Fantasy Football: 3 Wide Receiver-Cornerback Matchups to Target in Week 6

Matchups are everything in the NFL, especially at the receiver position.

For fantasy purposes, being able to identify which receivers have advantageous (or disadvantageous) matchups is a sharp way to get a leg up on your opponent.

Each week, we'll run through the best wide receiver-cornerback matchups for the upcoming week. It doesn't take a genius to tell you to start your true studs, but there will be weeks when some WR1s have better matchups and other weeks when typical WR2 or WR3s have matchups that bump them up in our weekly rankings.

Pro Football Focus' (PFF) Player Grades and their WR/CB Matchup chart are great starting points for identifying which specific matchups we want to target.

Projections and rankings come from our NFL projections. All statistics via NFL Next Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise stated. NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

Week 6 WR-CB Matchups

Puka Nacua vs. Nate Wiggins

Puka Nacua is a play against any and everyone right now, boasting 21.6 fantasy points per game (WR1), 10.4 catches, 12.4 targets, and 117.6 receiving yards per game. His 52 receptions leads the second-highest mark by 11, and Puka's 588 receiving yards tops Jaxon Smith-Njigba's second-highest mark of 534.

This is the NFL's most productive target by a large cushion through five games. Week 6's matchup brings the Baltimore Ravens, who have allowed 7.1 yards per passing attempt (14th-most), the 2nd-most passing yards per game, 11th-most yards per downfield target, and 8th-highest pass success rate while ranking as the 4th-worst schedule-adjusted pass D.

With the Los Angeles Rams carrying the seventh-highest pass-play rate and 8.2 yards per passing attempt (sixth-most), Nacua's gaudy numbers should keep up.

Baltimore is running man coverage at the sixth-highest rate, and Pro Football Focus gives Puka an 89.9 receiving grade against man coverage (fifth-highest among qualifying players). Nate Wiggins ranks 20th out of 106 cornerbacks at PFF, but he's still posted coverage grades under 56.0 in two of five games.

Furthermore, cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Marlon Humphery are both listed as questionable as of Wednesday afternoon. Nacua has a 35.9% slot snap rate (via PlayerProfiler), and if the nickel Humphery suits up, he has an alarming 36.3 coverage grade.

One-on-one matchups in the slot is where Puka could tear this defense apart. We know he has the volume to do so, carrying a 34.6% target share and 34.9% air yards share.

Stefon Diggs vs. Kool-Aid McKinstry

In Week 4, Stefon Diggs saw a bump in usage by logging a 62.5% snap rate and 72.7% route share compared to 54.1% and 48.1% from Week 1 to 3. This led to 13.1 fantasy points.

He took it another step forward in Week 5, sporting 12 targets for 10 receptions, 146 receiving yards, and 19.6 fantasy points (WR6). Led by 9.5 targets, 8.0 receptions, and 123.5 receiving yards per game over the last two weeks, the New England Patriots seem to have found their WR1.

After torching the Buffalo Bills -- who have the 8th-best adjusted pass defense -- the New Orleans Saints look like a much more favorable matchup. The Saints are ceding 7.2 yards per passing attempt (12th-most) and the 9th-highest average depth of target (aDOT) while sitting in the bottom half in yards per downfield target allowed.

With New England carrying PFF's fifth-best pass block grade and New Orleans holding the second-lowest pressure rate, quarterback Drake Maye -- who has 0.20 expected points added per dropback (EPA/db) -- should have plenty of time to pick apart this secondary. Diggs has enjoyed an eye-popping 42.2% target share and 47.1% downfield target share along with a 10.2 aDOT over the last two weeks.

The Patriots' top wideout should mostly see matchups against Kool-Aid McKinstry (61.0 coverage grade) on the perimeter. Plus, Diggs has a 41.0% slot snap share -- which should give him matchups against nickel Quincy Riley (60.1 coverage).

Against a vulnerable secondary, I'm still backing this Maye-Diggs stack.

Rashid Shaheed vs. Carlton Davis III

Sticking with the Patriots-Saints matchup, New England is allowing 8.2 yards per passing attempt (fourth-most), the seventh-most passing yards per game, and fourth-highest pass success rate while ranking as the seventh-worst adjusted pass defense.

The Pats' pass D has improved since top cornerback Christian Gonzalez returned from injury, ceding 6.6 yards per passing attempt since Week 4. While I'm a fan of Chris Olave as a buy-low option due to volume, matchups against Gonzalez turns my attention to New Orleans' second target Rashid Shaheed.

He's still enjoying a healthy workload with a 27.4% air yards share on the season. Plus, Shaheed carries 20.6 receiving yards over expectation (RecYOE) since Week 3 (via NFL Next Gen Stats).

Most of Shaheed's matchups should come against Carlton Davis III (56.2 coverage grade). New England runs man coverage at the ninth-highest rate, and Shaheed has an 86.2 receiving grade against man compared to 60.4 when facing zone.

The Patriots are surrendering the eighth-most yards per downfield target, and Shaheed has a 34.5% downfield target share and 13.2 aDOT since Week 3. Quarterback Spencer Rattler can take advantage of the weakness with a 72.7 pass grade on attempts of 10 to 19 yards. Following Week 5's 0.18 EPA/db, look for Rattler to feed Shaheed downfield.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.