Johny The Greek's Cornerback Corner: Week 3
Johny The Greek's Cornerback Corner: Week 3
What are the best CB options for IDP fantasy football leagues in Week 3?
Welcome back to the Cornerback Corner! As is tradition, we’ll start with some transparency and then get right into this week’s calls.
Last week I made 75 different calls for leagues of all shapes and sizes. Of those 75 calls, 4 were declared inactive or injured during play, so subtracting those players we’re left with 71 adjusted calls.
Of those, 51 were correct (matched, beat, or were within a slim margin of their projection on Yahoo and MFL), and 20 were incorrect (didn’t match or beat projection and weren’t even close), giving us 71% accuracy for Week 2.
Of those 51 correct calls, 22 of them were “massive hits” (doubled, tripled, or more, their projection), giving us a 43% massive hit rate on correct calls for Week 2.
We sit at 74% accuracy overall for the season with 38% of all correct calls ending up as “massive hits.”
Week 1: 78% accuracy, 34% massive hit rate
Week 2: 71% accuracy, 43% massive hit rate
Team rankings for offense, wide receiver targets, and completions per game (for opposing quarterbacks) are still in flux. We’ve only seen two weeks’ worth of real data so far. We’ll do the best we can to get a good “read” on these offenses for now and as we get further into the season it will become easier and easier to identify the opposing offenses we want to stream our IDP cornerbacks against.
Also, there are many new readers, and it’s come to my attention that many may not be familiar with the concepts we’re discussing here, please see THIS or THIS if you need a primer in cornerback streaming or what’s being discussed in this article.
Thanks for reading!
Patriots at Jets
Outlook: The early over/under for this Thursday game (which are traditionally terrible to begin with) is sitting at 38.5 points which suggests a defensive struggle. Rodgers and the Jets completed 18 passes on 30 attempts with only 12 of those targets going to their wide receivers last week. That’s not great.
For New England, Brisset completed just 15 passes on 27 attempts with 19 of those 27 attempts going to their tight ends or running backs. That’s even worse. Safe to say this is the kind of setup where “deeper leagues only” is an understatement. Beyond Christian Gonzalez and DJ Reed (if he can play), I’ll be skipping this one completely.
Reminder: “Solid” means they’ll at least play enough to be an option, but you shouldn’t be considering these players anywhere but in medium to deeper leagues if at all possible. Unfortunately, we have quite a few bad matchups this week, so it is what it is for Week 3.
New England Patriots
Christian Gonzalez (CB): SOLID, Gonzalez played 99% of snaps last week, he or DJ Reed (if he can go) would be my two preferred options in this matchup.
Marcus Jones (CB): SOLID, he played 80% of snaps last week but picked up a knee injury reportedly. There’s a reinjury risk here but if your league also has return yards I would feel good about starting him, those extra points may offset the overall risk somewhat.
Jonathan Jones (CB): SOLID, he played 80% of snaps last week.
New York Jets
Sauce Gardner (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
DJ Reed/Brandin Echols (CB): Echols was the direct replacement for Reed and played 100% of snaps last week. If Reed can play I would start him as a SOLID option who will play every snap (barring reinjury). If he can’t go then Echols becomes an option, one that I would skip due to the matchup, but should play enough to at least be a “warm body” if you need it.
Michael Carter (CB): SIT, he only played 45% of snaps last week and is coming off of an injury.
Giants at Browns
Outlook: We’ve also got an early over/under of 38.5 points for this one in Cleveland. The eyeball test on both of these offenses in the first two weeks confirms the Vegas call on that, we’ve got another stinker on our hands.
Daniel Jones completed 16 passes on 28 attempts last week, however, 22 of those 28 targets were to their wide receivers, and 18 of them were to Malik Nabers. Deshaun Watson completed 22 passes on 34 attempts last week with 27 of those targets going to their wide receivers.
We’ve got some value here, while neither quarterback has been particularly effective, they both at least target their wide receivers enough to give our opposing corners some value. It will be deeper leagues only once more, but it’s something.
