Fantasy Football: 4 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 Friday this piece lists the best wide receiver-cornerback matchups for the upcoming week. It doesn't take a genius to tell you to start CeeDee Lamb, 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.

numberFire's player matchups chart helps to identify advantageous matchups for specific positions. Then, 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, which are powered by numberFire. 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 Wide Receiver-Cornerback Matchups

Zay Flowers (BAL) vs. Benjamin St-Juste (WAS)

numberFire Projection: 12.3 points (WR11)

• 63 Yards
• 4.8 Receptions (7.4 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 54.5 Yards
• O/U 4.5 Receptions
• +120 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Zay Flowers stars in this week's edition of "Who gets to face the Washington Commanders?"

The Commanders have become a weekly target for this matchup's piece, and rightfully so. They're 28th in numberFire's schedule-adjusted pass defense metric, with the bulk of the damage coming via the receiver position. Against wideouts, Washington has allowed the 9th-highest target rate (21.8%), 11th-most yards per route run (YPRR; 1.74), and 3rd-most fantasy points per target (1.73).

Granted, that fantasy number is propped up by a league-high 10 receiving touchdowns allowed to the position, but they allowed the second-most WR receiving touchdowns in 2023, too. This is a secondary you can score on.

And while the Baltimore Ravens are 29th in pass rate over expectation (PROE; -9.5%), they had a season-high -1.2% PROE in Week 5 and could look to the air more with the Commanders 16th in adjusted run defense.

That sets Flowers up for a nice outing fresh off his best yardage performance of the season. Last week, Flowers led the Ravens with 7 receptions, 111 yards, and a 30% target share. For the season, Zay ranks 13th among all pass catchers with at least three games in team target share (27.1%).

This week, Flowers will spend the majority of his time against Washington's Benjamin St-Juste and Mike Sainristil out wide. St-Juste has been targeted at the sixth-highest rate and allowed the sixth-most yards among qualified corners, per PFF. Sainristil hasn't fared any better, permitting the league's fourth-highest passer rating when targeted.

It doesn't get any more difficult when he shifts to the slot, either. Commanders slot man Noah Igbinoghene has been targeted at the fifth-highest rate among qualified slot defenders, and he's a big reason Washington has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to the slot (17.7 per Razzball).

Based on the current NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook, this is a spot I'd be looking at the over on Zay Flowers' receiving yards prop, currently set at 54.5.

With this being such a good matchup -- and Lamar Jackson projected for 244 passing yards -- I think we can look beyond Zay in Baltimore's passing game. Rashod Bateman figures to see his fair share of Sainristil and St-Juste, too, and he's quietly cracked a 20% target share in two of the last three games. We project Bateman for 38.9 receiving yards.

Chris Godwin (TB) vs. Alontae Taylor/Paulson Adebo (NO)

numberFire Projection: 12 points (WR12)

• 70 Yards
• 5.6 Receptions (8.6 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 63.5 Yards
• O/U 5.5 Receptions
• +170 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver room can be a bit of a headache to decipher on a weekly basis, but that just speaks to how good Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. While Evans shined last week with a pair of touchdowns, Tampa's Week 6 date with the New Orleans Saints could facilitate more looks Godwin's direction.

New Orleans' secondary isn't one we typically look to go after. They're ninth in adjusted pass defense and have permitted the fourth-fewest fantasy points per target to opposing wide receivers. But they're closer to middle-of-the-pack in target rate allowed to the position, and Godwin will have the luxury of avoiding Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore has typically faced off with Mike Evans in a matchup that's mitigated Evans' production of late.

But that extra attention has benefited Godwin. In seven Bucs-Saints games both receivers were active for since 2020, Godwin has averaged 6.0 receptions, 8.7 targets, and 81.0 yards per game. Evans has averaged just 2.6 receptions, 3.7 targets, and 42.0 yards in those games.

I'm expecting a similar trend this week as Godwin will spend the majority of routes matched up with Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo. From the slot, Taylor has been targeted at the 12th-highest rate and surrendered the 6th-most yards. Adebo has been targeted at the fourth-highest rate overall.

In total, the two have allowed the second- and third-most receptions this season.

That bodes well for Godwin given his stellar utilization. He leads the Bucs with 26.4% target share and is averaging 6.4 receptions per game.

It's certainly rational to be concerned about Godwin's volume in a game where the Bucs are 3.5-point favorites against a rookie quarterback, but Tampa's been one of the pass-heaviest teams in football. They're second in PROE (+6.3%) on the season and have aired it out 12.9% more than expected in the last two weeks.

