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Fantasy Football: Week 14 WR/CB shadow matchups and biggest mismatches

Inglewood, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) scores a touchdown against the defense of Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Shadow matchups are when a defense assigns a particular cornerback to follow one specific wide receiver all over the field.

Of course, wide receivers often can overcome difficult one-on-one matchups thanks to good ole’ fashioned volume. It’s also rare that a cornerback follows a single receiver around the field for each and every route. This leads to situations where Jalen Ramsey “shuts down” Justin Jefferson in their direct coverage (3-25-0), but Jefferson’s full game line (8-116-0) reflects the reality that fantasy managers were still better off playing him.

What follows is a breakdown on:

  1. Which cornerbacks shadowed in Week 12
  2. Projected Week 13 shadow matchups
  3. Notes on why certain cornerbacks aren’t expected to shadow


Week 13 shadow results

The following five defenses deployed at least one of their cornerbacks in shadow coverage last week. Note that receiving production refers to what the player achieved during the entire game, not just specifically in the referenced cornerbacks’ direct coverage:


Projected Week 14 shadow matchups

Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams vs. Los Angeles Rams CB Jalen Ramsey

Ramsey didn’t register a single shadow matchup during the first nine weeks of the season despite facing seemingly-viable candidates, such as Stefon Diggs, Marquise Brown, CeeDee Lamb, D.J. Moore, Deebo Samuel and Mike Evans.

However, things have changed over the past month. First, Ramsey was deployed against DeAndre Hopkins (10-98-0) in a largely unsuccessful effort in Week 10. Most recently, the 28-year-old corner was shredded by D.K. Metcalf (8-127-1).

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