New York Giants
Deonte Banks (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Dru Phillips (CB): SOLID, he played 92% of snaps last week and had a massive box score, he may be picked on a bit as “the lesser of two evils” between him and Banks.
Cor’Dale Flott (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only due to the matchup and he only played 82% of snaps last week.
Cleveland Browns
Denzel Ward (CB): SIT, Ward was injured after 18% of snaps last week.
Cameron Mitchell (CB): SIT, he was the direct Ward replacement last week but it’s not set in stone and this isn’t a matchup where we need to “chase” this at all.
Martin Emerson (CB): SOLID, he played 97% of snaps last week.
Greg Newsome (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only due to matchup and poor production so far, he played 97% of snaps last week.
Bears at Colts
Outlook: The early over/under for this one sits at 45.5 points and the game itself is indoors (where we’ve seen more passing yards and points compared to outdoor games the last 10 seasons consecutively), we’re off to a nice start. Anthony Richardson was better in Week 2, completing 17 passes on 34 attempts with well over half of those attempts going to his wide receivers.
Caleb Williams was also better in Week 2, he completed 23 passes on 37 attempts with 19 of those attempts going to the Chicago wide receiver corps. Keenan Allen was inactive so we’re missing his target share in those stats as well.
We’ve got some decent value for our Indianapolis options but despite the improved Week 2, Anthony Richardson still isn’t giving us what we need for solid opposing cornerback streaming. Deeper leagues only for our Chicago options in Week 3.
Chicago Bears
Tyrique Stevenson (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Jaylon Johnson (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Kyler Gordon (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues due to only 82% of snaps last week and the matchup.
Indianapolis Colts
Kenny Moore (CB): IDEAL, Kenny played 100% of snaps last week and could be a week-winner any time he’s on the field no matter the matchup.
Jaylon Jones (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Juju Brents (CB): SIT, on IR.
No significant third CB last week
Texans at Vikings
Outlook: We’ve got a 46.5-point early over/under for this one and, assuming Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison can play (preferably both), plenty of firepower to drive the value up for this matchup. Sam Darnold completed 17 passes on 26 attempts with just over half of those targets going to their wide receivers last week.
The health of Jefferson and Addison will be the deciding factor on how much we like our Houston corners this week, we’ve been missing Addison’s target share so far this season.
CJ Stroud completed 23 passes on 36 attempts with 21 of those targets going to Houston wide receivers. He remains one of the premier quarterbacks in the league and the talent in this Houston wide receivers room helps make them ideal to stream corner against every week.
This is a pretty nice setup for cornerback streaming and should give us some solid value for both cornerback corps. Keep an eye on injury reports and inactives, I’d abandon ship on our Houston options if both Jefferson and Addison can’t go, Minnesota would probably go with a much more run-heavy game script if that were to occur.
Houston Texans
Derek Stingley (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Kamari Lassiter (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
No significant third CB option
Minnesota Vikings
Byron Murphy (CB): SOLID, he played 79% of snaps last week but should play more against this high-flying Houston passing attack.
Shaq Griffin (CB): SIT, he only played 43% of snaps last week.
Stephon Gilmore (CB): IDEAL, he played 97% of snaps last week and has a spectacular matchup.
Josh Metellus (CB/S): IDEAL, he’s incorrectly designated on several sites and played 71% of snaps last week as a safety seeing 60% plus of his snaps in the box or slot. He saw 80% plus of his snaps in the box or slot in Week 1.
Eagles at Saints
Outlook: Vegas has the early over/under for this one at a massive 48.5 points, which tracks based on what we’ve seen from these two offenses to start the season. Derek Carr only completed 11 passes on 16 attempts with 10 of those targets going to his wide receivers but this game was over almost instantly. New Orleans ran it down the throat of Dallas, just like Cleveland should have done in Week 1, that’s been a known weakness since last season.