This is a matchup where I'm targeting the over on either Godwin's receiving yards or receptions prop. He has -128 odds to go over 5.5 receptions.

DeAndre Hopkins (TEN) vs. Indianapolis Colts

numberFire Projection: 8.5 points (WR41)

• 49 Yards
• 3.6 Receptions (6.1 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 41.5 Yards
• O/U 3.5 Receptions
• +230 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Coming out of their bye, the Tennessee Titans are the latest passing attack to get their turn at the Indianapolis Colts.

Granted, the Titans enter Week 6 averaging the fourth-fewest passing yards per game (145) and second-fewest passing Net Expected Points (NEP; numberFire's EPA metric) per play. But they've played one of the more difficult schedules in the league thus far, having already faced two of the three best adjusted pass defenses. All four secondaries the Titans have faced are in the top half of the league in adjusted pass defense.

The Colts are 27th in adjusted pass defense and have been a top-10 fantasy matchup for wide receivers.

Enter DeAndre Hopkins. D-Hop battled an injury to begin the season, but we saw him cement himself as Tennessee's top pass catcher in recent games. Despite being limited to a 37.4% snap rate in two weeks before their bye, Hopkins led the team in target share (21.2%) and air yard share (35.4%).

That shouldn't surprise us considering how much Will Levis looked his way as a rookie. In eight full games with Levis under center last season, Hopkins averaged 4.0 receptions and 67.9 yards per game. He caught 6 touchdowns during that stretch while leading the Titans in target share (28.3%) and red zone target share (36.8%).

I expect to see more of the same against Indy this week. The Colts have permitted the second-most YPPR (1.93) and third-highest average depth of target (aDOT; 12.5) to opposing receivers, and we know Levis likes to let it rip.

Indy is a unique matchup because of how much zone coverage (specifically Cover 3) they run. In 2023, the Colts ran zone (and Cover 3) at the highest rate in football. This year, they've run the second-most zone rate (and third most Cover 3).

Hopkins has consistently been a zone-beater over the latter half of his career. He's averaged at least 2.00 YPRR against zone each of the past two seasons and has posted better a YPRR mark against zone than man five of the last six years dating back to 2019.

All of Hopkins' props are in play here, but I'm most drawn to his +230 anytime touchdowns odds.

Rome Odunze (CHI) vs. Ronald Darby (JAC)

numberFire Projection: 7.3 points (WR51)

• 40 Yards
• 3.2 Receptions (5.4 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 39.5 Yards
• O/U 3.5 Receptions
• +280 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Rome Odunze hasn't had quiet the rookie season some of his first-round counterparts have, but he's playing with a rookie quarterback surrounded by two highly accomplished pass catchers. Expectations were tempered to begin with.

We've seen flashes of Odunze's skillset (his 6-catch, 112-yard performance against Indy comes to mind), but he's also been held under 15 receiving yards in two of five games. Though he's run a route on 87.9% of the Chicago Bears dropbacks, his 18% season-long target share has relegated him to a matchup-dependent fantasy option early on.

That said, this week's London date with the Jacksonville Jaguars is one Odunze should be able to produce in.

The Jags enter Week 6 with the worst adjusted pass defense in football, and they've predictably struggled to contain opposing receivers. They've surrendered the most fantasy points and fourth-most YPRR (1.92) to the position, all while permitting the third-most total targets. According to Razzball, 68% of their fantasy points allowed to the position have come to receivers lined up out wide. That's the sixth-highest rate in football.

With Keenan Allen back in the slot, Odunze is well-positioned to take advantage of some suspect outside coverage. He'll see plenty of Ronald Darby on the perimeter, but that's not a matchup to fade in 2024. Darby has permitted the sixth-highest passer rating when targeted, and the fourth-most total yards this season. He's allowed 76% of targets to be caught, the 10th-highest reception rate among corners that've been targeted at least 10 times.

We can be pretty confident in Odunze's head-to-head matchups considering the Jags run man coverage at the fourth-highest rate in the league. And while we haven't seen Odunze matched up against man very much early in the NFL, he was a strong prospect against man coming out of college. In his final year at Washington, Odunze was top-10 nationally in YPPR (3.75) and garnered PFF's 5th-best receiving grade against man.

But regardless of scheme, the Jags are just a dream matchup for opposing pass-catchers. That presents Odunze with a nice opportunity to show out in a game with a tight spread (Bears -1.5) and modest total (44.5).

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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.