This article is part of our On Target series.
Last week was the debut of the WR/CB matchups for the 2018 NFL season, and I always think it is helpful to look at the results of your prognostications to see which ones came through and which didn't. Both Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had good days at the office but the Packers were down double-digit points most of the way, so Darius Slay had little impact as Aaron Rodgers just chucked the ball around wherever he could. Brandin Cooks only got a half of a game to play before he left with a concussion, but Robert Woods and Josh Reynolds had good games on the outside. A.J. Green was not shut down by Xavien Howard and I think that's important, as it shows that WR/CB matchups can only matter so much as they dictate volume. DeAndre Hopkins burned Byron Jones and forced him into the first defensive pass interference penalty of HIS ENTIRE CAREER. The Redskins were horrible against the Saints, but Jamison Crowder did see the most targets, yards and catches on the team matched up against P.J. Williams.
Now let's get on to the good, bad and interesting matchups for Week 6.
JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. Darqueze Dennard
Most people probably think of Antonio Brown as the slot wide receiver in Pittsburgh… which is wholly untrue this season. Brown has only played 18 percent of his snaps in the slot while Smith-Schuster has seen 84 percent of his snaps in the slot. This gives JuJu a
Last week was the debut of the WR/CB matchups for the 2018 NFL season, and I always think it is helpful to look at the results of your prognostications to see which ones came through and which didn't. Both Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had good days at the office but the Packers were down double-digit points most of the way, so Darius Slay had little impact as Aaron Rodgers just chucked the ball around wherever he could. Brandin Cooks only got a half of a game to play before he left with a concussion, but Robert Woods and Josh Reynolds had good games on the outside. A.J. Green was not shut down by Xavien Howard and I think that's important, as it shows that WR/CB matchups can only matter so much as they dictate volume. DeAndre Hopkins burned Byron Jones and forced him into the first defensive pass interference penalty of HIS ENTIRE CAREER. The Redskins were horrible against the Saints, but Jamison Crowder did see the most targets, yards and catches on the team matched up against P.J. Williams.
Now let's get on to the good, bad and interesting matchups for Week 6.
JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. Darqueze Dennard
Most people probably think of Antonio Brown as the slot wide receiver in Pittsburgh… which is wholly untrue this season. Brown has only played 18 percent of his snaps in the slot while Smith-Schuster has seen 84 percent of his snaps in the slot. This gives JuJu a slight advantage for fantasy points as it is generally easier to convert slot targets into production. Dennard has allowed a 74 percent catch rate this season and allows 0.28 fantasy points per route run against. He does not have a bad PFF grade at 61.6, but he does allow a high number of conversions in coverage, which should lend itself to a good game for JuJu.
In Pro Football Focus' weekly CB/WR matchup chart, they give a column for "advantage", essentially showing how good or bad a matchup is for a WR. This week, no wide receiver has a greater advantage (at 49 percent) than Beckham does over Mills. OBJ splits his time fairly evenly through the R/S/L positions, whereas Mills is primarily a left cornerback. However, Mills allows an absurd 0.47 fantasy points per route ran and 2.51 yards per route covered. The other Eagles corner who will see Beckham is Ronald Darby, who allows only a 67 percent conversion rate in coverage and grades out much better than Mills.
A.J. Green vs. Joe Haden
I am summarily interested in this matchup because it grades out as a good for AJG, but I am not so certain. Reports from the ATL/PIT game seemed to suggest that Haden shut Julio Jones down; the Pittsburgh Tribune reported that "(Haden was) assigned to follow Jones, Haden didn't allow a catch to the receiver until the fourth quarter. By that time, the Steelers were well on their way to a 41-17 victory at Heinz Field." So while the PFF grade might suggest that Green has the edge here, I am slightly worried about his overall performance this week. You aren't benching him, but I am giving a slight boost to Uzomah and Boyd in my rankings this week as they could see some diverted targets.
All of the Atlanta wide recievers have fantastic matchups in this game, as the Bucs secondary is primed to be picked apart by Matt Ryan and his cadre of receivers. Julio, Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper, Tevin Coleman... they are all fantastic starts and DFS plays this week. I normally do not give Sanu full consideration, but his individual matchup this week is quite good. Slot corner Stewart has given up a catch 88 percent of the time that he has been targeted and 0.68 fantasy points per route run against on over 100 snaps played. That is just a horrible performance any way that you slice it.
Jarvis Landry vs. Chargers Secondary
All three of the Chargers' starting cornerbacks have been given positive grades from the folks at Pro Football Focus, and that's before you bring future All-Pro safety Derwin James into the equation. Slot corner Desmond King actually has the highest grade of any of the three and allows only 0.29 fantasy points per route run against. Landry plays on the outside on about 25 percent of his total snaps, and I am interested to see how Todd Haley deploys him this week and if they try to keep him as far away from Casey Hayward as possible (the best CB on the Chargers, historically speaking). Landry is still a strong start in every format and maybe even a good DFS sleeper based on volume alone, despite the matchup.