Carr and company will very likely have to throw far more often against a better opponent like the Eagles.
Jalen Hurts completed 23 passes on 30 attempts with 18 of those targets going to the Philly wide receivers. We were missing AJ Brown this week and he’s usually a large chunk of wide receiver targets by himself. Our New Orleans options will have value regardless, and more value if Brown can play this week.
We’ve got a pretty nice setup here across the board, start all the “usual suspects” and let’s hope the game script lines up to give us a shootout and an ideal environment for cornerback production.
Philadelphia Eagles
Darius Slay (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Quinyon Mitchell (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Avonte Maddox (CB): SOLID, he played 90% of snaps last week.
New Orleans Saints
Marshon Lattimore/Koolaid McKinstry (CB): With Lattimore inactive last week, McKinstry played 87% of snaps as his direct replacement. If Lattimore can go I would SIT him this week due to the elevated risk of reinjury and the likelihood they would “ease him back in” to the lineup (we’ve seen this before in previous seasons). If Lattimore is inactive then Koolaid becomes a SOLID option.
Alontae Taylor (CB): IDEAL, he played 94% of snaps last week and has been red hot to start the season.
Paulson Adebo (CB): IDEAL, he played 96% of snaps last week and has been very productive to start the year as well.
Chargers at Steelers
Outlook: We’ve got another possible stinker here with the 36.5-point early over/under from Vegas, not to mention neither of these teams has focused on their passing game to start the season. Justin Fields completed just 13 passes on 20 attempts with 10 of those targets going to their wide receivers. And it probably doesn’t matter if it’s Fields or Wilson, neither is 2007 Tom Brady.
Justin Herbert completed 14 passes on 20 attempts with 12 of those targets going to their wide receivers. We know Herbert is capable of slinging it but this Chargers team continues to focus on the run to the tune of 219 team rushing yards last week and just as good a performance in Week 1.
Our Pittsburgh options may have some value if their defense can shut down the run and force Los Angeles to try and throw it, but in general, this is another “deeper leagues only” type of matchup.
Los Angeles Chargers
Elijah Molden (CB/S): Molden was the Alohi Gilman replacement last week and played 100% of snaps, if Gilman is inactive again this week then we have a safety incorrectly designated as a corner (at least on Yahoo, who knows where else) and a cheat code situation. IDEAL if that situation were to occur. Otherwise, SIT. Molden won’t have any value unless Gilman is inactive.
Asante Samuel Jr (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues due to the matchup, he played 92% of snaps last week.
Kristian Fulton (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues due to the matchup, he played 90% of snaps last week.
Ja’Sir Taylor (CB): SOLID, super insanely deep leagues due to the matchup and only playing 85% of snaps last week.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Joey Porter Jr (CB): SOLID, he played 98% of snaps last week.
Donte Jackson (CB): SOLID, he played 89% of snaps last week.
Beanie Bishop (CB): SIT, he only played 64% of snaps last week (plus a crappy matchup).
Broncos at Buccaneers
Outlook: The early over/under for this one sits at 39.5 points, which suggests another defensive battle. Bo Nix was better in Week 2, he completed 20 passes on 35 attempts with about half of those targets going to the Denver wide receivers. It’s still far from ideal though, it will be deeper leagues only for any Tampa Bay options.
Baker Mayfield completed 12 passes on 19 attempts with 16 of those targets going to their wide receivers. The early season passing offense has been terrible so far, that much is beyond obvious, at least the Tampa Bay passing attack looked excellent in Week 1.
Despite that, it looks like we’ve got some nice value for our Denver corners against this Tampa Bay team that can pass the ball effectively (as we saw in Week 1 and all last season) while we should be hesitant with our Tampa Bay corners against this rookie who continues to struggle.
Denver Broncos
Patrick Surtain (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Riley Moss (CB): SOLID, he played 92% of snaps last week.
