default-cbs-image

Week 6 Rankings: Standard | PPR

We talk about matchups in Fantasy Football a lot, but too often we look at it on the macro level. We think if a team is good or bad against the pass then that affects all receivers the same.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

Thankfully, our friends at ProFootballFocus provide data on the coverage skills of individual players, which gives us a much more reliable starting point. Each week in this column I'll focus on some of my favorite matchups for wide receivers and at least one matchup you should try to avoid.

I look at PFF's individual coverage grades. This helps sort out some of the noise and give us an idea of how each individual cornerback has performed, where they generally line up and who they'll cover most often.

I've included the PFF grade of each corner we're targeting this week. This grade is on a scale of 0 to 100, making it easily digestible.

Odell Beckham and Victor Cruz vs. Shareece Wright (PFF Grade: 49.8)

Shareece Wright missed Week 5 but the Giants got some good news heading into Week 6.

Despite the fact that he missed Week 5, Wright still leads the NFL in touchdowns allowed with five. Quarterbacks are completing nearly 70 percent of their passes and have a quarterback rating of 130.5 when throwing his way.

Wright has played 120 of 151 coverage snaps at left cornerback this year, so he'll face whoever lines up on the right side for the Giants. If the patterns from this season hold that will mean a pretty equal split, with slightly more snaps against Cruz than Beckham. Sterling Shepard has played almost exclusively in the slot, so it shouldn't have much of an effect on him. Beckham is an obvious No. 1 WR but this does make Cruz interesting as a very deep sleeper.

John Brown vs. whoever tries to cover him

Darrelle Revis (PFF Grade: 43.7)
Marcus Williams (PFF Grade: 48.5)
Justin Burris (PFF Grade: 54.2)

We don't know who is healthy in the Jets defensive backfield and that leads to a little uncertainty over who will line up against John Brown. Thankfully it doesn't really matter.

If you sort by passer rating allowed, Revis and Buster Skrine rank as the sixth and seventh worst corners in football. Williams is slightly better, but still below average. If you change to yards allowed per coverage snap, Williams is the fourth worst in football and Revis is fifth. I haven't mentioned Burris yet because he doesn't have enough snaps to qualify. He's only been targeted four times, but allowed three receptions for 43 yards.

Brown got off to a slow start because of concussion issues in preseason but he's pretty clearly the team's No. 2 option now and their best deep threat. He is a solid No. 2 receiver in Week 6. If you don't have Brown but still want a piece of this action, there's a decent chance either Michael Floyd or Jaron Brown get behind this defense once.

Randall Cobb vs. Anthony Brown (PFF Grade: 73.4)

Cobb had been a bit of an afterthought coming into Week 5, but against the Giants he was Green Bay's best receiver. He'll get a chance to repeat that in Week 6 against Cowboys slot corner Anthony Brown.

Opposing quarterbacks have completed 14 of 18 passes for 148 yards and two scores against Brown, who predominantly covers the slot. That matches him up with Cobb, who has run more than 70 percent of his routes out of the slot. Like John Brown, Cobb profiles as a solid No. 2 option in who's slightly better in PPR.

Will Fuller vs. Patrick Robinson (PFF Grade: 39.7)

The Colts have been pretty good against No. 1 wide receivers this year, so I wouldn't get to excited about DeAndre Hopkins, but this could be an outstanding matchup for Fuller. Robinson was the latest Colts defensive back to falter in Week 5, surrendering eight catches for 138 yards and a score.

Most of that damage was surrendered to Cameron Meredith, who was a great story but doesn't have the talent or the speed of Fuller. For the year, Robinson is giving up 15.4 yards per reception, that number may go up on Sunday. Robinson is day-to-day but if he has to miss the game the Colts don't have anyone else who can cover Fuller any better.

One to avoid

Yes, I told you to avoid the Chargers outside receivers last week. Yeah, they were outstanding against David Amerson and the Raiders. Here are opposing quarterback numbers when targeting the Broncos' No. 1 and No. 2 corners:

Aqib Talib 14 of 28, 142 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT, 25.3 passer rating
Chris Harris 13 of 27, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 61 passer rating

On a Thursday night against those corners? There's no chance I'm starting Philip Rivers, Travis Benjamin or Tyrell Williams. In fact, we may want to start considering benching elite receivers against the Broncos. In their last four games, the Broncos have held Julio Jones, Mike Evans, A.J. Green and T.Y. Hilton to 19 receptions, 206 yards and zero touchdowns -- and none of them have topped seven Fantasy points.