Johny The Greek's Cornerback Corner: Week 7
What are the best CB options for IDP fantasy football leagues in Week 7?
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 79 calls for leagues of all shapes and sizes. Of those 79 calls, 5 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 74 “adjusted” calls.
Of those, 50 were correct (matched, beat, or were within a slim margin of their projection on Yahoo and MFL), and 24 were incorrect (didn’t match or beat projection and weren’t even close), giving us 67% accuracy for Week 6.
Of those 50 correct calls, 17 were “massive hits” (doubled, tripled, or more, their projection), giving us a 34% massive hit rate on correct calls for Week 6.
We are 71% accurate overall for the season, with 39% 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
Week 5: 75% accuracy, 32% massive hit rate
Week 6: 67% accuracy, 34% 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, and I’ll update the article with that information.
Alignment & utilization metrics are from PFF.com, which is an outstanding resource for all things fantasy football related.
Steelers at Bengals
Outlook: The Thursday night game to kick off Week 7 sits at 43 points for the early total with Pittsburgh favored by 4.5 points on the road. Both teams are within the worst third of the league for passing yards per game. Pittsburgh is dead last across the entire league for wide receiver targets, while Cincy is among the middle of the pack (but Flacco didn’t exactly look like the second coming of Peyton Manning last week).
It will be deeper leagues only across the board for this matchup, with a slight nod towards our Pittsburgh corners having the better matchup (although Flacco may be running for his life for most of this one).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jalen Ramsey (CB): IDEAL. He played 76% of snaps last week (and likely sat early since the game was in hand) and lined up all over the place. He had two sacks, and his utilization is perfect; he remains a great option in the future.
Darius Slay/Brandin Echols (CB): SOLID. He played 62% of snaps last week as an outside corner before suffering a shoulder injury. Echols appears to have been his replacement, but James Pierre also saw snaps out of nowhere. If Slay is inactive, I would skip his backups. Slay is SOLID if he can play this week.
Joey Porter Jr (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week as an outside corner in his first game back from a lengthy injury. He had some nice production and may be the “lesser of all evils,” and get picked on a bit going forward.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dax Hill (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. Most of his snaps come from the slot or box, and his production has been stellar as well.
DJ Turner (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside corner last week.
Cam Taylor Britt (CB): SOLID. Deeper leagues only, risky. He shot back up to 80% of snaps last week after a couple of weeks of decreased playing time and injury issues. He lined up as an outside corner.
Rams at Jaguars
Outlook: The early total for the London game this coming Sunday morning sits at 47.5 points with Los Angeles favored by a field goal. Los Angeles is the third-best team for passing yards per game, while Jacksonville is among the middle of the pack (at the time of writing). Los Angeles targets their wide receivers the most across the entire league, while Jacksonville is the 7th-best team for this ranking.
This is an ideal matchup across the board. Start everyone with a pulse that plays cornerback for this one, but keep an eye on the weather. If we end up getting rain and wind, as tends to happen in London, we may need to temper expectations a bit.
Los Angeles Rams
Darious Williams (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 67% of snaps as an outside corner last week and then sat due to the blowout. However, he has not been North of 76% of snaps yet this season, so that remains an issue.
Cobie Durant (CB): SOLID. He played just 62% of snaps last week as an outside corner, but we’ve at least seen his playing time shoot up to 94% of snaps in a closer game.
Emmanuel Forbes (CB): SIT. While he did play 61% of snaps last week as an outside corner, he played just 28% the week prior and has a long history of sudden benching and displacement.
Quentin Lake (S): IDEAL. He remains extremely productive and has excellent utilization if your league site has somehow designated him a cornerback.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jourdan Lewis (CB): SOLID, borderline IDEAL. He’s been in a bit of a production slump recently, but the utilization and playing time remain perfect. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot and box for the majority of his snaps. If he can’t produce with that utilization and this fantastic matchup this week, then we’ll start thinking about demoting him going forward.
Travis Hunter (WR/CB): IDEAL. He only played 40% of defensive snaps last week, but had a couple of tackles. On offense, he was in for 78% of snaps and had 7 targets in the passing game (which is fantastic value to have in a cornerback-specific slot). If he catches another couple of those attempts, then it’s an entirely different story here, and that will happen at some point.
Montaric Brown/Greg Newsome/Jarrian Jones (CB): SIT them all. This matchup is spectacular, so if I come across any information that clarifies this situation, I’ll update the article. Newsome barely played after being traded last week (just 16% of snaps) while Brown (83% of snaps last week) seemingly filled in for Tyson Campbell, who was traded away last week. There will likely be a full-time role for Newsome here shortly; I just don’t know if it will be this week. We could end up with some insane combination of Brown, Newsome, and even Jarrian Jones this week, and I’d rather avoid that if possible.
Saints at Bears
Outlook: The early total for this one sits at 45.5 points with Chicago favored by 6 points at home. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. New Orleans is a top-ten team for targeting their wide receivers, and Chicago should be as well (they hadn’t played yet at the time of writing this outlook, but were top-ten last week). We can fire up all the usual suspects for this one as well. On paper, it’s an ideal matchup.
New Orleans Saints
Alontae Taylor (CB): IDEAL. He played 95% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot or box for the majority of his snaps.
Koolaid McKinstry (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Quincy Riley (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He was down to 59% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week, but has maintained a role here for almost a month now. We can start to trust this, especially with this matchup, but only in the deepest and darkest of leagues.