Jaquan McMillian (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only, his playing time dropped to just 56% of snaps last week but they played the Steelers, not the 1999 Rams, so it tracks.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Zyon McCollum (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Jamel Dean (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Christian Izien (CB/S): SOLID, Izien played 100% of snaps as the Antoine Winfield Jr replacement last week and was playing safety while designated a corner. This would be ideal except the matchup is horrendous. SIT him if Winfield can play, but that’s not looking likely.
Packers at Titans
Outlook: The early over/under for this one confirms what I knew before even looking, at just 36.5 points we’ve got another stinker on our hands. Malik Willis only completed 12 whole passes on 14 attempts with 9 or so of those targets going to his wide receivers. The Packers opted to run the living crap out of the ball instead last week and it worked to perfection against Indy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Will Levis completed 19 passes on 28 attempts with 14 of those targets going to the Tennessee wide receivers. He improved from Week 1 and has the weapons to make this happen for us at some point, I’m just not sure it will be Week 3. We’ll go “deeper leagues only” to play it safe for our cornerback options on both teams.
Green Bay Packers
Jaire Alexander (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Eric Stokes/Carrington Valentine (CB): Stokes played 43% of snaps while Valentine was in for 57% last week. This role could be shifting hands, regardless it’s too dangerous for us to mess with and this matchup isn’t worth chasing. SIT them both.
Keisean Nixon (CB): SOLID, he played 84% of snaps last week and is closer to IDEAL if your league has return yards.
Tennessee Titans
L’Jarius Sneed (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week and the slow start doesn’t concern me, this is cornerback production, not linebacker production, it’s not uncommon to have weeks (plural) of stinkers in a row. We know what Sneed is capable of, I’m not jumping ship just yet.
Chidobe Awuzie (CB): SOLID, he played 93% of snaps last week.
Roger McCreary (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues due to the 65% snap share last week, he still beat his projection handily but availability is the best ability.
Panthers at Raiders
Outlook: We’ve got another lower over/under at 38.5 for this one, the good matchups are still coming I promise. Bryce Young completed 18 passes on 26 attempts with 12 of those going to the Carolina wide receivers, any IDP cornerback production for the Raiders may have to be “splash play” related and we know that’s never a great bet. It will be deeper leagues only for Nate Hobbs and company. Andy Dalton will take over in Week 3 but that doesn’t move the needle much for me, yet anyway.
Gardner Minshew was excellent last week completing 30 passes on 38 attempts with 19 of those targets going to the Las Vegas wide receivers. We’ve got some nice value for our Carolina corners here. They’ll likely enjoy some extra defensive snaps as the Chargers dominated time of possession last week handily (36 minutes to 24) and it’s a good bet that Las Vegas does the same. It’s half of a good matchup at the minimum, possibly better if Andy Dalton can complete some passes for us.
Carolina Panthers
Jaycee Horn (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Mike Jackson (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Troy Hill (CB): SIT, he only played 39% of snaps last week.
Las Vegas Raiders
Nate Hobbs (CB): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week and despite the slow start can be a “week winner” any time he plays football.
Jack Jones (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Jakorian Bennett (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues due to his 71% of snaps last week and limited playing time overall so far this season.
Dolphins at Seahawks
Outlook: What could have been a shootout is now predicted by Vegas to be a lower-scoring affair with just a 41.5 point over/under. The Tua injury killed any shot of a back-and-forth affair in this one.
Skylar Thompson only saw limited playing time in relief of the injured Tua last week, he threw for 8 completions on 14 attempts. In general, Miami targeted their wide receivers plenty in Week 2, but that ship has sailed. Beyond Witherspoon, I’m probably all set here for our Seattle options, deeper leagues only unless it’s Devon Witherspoon.
Geno Smith completed 33 passes on 44 attempts last week with 35 of those targets going to the Seattle wide receivers. Seattle may not need to pass as often to beat a hobbled Miami team but, on paper, this is good value. We can fire up our normal Miami cornerback options and feel pretty good about it.
