Welcome back to the Cornerback Corner! From Week 2 onwards, you’ll see the “transparency” section of the article here. We’ll be tracking last week’s results by how many players matched or surpassed their projections (were correct, Yahoo/MFL) and how many did not (were wrong). We’ll also be tracking season-long transparency in this section of the article.
Please see any of last season’s Cornerback Corner articles for examples of what this will look like going forward.
Please see THIS if you need a primer on cornerback streaming or what’s being discussed in this article (for new readers, a 20-minute audio podcast primer).
Alignment & utilization metrics will be available starting in Week 2.
The Week 1 edition of this article will utilize last season’s metrics and data, along with a healthy dose of “this is what should happen” and a bit of guesswork, as we’ll have no data from this season to work with as of yet.
From Week 2 onwards, we’ll have our normal metrics and data to help inform our decisions. Personally, I’m leaning on players I KNOW will start and should play every snap for Week 1, and we can start using “smoke and mirrors” in Week 2 after we’ve seen some real data.
The Week 1 article will be longer as I explain some of the thought process for new readers; we’ll be back to our usual 5-7,000 words starting in Week 2. And seriously, listen to the audio primer if this all reads like hieroglyphics.
Last season, these teams used 11 personnel (3 WR sets) the least week to week (go from the bottom up on this list). Your opposing slot corners (Marcus Jones, JaQuan McMillian, Andru Phillips, etc) will likely see a significant reduction in playing time against these teams. Thank you to sumersports.com for the information.
Patriots at Seahawks
Outlook: The Wednesday night game kicking off the 2026/27 season is a Super Bowl rematch. We’ve got an early total of 44.5 points with Seattle favored by a field goal at home. We always like to see a small spread and a higher total (that’s Vegas telling us to expect a shootout and a back-and-forth affair), so we’re off to a good start here.
Seattle was the 9th overall passing offense (YPG) last season, while New England was 4th overall for this ranking. Both teams were among the middle of the pack for average wide receiver targets per game last season. Both teams were within the worst third of the league for 11 personnel usage last season (3 wide receiver sets), so Marcus Jones and whoever ends up playing nickel for Seattle may see fewer snaps than usual.
Beyond that hiccup, we’ve got a nice setup here for Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, and the “known and relied upon” cornerback options on these two teams. I’m comfortable starting both teams’ corners in medium to deeper leagues in Week 1.
New England Patriots
Carlton Davis (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside cornerback slot role, and Davis has and should play close to every snap (barring injury or blowout rest).
Christian Gonzalez (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This was also an outside cornerback slot last season, and Gonzalez should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Marcus Jones (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. With Seattle playing the 29th most 11 personnel last season, Jones could see a reduction in snaps in Week 1 (we saw a very noticeable trend last year where opposing nickel corners were seeing much less playing time against teams that didn’t utilize much 11 personnel). This could be offset a bit if your league has return yards enabled and Jones keeps that additional role and value this season.
Check the note above that references 11 personnel to keep an eye on which teams are utilizing 11 personnel and which teams are not. Your opposing nickel corners will likely see a significant reduction in snaps if they’re going up against a team that does not utilize 11 personnel (3 wide receiver sets) much each week.
Seattle Seahawks
Devon Witherspoon (CB): IDEAL. Witherspoon has been able to thrive and remain productive even with fewer box/slot snaps since Emmanwori joined this defense last season. He’ll very likely be responsible for AJ Brown for a good amount of this game, and that should keep him very busy and guarantee some nice production in Week 1. This is an outside cornerback slot if last season’s trends hold.
Josh Jobe (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only; could be risky. This is very likely Josh Jobe’s role and responsibility, but we haven’t actually seen it yet (Tariq Woolen, Jobe, and others filled in this slot last season), and until we do, I won’t call it anything other than a decent start in deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot.
Nick Emmanwori (S/CB): IDEAL. If your league of record has somehow designated Emmanwori as a cornerback, he becomes an automatic start/set and forget every week this season. He was among the most productive defensive backs in the league last year, and his utilization was almost perfect (he had tons of box/slot snaps). He’ll likely be designated as a safety in your league of record, though, unfortunately.
