Fantasy Football: 5 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups to Exploit in Week 1

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 I'll be listing out the best wide receiver-cornerback matchups for the upcoming week. It doesn't take a genius to tell you to start Justin Jefferson, 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.

But how do we know what to look for?

First, the numberFire (nF) Player Matchups chart helps to identify advantageous matchups for specific positions.

Then, we dive deeper into the specific cornerbacks. 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.

For receivers, the three key statistics we'll be citing are Target Share, average depth of target (aDOT), and Net Expected Points (NEP). For cornerbacks, we're mainly looking at the percentage of targets caught (REC%), Forced Incompletions per Target (FI%), and the opposing quarterbacks' NFL Passer Rating against them.

Looking at Week 1, a lot of this is projection and there is some risk in relying on last year's statistics. Still, there are 5 Receiver-Cornerback matchups that really catch my eye to open the 2023 season.

Projections and rankings via numberFire.

Week 1 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups

Chris Olave (NO) vs. Tennesee Titans

numberFire Projection: 15.23 points (WR13)

New Orleans Saints wideout Chris Olave could be in for a monster start to his sophomore campaign up against the Tennessee Titans. Olave will draw one of either Rodger McCreary or Kristian Fulton -- both of whom stand as strong matchups for the second-year pro.

Last season, both McCreary (60.4 PPF coverage grade) and Fulton (58.5) were among the 50worst graded coverage corners in the league, per PFF. McCreary gave up the 18th-highest reception percentage (69.2%) in the league, and Fulton wasn't much better, allowing 56.9% of targets to be caught.

Both corners were advantageous for opposing quarterbacks to target with McCreary allowing the 6th-highest passer rating (113.8) and Fulton giving up the 15th-highest (102.4). Both forced just 9 incompletions per target -- bottom-17 marks in the NFL.

While the Saints didn't play the Titans last season, quarterback Derek Carr did. He carved Tennesee up for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 4, completing 11 of 17 passes for 134 yards when targeting McCreary and Fulton.

That bodes well for Olave who is looking to build off a rookie campaign that saw him dominate New Orleans' usage. He led the Saints by a significant margin in target share (26.6%), aDOT (14.2), and air yard share (42.0%), culminating in 83.61 reception NEP -- 19th in the entire league.

Expect more of the same in Week 1 as Olave has one of the most favorable matchups among wide receivers.

Calvin Ridley (JAX) vs. Indianapolis Colts

numberFire Projection: 15.08 points (WR14)

I understand if you're wary of Calvin Ridley playing in his first regular season game since October of 2021, but it's hard not to like his Week 1 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.

Indy dealt away star cornerback Stephon Gilmore this offseason and will now rely on 2022 undrafted free agents Dallis Flowers and Darrell Baker Jr. on the outside. Neither corner has much experience; Flowers lined up for just 101 pass coverage snaps last season, and Baker spent all of 2022 on the practice squad.

Flowers registered a measly 51.3 PFF coverage grade in limited action last year, allowing a 124.8 passer rating while failing to force a single incompletion.

The last time we saw Baker was in 2021 when he received a 54.9 PFF coverage grade and allowed a 97.9 passer rating despite playing at Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference.

Regardless of who lines up across Ridley, he should be primed for a stellar Jacksonville debut against inexperienced defenders.

Mike Williams (LAC) vs. Xavien Howard (MIA)

numberFire Projection: 13.23 points (WR22)

Now, I know what you're thinking.

Mike Williams against Xavien Howard? How is that a good matchup?

Well, this isn't 2020.

Xavien Howard, now 30 years old, is coming off the worst season of his career. In 2022, he received a career-low 55.2 PFF coverage grade thanks to giving up the third-highest passer rating (121.1) in the league. Along the way, he gave up the sixth-most yards per reception (15.3) and allowed a career-high 67.5% of targets to be caught.

While Williams didn't have a great season by his standards in 2022, he still led the team with a 32.3% air yard share despite missing or being limited by a nagging ankle injury in six games. He torched Howard for 97 yards in their matchup last season, notably torching him for a 55-yard catch and absolutely mossing him for a first down.

Don't be afraid of the name; Mike Williams should make short work of Xavien Howard in Week 1.

Treylon Burks (TEN) vs. Paulson Adebo (NO)

numberFire Projection: 11.84 points (WR32)

Digging into the weeds a bit, second-year wideout Treylon Burks is primed to kick off his sophomore campaign with a strong outing.

While Burks had an up-and-down rookie season, he started to show signs of life down the stretch. From Week 10 onward, Burks ranked second on the team in target share (18.4%) and led all Tennesee pass catchers in air yard share (27.1%), aDOT (11.0), and end zone target share (22.2%).

He'll have a good shot to build off that positive momentum in a great matchup with the Saints.

Although the Saints were stout overall against wideouts last season, they had a glaring weakness -- Paulson Adebo. The third-year pro was one of the worst coverage corners in the league last season and received PFF's third-lowest coverage grade (48.6). Opposing quarterbacks registered a 123.6 passer rating when targeting Adebo in 2022 -- the highest mark in the NFL.

Adebo allowed the 16th-highest percentage of targets to be caught (69.6%) and forced a relatively average 12 incompletions per target.

With Marshon Lattimore expected to shadow primary target DeAndre Hopkins, Ryan Tannehill could look Burks' way much more than normal, and he should be on your fantasy radar ahead of Week 1.

Jayden Reed (GB) vs. Kyler Gordon (CHI)

numberFire Projection: 9.13 points (WR53)

Finally, we close things out with a real sleeper -- Green Bay Packers rookie Jayden Reed.

A second-round pick out of Michigan State, Reed peaked as a junior in college with 946 yards, 8 touchdowns, and an 82.7 PFF receiving grade. He could see a heavy workload against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 with Christian Watson out and Romeo Doubs questionable.

Originally pegged to play out of the slot and match up with Kyler Gordon this week, we could see Reed bounce outside given his versatility. That would pit him against rookie Tyrique Stevenson. Both are solid matchups for Reed.

If Reed stays in the slot he could feast against Kyler Gordon. Last season, Gordon was one of the worst slot corners in the NFL. He received the second-lowest PFF coverage grade (46.4) in the NFL and was near the bottom of nearly every slot coverage metric. He gave up the 13th-highest NFL passer rating (107.8) and the 4th-most yards per snap (1.91) when defending the slot.

If Reed fills Christian Watson's void on the outside, he'll match up with rookie second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson. Stevenson graded well (79.4) in college but allowed an 82.4% reception percentage and a 92.9 passer rating in the preseason.

With a soft matchup and a lack of competition for targets, Jayden Reed could be a surprise fantasy option in Week 1.

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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.