NFL Week 4 WR/CB Matchups and TE Analysis

Davante Adams is going off Thursday night. Heard it here first.

Anyways, we’re on to Week 4! I’ll be breaking down the WR/CB matchups all season long with a focus on figuring out who could be facing shadow coverage as well as the best and worst overall situations. We’ll also briefly touch on each team’s TE group.

---

Eagles at Packers

Eagles Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Mack Hollins	76	221	4.53	Kevin King	75	200	4.43
Slot	Nelson Agholor	72	198	4.42	Tramon Williams	71	194	4.62
Right	Alshon Jeffery	75	216	4.53	Jaire Alexander	70	196	4.38

Projected shadow matchups: Alshon Jeffery vs. Jaire Alexander

WR/CB breakdown: The Eagles are all kinds of banged up at WR.

• Alshon Jeffery (calf) didn’t suit up last week, but wasn’t listed on this week’s final injury report and will start Thursday night.
• DeSean Jackson (abdomen) also didn’t play in Week 3. He’s already been ruled out for Thursday night.
• JJ Arcega-Whiteside (heel) popped up on the report after Sunday’s game. He’ll suit up anyway and wasn’t listed on the Eagles’ final injury report.

Be sure to monitor our Week 4 Injury Dashboard for a full list of the week’s injured players as well as their daily practice participation with estimated and official game statuses.

Nelson Agholor was the main beneficiary of all the absences last week, catching 8-of-12 targets for 50 yards and a pair of short TDs. The performance (naturally) also included a drop and ill-timed fumble, but the slot WR is again set up well for enhanced target share this week. He has the group’s best matchup against slow-footed 36-year-old Tramon Williams.

I expect Alexander to shadow Jeffery and not Agholor because ...

1. Opponents have consistently treated Jeffery as the Eagles’ No. 1 WR. As they should: Jeffery is better than Agholor.
2. Alexander played a good amount of snaps in the slot for stretches of the 2018 season, but has ventured inside on just 8% of his reps in 2019.

Alexander shut down Emmanuel Sanders (2 receptions-10 yards-0 TD) last week and looks a lot like the league’s next-big thing at the CB position. He’s No. 1 in the league in pass break-ups (8), No. 2 in coverage rating, No. 3 in fantasy points allowed per target and is yet to be targeted with more than five feet of space between himself and the man he’s guarding (PlayerProfiler).

Jaire Alexander sure looks a lot like the NFL's next great CB pic.twitter.com/e5ymt1WZr3

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 25, 2019

Mack Hollins is off the fantasy radar in this tough matchup and could feasibly split snaps with JJAW.

TE Breakdown: Zach Ertz faced consistent double-coverage in Week 3 and was accordingly targeted just seven times. This matchup isn’t ideal against the Packers’ No. 5 ranked defense in DVOA vs. TEs (Football Outsiders). Still, Ertz and Carson Wentz have a good enough chemistry at this point to feast against any defense with the right amount of volume. Ertz hasn’t missed a single snap in the last two weeks with Dallas Goedert (calf, will play) banged up. Goedert played just nine snaps in Week 3 and had an absolutely brutal end zone drop along the way. Ertz is my TE3 this week behind Travis Kelce and Evan Engram.

Packers Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Marquez Valdes-Scantling	76	206	4.37	Rasul Douglas	74	209	4.59
Slot	Geronimo Allison	75	196	4.67	Avonte Maddox	69	184	4.39
Right	Davante Adams	73	212	4.56	Sidney Jones	72	186	4.47

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: The Eagles have been absolutely eviscerated by No. 1 WRs over the past season and a half.

• Amari Cooper: 10-217-3
• Michael Thomas: 12-171-1, 4-92-1
• Julio Jones: 10-169-0, 5-106-2
• Corey Davis: 9-161-1
• Allen Robinson: 10-143-1
• Adam Thielen: 7-116-1
• Stefon Diggs: 10-91-0
• DeAndre Hopkins: 9-104-0
• Mike Evans: 10-83-1
• Terry McLaurin: 5-125-1

Kenny Golladay was held in a check with a 2-17-0 line last week, although Marvin Jones went off for 6-101-1.