49ers at Rams
Outlook: We’ve got a massive 48.5-point early total for this NFC West showdown down under in Australia. Los Angeles is favored by a field goal at this neutral site. Once again, that looks good. Close games with a high implied total are what we want for the maximum amount of “plays run” by each offense (more plays offensively equals more defensive snaps for our opposing corners to produce from).
San Francisco was the 5th-best passing offense (YPG) last season, while Los Angeles was the best overall (1st) passing attack in the league last year. Los Angeles had the 4th most wide receiver targets last season, while San Francisco was within the worst third of the league for this ranking.
This is a picture-perfect matchup for our San Francisco corners, but it will be “medium to deeper leagues” for our Los Angeles corners in Week 1 based on this particular setup.
San Francisco 49ers
Deommodore Lenoir (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Lenoir should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Renardo Green (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Green should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Upton Stout (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, could be IDEAL if his utilization is as good as many of us think it will be. But we haven’t seen that yet, so we’re playing it safe for Week 1. Stout will likely be the nickel and should have excellent utilization (lots of box/slot snaps). He should play around 60-80% of snaps.
Los Angeles Rams
Jaylen Watson (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This should be an outside cornerback slot, and Watson should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Trent McDuffie (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside cornerback slot. McDuffie is talented enough to overcome some of these negative factors (49ers wide receiver targets ranking) and will play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Quentin Lake (S/CB): IDEAL, risky. If Lake has similar deployment and playing time to what we saw last season, he should be in for a huge day. We won’t know until we see it, though, and he’ll likely be a safety in your league of record. He should have plenty of box/slot snaps, but we won’t know for sure until Week 2. Lake played the majority of snaps in every game he participated in last season and was incredibly productive in 2025/26.
Bears at Panthers
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Carolina (Spent 150,000 on a football team, wait a minute, that’s not enough to buy a team, spent 150,000 on a tricked-out Porsche, wait Minnesota it snows too much) sits at 47.5 points with Chicago favored by a field goal on the road.
Chicago was a top-10 passing offense last season, while Carolina was in the bottom third of the league for this ranking. Chicago was in the top third of the league for wide receiver targets last season, while Carolina was in the middle of the pack.
This is a nice setup for our Carolina corners up against this stellar Ben Johnson offense, but it will be “deeper leagues only” for our Chicago corners against this “run first” Carolina offense that struggled to feed their wide receivers beyond McMillan last year.
Chicago Bears
Tyrique Stevenson (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside cornerback slot. Stevenson should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest, and we’ve seen him be productive before (plus he’ll probably be responsible for McMillan for a good portion of this game).
Jaylon Johnson (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. This is an outside cornerback slot, and Johnson should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Cam Lewis (S/CB): SIT. Between the bad matchup and us not having seen Lewis’ role yet for Chicago, this has risk written all over it. I’d just skip it unless you’re in a very deep league with fewer options overall.
Carolina Panthers
Jaycee Horn (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside cornerback slot. Horn should play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
Mike Jackson (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside cornerback slot. Jackson should play every snap (just assume I’m adding “barring injury or blowout rest” going forward here). Jackson was extremely productive last season.
Chau Smith-Wade (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. Smith-Wade should be the nickel, but his playing time and production have historically been poor. We need to see it before we believe it.
Bucs at Bengals
Outlook: The early total for this battle of pass-happy offenses sits at a massive 50.5 points with Cincy favored by a field goal at home. Cincy was a top-ten passing offense last season while Tampa Bay was in the middle of the pack (YPG).
Both teams were within the top-ten for wide receiver targets per game last year, and neither defense is the reincarnation of the 85’ Bears. This is a spectacular matchup for either cornerback corps. And for our Tampa Bay corners in particular, let’s take advantage of getting to go up against Joe Burrow and this excellent passing attack while he’s still healthy, since we all know that ship will sail.
This is an ideal matchup across the board (checks all the boxes we’re looking for) and one of my favorite games to stream corner from in Week 1.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Zyon McCollum (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside cornerback slot, and McCollum should play every snap.
Jacob Parrish (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. Parrish is listed as an outside corner in offseason depth charts, but we’ll see where he actually ends up as we head into Week 2. He should play every snap.
