NFL DFS WR/CB Matchups: Week 9
Wide receiver cornerback matchups are hardly the gospel for daily fantasy sports on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo. Every situation is different and they haven’t always been used optimally over the years. That said, there are still situations on the extremes where we may want to target (or avoid) a player based on their direct opposition on defense. Each week we create a WR vs. CB Matchup Chart to help us bring extreme matchups to the surface. We will now dive deep into the matchups for daily fantasy football and see who we will need to consider adjusting our projections and projected ownership for in this upcoming slate.
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NFL DFS WR vs. CB Matchups for Week 9
DeVante Parker
Likely CB: Dre Kirkpatrick
WR Rating: 65.55
CB Rating: 43.50
CB Yards Per Route Allowed: 1.26
CB QB Rating Allowed: 109.31
Parker is well out in front of the field in terms of Matchup Rating (22.05) for this Week 9 slate, and it is likely he comes in far lower owned than the two guys behind him who we will discuss in a bit.
What makes this matchup so good? Well, a lot of it appears to be with just how bad Kirkpatrick is. While the 65.55 WR Rating for Parker is good enough to crack the Top 20 on this slate, the 43.50 CB Rating for Kirkpatrick is in competition for the worst on the slate. When it’s all said and done, there are only three cornerbacks on this slate who have a worse CB Rating than Kirkpatrick.
Bringing some more variables into the equation (to add to this macro matchup) makes me really like Parker in tournaments this weekend. For one, he is relatively affordable on both FanDuel ($6,300) and DraftKings ($5,200). And two, he makes for a nice bring-back for your Cardinals stacks. We know Chase Edmonds will be popular (assuming the Drake is out), but adding Parker to a Murray/Hopkins mini-stack (in which you can either fade the Edmonds chalk or add him in for a three-man stack) is probably going to make you quite different in tournaments.
The beneficial macro matchup is there for Parker; it just comes down to whether he and Tua can take advantage of it. The projected low ownership and mid tier price tag certainly has this feeling like a worthwhile spend.
Keenan Allen
Likely CB: Lamarcus Joyner
WR Rating: 70.46
CB Rating: 52.33
CB Yards Per Route Allowed: n/a
CB QB Rating Allowed: n/a
There aren’t a ton of peripheral metrics available for Joyner in our Matchup Chart this week. But of the few that are available, there is one that certainly stands out: height. Keenan Allen is 6’2”, while Joyner is just 5’8”. Allen is already a target hog for this Chargers team, but that height differential just makes it so that even those 50/50 balls are far more likely to result in catches for Allen (and in the end zone too, hopefully).
When it comes down to it anyways, this is way more about Allen than it is about Joyner. Joyner’s CB Rating certainly isn’t anything to write home about (by the way, I feel sorry for you if you are writing home about an NFL player’s CB Rating), but Allen’s 70.46 WR Rating is the seventh best on the slate.
And what we have on tap for Week 9 is likely to be a very chalky Allen, as he is only $7,500 on FanDuel and $7,000 on DraftKings. That is just far too cheap for the amount of volume he sees. Now we throw in this elite macro matchup against Joyner, and it is going to make it even tougher to take an underweight approach on him in tournaments.
Tyler Lockett
Likely CB: Taron Johnson
WR Rating: 69.38
CB Rating: 52.81
CB Yards Per Route Allowed: 1.18
CB QB Rating Allowed: 95.83
This Lockett blurb could almost be a spitting image for what I just wrote about Allen.
For one, the two receivers have extremely similar WR Ratings. I noted that Allen’s was the seventh best on the slate, and the 69.38 for Lockett comes in at ninth.
Furthermore, the exact same thing can be said about the two cornerbacks. The 52.33 for Joyner and the 52.81 for Taron Johnson are right next to each other if you sort by CB Rating in the Matchup Chart. And yes, you do have to scroll quite a bit down to get to them!
And lastly, Lockett is fixing to be quite chalky as well this weekend. In fact, our Projected Ownership at the time I am writing this (Friday morning) has Lockett listed as the highest owned wide receiver on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Allen isn’t too far behind him, coming in second on DraftKings and third on FanDuel.
Just like I said with Allen, this favorable macro matchup for Lockett makes it tough to get away from him. I am already a chalk donkey to begin with, but I gravitate towards it even more when basically every single box is getting checked!