This article will go game by game for the Week 17 Christmas + Saturday slate looking at the top wide receivers from an offense and, based on the inside/outside and left/right splits of those receivers, identify the WR vs. CB matchups likely to occur.
Receivers rarely see the same corner every play, be it due to formation quirks or zone coverage calls by the defense, so a receiver's fortunes depend on much more than just the quality of the corner they're likely to see the most in a given game. Even against a bad corner, a good receiver can be denied the opportunity if the pass rush or something else outside his control complicates things. But it's part of the puzzle, and it's worth keeping track of.
Receivers are left with an Upgrade, Downgrade, or Even verdict based on their projected wide receiver vs. cornerback matchup. This shouldn't be read as "good" or "bad" but rather a measured tweak from the receiver's baseline projection.
Be sure to keep an eye on our NFL injury report and the latest fantasy football news. For player usage updates and roster context, check out RotoWire's NFL Depth Charts, and don't miss the Weekly Projections to see how this week's matchups shape up.
Washington Commanders vs. Dallas Cowboys
COMMANDERS WIDE RECEIVERS
Shavon Revel has the tools to eventually be good and his struggles right now might be in part due to confusion about zone coverages after mostly running press-man at East Carolina, but the fact is still that Revel has been incredibly beatable despite playing every defensive snap for Dallas over the last month. Trevon Diggs returned from a nine-game absence last week yet the Dallas secondary clearly remained awful anyway. No DaRon Bland probably means more Reddy Steward in the slot.
Believe it or not, Steward might be the best of three at their respective positions. Steward still is not concerning at all for Deebo Samuel, however, and in any case Terry McLaurin is much too much for Revel and Diggs. Washington's issue here is the quarterback position – it's not as easy to call this an Upgrade when Josh Johnson or an injured Marcus Mariota is the quarterback.
Upgrade: Terry McLaurin (arguably offset by QB issues), Deebo Samuel (see McLaurin)
Downgrade: N/A
Even: N/A
COWBOYS WIDE RECEIVERS
CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are set up great here. Good as Mike Sainristil can be he is well overmatched as a CB1 in the meantime, especially when the other two cornerback reps are Noah Igbinoghene (base/slot) and Antonio Hamilton (boundary). If Ryan Flournoy (knee) is out then KaVontae Turpin and especially Jonathan Mingo don't get as much benefit of the doubt, though it's certainly a favorable matchup for them, too.
Upgrade: CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens
Downgrade: N/A
Even: KaVontae Turpin
Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions
VIKINGS WIDE RECEIVERS
Jordan Addison has a bizarrely poor history against the Lions, and with Max Brosmer at quarterback it might be difficult to change that trend here despite the fact that corners like Rock Ya-Sin and Amik Robertson simply cannot cover Addison. D.J. Reed is probably capable of holding his own against Addison, but the Lions might more so need Reed to follow around Justin Jefferson. Reed against Justin Jefferson is a mismatch in favor of the latter, but with the Brosmer detail it's difficult to take much for granted. Jalen Nailor is volatile from week to week but can probably land punches on Robertson.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor
LIONS WIDE RECEIVERS
Byron Murphy has played a lot of slot corner lately and with Amon-Ra St. Brown up next that might result in Murphy shadowing St. Brown throughout the game, but (A) Murphy is not a concern for St. Brown and (B) the Vikings might even need to give Murphy more boundary snaps than they'd like, because they badly lack boundary cornerback personnel at the moment. Isaiah Rodgers following Jameson Williams similarly makes sense, because Murphy lacks Williams' speed whereas Rodgers is a low-4.3 guy. Isaac TeSlaa might therefore see the most of Fabian Moreau and otherwise Murphy if Rodgers is following Williams. TeSlaa can definitely get vertical against Murphy's relative lack of speed but the early indications are that this is all TeSlaa can do.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos
CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVERS
Ah, who cares. Chris Oladokun is not supposed to see the field, and especially not against the Broncos. The matchups are bad, the quarterback situation is regrettable... cursed season for the Chiefs.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster
