Fantasy Football: 5 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups to Exploit in Week 8

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 Tyreek Hill, 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.

Projections and rankings via numberFire.

Week 8 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups

Zay Flowers (BAL)-Arizona Cardinals

numberFire Projection: 16.0 fantasy points (WR9)

• 68.7 Yards
• 6.2 Receptions (8.5 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 58.5 Yards
• O/U 4.5 Receptions
• +150 Anytime Touchdown Scorer

The Zay Flowers breakout is happening before our very eyes.

The Baltimore Ravens first-round pick has been a steady contributor all season. He enters Week 8 as the WR24 in half-PPR scoring, but his usage suggests a much higher ceiling.

Flowers had led Baltimore wideouts in snap share every game since Week 1, and he's run a route on a team-leading 93.4% of dropbacks. No other Raven receiver has higher than 67% route participation.

He's even surpassed Mark Andrews in Baltimore's offense -- at least in terms of total usage. Flowers leads the team with a 25.0% target share in the six games both he and Andrews (22.7%) have been active.

Andrews is still their go-to goal-line option (33.3% redzone target share and five touchdowns), but Flowers scored his first touchdown two weeks ago. His 31.0% redzone target share suggests more are on their way.

Those could come as early as this week given his matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona has allowed the highest catch rate (74.1%), the highest catch rate over expectation (10.3%), and the second-most yards per route run (2.04) to opposing wide receivers.

On top of that, they've allowed wideouts to be targeted at the 11th-highest rate (20.9).

It's no wonder they've given up the most adjusted fantasy points per target (1.69) to opposing wide receivers.

They also play zone at the seventh-highest rate (80.1%) -- another sign suggesting a big Zay day. Among qualified receivers, Flowers' 77.5 PFF grade against zone ranks 25th.

He's already cemented himself as one of the most consistent wideouts on a week-to-week basis. With an elite utilization profile and arguably the softest matchup in the NFL on deck, Flowers could finally show off a top-end ceiling, too.

Christian Kirk (JAX)-Pittsburgh Steelers

numberFire Projection: 14.9 fantasy points (WR14)

• 70.1 Yards
• 5.5 Receptions (8.5 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 55.5 Yards
• O/U 4.5 Receptions
• +185 Anytime Touchdown Scorer

Christian Kirk is red-hot.

The shifty slot receiver has quickly erased all memory of his Week 1 dud. Across their last six games, Kirk leads the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 25.4% target share and 90.2% route participation.

Over that span, Kirk's racked up a stellar 2.30 yards per route run (YPRR) and averaged 13.7 fantasy points per game, 16th among wide receivers.

Coming off a strong effort against the slot-averse Saints, Kirk could feast against a Pittsburgh Steelers secondary which has struggled to contain opposing receivers this season.

Pittsburgh has given up the third-highest target rate (23.3%), the fourth-most YPRR (2.01), and the eighth-most adjusted fantasy points per target (1.48) to receivers.

Despite their struggles, the Steelers continue to utilize man coverage at the fourth-highest rate (41.4%) in the league, per NextGenStats.

That points to a strong showing from Kirk as he's served as Jacksonville's top option against man. The Jags have faced three teams that play man at least 35% of the time. Here's how he's done against them:

He's backed up that strong production with favorable PFF numbers. Among wideouts with at least 10 man coverage targets, Kirk boasts the 24th-best receiving grade (72.0) against the look. He finished ninth last year (87.7).

Between his recent usage and highly favorable matchup, I'm expecting another monster effort from Christian Kirk on Sunday.

Terry McLaurin (WSH)-Philadelphia Eagles

numberFire Projection: 12.6 fantasy points (WR24)

• 61.6 Yards
• 4.8 Receptions (7.7 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 58.5 Yards
• O/U 4.5 Receptions
• +210 Anytime Touchdown Scorer

You can't even call Terry McLaurin versus the Philadelphia Eagles a rivalry at this point. That would require some back-and-forth between the two sides.

No, when Scary Terry faces the Eagles, there's only one outcome -- McLaurin's dominance.

With a 12.6-point outing against them in Week 4, McLaurin is now averaging 13.7 fantasy points across nine career games against them. That's not just because of a few outlier performances either. He consistently produces against them.

Add all those games together, and McLaurin averages 5.9 receptions, 7.7 targets, and 87.1 yards per game against Philly.