Keionte Scott (CB): SIT. Scott is listed as the nickel in a couple of depth charts, but we won’t know that for sure until we see it. I’d just skip it unless you’re desperate and in a much deeper league. Parrish and McCollum are far safer overall.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dax Hill (S/CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, borderline IDEAL. Hill had excellent utilization last season and played every snap in most of the games he played. He is listed as an outside cornerback for this season, but we won’t know that for sure until Week 2.
DJ Turner (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside cornerback slot, and Turner should play every snap.
Jalen Davis (CB): SIT. Davis is listed as the nickel in offseason depth charts, but those are notoriously unreliable. Personally, I would skip this unless in a much deeper league.
We’ll know for Week 2. I don’t recommend guys without some background knowledge to confirm their role and playing time; none exists for Davis with the Bengals (he only played in parts of 2 games last year).
In Week 1 in particular, we have zero byes and all of our cornerback options available. If there’s a situation like Jalen Davis, Keionte Scott, or Cam Lewis, where it’s a newer/less experienced player on a new team, I’ll likely recommend you sit them in Week 1. If it’s a “known quantity” like Trent McDuffie, that’s a different story. We know he’s starting and will play every snap barring injury or blowout rest.
These “other guys,” I won’t be recommending until we see their actual role and playing time; I won’t be responsible for you getting a zero because I felt like shooting from the hip. We’ll know more heading into Week 2 and will be able to make informed start/sit calls on these “iffy” corners.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen offseason depth charts get it wrong heading into Week 1, and we start a corner who doesn’t end up actually playing or plays a different role (wide corner instead of nickel, etc) or has far less playing time than we thought he would.
There will be plenty of time to screw around and use “smoke and mirrors” this season, but Week 1 is not the time to play those games.
Saints at Lions
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Motor City sits at 49.5 with Detroit favored by a touchdown at home. The Lions were the 3rd-best passing offense in yards per game last season, while New Orleans was in the middle of the pack for this ranking last year.
Both teams were within the top ten for wide receiver targets per game last season. We can fire up our New Orleans corners in leagues of all sizes against one of the best overall offenses in the league, which is playing indoors (indoor games average more yards and points per game than outdoor games over the last 12 consecutive seasons) and at home.
And for our Detroit corners, we can fire them up in medium-to-deeper leagues against a solid New Orleans passing attack, but one that will be missing Jordyn Tyson to start the season and may need to rely more on their run game and tight-end targets than usual.
New Orleans Saints
Kool-Aid McKinstry (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside cornerback slot. McKinstry was a top-ten finisher in cornerback production in many leagues last season and should be plenty busy with St. Brown and Williams out there causing havoc in Week 1. He should play every snap.
Quincy Riley (CB): SIT. Not only is Riley questionable to even play in Week 1, but he also has Martin Emerson directly behind him on the depth chart, and Emerson has been a starter before (this feels iffy all around). I don’t work for the Saints, so I doubt they’ll let me know their defensive plans for Week 1, and I’d rather just see how this slot plays out before making any calls on it either way.
Jonas Sanker (S/CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is listed as the nickelback slot in offseason depth charts, but Sanker will likely be designated a safety in your league of merit. If he is a corner, fire away; his utilization should be very nice, and there’s a chance he ends up playing safety while designated a corner, which is always a cheat code for us (safety is generally more consistent and productive week to week than corner).
Detroit Lions
DJ Reed (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot. Reed has been very productive for us in the past and will probably be part of the “slow down Olave” plan in Week 1. He should play every snap.
Keith Abney (CB): SIT. Same reasoning as Riley above. We haven’t seen it yet; offseason depth charts are notoriously inaccurate, and it could just as easily be someone else.
Roger McCreary (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues, risky. McCreary has been a starter before, and a very productive one at that, but this is a new team for him, and we haven’t seen this setup before, so buyer beware. This should be the nickel slot.
Bills at Texans
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Houston is 44.5, with Buffalo favored by 1.5 points. Both teams were in the middle of the pack for passing yards per game last season. Houston was a top-ten team for wide receiver targets last season, while Buffalo ranked in the bottom third of the league in this category but addressed the issue in the offseason with the acquisition of DJ Moore.
We can fire up our Houston corners in medium-to-deeper leagues and hope to see a bunch of DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir targets. And as for our Buffalo corners, this is a pretty good matchup for them on paper, but the loss of Jayden Higgins to injury may cause us to temper expectations heading into Week 1.