Miami Dolphins
Jalen Ramsey (CB): SOLID, he played 91% of snaps last week.
Kader Kohou (CB): SOLID, ideally in deeper leagues as a CB3 plus, he only played 60% of snaps last week but many players sat late due to the blowout. His snaps weren’t much better in Week 1 however.
Kendall Fuller (CB): SOLID, he played 91% of snaps last week.
Seattle Seahawks
Devon Witherspoon (CB): IDEAL, he played 97% of snaps last week and matchup doesn’t matter with him.
Tariq Woolen (CB): SOLID, he played 97% of snaps last week.
Tre Brown (CB): SIT, he only played 57% of snaps last week and the matchup isn’t great now that Tua is out.
Lions at Cardinals
Outlook: We’ve got a massive 51.5 points over/under for this one and I can’t argue. Both of these offenses have looked stellar this season. Jared Goff completed 34 passes on 55 attempts last week with nearly 40 of those targets going to the Detroit wide receiving corps. We can fire up our Arizona corners with confidence this week.
Kyler Murray completed 17 passes on 21 attempts with about half of those targets going to the Arizona wide receivers. The Cardinals were also never in danger last week and blew away the Rams from start to finish, in a closer matchup they’ll very likely need to throw more often. I feel pretty good about our Detroit corners here as well with that in mind. It’s a beautiful matchup across the board.
Detroit Lions
Carlton Davis (CB): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Terrion Arnold (CB): SOLID, he played 92% of snaps last week.
Brian Branch (CB/S): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Amik Robertson (CB): SIT, he only played 34% of snaps last week.
Arizona Cardinals
Garrett Williams (CB): SOLID, he played 85% of snaps last week then sat due to the blowout.
Sean Murphy Bunting (CB): SOLID, he played 85% of snaps last week then sat due to the blowout.
Starling Thomas/Max Melton (CB): SIT, Thomas played 67% of snaps while Melton played 48% of snaps last week, this slot appears to be in flux and neither is playing enough or “safe” enough to trust this week, especially when we consider their historical production (or lack thereof).
Ravens at Cowboys
Outlook: We’ve got another juicy matchup here with a massive 48-point early over/under, indoors in Jerry-world. Despite being known as a “run first” team, the Ravens and Lamar Jackson have been throwing the ball a ton through the first two weeks of the season. Jackson completed 21 passes on 34 attempts with just over half of those targets going to their wide receivers. Our Dallas options will have value.
Dak Prescott completed 27 passes on 39 attempts with 25 of those targets going to their wide receivers. We know the Cowboys, bother them even slightly and they’ll abandon their run game and throw it all over the yard. Marlon Humphrey and our Baltimore options will most certainly have value in this one.
Baltimore Ravens
Marlon Humphrey (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Brandon Stephens (CB/S): SOLID, he played 97% of snaps last week.
No significant third cornerback option
Dallas Cowboys
Trevon Diggs (CB): SOLID, he played 93% of snaps and then sat due to the blowout last week.
Jourdan Lewis (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, he only played 58% of snaps last week and then sat due to the blowout.
Caelen Carson (CB): SIT, he only played 53% of snaps last week and Week 1 wasn’t much better.
49ers at Rams
Outlook: We’ve got another nice matchup in the late window with this early over/under of 46.5 points. However, the Rams could be missing both of their excellent pass-catching options with Puka and Cooper, if that’s the case then demote any/all 49ers corners to “deeper leagues only”.
Stafford completed 19 passes on 27 attempts last week with just over half of those targets going to his wide receivers. Without Kupp and Nakua we may have a hard time getting what we need from this Los Angeles passing attack though, keep an eye on the injury reports.
Brock Purdy completed 28 passes on 36 attempts last week with about 20 of those targets going to the San Francisco receiving corps. With a possible injury to George Kittle we could see even more targets redirected to Aiyuk or Jennings (Deebo is now hurt), and regardless our Los Angeles options are in a nice setup to begin with against a competent quarterback who completes passes (what we need for good cornerback production).
