle of the field. While still one of the league’s better corners, Terrell’s catch rate (84.6%) and number of missed tackles (3) will slide him into the “Neutral” category for the time being. | |||||
Darius Slayton | NYG | $3700 / $4600 | Caelen Carson | DAL | Upgrade |
Denzel Ward looked like his old self last week against the Jaguars, posting 90.4 coverage rating and allowing just 1 catch on 4 targets. That moves his season average to just 27.3% and I wouldn’t be surprised if he improves on that figure this week against Darius Slayton and the sputtering Giants. | |||||
Allen Lazard | NYJ | $4300 / $5800 | Riley Moss | DEN | Neutral |
As has become commonplace for teams facing the Denver Broncos, I expect the Jets to direct the ball to wherever Patrick Surtain is not. This should represent a slight uptick in volume for Allen Lazard, as he runs in the coverage of Riley Moss. Yards per catch is a strong suit for Moss at just 8.3 but he is allowing a completion on 75% of the targets thrown his way. Nothing about Moss’s coverage should be impactful on Lazard but the former Packer does have the size advantage required for one of his signature “box out” touchdowns. | |||||
Jahan Dotson | PHI | $5000 / $5800 | Zyon McCollum | TB | Downgrade |
With the Eagles likely to be without both AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, they’ll need to see Jahan Dotson perform in a fashion that led to the Commanders spending 1st round draft capital on him. He’ll have a difficult time doing so this week, as he’s slated to be the primary assignment for Zyon McCollum. McCollum is in the midst of a breakout campaign this year, allowing just 4 catches for 52 yards while accumulating 3 pass breakups and an interception. It’s hard to know for sure how the Eagles will deploy their patch-work receiving corps but its likely that Dotson will see more McCollum than any other corner. | |||||
Van Jefferson | PIT | $3200 / $4600 | Samuel Womack III | IND | Neutral |
Being the 2nd banana on one of the league’s most conservative passing offenses is a tough spot and that’s precisely where Van Jefferson finds himself this season. This week he’ll be the primary assignment of Asante Samuel Jr, who has allowed a 75% catch rate but has done a good job of keeping everything in front of him. | |||||
Jauan Jennings | SF | $5600 / $6800 | Jonathan Jones | NE | Neutral |
I hope you had a chance to play Jauan Jennings wherever you have him rostered as he exploded to WR1 status last week with a 11/175/3 line. While it's highly unlikely we see production like that again from Jennings, he’s still a nice player and in a decent spot this week against Jonathan Jones. Jones is bang average from top to bottom but does see a bit more target volume as opposing offenses avoid Christian Gonzalez. | |||||
Tyler Lockett | SEA | $5000 / $6000 | Carlton Davis III | DET | Upgrade |
Tyler Lockett has been lining up on the right side of the offense, as opposed to his typical slot placement, more this year and that has him in a dream spot this week against the Lions. He’ll primarily see Carlton Davis III who is near the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category; including the league-worst 224 yards allowed. Lockett is a nice flex play this week and a super interesting pivot for those playing the Sunday night DFS slate. | |||||
Jalen McMillan | TB | $3600 / $4900 | Darius Slay | PHI | Neutral |
Jalen McMillan is still the clear 3rd option in the Buccaneers’ passing game but Chris Godwin’s return to the slot means he’s on the right side of the formation for the majority of snaps. Opposing him this week will be Darius Slay. Slay is slowly starting to show glimpses of his old self, but nothing that would move him out of the “Neutral” category quite yet. | |||||
Calvin Ridley | TEN | $5800 / $6300 | Jalen Ramsey | MIA | Downgrade |
Somehow, amidst the chaos of the Will Levis-led Titans offense, Calvin Ridley has managed to be somewhat productive. He’ll have his work cut out for him if he wants to keep rolling this week as he’s slated to run against Jalen Ramsey for the majority of the day. Ramsey is firmly back in the “Downgrade” camp having allowed just 5 catches for 46 yards on the season. Levis is likely to look away from Ramsey’s coverage for his pass attempts, as have most quarterbacks this season. | |||||
Noah Brown | WAS | $3800 / $4900 | Sean Murphy-Bunting | ARI | Neutral |
Noah Brown looks to have snatched the starting role away from Dyami and is finding a nice rhythm with rookie signal caller Jayden Daniels. Brown’s individual matchup won’t tilt his favor this week as he faces Sean Murphy-Bunting. Murphy-Bunting is performing like many of the mid-tier corners this season, allowing a high catch rate (85.7%) but keeping things in front of him in the yards per reception category (9.3) |
Slot WR vs Slot CB | |||||
Wide Receiver | Team | DraftKings/FanDuel | Cornerback | Opp | Matchup |
Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA | $5500 / $6100 | Amik Robertson | DET | Upgrade |
Like last year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is largely playing the slot role for the Seahawks. Unlike last year, his Offensive Coordinator, Ryan Grubb, is not shy about throwing to the slot. JSN is set to face Amik Robertson when he is running from the slow, which should be about 85% of his snaps. Robertson has a pretty high yards per reception this year at 14.0 and a lot of that is due to an area of strength for Smith-Njigba, yards after catch. JSN is currently 12th in the league in YAC and over 98% of the yards Robertson has allowed have come after the catch. | |||||
Greg Dortch | ARi | $4300 / $5000 | Mike Sainristil | WAS | Upgrade |
Let the good times roll with this matchup against the Commanders secondary! Running out of the slot, Greg Dortch will see the most attention from their slot corner, Mike Sainristil. Sainristil is sporting a catch rate pushing 85% and has already surrendered 3 touchdowns on the short season. Add to that the absence of Trey McBride and Dortch should have the middle of the field all to himself in this juicy matchup. | |||||
Jayden Reed | GB | $6000 / $6300 | Byron Murphy | MIN | Upgrade |
For however much uncertainty there is regarding how the Packers will utilize their bevvy of wide receivers, or who their quarterback might be this week, one thing is clear; Jayden Reed will run his allotment of snaps out of the slot. This week he’ll have Byron Murphy awaiting him, who has surrendered 209 and a touchdown on nearly 73% catch rate. If Love returns this week, Reed can be a sneaky WR1 candidate. | |||||
Stefon Diggs | HOU | $6600 / $7100 | Jarrian Jones | JAC | Upgrade |
Stefon Diggs has occupied the slot for nearly 2/3rds of his snaps as a Texan. This week, that territory is fertile ground for fantasy production as its largely covered by the Jaguars’ Jarrian Jones. Jones has allowed 80% of targets thrown his way to be caught at a rate of 12.6 yards per. Add to this the very questionable status Tank Dell and we could see Stephon Diggs have a statement game in Week 4. |
Player News
Jamison Crowder caught 3-of-5 targets for 25 yards in the Commanders’ Week 17 win over the Falcons.
Terry McLaurin caught 1-of-7 targets for five yards in the Commanders’ Week 17 win over the Falcons.
Zach Ertz caught 6-of-7 targets for 72 yards and two touchdowns in the Commanders’ Week 17 win over the Falcons.
Olamide Zaccheaus caught 8-of-9 targets for 85 yards and a touchdown in the Commanders’ Week 17 win over the Falcons.
Brian Robinson rushed 13 times for 60 yards in the Commanders’ Week 17 win over the Falcons, adding nine yards on two receptions.
Jayden Daniels completed 24-of-36 passes for 227 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the Commanders’ 30-24, Week 17 overtime win over the Falcons, adding 127 yards on 16 carries.