Buffalo Bills
Christian Benford (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Benford should play every snap. Benford was also very consistent last season and finished around Patrick Surtain in terms of overall production.
Maxwell Hairston (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot, and Hairston should play every snap.
Dee Alford (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, RISKY. Alford (“Sweet Dee”) was excellent for us last season, but that was in Atlanta. New team, new role. He is listed as the nickel corner; Houston did play a ton of 11-personnel last season, and we’ve seen him excel in this role before. That’s all great, but we haven’t seen it yet in Buffalo, so buyer beware on this one.
Houston Texans
Kamari Lassiter (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and Lassiter should play every snap. Lassiter was the overall cornerback one in many formats last season and had an incredible year of production.
Derek Stingley (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot, and Stingley should play every snap.
Jalen Pitre (S/CB): IDEAL. This is a nickel corner slot, and if we get similar utilization this season, we’re in for another monster year of production. The only hiccup is he might be a safety in your league of merit; everything else looks excellent.
Ravens at Colts
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Indy is 47.5 points, with Baltimore favored by a field goal on the road. Indianapolis was a top-ten team in passing yards per game last season, while Baltimore ranked in the bottom third of the league in this category.
Indy was in the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets last season, while Baltimore was dead last in this category. We can fire up the Glizzy Gobbler and friends in our medium to deeper leagues, but it will be “deeper leagues only or sit” for our Colts corners in Week 1.
Baltimore Ravens
Marlon “Glizzy Gobbler” Humphrey (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and Humphrey will play every snap. Humphrey finished as the 12th-overall corner in production across many league formats last season. However, from weeks 9 through 18 last season, he smashed his projections and finished the season on a 9-game streak of incredible production. This incredible run of production began with him tweeting, “Should I do a glizzy taste test tour around the country one day? 50 states, 50 glizzies”. Since that point, he’s been the “Glizzy Gobbler,” and his insane run to finish out last season helped many people, myself included, secure fantasy titles in their leagues.
Nate Wiggins (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot, and Wiggins should play every snap.
Kyle Hamilton/Unknown (S/CB): IDEAL. The nickel slot currently lists Hamilton as the starter. That doesn’t help us at all. He’s a safety everywhere and unusable for our purposes. We’ll see how this actually shakes out and will have the real information ready for Week 2. Obviously, START Hamilton everywhere; he’s incredible.
Indianapolis Colts
Sauce Gardner (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only (matchup). This is an outside corner slot, and Gardner will play every snap.
Charvarius Ward (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot, and Ward should play every snap.
Justin Walley (CB): SIT. Not only does the matchup stink, but we’ve never seen this guy before, so we don’t know his actual role, utilization, or playing time. We’ll readjust in Week 2 after we’ve seen some real information.
Browns at Jaguars
Outlook: The early total for this likely defensive struggle is just 40.5 points, with Jacksonville favored by a touchdown on the road. Jacksonville was in the top-third of the league for passing yards per game last season, while Cleveland was the second-worst team across the league for this ranking.
Jacksonville was also a top-ten team for wide receiver targets per game last year, while Cleveland was, once again, second-worst across the league for this ranking in 2025/26. We can fire up our Cleveland corners in an ideal matchup, but for our Jacksonville corners, it will be “deeper leagues only” or, even better, just skip it/sit.
Cleveland Browns
Denzel Ward (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Ward should play every snap.
Tyson Campbell (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and Campbell should play every snap. He finished as the cornerback four overall in many formats last season. The matchup is correct, we know he’ll play a ton, and he’s shown us incredible production in recent history; that’s the recipe for an IDEAL corner in Week 1.
Utilization metrics are the last piece of that “IDEAL” puzzle, and we’ll have that information from Week 2 onwards.
Myles Harden (CB): SOLID, medium to deep leagues, risky. Harden was the nickel last season as well but didn’t play much or produce much. The matchup is correct, but there are probably better options to choose from.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Travis Hunter (WR/CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and (according to offseason reporting) Hunter should play a ton more at corner this season. His value comes from the offensive snaps he’ll also be seeing. If we get a handful of combined tackles but also add 3 or 4 catches for 20-40 yards each week, that’s an incredible floor to work with and the opportunity for some massive weeks if/when he scores a touchdown.
