Johny The Greek's Cornerback Corner: Week 5
What are the best CB options for IDP fantasy football leagues in Week 5?
Welcome back to the Cornerback Corner! As is tradition, we’ll start with transparency and get right into this week’s calls.
Last week, I made 91 calls for leagues of all shapes and sizes. Of those 91 calls, 8 were declared inactive or were injured during play, which caused them to miss their projection (early in the game). Subtracting those players, we’re left with 83 “adjusted” calls. (There were another handful that were injured this past week, but cleared their projection before that happened.)
Of those, 61 were correct (matched, beat, or were within a slim margin of their projection on Yahoo and MFL), and 22 were incorrect (didn’t match or beat projection and weren’t even close), giving us 73% accuracy for Week 4.
Of those 61 correct calls, 22 were “massive hits” (doubled, tripled, or more, their projection), giving us a 36% massive hit rate on correct calls for Week 4.
We are 71% accurate overall for the season, with 42% of all correct calls ending up as “massive hits.”
Week 1: 72% accuracy, 41% massive hit rate
Week 2: 73% accuracy, 46% massive hit rate
Week 3: 65% accuracy, 45% massive hit rate
Week 4: 73% accuracy, 36% massive hit rate
Please see THIS if you need a primer in cornerback streaming or what’s being discussed in this article (for new readers).
If you notice a player playing safety who is designated a corner in your league of merit, please feel free to comment below. I’ll update the article with that information so we all can share in the bounty of the designation mistakes from these league sites.
Alignment & utilization metrics are sourced from PFF.com, an outstanding resource for all things fantasy football-related.
49ers at Rams
Outlook: The Thursday night game to kick off Week 5 features an NFC West showdown with an early total of 47.5 points, with Los Angeles favored by a field goal at home. We can fire up all our San Francisco corners with confidence in an ideal matchup against a Los Angeles team that is currently 3rd overall in wide receiver targets and boasts a top-ten passing attack.
For the reverse, San Francisco has one of the best yards per game passing offenses so far this season, but is within the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets. We can fire up our Los Angeles corners in medium to deeper leagues, and that feels about right.
San Francisco 49ers
Deommodore Lenoir (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Renardo Green/Darrell Luter Jr (CB): Green was inactive with a neck injury last week; he would be SOLID if he’s active this week. Luter was his direct replacement and played 100% of snaps; this is an outside cornerback slot. If Renardo is inactive again this week, then Green would be SOLID, sit otherwise.
Upton Stout (CB): SOLID. He played 63% of snaps last week, but was deployed in the slot, which helps offset some of that “bad” playing time.
Marques Sigle (S/CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as a starting safety and is incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo. He deployed in the box for the majority of his snaps, but also had some deep and slot snaps.
Los Angeles Rams
Cobie Durant (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 77% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Darious Williams (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 62% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Emmanuel Forbes (CB): SOLID, very deep leagues only. He played just 60% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside cornerback.
Quentin Lake (S/CB): IDEAL, if he’s somehow designated a cornerback in your league of merit, this is where all the slot and box snaps are going each week.
Vikings at Browns
Outlook: The international Sunday morning game sits at just 37.5 points for the early total, with Minnesota favored by 5.5 points. Both teams are in the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers. And both teams are also within the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. We’ve gotten an acceptable amount of wide receiver targets from these teams so far this season, but it’s not what we’re really looking for. We can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues for this one.
Minnesota Vikings
Josh Metellus (S/CB): IDEAL, he played 100% of snaps last week and lined up in the box and slot far more than he did as a deep safety. He is incorrectly designated a cornerback in Yahoo.
Byron Murphy (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner, but also had a handful of box and slot snaps.
Isaiah Rogers (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner, but also had a nice chunk of box snaps. He did not return two interceptions to the house this week.
Jeff Okudah (CB): SIT. He only played 13% of snaps last week.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Newsome (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Denzel Ward (CB): SOLID. He played 90% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Myles Harden/Cameron Mitchell (CB): Mitchell was inactive last week. Harden played 65% of snaps with most of them coming from the slot in Week 4. SIT for now, if Harden retains this playing time and role when Mitchell is healthy, then we know it’s for real. Until that point, this slot has been in flux since the offseason, so we aren’t trusting it yet.
Texans at Ravens
Outlook: The early total for this battle of struggling former powerhouses sits at 45.5 points with Baltimore favored by a massive 9.5 points at home. Both teams are in the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. And both teams are within the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers. Nothing special here, we can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues and leave the rest.
