One of the most important battles in any football game is the one between the wide receivers and cornerbacks. And it is crucial for both NFL and fantasy football success.
A cornerback's coverage ability can easily dictate the wide receiver's production, which is why fantasy managers need to target favorable situations and avoid the matchups where receivers will inevitably come up short.
Listed below are the five best matchups to target and avoid for fantasy football in Week 2. The information was sourced from PFF's brand-new WR/CB Matchup Chart, which projects the number of snaps each receiver will play against specific defenders and grades the matchup on a 0-100 scale.
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5 WR/CB Matchups to Target
WR Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers vs. Ifeatu Melifonwu and Amani Oruwariye, Detroit Lions
Adams is an obvious must-start every single week, but he has WR1 upside this week and is expected to rebound in a major way. DFS players, in particular, should take note because Adams likely won’t be a chalky play after a 10.6-point performance.
There are reasons for optimism for the Green Bay offense, as the Lions were beaten to the tune of 319 passing yards and 189 yards after the catch last week, the latter ranking 29th among defenses. This bodes well for a Packers offense that ranked sixth league-wide in receiving yards after the catch last season.
WR DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals vs. CB Bashaud Breeland, Minnesota Vikings
Like Adams, Hopkins is a must-start any given week. But he is an especially strong play ahead of Week 2, given that he is coming off a WR6 performance in which he netted 26.3 fantasy points and saw a 24.1% target share.
His matchup this week is maybe the juiciest of any player on this list. The Vikings’ cornerbacks were not good this past week, and Breeland himself allowed the second-most receiving yards (107) and the most yards per coverage snap (3.82) among qualifying players at the position.
.@DeAndreHopkins fantasy owners are smiling 😁 #AZCardinals
📺: #AZvsTEN on CBS
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/YyxBZiEYPe— NFL (@NFL) September 12, 2021
WR Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals vs. CB Marqui Christian, Chicago Bears
Unlike the first two receivers on this list, Boyd is in a questionable situation and is therefore more of a projection play. Going back to Week 1, he ranked tied for third on the Bengals with a 15.4% target share, and while that’s still a decent figure, it was behind both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. It remains to be seen how their target distribution will be sorted out moving forward.
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