Montaric Brown (CB): SIT. This is an outside corner slot, and Brown should play every snap, but the matchup stinks, and he wasn’t super-productive last season. There are better options elsewhere.
Jourdan Lewis (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. He played a similar nickel role last season and saw heavy utilization. The matchup stinks, though, so I wouldn’t do it unless in a much deeper league.
Falcons at Steelers
Outlook: The early total for this battle in the Steel City is 41.5 points, with Pittsburgh favored by a field goal at home. Both teams were in the middle of the pack for passing yards per game last season. Atlanta was in the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets last season, while Pittsburgh was the 3rd-worst team in the league for this ranking.
Pittsburgh addressed this issue in the offseason with the acquisition of Michael Pittman, but until we actually see an increase in wide receiver targets each week, we can’t take that as gospel.
In general, we can fire up both sets of corners in deeper leagues only. We discussed Pittsburgh’s horrendous wide receiver target tendencies; that’s why. And Tua is now under center for Atlanta; he stinks to high heaven and is one good hit away from the retirement home since he refuses to wear the Guardian Cap, which caps the Steelers corners’ value in this matchup.
Atlanta Falcons
AJ Terrell (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only; this is an outside corner slot. Terrell should play every snap.
Mike Hughes (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only; this is an outside corner slot. Hughes should play every snap.
Billy Bowman (CB): SIT. Pittsburgh played the 2nd-fewest 11-personnel last season; Bowman is questionable to play in the first place, and this was “Sweet Dee” Alford’s slot last season (we don’t know if Bowman will have exactly the same role). We’ll readjust in Week 2.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Joey Porter Jr (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot. Porter Jr should play every snap.
Jamel Dean (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only, risky. Dean came over from Tampa Bay, so we haven’t seen it yet. This should be an outside corner slot, and he should play every snap; that’s not set in stone until we see it, though.
Jalen Ramsey (S/CB): IDEAL. He had fantastic usage last season, has always been extremely productive, and his playing time has never fluctuated as much as that of other “nickel corners”. He may be designated as a safety in your league of merit. He should play every snap.
Jets at Titans
Outlook: The early total for this dumpster-fire likely defensive struggle sits at 39.5 points, with Tennessee favored by a field goal at home. If we actually get to 40 points in this one, I’ll be as shocked as I would be if I had digested Taco Bell successfully.
Both teams were in the “worst 3 teams” across the league for passing yards per game last season. Tennessee was in the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets last season, but Cam Ward only averaged 19 completions per game last year, with many of those completions to the tight end or running back position.
And New York was in the worst third of the league for wide receiver targets last year. I’m skipping this one myself, but we may have some decent “warm bodies” for much deeper leagues if needed.
New York Jets
Nahshon Wright (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot, and Wright should play every snap. He managed to parlay a fantastic season in Chicago into a new contract and a starting role in New York, but the matchup is hot garbage, and he’s questionable to even play in the first place. Buyer beware.
Brandon Stephens (CB): SIT. This is an outside corner slot, and he should play every snap. The matchup stinks though, so I’m not recommending it.
Jarvis Brownlee (CB): SIT. Brownlee came over from Tennessee, so we haven’t seen exactly what his role will be yet. Beyond that, the matchup stinks. Skip it, and we’ll readjust in Week 2.
Tennessee Titans
Cor’Dale Flott (CB): SIT. We haven’t seen Flott in this role yet; the matchup stinks, and there’s no need to chase this (especially in Week 1, where we actually have all 96 corners available to us for use).
Alontae Taylor (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot on paper. Taylor will play every snap. He’s been an incredibly productive corner for us for years, but the matchup stinks, which limits his upside in Week 1.
Marcus Harris (CB): SIT. Same reasoning as the other “sits” for this one. He should be the nickel according to offseason depth charts, and New York actually did run a ton of 11-personnel last season, but we’ll wait and see.
Cardinals at Chargers
Outlook: The early total for this likely shootout is 47.5 points, with Los Angeles favored by 9.5 points at home. Arizona was a top-ten team for passing yards per game last season, while Los Angeles was in the middle of the pack. Los Angeles had the second-most wide receiver targets last year, while Arizona was in the middle of the pack.
We can fire up our Arizona corners in an ideal matchup (leagues of all sizes), and “medium to deeper leagues” makes sense for our Los Angeles corners for this matchup.