You get the point.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman curiously didn’t address the CB position in either free agency or the draft, seemingly because the group did suffer a plethora of injuries in 2018. Unfortunately, this is also turning out to be the case in 2019, as Jalen Mills (foot, PUP) and Ronald Darby (hamstring, out) are both sidelined indefinitely.

Hence, don’t sweat Davante Adams’ mildly slow start and fire him up with confidence as a high-end WR1 this week.

Geronimo Allison is off the fantasy radar with five catches for 24 yards and a score on just seven targets through three weeks.

Meanwhile, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has emerged as a legit WR3 option thanks to his chemistry with Aaron Rodgers. He was the recipient of a 40-yard TD in Week 3 on one of Rodgers’ token free-play scores after drawing the defense offside. Fire up MVS in fantasy leagues of all shapes and sizes in this plus draw.

TE Breakdown: Jimmy Graham (groin, quad) will suit up Thursday night, but he posted just a 42% snap rate in Week 3 while attempting to play through the pain. Graham hasn’t caught a pass since Week 1.

---

Titans at Falcons

Titans Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	A.J. Brown	72	226	4.49	Isaiah Oliver	72	201	4.5
Slot	Adam Humphries	71	195	4.58	Damontae Kazee	70	184	4.54
Right	Corey Davis	75	209	4.53	Desmond Trufant	72	190	4.38

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: A.J. Brown and Corey Davis demonstrated their absurd athletic ability in Week 1 and Week 3, respectively, but neither has surpassed even five targets in a game this season. The Falcons have regularly invited opposing offenses to check down to underneath RBs, TEs and slot WRs under coach Dan Quinn. Usage, defensive scheme and Marcus Mariota‘s general reluctance/ability to get this offense’s outside WRs even mildly involved on a consistent basis makes both Brown and Davis largely unplayable.

Adam Humphries is the group’s most-likely candidate for a decent showing after coming alive with a 6-93-0 performance on nine targets in Week 3. The floor remains low for any WR involved in the Titans’ run-first offense, but Humphries has the best matchup against Damontae Kazee, who has allowed the 29th-most yards per coverage snap in slot coverage among 45 qualified nickelbacks (PFF).

TE Breakdown: Delanie Walker remains locked in as Mariota’s featured pass-game weapon. He’s posted solid enough 5-55-2, 4-39-0 and 7-64-0 lines to start the season and appears to be fully recovered from breaking his right ankle in the 2018 season. He’s one of just nine TEs with at least 20 targets through three weeks and is a perfectly acceptable low-end TE1 option against a Falcons defense that has allowed the ninth-most receiving yards per game to the TE position this season.

Falcons Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Julio Jones	75	220	4.39	Malcolm Butler	70	187	4.4
Slot	Mohamed Sanu	74	211	4.67	Logan Ryan	71	191	4.56
Right	Calvin Ridley	73	189	4.43	Adoree’ Jackson	70	186	4.42

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: We all mocked Julio Jones for failing to score a TD in 12 consecutive regular season games from the end of the 2017 season up until Week 9 of last year.

All he’s done since is ball the hell out on a near-weekly basis.

• 7 receptions-121 yards-1 TD
• 7-107-1
• 6-118-1
• 11-147-0
• 2-18-0
• 8-106-2
• 6-82-1
• 4-28-1
• 9-138-1
• 6-31-1
• 5-106-2
• 8-128-1

Jones is plenty capable of having his way with any CB in the league. This is particularly true in a matchup against the Titans CBs, who have already allowed four TDs in their coverage this season (PFF).