I don't expect that trend to slow this week -- not against this Philadelphia defense.

The Eagles have allowed opposing wide receivers to be targeted at the fourth-highest rate (23.0%) in the league. They've surrendered the most total receptions (112), the fifth-most yards (1,249), and are tied for the most touchdowns (9).

McLaurin should be in line for another big day, especially considering the Washington Commanders enter as seven-point home underdogs. They already pass at the third-highest rate over expectation (7.2%), so I wouldn't be surprised to see Scary Terry flirt with double-digit targets in a negative game script.

McLaurin has commanded 35.1% of Washington's targets over the last two weeks, giving him a lovely combination of floor and ceiling. He's a must-start in fantasy and deserves a look both in DFS and on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Tee Higgins (CIN)-San Francisco 49ers

numberFire Projection: 10.9 fantasy points (WR37)

• 50.8 Yards
• 4.2 Receptions (6.9 Targets)

This one is based more on projection than actual results, but hear me out.

Tee Higgins could break out in Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Higgins has not been productive this season. I know that, you know that, everyone who's paid attention to the NFL this year knows that. He comes out of the Cincinnati Bengals' bye week with just 33.9 fantasy points -- good for WR69 overall.

But this is Tee freaking Higgins we're talking about.

You know, the Tee Higgins that PFF ranked 23rd and 11th among wideouts the last two years?

The Tee Higgins that's finished as a top-24 fantasy receiver each of the past two seasons?

That Tee Higgins.

Sure, Tee's been banged up. So has his quarterback, Joe Burrow. But coming off their bye, I'm optimistic both guys can reset and return to the dominance they showed over the last two years.

On paper, facing the 49ers isn't a great spot to turn your offense around, but San Fran hasn't looked especially frightening of late. They were just torched by Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings and quietly sit right at league average with 1.38 adjusted fantasy points per target allowed to opposing receivers.

Higgins has given Shanahan's 49ers problems in the past. He torched them for five receptions and 114 yards when these two teams last played in 2021. Based on their personnel this season, I won't be surprised if he does something similar on Sunday.

The 49ers run zone at the 10th-highest rate (77.5%) in the league, per NextGenStats. While he didn't grade especially well last season, Higgins' 82.7 PFF receiving grade against zone in 2021 ranked fifth among qualified receivers.

He'll likely see a majority of his time lined up across Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward. Both are solid defenders, but Lenoir has given up the fifth-most receptions (33) and the eighth-most yards (373) while Ward has allowed the 21st-most receptions (26) and 18th-most yards (320) among corners.

It's not like Higgins will be on Revis Island.

Expect a bounce-back effort from the uber-talented receiver as Cincy and their second-ranked pass rate over expectation (7.8%) continue to figure things out.

Josh Downs (IND)-Alontae Taylor (NO)

numberFire Projection: 9.4 fantasy points (WR46)

• 44.6 Yards
• 3.4 Receptions (6.1 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 44.5 Yards
• O/U 4.5 Receptions
• +270 Anytime Touchdown Scorer

Rookie Josh Downs is the gift that keeps on giving.

This isn't the first time we've targeted the Indianapolis Colts' prized slot man in this piece, and I doubt it'll be the last.

Downs had been flirting with a breakout for a good month before his 125-yard explosion in Week 7. His WR3, 21-point finish was impressive enough, but the fact that it came against arguably the best defense in the NFL really makes me excited for him moving forward.

With that outing, Downs has now finished as a top-30 fantasy receiver in three consecutive weeks. He's commanded a 20.4% target share and registered an impressive 10% catch rate over expectation in those games.

As if his arrow wasn't pointed up hard enough, Downs now gets one of the easiest slot matchups in the NFL -- the New Orleans Saints.

Per Razzball, the Saints have allowed the third-most slot points per game (16.3) this season.

Much of that falls on the shoulders of Alontae Taylor. New Orleans' primary slot defender has a putrid 47.6 PFF coverage grade this season. While defending the slot, Taylor has given up the most receptions (34), targets (49), yards (289), and touchdowns (3) of any cornerback in the NFL.

On the flip side, outside corners, Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo are two of the most consistent defensive backs in the league. That should force Indy to look inside even more than they already have been, and I expect Downs to get peppered with targets.

We're just scratching the surface of Josh Downs' potential. After a breakout last week, he's a safe WR3 with upside in an easier matchup this time around.

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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.