Arizona Cardinals
Will Johnson (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Johnson should play every snap.
Denzel Burke (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, could be risky. This slot saw a ton of fluctuation last season, but we did see Burke start 8 games and be fairly productive. The matchup is correct, but the slot itself isn’t set in stone from my point of view, so it could be risky.
Garrett Williams (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This should be the nickel role, and Williams played around 70% of snaps each week last season if I’m recalling that correctly.
Los Angeles Chargers
Cam Hart (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot. Hart did start 6 games for Los Angeles last season, so this tracks, especially with the departure of many of the corners who were in the mix for a starting role last year.
Donte Jackson (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, risky. This is an outside corner slot. We’ve seen Jackson as the starter in this slot before, but last season he had only 40 combined tackles across 15 starts and 17 games. There are better options elsewhere.
Tarheeb Still (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. Still is listed as the nickel, so we’re probably looking at 60-70% of snaps or so.
Dolphins at Raiders
Outlook: The early total for this battle at the Death Star sits at 39.5 points, with Vegas favored by a field goal at home. Both teams are rolling out new quarterbacks under center, and both teams were in the worst third of the league for passing yards per game last season.
Both teams were also in the bottom third of the league for wide receiver targets last season. I’m probably just skipping this one completely for my own cornerback streams, but we’ll list the relevant options here as is tradition.
Miami Dolphins
Jason Marshall (CB): SIT. Marshall started exactly one game in his career. I won’t be recommending him until I see more than that.
Juju Brents (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot. Brents has at least started games before, so the odds are good we can trust him to play many snaps and that we won't get “rug pulled” on this.
Chris Johnson (CB): SIT. We’ve never seen him before, and the matchup is questionable at best. We’ll readjust in Week 2.
Las Vegas Raiders
Eric Stokes (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot. Stokes has been a starter a couple of times throughout his career, so this tracks.
Darien Porter (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot. Porter did start 10 games last season, so this tracks.
Taron Johnson (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. Taron has a long history of excellent production from the nickel slot, but the matchup stinks, and he’s on a new team (we can’t know his exact role for sure since I don’t work for the Raiders/they won’t tell me ahead of time).
Packers at Vikings
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Minnesota is 46.5 points, with Green Bay favored by just 1.5 points on the road. Green Bay was in the middle of the pack for passing yards per game last season. Minnesota was one of the worst teams in the league for this ranking, but has since upgraded from “Nine” and brought in Kyler, who can actually complete passes.
Both teams were in the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets last season. We can fire up both cornerback corps in medium-to-deeper leagues and hope for a shootout/back-and-forth affair that Vegas seems to think we’ll be getting.
Green Bay Packers
Keisean Nixon (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot. Nixon will play every snap. Nixon is one of our best “set and forget” cornerback options, period. He’ll likely be busy with Jefferson and Addison, and in a vacuum, it’s never a bad idea to trust Keisean Nixon.
Carrington Valentine (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. This is an outside corner slot. Valentine will play every snap, but he only put up a couple of combined tackles per game last season and has never been very productive, good matchup or not.
Javon Bullard (S/CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. He may be designated as a safety in your league of merit.
Minnesota Vikings
Charles Demmings (CB): SIT. We haven’t seen any NFL snaps from Demmings yet, and it’s the Packers with a bunch of untrustworthy wide receivers, not the second-coming of the 99’ Rams. We can skip it for now, and we’ll readjust next week.
James Pierre (CB): SIT. This is the first time I’ve seen Pierre in Minnesota, and this matchup isn’t good enough to override my natural inclination in this situation, which is to wait and see some snaps first before making any calls on him either way.
Byron Murphy (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. Murphy is listed as the nickel, but I highly doubt he’ll see “nickel playing time” (60-80% of snaps). He should play every snap and has traditionally been a very productive corner in IDP.
Commanders at Eagles
Outlook: The early total for this NFC East showdown is 44.5 points, with Philly favored by 5.5 points at home. Both teams were in the bottom third of the league for passing yards per game last season. Both teams were in the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets last year.
We can fire up our normal options in medium to deeper leagues, and we’re looking good for this one.