Calvin Ridley followed up 4-64-1 and 8-105-1 lines to start the season with a 1-6-0 dud on just a single target in Week 3 against the Colts’ zone-heavy defense. Ridley is too talented to be kept at bay for long, particularly at home where he’s averaged an additional 4.7 PPR per game during his short career.

Mohamed Sanu has the toughest matchup of the group on the inside and simply doesn’t offer the same type of ceiling as his partners in crime.

TE Breakdown: Austin Hooper has demonstrated underrated consistency over the past season and a half. Overall, his nine games with at least five receptions since Week 1 of 2018 trails only George Kittle, Zach Ertz and Travis Kelce. The matchup isn’t great against ball-hawking safety Kevin Byard, but individual matchups are less predictable and consistent at the TE position. Hooper has already proven this twice this season with a 9-77-0 line against Harrison Smith and the Vikings along with a 6-66-2 performance last week vs. Malik Hooker and the Colts.

---

Redskins at Giants

Redskins Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Terry McLaurin	72	208	4.35	Janoris Jenkins	70	193	4.46
Slot	Trey Quinn	71	203	4.55	Grant Haley	69	190	4.44
Right	Paul Richardson	72	175	4.4	Deandre Baker	71	193	4.52

Projected shadow matchups: Terry McLaurin vs. Janoris Jenkins

WR/CB breakdown: All Scary Terry does is score TDs. The rookie has caught at least five passes for 60-plus yards and found the end zone in each of his first three performances, leaving him as the overall PPR WR10. The production seems sustainable thanks to McLaurin’s blend of field-stretching speed and polished route-running ability.

A shadow matchup against the artist formerly known as Jackrabbit is hardly anything to fear at this point. PFF’s No. 108 ranked CB has been roasted by each of Amari Cooper (6-106-1), John Brown (7-72-0, overthrown on potential walk-in 50-yard TD) and most recently Mike Evans (8-190-3).

Paul Richardson has scored in back-to-back weeks, but he hasn’t been getting his usual fantasy-friendly deep ball targets this year. His average of 7.1 yards per target is his lowest mark since his 2014 rookie season.

Trey Quinn is a useful slot maven that hasn’t cleared 50 receiving yards in six career games despite seeing an average of five targets per contest.

TE Breakdown: Coach Jay Gruden said Jordan Reed (concussion) will be back at some point this season, but the return doesn’t seem particularly imminent. Vernon Davis continues to work as a near-every down TE in Reed’s absence, but he’s posted a meager combined 5-49-0 line in two weeks since his big Week 1 performance. Complicating matters is the rise of fourth-year TE Jeremy Sprinkle, who tied Davis with four targets in Week 3.

Giants Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Russell Shepard	72	196	4.46	Fabian Moreau	72	206	4.35
Slot	Sterling Shepard	70	194	4.48	Jimmy Moreland	70	179	4.51
Right	Bennie Fowler	73	217	4.52	Josh Norman	72	197	4.66

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: The Danny Dimes era started with a bang, as the Giants’ No. 6 overall pick completed 23-of-36 passes (64% completion rate) for 336 yards (8.8 YPA) with two TDs and zero interceptions. His target distribution was as follows:

• Sterling Shepard: 9 targets
• Evan Engram: 8
• Saquon Barkley (ankle, out): 5
• Darius Slayton: 5
• Russell Shepard: 5
• Bennie Fowler: 2
• Wayne Gallman: 1
• Rhett Ellison: 1

Both Shepard and Engram are the offense’s only realistic fantasy options until Golden Tate returns in Week 5. I guess Darius Slayton (3-82-0 in Week 3, 20.4 average target depth) isn’t the worst GPP flyer at just $3,200 on DraftKings.

Josh Norman isn’t expected to shadow Shepard, as the 31-year-old CB has lined up in the slot on just 6% of his snaps this season. He’s PFF’s No. 97 CB through three weeks anyways and hasn’t been a player you should actively avoid in fantasy for more than awhile now.