We will need to keep an eye on the health of Lamar Jackson. If he’s out, then we should demote our Houston corners to deeper leagues only. There probably wouldn’t be a huge drop-off with Cooper Rush under center, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Houston Texans
Kamari Lassiter (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and deployed as an outside corner.
Derek Stingley (CB): SOLID. He played 94% of snaps last week and deployed as an outside corner.
Jalen Pitre (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 94% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place, but mostly in the slot and box. The matchup isn’t perfect, but his utilization is.
Baltimore Ravens
Marlon Humphrey/Keyon Martin (CB): Humphrey was injured after 37% of snaps last week, and Martin came in to replace him. Marlon would be SOLID if healthy; if he’s out, then I would SIT Martin as we’ve only seen it once, and the matchup isn’t good enough to risk it.
Nate Wiggins (CB): SOLID, if healthy. He was carted to the locker room after 79% of snaps last week and looks to be a long shot to play this week. He typically deploys as an outside cornerback.
Chidobe Awuzie (CB): SOLID. He played 91% of snaps last week and deployed as an outside corner.
Jaire Alexander (CB): SIT. He was inactive again last week and has only played in one full season since 2019. He also missed 11 games last year due to injury. He’s just too big a reinjury risk, even if he can play this week. Although with Humphrey and Wiggins banged up, if Jaire is active, he should play a ton if you need a crazy Hail Mary.
Dolphins at Panthers
Outlook: The early total for this battle in Carolina sits at 44.5 points with Miami favored by 1.5 points on the road. Both teams are in the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. Carolina is, surprisingly, a top-ten team for wide receiver targets, while Miami is within the top third of the league to this point. We can fire up our normal, preferred corners in leagues of all sizes for this matchup. Let’s hope the defenses continue to stay stinky and we get a back-and-forth affair!
Miami Dolphins
Storm Duck/Rasul Douglas (CB): Duck was inactive again last week. He would be a SIT for me in his first game back since Week 1 due to reinjury risk. If Duck is inactive again, then Rasul would be SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside corner.
Jack Jones (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Cornell Armstrong (CB): SIT. He played just 42% of snaps last week.
Carolina Panthers
Mike Jackson (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Jaycee Horn (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner, but also had some box and slot snaps.
Chau Smith Wade (CB): SOLID. He played just 49% of snaps last week, partly due to the blowout, and partly due to his role as a “slot receiver specialist,” according to beat writer reports. That likely means his playing time and production will fluctuate wildly depending on the opponent, their offensive tendencies, and how often they use their slot wide receivers. He did line up mostly in the slot and box, but the playing time will be in flux going forward if this pattern continues. He’s probably best used in deeper leagues with all this in mind. We did not get the breakout we were hoping for, but at least he’s an option in those deeper leagues.
Raiders at Colts
Outlook: We’ve got a higher early total for this one at 48.5 points with Indianapolis favored by a touchdown at home. Indy is the third-best yards per game passing attack currently, while Las Vegas is 5th overall at the time of writing. Las Vegas is within the top third of the league for targeting its wide receivers, while Indianapolis is within the middle of the pack. We can fire up our normal cornerback options in leagues of all sizes, as once again, we’ve got a higher total and some nice rankings here. We’ll hope for the shootout and back-and-forth affair.
Las Vegas Raiders
Kelly Kyu Blu (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Eric Stokes (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, he played 75% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
All others (CB): SIT. No other corner saw North of 26% of snaps for Las Vegas last week.
Indianapolis Colts
Kenny Moore/Mike Hilton (CB): Moore was inactive last week with an Achilles injury; he’s not due back for another week or two based on initial estimates. Hilton replaced him and played 77% of snaps, most of them from the slot. He would be SOLID, deeper leagues only, since we’ve only seen it once, if Moore is inactive again this week.
Chavarious Ward (CB): SOLID. He played 97% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Xavien Howard (CB): SOLID. He played 88% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Mekhi Blackmon/All others (CB): SIT. Blackmon was down to just 33% of snaps last week, and there were a handful of other corners that saw (fewer than that) snaps as well. Sit them all.
Giants at Saints
Outlook: This showdown in the Big Easy has an early total of 41.5 points with New York favored by 1.5 points on the road. It will be “deeper leagues only” for our New Orleans corners as they get a rookie quarterback who only had 13 completions last week and a New York team that has lost Nabers for the season (and his ridiculous amount of weekly wide receiver targets along with him).