Washington Commanders
Rasul Douglas (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues, risky. Douglas is a known quantity and has been a starter elsewhere in his career. This is an outside corner slot, and he should play every snap. We just haven’t seen it in Washington yet, so there’s some risk attached.
Mike Sainristil (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot on paper, but Sainristil showed good usage last season. He should play every snap.
Amik Robertson (CB): SIT. This is a corner that’s never really been a locked-in starter, and he’s on a new team. We’re unsure of the role and how much playing time we’ll be seeing, and the matchup isn’t good enough for us to risk it. We’ll readjust in Week 2.
Philadelphia Eagles
Cooper DeJean (CB): IDEAL. Despite his position being “nickel”, he never suffered the “nickel playing time” issues we commonly saw from others at that position. His utilization and alignment last season were also literally perfect. He finished as the overall No. 1 cornerback in IDP production across many league formats last season. He’s a “set and forget” option at corner for our IDP leagues.
Quinyon Mitchel (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot, and Mitchel should play every snap.
Tariq Woolen (CB): SIT. He’s listed as a starter and has been a starter before in Seattle, so this should be fine. We haven’t seen it yet, though, so I’m landing on the side of caution, and we’ll readjust in Week 2.
Cowboys at Giants
Outlook: The early total for this NFC East battle is 48.5 points, with Dallas favored by a field goal on the road. Dallas had the second-most passing yards per game last season, while New York was in the middle of the pack.
Dallas had the most wide receiver targets per game last year, while New York was in the middle of the pack once again. We can fire up our New York corners in an ideal matchup, but it will be “medium to deep leagues” for our Dallas corners in Week 1.
Dallas Cowboys
DaRon Bland (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues. This is an outside corner slot on paper, and Bland should play every snap. Bland set the pick-six record a couple of seasons ago and had nice utilization/alignment last year.
Cobie Durant (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, somewhat risky. Durant is a known quantity, but we haven’t seen his exact role or playing time in Dallas yet, so there’s some risk here. This is an outside corner slot, and he should play every snap.
Caleb Downs (S/CB): IDEAL. It’s highly unlikely that he’s designated as a corner in your league of merit, but he’s currently listed as the nickel on depth charts. If you can start him at corner, absolutely do that and leave him in that slot all season. He’ll be a safety just about everywhere, would be my guess, though.
New York Giants
Paulson Adebo (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and Adebo will play every snap. He is questionable, but if he can play, he’s an incredibly productive corner in a picture-perfect matchup.
Greg Newsome (CB): SOLID, medium to deeper leagues, somewhat risky. This is an outside corner slot, and Newsome should play every snap. He’s been a starter before in Cleveland, but we haven’t seen it yet in New York, so there’s some risk here.
Andru Phillips (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, borderline IDEAL. Phillips is listed as the nickel, which tracks from what we saw last season. Dallas does play a ton of 11-personnel, and Phillips’ utilization was very good last season.
Broncos at Chiefs
Outlook: The early total for this AFC West battle is 43.5 points, with Kansas City favored by a field goal at home. Denver was in the top third of the league for passing yards per game last season, while Kansas City was in the middle of the pack. Losing Mahomes transformed this once excellent passing attack into a shell of itself to finish out last season.
Denver was a top-ten team for wide receiver targets last season; Kansas City is in the middle of the pack for this ranking. Kansas City was in the top ten for wide receiver targets for much of last season until the Mahomes injury. We can fire up our cornerback options on either team in leagues of all sizes in this matchup, which is ideal across the board.
Denver Broncos
Patrick Surtain (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Surtain will play every snap.
For the best IDP cornerback production, we want guys that are good enough to keep their job, but bad enough to get picked on a bit. Surtain’s real-world talent usually doesn’t translate well for IDP because of that talent. Opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators tend to try and avoid Mr. Surtain, and with good reason.
Riley Moss (CB): IDEAL. This is an outside corner slot, and Moss should play every snap. Moss finished last season in the top ten for IDP cornerback production in most league formats.
The “lesser of all evils” effect is something we talk about when it comes to cornerback streaming. If you’re the opposing quarterback and you drop back to pass, are you throwing to the guy who’s covered by Riley Moss or the guy covered by Patrick Surtain?