TE Breakdown: Evan Engram worked as the TE5 in 2017 with Odell Beckham Jr. sidelined for 12 games, and he was the TE2 during the final four weeks of 2018 with OBJ out. So far Engram is the overall TE1 in 2019. He’s locked in as a high-usage baller that also deserves respect for becoming a much more well-rounded TE over the course of his short career.

[[ad:athena]]

---

Chargers at Dolphins

Chargers Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Travis Benjamin	70	175	4.36	Eric Rowe	73	205	4.45
Slot	Keenan Allen	74	206	4.71	Xavien Howard	72	201	4.58
Right	Mike Williams	76	218	4.59	Chris Lammons	69	194	4.53

Projected shadow matchups: Keenan Allen vs. Xavien Howard

WR/CB breakdown: Hide your kids, hide your wife: The league’s most-targeted WR gets to face anyone’s idea of the NFL’s worst defense that just so happens to be incredibly thin at nickelback.

Specifically, the Dolphins traded stud CB/S Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Steelers for a first-round pick last week, and backup slot CB Jomal Wiltz (groin, doubtful) is now sidelined.

The only realistic solution is to have Xavien Howard travel inside for the 41% of snaps that Allen lines up in the slot. This is something that Howard doesn’t have a ton of experience with, but coach Brian Flores comes from the Patriots Defense coaching tree that utilizes the league’s highest-frequency shadow CBs that consistently travel inside in Patriots CBs Stephon Gilmore and Jason McCourty as well as Lions CB Darius Slay.

The latter CB allowed an 8-98-0 line to Allen back in Week 2. This isn’t an indictment on Slay; he deserves credit for consistently traveling into the slot while the overwhelming majority of outside CBs seldom do so. Rather, it’s just more evidence that nobody can stop Allen, particularly as long as he continues to lead the league in both target share (36%) and market share of air yards (46%).

Mike Williams is obviously also set up exceptionally well against a Dolphins secondary that ranks dead last in passing TDs (10), net yards per attempt (9.7), yards per play (7.3) along with both overall and pass defense DVOA. He’s a bargain across the DFS industry and a solid pivot off Allen and his expected astronomical ownership.

Travis Benjamin (quad) is banged up and splitting reps with Dontrelle Inman anyway.

TE Breakdown: Virgil Green (groin) should be considered questionable for Sunday. He’s not a viable fantasy option due to his near-zero usage, even in this cake matchup.

Dolphins Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Preston Williams	76	211	4.66	Brandon Facyson	74	197	4.53
Slot	Jakeem Grant	66	165	4.42	Desmond King	70	201	4.65
Right	DeVante Parker	75	209	4.45	Casey Hayward	71	192	4.57

Projected shadow matchups: DeVante Parker vs. Casey Hayward

WR/CB breakdown: The Dolphins have scored *16* points this season. They don’t boast an average positional unit on either side of the ball.

This is not all Josh Rosen‘s fault.

Poor Josh Rosen pic.twitter.com/lmNqEusqPe

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 23, 2019

Preston Williams (11-155-1) and DeVante Parker (6-131-0) have received 23 and 20 targets this season, respectively, and could feasibly see more success moving forward now that they’re done with a hellacious early-season stretch against the Ravens, Patriots and Cowboys’ talented CB groups. Still, investing in what is clearly the league’s worst offense with a front office that is actively trying to suck as much as possible isn’t for the faint of heart.

It’s certainly possible that the Chargers don’t ask Hayward to chase Parker around the field. Either way, I’d still rather wait until the Dolphins play the Redskins in Week 6 after a bye before expecting too big of a turnaround from an offense averaging a pathetic 3.8 yards per play.