For the reverse, we can fire up our New York corners in medium to deeper leagues against this New Orleans team that is within the worst third of the league for passing yards per game, but (and more importantly) is 4th overall for wide receiver targets at the time of writing. The passing yards per game is a nice barometer of how effective the passing attack is, but the wide receiver targets have a direct correlation to how involved our opposing corners will be on any given Sunday.
New York Giants
Paulson Adebo (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Andru Phillips (CB): IDEAL. He played just 76% of snaps last week, but lined up all over the place, and has smashed his projection the last three games in a row.
Cor’Dale Flott (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 69% of snaps last week, nice, and was deployed as an outside corner with some slot snaps as well.
Deonte Banks (CB): SIT. He’s gaining snaps and was up to 46% played last week, but still isn’t an option yet.
New Orleans Saints
Alontae Taylor (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and was lined up all over the place, including the majority in the box and slot. His utilization continues to be excellent; the production will catch up at some point. We’ve seen him do it before. The hope is he lands a splash play this week, as the tackle floor could be nonexistent against this rookie quarterback that’s now missing Nabers.
Koolaid McKinstry (CB): SOLID. He played 94% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
All others (CB): SIT. Yiadom continues to lose snaps each week, while Quincy Riley popped up for us last week, playing 40% of snaps out of nowhere. Neither is an option currently, but we’ll keep an eye on it.
Cowboys at Jets
Outlook: The early total for this battle in the Big Apple sits at 45.5 points with Dallas favored by 1.5 points on the road. If CeeDee is active, we can fire up everyone with a pulse for New York against a Dallas passing attack that is second overall in yards per game and 5th in wide receiver targets to this point. If CeeDee is inactive, we’ll back off that a bit to just “medium to deeper leagues”.
For the reverse, it will be “deeper leagues only” for our Dallas corners against a New York team that is the third-worst passing offense in yards per game, and the 6th-worst team for targeting their wide receivers (if it isn’t Wilson, they aren’t getting a target).
Dallas Cowboys
Kair Elam (CB): SOLID. Risky. He played 72% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner. Elam has the worst PFF score of all these corners (along with Bland, as wild as that seems) and has been the talk of Cowboys Twitter for being a liability in coverage. It feels like a reduction in snaps or benching could be in the cards here at some point.
Trevon Diggs (CB): SOLID. He played 63% of snaps and was deployed as an outside corner. Diggs has been beat up with injury; if he can stay healthy, he may see a bump in playing time down the road.
DaRon Bland (CB): SOLID. He played 63% of snaps in his first game back from injury and deployed as an outside corner, but also had a nice chunk of box snaps. I would imagine he’ll play more going forward as long as he stays healthy.
Reddy Steward (CB): SOLID, risky though. He played 66% of snaps last week, most of them from the box or slot. We have too many chefs in the kitchen here, with all of these guys playing around 60-70% of snaps each week. My money is on Elam losing snaps while the other three maintain some sort of role. I doubt we see four corners playing this much for Dallas all season.
New York Jets
Sauce Gardner (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Brandon Stephens (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Michael Carter (CB): SIT. Carter suffered a concussion last week and will very likely not clear protocol in time to play this week. Isaiah Oliver saw an uptick in snaps and production with Carter exiting after only 31% of snaps last week, but we’ve only seen it once, and he may be a safety in your league of merit, so we’ll skip it for now.
Broncos at Eagles
Outlook: The early total for this one sits at 44.5 points with Philly favored by 4.5 points at home. Denver is the 6th-worst passing offense in yards per game, while Philly is the second-worst for this ranking as things stand currently. Philly is also the 5th-worst team for targeting their wide receivers, while Denver is among the middle of the pack.
It will be “deeper leagues only” for our Denver corners, although Moss or Surtain, even McMillian, are always capable of a huge day despite a bad matchup. And for our Philly corners, medium to deeper leagues should be about right, as we split the difference between what we’ve seen from Denver this year, what they’re capable of, and what we saw all of last season. Denver was much better for wide receiver targets and completions last week, with 29 completions and at least 21 wide receiver targets, respectively.
Denver Broncos
Patrick Surtain (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Riley Moss (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
JaQuan McMillian (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, risky. McMillian saw 81% of snaps last week and was deployed in the slot or box for most of them, which is fantastic. However, Barron is gaining snaps, and it will be this slot that he takes over at some point. When that happens, no one knows, and McMillian will cease to have significant value at that point.