This one may depend on some “unsettled” factors but there’s potential here for nice cornerback production simply due to the solid quarterback play on both sides.
San Francisco 49ers
Chavarious Ward (CB): SOLID, he played 98% of snaps last week.
Deommodore Lenoir (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Isaac Yiadom (CB): SIT, he only played 63% of snaps last week and hasn’t been very productive historically.
Los Angeles Rams
Tre’Davious White (CB): SOLID, he played 91% of snaps last week.
Cobie Durant (CB): SOLID, he played 73% of snaps last week then sat due to the blowout.
Darious Williams (CB): SIT, he remains on IR.
No significant third cornerback option
Chiefs at Falcons
Outlook: We’ve got an early over/under of 46.5 points which suggests a bit of a shootout and back-and-forth affair. Patrick Mahomes completed 18 passes on 25 attempts with just over half of those targets going to the Kansas City wide receivers. Our Atlanta corners will have value, but in deeper leagues only as this lack of wide receiver targets has been a trend for Kansas City for several seasons now.
Kirk Cousins looked much better in Week 2, he completed 20 passes on 29 attempts with 19 of those targets going to the Atlanta wide receivers corps. His plant foot issue seemed much improved last week and we should have some nice value for Trent McDuffie and the Kansas City cornerback corps.
Kansas City Chiefs
Trent McDuffie (CB): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week and remains a premier IDP cornerback option.
Jaylen Watson (CB): SOLID, he played 95% of snaps last week.
No significant third cornerback option
Atlanta Falcons
AJ Terrell (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Mike Hughes (CB): SOLID, he played 68% of snaps last week but the game script didn’t give us an “air show”, that was a defensive struggle against the Eagles. Start him in much deeper leagues only due to this drop in playing time to be on the safe side.
Dee Alford (CB): SOLID, he saw an increase in snaps up to 75% of snaps last week, much deeper leagues only though due to the matchup (KC doesn’t target WR often) and less-than-ideal playing time.
Jaguars at Bills
Outlook: The early over/under for this one sits at 46.5 points which suggests we’ll get some nice offense in this matchup. Unfortunately, it may be mostly rushing offense as we’ve seen this Buffalo team completely change their offensive philosophy since late last season and Jacksonville can’t seem to get anything going through the air.
Trevor Lawrence only completed 14 entire passes on 30 attempts with half of those attempts going to the Jacksonville wide receivers. If it isn’t Etienne it isn’t working for Jacksonville so far this season, deeper leagues only for any Buffalo corners.
Josh Allen completed 13 entire passes on 19 attempts last week with 11 or so of those targets going to the Buffalo wide receiving corps. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Buffalo is winning on the ground running the football, I don’t see any reason why that would change in Week 3 with a 2-0 record. Deeper leagues only for all options in this one, although Rasul Douglas is always capable of huge production in a less-than-ideal matchup.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tyson Campbell (CB): SIT, on IR.
Montaric Brown (CB): SIT, he played 96% of snaps in relief of Campbell last week, he should play enough if you need it but we’ve only seen it once and this matchup isn’t worth chasing.
Ronald Darby (CB): SOLID, he played 83% of snaps last week.
Darnell Savage/Jarrian Jones (CB): SIT, Jones appears to be the direct replacement for Savage but we’ve only seen it once and this matchup isn’t worth chasing, this isn’t the “throw it a million times” Bills anymore. Savage is injured.
Buffalo Bills
Taron Johnson (CB): SIT, avoided IR but high reinjury risk if he plays and a bad matchup, plus they could ease him back into the lineup. It's a wait and see for now.
Rasul Douglas (CB): SOLID, he played 92% of snaps last week.
Christian Benford (CB): SOLID, he played 100% of snaps last week.
Cam Lewis (CB/S): SOLID, he played 92% of snaps last week. SIT if Taron Johnson plays.
Ja'Marcus Ingram (CB): SIT, great game last week but only played 30% of snaps.