Whether it’s a conscious or subconscious decision, we’ve seen this trend play out over the years with players such as Surtain or even Daryl Revis back in his day. The “other corners” tend to be picked on when you have a corner as talented as Surtain on the field, and Moss has benefited from this quite a bit so far in his career.
Ja’Quan McMillian (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is a nickel slot. McMillian might see fewer snaps against a Chiefs team that ran 11-personnel the 21st most in the league last season, but otherwise he is locked and loaded.
Kansas City Chiefs
L’Jarius Sneed (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes. This is an outside corner slot, and Sneed should play every snap. He is questionable, but if he ends up active, he’s a good option for Week 1.
Mansoor Delane (CB): SOLID, leagues of all sizes, RISKY. This is an outside corner slot, and Delane should play every snap. However, rookie corners starting immediately and playing full snaps immediately is exceedingly rare. This could just as easily be Kristian Fulton (who is behind him on the depth chart) or some combination of Delane and Fulton or Delane and someone else. I don’t work for the Chiefs, so I doubt they’ll clue me in, which means there’s risk here, even though most offseason depth charts agree he’ll get the start.
Jadon Canady (CB): SIT. This is the nickel slot on paper, and another rookie getting the start according to offseason depth charts. Delane had first-round draft capital, while Canady was only a 4th-round pick, so I’m far less confident in this. I’m just going to wait and see, and we’ll readjust in Week 2.
Byes this week: None
My Favorite Matchups, Week 1:
49ers corners vs LAR
Panthers corners vs CHI
Bucs at Bengals, either side
Cleveland corners vs JAX
Cardinals corners vs LAC
Giants corners vs DAL
Broncos at Chiefs, either side (assuming Mahomes is playing/healthy)
Week 1 Corners at a Glance:
These are not in any particular order or ranking; they are just divided into the sections you see below. I typically identify the best matchups (see above) and then the best options within those matchups to find my favorite streaming options each week.
*If you see player/player, that means starter/direct replacement*
IDEAL (our best options):
Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori
Quentin Lake
Kamari Lassiter, Jalen Pitre
Marlon “Glizzy Gobbler” Humphrey, Kyle Hamilton
Tyson Campbell, Travis Hunter
Jalen Ramsey
Keisean Nixon
Cooper DeJean
Caleb Downs, Paulson Adebo
Riley Moss
SOLID (matchup or playing time isn’t perfect, best in medium to deeper leagues):
Carlton Davis, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Josh Jobe
Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green, Upton Stout, Jaylon Watson, Trent McDuffie
Tyrique Stevenson, Jaylon Johnson, Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson, Chau Smith-Wade
Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish, Dax Hill, DJ Turner
Koolaid McKinstry, Jonas Sanker, DJ Reed, Roger McCreary
Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston, Dee Alford, Derek Stingley
Nate Wiggins, Sauce Gardner, Chavarious Ward
Denzel Ward, Myles Harden, Jourdan Lewis
AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, Joey Porter Jr, Jamel Dean
Nahshon Wright, Alontae Taylor
Will Johnson, Denzel Burke, Garrett Williams, Cam Hart, Donte Jackson, Tarheeb Still
Juju Brents, Eric Stokes, Darien Porter, Taron Johnson
Carrington Valentine, Javon Bullard, Byron Murphy
Rasul Douglas, Mike Sainristil, Quinyon Mitchell
Daron Bland, Cobie Durant, Greg Newsome, Andru Phillips
Patrick Surtain, JaQuan McMillian, L’Jarius Sneed, Mansoor Delane
TRAPS (sit these players):
Cam Lewis
Keionte Scott, Jalen Davis
Quincy Riley, Keith Abney
Justin Walley
Montaric Brown
Billy Bowman
Brandon Stephens, Jarvis Brownlee, Cor’Dale Flott, Marcus Harris
Jason Marshall, Chris Johnson
Charles Demmings, James Pierre
Amik Robertson, Tariq Woolen
Jadon Canady
Reminder: these are only suggestions. Your lineup is your responsibility and yours alone. However, these are the same moves I’m making myself, so we sink or swim together. Remember to check for inactive players before kickoff to prevent any surprise zeroes.
For any questions/comments, to discuss specific cornerback streams, or to talk IDP in general, hit up my Twitter or email me at Johnysmack3141@yahoo.com.
Thank you for reading, and good luck this week! Go get those titles!
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