Jahdae Barron (CB): SIT. He played just 43% of snaps last week, but that’s twice as many as last week, and he’s going to be a starter at some point. We just don’t know when that will be.
Philadelphia Eagles
Quinyon Mitchell (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Cooper DeJean (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. He has crushed his projection in every game so far this season and remains one of the few true, set-and-forget options at IDP cornerback.
Adoree Jackson/Jakorian Bennet/Kelee Ringo (CB): Jackson was inactive last week, Bennett is now on IR, and that left Ringo as the replacement in Week 4. He played 81% of snaps as an outside corner and would be SOLID if Jackson is inactive again this week (Jackson would be SOLID if healthy).
Titans at Cardinals
Outlook: The early total for this showdown in the desert sits at 42.5 points with Arizona favored by a touchdown at home. Tennessee is the worst team for passing yards per game so far this season, while Arizona is the 4th-worst team for this ranking at the time of writing. Arizona is dead last for wide receiver targets, while Tennessee is among the middle of the pack.
This one has “deeper leagues only” written all over it. I very likely won’t have many or any corners going from this matchup, personally.
Tennessee Titans
L’Jarius Sneed (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Roger McCreary (CB): SOLID. He played 80% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot for most of them.
Jaylyn Armor Davis (CB): With Brownlee traded to the Jets and Darrell Baker Jr being active but not playing last week, it looks like Davis now owns this last slot. We’ll SIT him for now to make sure of that before we actually trust it. Beyond that, the matchup stinks.
Arizona Cardinals
Max Melton (CB): SOLID. He played 97% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Will Johnson (CB): SOLID, if healthy. He was inactive last week but should play 70% plus of snaps if he can go this week.
All others (CB): Denzel Burke and Kei’Trel Clark will likely be options this week, but with how battered and in flux this Arizona cornerback corps is, plus the (bad) matchup, we don’t need to chase this. SIT everyone else.
Bucs at Seahawks
Outlook: The early total for this battle of 3-1 teams sits at 44.5 points with Seattle favored by a field goal at home. Both teams are just outside the top third of the league for passing yards per game. Tampa Bay is a top-ten team for targeting its wide receivers, while Seattle is among the middle of the pack.
We can fire up Devon Witherspoon and our Seattle options in an ideal matchup against this fantastic Tampa Bay passing attack, and it will be “medium to deeper leagues” for our Tampa Bay corners against this good Seattle passing attack that will target JSN and Kupp plenty, at the minimum.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tykee Smith (S/CB): IDEAL, if the site you’re playing on somehow has him listed as a cornerback.
Zyon McCollum (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Jamel Dean/Benjamin Morrison (CB): Dean suffered a groin injury last week and was replaced by Morrison. Dean would be SOLID if healthy, and Morrison would be a risky SOLID if Dean is inactive this week. This is an outside cornerback slot for the most part.
Jacob Parrish (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 58% of snaps last week, but most of those were from the slot.
Seattle Seahawks
Coby Bryant (S/CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as a deep safety, incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo.
Devon Witherspoon (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week, lined up in the slot for the majority of his snaps, but also had box and blitz snaps. He smashed his projection and is a fantastic option when healthy, as he is back to being after missing games in Weeks 2 and 3.
Josh Jobe (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Tariq Woolen (CB): SOLID. He played 92% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Lions at Bengals
Outlook: We’ve got a massive 49.5 points for the early total for this one, with Detroit favored by 8.5 points on the road. Detroit is the 11th-best passing offense in yards per game to this point. They are within the worst third of the league for wide receiver targets, but are also the 4th best time of possession team, and that helps offset any negative factors a bit. We can fire up our Cincy corners in medium to deeper leagues against them.
And for the reverse, I would skip any Detroit corners or start them only in the deepest of leagues against this Cincy passing attack that can’t complete passes now that Burrow is gone. Browning had just 14 completions last week, and anyone with shares of Chase or Higgins is well aware of the scale of drop-off we’re seeing from Burrow to Browning. That is a little wild. Browning was fine in relief of Burrow before, but it’s just not clicking so far this season.
Detroit Lions
DJ Reed (CB): SOLID. He played 77% of snaps last week as an outside corner and then sat due to the blowout. He was also injured in this matchup, apparently. The replacement is not known currently. We’ll skip it for this week and keep an eye on it.