TE Breakdown: Mike Gesicki‘s snap rates have dropped from 67% in Week 1, to 56% in Week 2 and most recently 44% last Sunday against the Cowboys. It’s too crowded of a position with Nick O’Leary and Durham Smythe plenty involved to consider in fantasy, even against an injury-riddled group of Chargers safeties that just yielded a combined eight receptions for 122 yards and three TDs to Texans TEs Jordan Akins and Darren Fells in Week 3.

---

Raiders at Colts

Raiders Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Tyrell Williams	75	204	4.48	Rock Ya-Sin	72	192	4.51
Slot	Hunter Renfrow	70	184	4.59	Kenny Moore	69	185	4.52
Right	J.J. Nelson	70	156	4.28	Pierre Desir	73	198	4.59

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: J.J. Nelson started in 3-WR sets last week in place of Ryan Grant, who was released Wednesday. Nelson scored a 29-yard TD off a well-designed flea-flicker, but won’t carry weekly fantasy value as the No. 4 (at best) pass-game option in a below-average offense.

Tyrell Williams has scored in three straight games on an average of just 5.7 targets per game. His status as one of the league’s best field stretchers is being wasted with Derek Carr under center, as the alleged franchise QB ranks 27th in deep-ball rate (20-plus yard passes per attempt) this season among 34 qualified signal callers (PFF). Williams ranks outside of the league’s top-50 WRs in target share and is 41st in air yards (Airyards.com). He’s a solid sell-high candidate.

There’s only one player that deserves your undivided attention in the Raiders Offense for this slow-paced matchup ...

TE Breakdown: Darren freaking Waller. All the ridiculously-athletic TE has done this season is catch 26-of-29 targets for 267 scoreless yards. Only Evan Engram (30) and Zach Ertz (30) have more targets among all TEs. Waller is the overall PPR TE3 and has a real shot to work as a top-five option for the rest of the season with this type of usage, particularly when we’re literally just one season removed from Carr enabling Jared Cook to finish as the PPR TE5.

Colts Offense

Position	WR	Height	Weight	Speed	CB	Height	Weight	Speed
Left	Deon Cain	74	202	4.43	Daryl Worley	73	204	4.64
Slot	Parris Campbell	72	205	4.31	Lamarcus Joyner	68	184	4.55
Right	T.Y. Hilton	69	183	4.39	Gareon Conley	72	195	4.44

Projected shadow matchups: None

WR/CB breakdown: T.Y. Hilton re-aggravated his quad injury last week and is shaping up as a game-time decision for Sunday. It’d truly be a shame to not see Hilton indoors against a Raiders secondary that has been roasted by pretty much every WR they’ve squared off against this season.

• Demarcus Robinson: 6-172-2
• Mecole Hardman: 4-61-1 (72-yard TD called back as well)
• Sammy Watkins: 6-49-0
• Emmanuel Sanders: 5-86-1
• Courtland Sutton: 7-120-0
• Adam Thielen: 3-55-1
• Stefon Diggs: 3-15-0
• DaeSean Hamilton: 2-5-0

Hilton has averaged a 5.4-87.4-0.2 line in 14 career games when listed on the injury report. He should be locked into season-long lineups if active and is an intriguing DFS play with the expectation of reduced ownership in this fantastic matchup. Hilton has gone off for 8-174-1, 7-133-1, 9-146-0, 9-199-0 and 7-138-0 lines since 2016 in that aforementioned sample size.

The negative for the Colts’ auxiliary WRs in this run-first offense is simply lack of opportunity. None of Deon Cain (56% snaps in Week 3), Parris Campbell (45%), Zach Pascal (44%) nor Chester Rogers (41%) have received anything close to a consistent role, as the offense has largely been run through a combination of Hilton and Marlon Mack.

I’d take my chances on Parris Campbell and Deon Cain (in that order) if Hilton is ultimately sidelined.

TE Breakdown: Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle have 11 and nine targets this season, respectively. Either could be a viable TE1 in this offense if the other was sidelined. Until then, treat each as an upper-end TE2 regardless of the matchup.