Fantasy Football Week 7 Lineup Strategy: Randall Cobb keeps going

What players have great matchups and can Randall Cobb continue his success? Heath Cummings looks at Week 7 lineup strategy.

Week 7 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. Troy Hill (PFF Grade: 33.4)

Things don't get any more difficult for Beckham and Cruz as they get arguably the worst cover corner in football a week after facing Shareece Wright. Hill has surrendered an NFL-worst 148.1 NFL rating when targeted and 2.38 yards per cover snap (also the worst in the league).

Hill is filling in in for injured starter Trumaine Johnson, who has still yet to see the practice field. We'll likely see him matchup up against both Cruz and Beckham but we've yet to see Cruz show the ability to capitalize. I'd expect another monster from Beckham and if you're starting Cruz just hope he gets a touchdown. Hill has given up 3 of them in 141 snaps.

Jamison Crowder vs. Quandre Diggs (PFF Grade: 43.3)

As long as Jordan Reed is out, I would expect a heavy dose of Jamison Crowder over the middle, and that's a great thing with a matchup against Quandre Diggs. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 21/24 passes against Diggs for 313 yards and two touchdowns.

Crowder's target volume hasn't been great recently, but he has been extremely efficient. He has yet to drop a pass this season and all three of his touchdowns came on routes that were run out of the slot. This is a game that I'd expect the Redskins to need to be pass-heavy and Crowder to produce No. 3 WR value.

Michael Thomas vs. D.J. White (PFF Grade: 46.4) or Phillip Gaines (PFF Grade: )

Michael Thomas has scored a touchdown in his past three games and should see that continue against whoever the Chiefs No. 2 corner is. Thomas spends more time on the left side of the formation, which is where Amari Cooper had so much success in Week 6 against D.J. White. White was filling in for Phillip Gaines, who is still day-to-day with a knee injury.

Even if Gaines is able to return, this isn't a matchup you should shy away from. Gaines grades out poorly in coverage and has given up 14/21 for 209 yards this season. With Brandin Cooks getting the Marcus Peters treatment, both Thomas and Willie Snead have a good shot at producing top 25 value at WR this week.

Randall Cobb vs. Cre'von LeBlanc (PFF Grade: 64.3)

LeBlanc has only seen 10 targets so far this season, but his performance in the slot has left much to be desired. This banged up secondary should be no match for Jordy Nelson or Cobb. Cobb in particular figures to be more involved in the the short-passing game with the Packers likely lack of a run game. I view him as a solid No. 2 WR even with the short week and would not be shocked at all if he delivers top 10 value.

One to avoid

Always avoid Broncos. Let's just remember that so I don't have to waste this space on them.

You generally avoid Patrick Peterson too, especially with a player of Doug Baldwin's caliber. I don't mean that in a bad way. Baldwin is probably one of the top 20 wide receivers for the rest of the season, but he's not high enough to where I'd never bench him.

This week he'll face Peterson, who has only allowed 12/17 targets thrown his way to be completed. That's over 228 coverage snaps. Peterson's 19 coverage snaps per reception are the best in the league. I don't like Baldwin's odds of getting a high number of targets or turning them into production against Peterson.