Amik Robertson (CB): SOLID. He played 56% of snaps last week as an outside corner with some slot snaps added, and will likely play more this week with both Reed and Arnold beat up. My guess would be that his playing time increases if Arnold loses any snaps due to poor performance as well. See the Terrion section below for more details.
Terrion Arnold (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, getting riskier each week. He only played 47% of snaps last week. I’m sure part of that was the blowout, but his 46 overall PFF grade (44 coverage grade) isn’t helping either. He continues to be the target of Lions’ Twitter, and a benching in the near future doesn’t seem far-fetched at all. Arnold also suffered a shoulder injury on top of everything else we just discussed; his replacement is not known currently.
All others (CB): SIT. We saw a host of random backup corners in garbage time; we can ignore all that.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dax Hill (S/CB) IDEAL. He played 79% of snaps last week, then likely got some rest early due to the blowout. He was deployed all over the place, including snaps in the slot, box, and the occasional blitz. He smashed his projection and has the utilization to be a great option this week.
DJ Turner (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Josh Newton/Cam Taylor Britt (CB): SIT them both. Britt was back from injury this past week, but only played 6% of the snaps, while Newton saw his snaps reduced to just 79% down from 100% the week prior. This slot is in flux; avoid it for now.
Commanders at Chargers
Outlook: We’ve got another larger total for this one with 49.5 points for the early over/under and Los Angeles favored by a field goal at home. Los Angeles is the 4th best passing attack (YPG) while Washington is within the worst third of the league. Los Angeles targets their wide receivers the most throughout the entire league to this point, while Washington is within the middle of the pack.
It’s a “medium to deeper leagues” setup for our Los Angeles corners, but it’s an ideal matchup for Mike Sainristil and our Washington options in Week 5!
Washington Commanders
Quan Martin (S/CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as a starting safety, incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo. He was deployed as a deep safety for the most part, but also had some box and slot snaps.
Marshon Lattimore (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Mike Sainristil (CB): IDEAL. He played 92% of snaps last week and lined up mostly in the slot but also had box and wide snaps. His utilization remains excellent, and he’s coming off a fantastic week of production with a perfect matchup against this Los Angeles passing attack.
Trey Amos (CB): SOLID. He played 90% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Los Angeles Chargers
Tarheeb Still (CB): SOLID. He has the utilization to be IDEAL, having played 100% of snaps last week and lining up all over the field. The production just hasn’t been there yet, so we’ll call him solid for now and hope the production catches up to the excellent utilization and playing time.
Donte Jackson (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, he played 61% of snaps last week as an outside corner.
Cam Hart/Benjamin St Juste (CB): SIT them both. It looks like Hart is taking over this slot as he played 63% of snaps to just 11% for Juste last week, but it’s just an outlier until we see it again. We’ll avoid them both for now and readjust after we see this at least one more time.
Patriots at Bills
Outlook: The Sunday night game for Week 5 features another large total at 49.5 points with Buffalo favored by 9.5 points at home. Both teams are within the top ten for passing yards per game. Both teams are average (middle of the pack) for targeting their wide receivers. We can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues and hope this one stays close enough to avoid any loss of snaps due to blowout rest.
New England Patriots
Carlton Davis (CB): SOLID. He played 71% of snaps last week as an outside corner, then sat due to the blowout.
Christian Gonzalez (CB): SOLID. He played 71% of snaps last week as an outside corner, then sat due to the blowout. Both Gonzalez and Carlton sat early with the game clearly in hand against Carolina.
Marcus Jones (CB): SOLID. IDEAL if your league has return yards. He played 55% of snaps last week, then sat a little early (with Gonzalez back, Jones is probably looking at 60-80% of snaps each week, that would be my guess) due to the blowout. He was deployed in the slot and box almost exclusively and had over 160 return yards and a touchdown!
Buffalo Bills
Brandon Codrington (CB): SOLID, if healthy, only in leagues with return yards. He was inactive last week, but has been putting up 100-yard-plus return yard games and provides plenty of value if your league has that setting enabled. He will not actually play cornerback, though.
Tre’Davious White/Maxwell Hairston (CB): SIT Hairston, even if he’s active, he’s due back from IR this week, but would very likely not play enough in his first game back to be an option for us. If Hairston is inactive, then White becomes an option, SOLID, would play outside corner.