Commanders at Bengals
Outlook: To round out Week 3 we have an early over/under of 47.5 points for this Monday night affair. Scoring looks likely, but just how involved either team’s passing offense will be, and therefore how involved our cornerbacks will be, is anyone’s guess.
Jayden Daniels improved in Week 2 with 23 completions on 29 attempts with 19 or so of those targets going to the Washington wide receiver corps. That’s enough to give our Cincy corners some value, but only in deeper leagues, I don’t trust the rookie yet, and neither should you.
Joe Burrow completed 23 passes on 36 attempts with 17 of those targets going to their wide receivers. Tee Higgins being unavailable and the departure of Tyler Boyd in the offseason has so far not only hurt Cincy overall but has destroyed the wide receiver targets ranking that was so excellent for us last season with this team. It tracks, I wouldn’t want to throw to these guys either and Jamar Chase is just one player.
We can probably start Benjamin St Juste as usual, he’s been that good and consistent no matter the matchup, but all other Washington options will be “deeper leagues only” in this one.
Washington Commanders
Benjamin St Juste (CB): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week and has doubled or tripled his projection in both games this season.
Quan Martin (CB/S): SOLID, he played 95% of snaps last week.
Mike Sainristil (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues, he only played 70% of snaps last week.
Emmanuel Forbes/Michael Davis (CB): SIT both, Forbes has a thumb injury and Davis only played 41% of snaps last week.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dax Hill (CB/S): SOLID, he played 97% of snaps last week.
Cam Taylor Britt (CB): SOLID, he played 98% of snaps last week.
Mike Hilton (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only due to playing only 60% of snaps last week and the less-than-ideal matchup.
No other significant cornerback options
Week 3 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 and then the best options within those matchups to find my favorite streaming options each week. I want to help you learn to fish, not just give everyone a fish. Good luck this week!
IDEAL (our best options):
Kenny Moore
Stephon Gilmore, Josh Metellus
Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor
Elijah Molden (if Gilman is inactive, otherwise sit)
Nate Hobbs
Devon Witherspoon
Trent McDuffie
Benjamin St-Juste
SOLID (matchup or playing time isn’t perfect, best in deeper leagues):
Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Jonathan Jones, Sauce Gardner, DJ Reed
Deonte Banks, Dru Phillips, Cor’Dale Flott, Greg Newsome, Martin Emerson
Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Jaylon Johnson, Jaylon Jones
Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter, Byron Murphy
Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell, Avonte Maddox, Koolaid McKinstry
Asante Samuel Jr, Kristian Fulton, Ja’Sir Taylor, Joey Porter Jr, Donte Jackson
Patrick Surtain, Riley Moss, JaQuan McMillian, Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean, Christian Izien
Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon, L’Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie, Roger McCreary
Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson, Jack Jones, Jakorian Bennett
Jalen Ramsey, Kendall Fuller, Kader Kohou, Tariq Woolen
Terrion Arnold, Garrett Williams, Sean Murphy Bunting
Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, Brandon Stephens, Marlon Humphrey
Chavarious Ward, Deommodore Lenoir, Cobie Durant, Tre’Davious White
Jaylen Watson, AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, Dee Alford
Ronald Darby, Rasul Douglas, Christian Benford, Cam Lewis
Quan Martin, Mike Sainristil, Dax Hill, Mike Hilton, Cam Taylor Britt
TRAPS (sit these players):
Michael Carter, Brandin Echols
Denzel Ward, Cameron Mitchell
Juju Brents
Shaq Griffin
Marshon Lattimore
Beanie Bishop
Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine
Troy Hill
Tre Brown
Amik Robertson, Starling Thomas, Max Melton
Caelan Carson
Isaac Yiadom, Darious Williams
Tyson Campbell, Darnell Savage, Darrian Jones, Montaric Brown, Taron Johnson, Ja'Marcus Ingram
Emmanuel Forbes, Michael Davis
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!