WR/CB Matchups to Target and Downgrade - Week 10 (2023)

Welcome to Week 10 of the WR/CB Matchups article. For those who are not familiar, this is a weekly series looking at fantasy football matchups for wide receivers versus the cornerbacks who are projected to cover them.

During the past three seasons, I have tweaked my process to make the chart more user-friendly and predictive, but NFL teams are moving receivers around more than ever in today's game. It is difficult to pinpoint which CB each WR will be matched up against. The chart is designed to give a 1-vs-1 matchup for each player, but the reality is that most NFL WRs will see a mix of all the DBs they face each week.

As a reminder, the process for assigning points to a specific matchup has to do with how the entire defense defends the player who lines up at one of the three spots (LWR, RWR, slot) the most. For example, in Week 1 last year, Jahan Dotson scored a TD from the LWR spot and the right slot, but all of his points were assigned to Shaquill Griffin because Griffin played primarily LCB and Dotson was the Washington receiver with the most snaps at RWR.

The chart is best used to understand how teams are defending outside versus inside receivers if teams are shadowing, and how much emphasis they put on slowing down the opposing WR1.

WR vs. CB Chart Details

The CB Matchup 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 is 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. Another factor to consider is that players are listed based on where they line up the majority of the time. Most receivers do not line up on one side on every single snap, so they won't be matched up with the same CB on every snap.

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 on average this year. Keep in mind that team scheme is a huge factor in points assigned to specific players. 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.

Cornerback Ratings and Matchups Chart - Week 10

Click the image for a full-screen view

WR/CB Matchups to Target

Christian Watson has been a major disappointment so far and dealt with some injury issues last week. If he plays this week, he has a great matchup against a Steelers secondary that has given up a ton of fantasy points to opposing WR1s.

D.K. Metcalf and the Seahawks were embarrassed by Baltimore last week. This week is a get-right spot against a Commanders pass defense that has been shredded all year by opposing WR1s.

DeAndre Hopkins didn't do much last week against the Steelers, but continues to see a lot of targets and this week has an easy matchup against the Bucs. Tampa just gave up insane production to C.J. Stroud and the Texans passing game.

On the other side of that game, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both get substantial upgrades against a Titans pass defense that gives up a ton of fantasy points to opposing WR1s and slots.

Calvin Ridley has been underwhelming in recent weeks, but this week gets a 49ers secondary that has been poor against WR1s. Zay Jones also gets a boost, if he plays. On the other side of that game, Brandon Aiyuk has an easy matchup against a banged up secondary.

Gabe Davis gets an easy WR2 matchup against the Broncos. Patrick Surtain has been one of the top corners in the NFL, but the LCB spot has been an issue for Denver.

Rasheed Shaheed has been solid as the Saints WR2. This week he gets an easy matchup against the Vikings.

WR/CB Matchups to Downgrade

Odell Beckham Jr. finally scored a touchdown last week, and could be starting to feel like his old self for the stretch run. Unfortunately, Denzel Ward and the Browns pass defense has been elite all year. Zay Flowers also gets a downgrade.

Tank Dell has been terrific this season, and projects to be one of C.J. Stroud's favorite targets going forward. He's still worth consideration as a start but his matchup against the Bengals is a tough one. Nico Collins also gets a matchup downgrade.

Quentin Johnston predictably did very little against the Jets corners last week. This week it doesn't get much easier against the Lions, who have been solid against primary LWRs all year.

Jordan Addison has been awesome this season but he also gets a downgrade this week. Marshon Lattimore and the Saints have been stingy against WR1s all year.

Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers will have to deal with the Jets suffocating pass defense this week. It's not a good spot for either.

Diontae Johnson finally had a good game last week against the Titans. Unfortunately, he'll be seeing a lot of Jaire Alexander this week against the Packers. It's a tough matchup.

Thanks for reading all season and good luck this week.

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