Christian Benford (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Taron Johnson (CB): IDEAL. He played 92% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot and box exclusively beyond a handful of blitz attempts. The utilization and historical production have been there; now the playing time is where we want it as well.
Chiefs at Jaguars
Outlook: The Monday night game to round out Week 5 sits at 44.5 points for the early total with Kansas City favored by a field goal on the road. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. Kansas City is just outside the top third of the league for wide receiver targets, while Jacksonville has targeted its wide receivers the second most to this point in the season. Xavier Worthy is back in the lineup for Kansas City and saw 8 targets in his first game back, which boosts that already “pretty good” Kansas City wide receiver targets ranking.
We’ve got an ideal matchup, on paper at least, to finish out Week 5. Start everyone with value, and we’ll hope it’s not a defensive struggle or a punt fest!
Kansas City Chiefs
Trent McDuffie (CB): IDEAL. He played 96% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot, box, out wide, and blitzed as well. He has fantastic utilization, playing time, historical production, and a pretty nice matchup this week!
Jaylen Watson (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Chamarri Conner (S/CB): IDEAL, if your league of merit somehow has him designated as a cornerback. He played 100% of snaps and lined up all over the place.
All others (CB): SIT. Nohl Williams only saw 37% of snaps last week; we aren’t touching that.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jourdan Lewis (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. His production came back to Earth in Week 4, but the underlying usage still screams “IDEAL” (loudly), and he’s smashed his projection in 3 of 4 games this season.
Tyson Campbell (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside corner.
Travis Hunter/Montaric Brown (WR/CB): Hunter only played 13% of snaps defensively as Brown seemingly took over most of his defensive snaps. However, Hunter did play 56% of the offensive snaps and saw 5 targets in the passing game. He’s still SOLID as a cheat code “cornerback” that’s really playing wide receiver and seeing consistent targets each week. Brown, we can SIT. It was Jarrian Jones battling with Hunter for this cornerback slot before this, and it remains a mess now that it’s Brown instead.
Byes this week: Falcons, Bears, Packers, Steelers
My Favorite Matchups, Week 5:
Chiefs & Jags, either side
Washington corners against LAC
Bucs & Seahawks, either side
New York Jets corners against DAL
San Francisco corners against LAR
Week 5 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):
Quentin Lake
Josh Metellus
Jalen Pitre
Andru Phillips, Alontae Taylor
Cooper DeJean
Tykee Smith, Devon Witherspoon
Dax Hill
Mike Sainristil
Taron Johnson
Trent McDuffie, Jourdan Lewis, Chamarri Conner
SOLID (matchup or playing time isn’t perfect, best in medium to deeper leagues):
Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green/Darrell Luter, Upton Stout, Marques Sigle, Cobie Durant, Darious Williams, Emmanuel Forbes
Byron Murphy, Isaiah Rogers, Greg Newsome, Denzel Ward
Kamari Lassiter, Derek Stingley, Marlon Humphrey/Keyon Martin, Nate Wiggins, Chidobe Awuzie
Storm Duck/Rasul Douglas, Jack Jones, Mike Jackson, Jaycee Horn, Chau Smith Wade
Kelly Kyu Blu, Eric Stokes, Kenny Moore/Mike Hilton, Chavarious Ward, Xavien Howard
Paulson Adebo, Cor’Dale Flott, Koolaid McKinstry
Kair Elam, Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, Reddy Steward, Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens
Patrick Surtain, Riley Moss, JaQuan McMillian, Quinyon Mitchell, Adoree Jackson/Kelee Ringo
L’Jarius Sneed, Roger McCreary, Max Melton, Will Johnson
Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean/Benjamin Morrison, Jacob Parrish, Coby Bryant, Josh Jobe, Tariq Woolen
DJ Reed, Amik Robertson, Terrion Arnold, DJ Turner
Quan Martin, Marshon Lattimore, Trey Amos, Tarheeb Still, Donte Jackson
Carlton Davis, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Tre’Davious White, Christian Benford
Jaylen Watson, Tyson Campbell, Travis Hunter
TRAPS (sit these players):
Jeff Okudah, Cameron Mitchell, Myles Harden
Jaire Alexander
Cornell Armstrong
Mekhi Blackmon
Deonte Banks
Michael Carter
Jahdae Barron
Jaylyn Armor Davis
Josh Newton, Cam Taylor Britt
Cam Hart, Benjamin St Juste
Maxwell Hairston
Nohl Williams, Jarrian Jones
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!