Fantasy Football: Week 9 OL/DL matchups to target and avoid

• A good week for Amari Cooper to deliver: Cooper has been more effective on non-pressured dropbacks and draws a positive matchup against the Arizona Cardinals this week.

• The New York Giants offensive line making things difficult for Saquon Barkley: Barkley could have a tougher time due to his offensive line struggling in the trenches.

• Dominate your fantasy league in 2023: For up-to-date fantasy draft rankings and projections, check out PFF’s fantasy rankings tool!

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Whether you’re looking for some important tie-breakers in fantasy start/sit decisions or an advantage in DFS, knowing which players have the most and least beneficial matchups each week can help.

Understanding which teams have the advantage in the trenches can be a key to weekly fantasy football results. These are some of the more crucial matchups to be aware of as fantasy managers head into Week 9.

Click here to see this week’s entire offensive line/defensive line matchup tool on PFF.com.

Offensive line matchups to target

Cleveland Browns versus Arizona Cardinals

• The Browns offensive line has earned a 70.4 pass-blocking grade this season —12th in the league.
• The Arizona Cardinals defensive line has earned a 63.1 pass-rush grade, which ranks 28th this season.
• Arizona’s defensive line has generated a 16.7% quick pressure rate that ranks dead-last this season.

Key player(s) to target

WR Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns 

• Cooper has earned a 27.9% target rate when there is no pressure on the play, which leads the team and ranks 23rd among qualifying wide receivers.
• Cooper has also posted a strong 2.56 yards per route run on non-pressured dropbacks — the 23rd-best mark among wide receivers.
• Cooper is currently outside of the top-40 PPR wide receivers on the season but can be considered a low-end WR2 in a positive matchup against the Cardinals this week.

Las Vegas Raiders versus New York Giants

• The Raiders offensive line has earned a 77.5 run-blocking grade, which ranks as the second-best mark this season.
• The Giants defensive line has earned a 54.5 run defense grade — 20th in the league this season.
• The Giants have allowed 1.6 rushing yards before contact per attempt that ranks as the third-worst mark in the league.

Key player(s) to target

RB Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders

• Jacobs hasn’t been very efficient this season, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, which ranks tied for 50th among qualifying running backs this season.
• However, given the matchup and volume of Jacobs, he is still a top-tier option this week and despite inefficiency can be targeted even in DFS lineups this week.
• A telling number is that Jacobs’ rushing total is currently set at 73.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook, which he’s only been over once this season.
• Essentially, expectations should be high for Jacobs to potentially deliver a top-five running back week against the Giants.

Minnesota Vikings @ Atlanta Falcons

• The Vikings offensive line is tied for the fifth-best pass-blocking grade in the league this season (76.0).
• The Falcons defensive line ranks 27th in pass-rush grade this season and just lost arguably its top defensive lineman, Grady Jarrett, for the year.
• The Falcons defensive line has generated a quick pressure rate of just 17.5% this season, which ranks 30th.

Key player(s) to target

WR Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings 

• The Vikings will be without Kirk Cousins for the rest of the year which could scare fantasy managers off of Addison this week, but he should continue to see a strong target rate.
• Addison has earned a strong 20.2% target rate when there is no pressure on the play.
• Addison has also delivered eight explosive plays when there is no pressure on the play which ranks among the top-20 wide receivers this season.

Cleveland Browns versus Arizona Cardinals

• The Browns offensive line holds a 23% advantage over the Cardinals defensive line this week — the fourth-best matchup according to the PFF OL/DL matchup tool.
• Arizona’s defensive line has earned a 50.4 run defense grade that ranks 28th this season.
• The Cardinals are also allowing 1.5 rushing yards before contact per attempt that also ranks 28th this season.

Key player(s) to target

RB Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns

• Ford has earned 7.9 yards per carry when given at least one yard before contact — the seventh-best mark in the league (min. 25 attempts) this season.
• Eight of Ford’s nine explosive runs have come when given at least one yard before contact as well.
• Kareem Hunt cut into Ford’s workload this past week, but Ford has been dealing with an ankle injury that potentially limited his snaps as well. Ford should still see enough work to be relevant as a flex option this week and has been more efficient than Hunt this season by a fair bit as well.

Offensive line matchups to avoid

Arizona Cardinals @ Cleveland Browns

• Arizona’s offensive line has earned a 55.7 pass-blocking grade, which ranks 23rd this season.
• The Cardinals offensive line has allowed a 31.1% pressure rate — the 10th-worst mark in the league.
• The Browns defensive line has earned a 90.6 pass-rush grade that ranks as the best mark in the league this season.
• Cleveland’s defensive line has generated a 37.0% quick pressure rate that ranks as the best mark in the league this season.

Key player(s) to avoid

WR Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals

• Brown is among the Cardinals’ leaders in target rate on the year (24.0%) but when there is pressure on the play, he drops to fifth in target rate (17.6%) on the team.
• Brown also has just three explosive plays when there is pressure on the play, which ranks outside of the top 30 at his position.
• Brown has managed just 1.20 yards per route run on pressured dropbacks, which ranks tied for 47th among qualifying wide receivers.

New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders

• The Giants offensive line has earned a 47.1 run-blocking grade, which ranks last in the league.
• The Giants offensive line has generated 0.9 rushing yards before contact per attempt, 28th in the league.
• The Raiders defensive line has earned a 63.0 run defense grade that ranks as the eighth-best mark in the league this season.

Key player(s) to avoid

RB Saquon Barkley, New York Giants

• Barkley has earned a 56.8 rushing grade when contacted two or fewer yards from the line of scrimmage, which ranks just 29th among qualifying running backs this season.
• Barkley has also delivered just an 11.1% first down/touchdown rate when contacted two or fewer yards from the line of scrimmage, which ranks 35th among qualifying running backs.
• Barkley is still going to be in fantasy starting lineups but isn’t necessarily someone to target in DFS lineups this week considering the matchup.

New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders

• The Giants offensive line has earned a 30.8 pass-blocking grade this season which ranks as the worst mark in the league.
• The Giants offensive line has allowed the third-worst pressure rate (39.1%) this season.
• The Raiders defensive line has earned a 72.3 pass-rush grade, which ranks as the 14th-best mark in the league this season.

Key player(s) to avoid

QB Daniel Jones, New York Giants

• Jones is expected back for the Giants this week after a multi-game absence and with so many injuries to the quarterback position he could be tempting to put in lineups but it still isn’t an ideal spot for Jones considering the OL/DL matchup.
• When pressured, Jones has managed just a 29.2 passing grade which ranks 34th among 36 qualifying quarterbacks.
• Jones has thrown three interceptions and zero touchdowns when pressured and five turnover-worthy plays with zero big-time throws when pressured this season.