Even: N/A
BRONCOS WIDE RECEIVERS
Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson might both be out, at which point the boundary cornerbacks would probably be Kristian Fulton and Nohl Williams. Those guys might be pretty good despite the downgrade from McDuffie and Watson. Chamarri Conner in the slot is always the weakest one.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Houston Texans
CHARGERS WIDE RECEIVERS
The Houston pass rush could be a big problem here, and the Texans corners are capable of making things difficult even without the pass rush bailing them out... but the pass rush does bail them out pretty regularly, too. That Jalen Pitre can't really cover Ladd McConkey therefore is not necessarily worth much, and guys like Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris likely won't get much going against Derek Stingley. Kamari Lassiter can be torched downfield but he doesn't lose much underneath and the Houston pass rush doesn't let you get far downfield most of the time.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: Quentin Johnston, Tre' Harris
Even: Ladd McConkey
TEXANS WIDE RECEIVERS
The Chargers will always run and hit in the secondary but when it comes to covering a loud talent like Nico Collins you generally need loud talent at the cornerback position, and the Chargers don't quite have that. They have a well-conducted group effort heavy on zone coverages between Donte Jackson (base/boundary), Tarheeb Still (base/slot) and Cam Hart (boundary). Reach and speed are what spread a zone thin, however, and Collins is top-tier in both regards.
Jayden Higgins has the tools to eventually be a player similar to Collins, but Higgins isn't quite as fast as Collins and therefore offers less of a big-play element. It's possible to chop up a zone with quick recognition and standout route running, but in general Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson and Christian Kirk get less benefit of the doubt for the time being.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: Xavier Hutchinson, Christian Kirk
Even: Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins
Green Bay Packers vs. Baltimore Ravens
PACKERS WIDE RECEIVERS
Nightmarish as the Ravens season has been, they still have good cornerback personnel and can make it hard for receivers to get open. Nate Wiggins and Chidobe Awuzie are both tough on the outside, boasting length and speed which is what Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs would prefer to avoid. Tall downfield speed receivers prefer to face short or/and slow corners, and Wiggins/Awuzie are the opposite. Marlon Humphrey in the slot might be the easiest of the three to beat nowadays, yet Watson will need to split his shots there with Jayden Reed. Throw in Green Bay's quarterback woes and the fact that Watson, Doubs and Reed will have to forfeit upwards of 60 snaps to Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks, and it all adds up to a murky picture at best.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: Romeo Doubs
Even: Christian Watson, Jayden Reed
RAVENS WIDE RECEIVERS
Whether it's injured Lamar Jackson (back) or Tyler Huntley at quarterback, the matchup here looks less than great for the Ravens receivers. A healthy Lamar would definitely change that in a hurry, but a compromised Lamar can only do so much, and the Ravens receivers aren't very impactful.
Zay Flowers is of course the closest exception, and like any week he'll need to do the primary lifting for the Ravens receivers. Similarly, Flowers is the one whose ADOT best fits with the popgun range of Huntley's passes. A Huntley offense is not throwing downfield and a hobbled Lamar one might not either, so the passing game will need to reroute toward the underneath if so.
That brings a whole new set of concerns – namely, the Packers will know if the Ravens can't throw downfield, and if they know that then they'll also know they can double-team and crash downward on Flowers with impunity. Those quick throws to Flowers underneath? Green Bay will be ready to swarm those. Rashod Bateman offering a downfield element would help relieve this pressure but Bateman is not even ostensibly a downfield receiver – the Ravens just lazily left him in that role for years out of indifference toward quality. Throw in a quarterback who can't push the ball downfield and it's especially difficult to see what Bateman is supposed to do about any of this.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Zay Flowers (arguable Downgrade if Jackson is out), Rashod Bateman (see Flowers)