Chicago Bears
Tyrique Stevenson (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Nahshon Wright (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. Jaylon Johnson isn’t due back from IR until Week 8 or around there. So we’ve got another game or two for Wright before he’s displaced.
Kyler Gordon (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 60% of snaps in his first action since the preseason, but all of his snaps were from the slot or box (or were a blitz). That playing time should improve if he can continue to stay healthy.
Dolphins at Browns
Outlook: We’ve got a lower total at just 41.5 points with Miami favored by a field goal for this showdown in Cleveland. Miami is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game, while Cleveland is within the worst third of the league for this ranking. Both teams are in the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers each week. We can start the usual suspects in this one in our medium to deeper leagues, and that should be about right.
Miami Dolphins
Storm Duck/Rasul Douglas (CB): Duck was inactive again last week. He would be a SIT in his first game since Week 1 if he can play this week (we have no idea if he’s actually still the starter for this slot). Rasul replaced him once again and played 100% of snaps as an outside corner. Rasul would be SOLID if Duck is out again this week.
Jack Jones (CB): SOLID, risky. He played 71% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week. Ethan Bonner also saw 25% of snaps at outside corner out of left field, as well, and Jones isn’t hurt that I saw. This could be a slow-motion displacement happening. I would only play Jones if you’re desperate, just in case that is what we’re seeing here.
All others (CB): SIT. No other corner cleared 25% of snaps last week. Ethan Bonner is the name that could be interesting down the line here, see Jack Jones’ section above.
Cleveland Browns
Tyson Campbell (CB): SOLID. He played 89% of snaps last week as an outside corner and surprisingly played a ton of snaps immediately after the trade.
Denzel Ward (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside corner.
Myles Harden (CB): SIT. He was down to just 28% of snaps last week. I’m sure part of that was the blowout, but with an average of just 2.6 combined tackles per game for Harden so far this season, we aren’t missing much to begin with.
Raiders at Chiefs
Outlook: The early total for this AFC West showdown sits at 45.5 points with Kansas City favored by 10.5 points at home. Kansas City is the 9th-best passing offense for yards per game, while Las Vegas is among the middle of the pack. Kansas City is the 5th best team for targeting their wide receivers (at the time of writing), while Las Vegas is once again among the middle of the pack.
We can fire up our Las Vegas corners in an ideal matchup, and “medium to deeper leagues” should be about right for Trent McDuffie and company this week. Kansas City is also getting Rice back this week, which should improve the wide receiver targets even further.
Las Vegas Raiders
Kyu Blu Kelly (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Eric Stokes (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Darnay Holmes (CB): SIT. He did play more snaps last week (52% from the slot), but it was also a blowout, and he likely just saw garbage time snaps. He hasn’t been clear of 37% of snaps in any other game this season, so we can’t trust it yet.
Kansas City Chiefs
Chamarri Conner (S/CB): IDEAL if your league site has him designated as a cornerback. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place.
Trent McDuffie (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside corner but also had a nice chunk of slot snaps.
Jaylen Watson (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Nohl Williams (CB): SIT. He played just 38% of snaps last week.
Eagles at Vikings
Outlook: The early total for this one sits at 42.5 points with Philly favored by a field goal on the road. Both teams are within the worst third of the league for passing yards per game. Same for wide receiver targets. It will be deeper leagues only for everyone in this matchup. And we probably shouldn’t expect a monster game out of Cooper DeJean if the rookie is back under center for Minnesota this week, as completions have not been his strong suit so far this season.
Philadelphia Eagles
Quinyon Mitchell (CB): SIT. He suffered a hamstring injury last week and likely won’t be playing this week. If he can play, he’s a SOLID option in deeper leagues as an outside cornerback (risky though with the possibility of reinjury).
Cooper DeJean (CB): IDEAL. He played 94% of snaps last week, with most of his snaps coming from the slot or box. This matchup is just as bad as the one last week if we get JJ McCarthy under center, so we may need to temper expectations. But in general, the playing time and utilization are perfect, and his production has been stellar.
Adoree Jackson/Kelee Ringo (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. We’ve seen multiple different combinations of Jackson, Ringo, and Jakorian Bennett as backup options this season. Bennett is now on IR, so both Jackson and Ringo should have a role of some kind this week if Quinyon is indeed inactive. SIT them both if Quinyon plays, as I have no idea who they’d prefer of these two, but if Quinyon is out, they should both have a role of some kind.
Minnesota Vikings
Byron Murphy (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps as an outside cornerback the last time we saw him (bye last week).
Josh Metellus (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps and lined up in the box, slot, and defensive line for the majority of his snaps the last time we saw him. He is a starting safety, incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo.
Isaiah Rogers (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps as an outside corner the last time we saw him.
Jeff Okudah (CB): SIT. He has gone North of 50% of snaps exactly once this season.
Panthers at Jets
Outlook: The early total for this matchup in the Big Apple sits at 44.5 points with New York favored by a field goal at home. New York is the worst team in the league for passing yards per game, while Carolina isn’t far behind them at 27th overall for this ranking. New York is the 5th worst in the league for targeting their wide receivers, while Carolina is a top-ten team for this ranking.
We can fire up Sauce Gardner and our New York corners in a pretty good matchup this week (medium to deeper leagues), but it will be “deeper leagues only” for our Carolina corners against this New York passing offense that has been dead on arrival all season long. Garrett Wilson may be inactive this week for New York, on top of that bad news.
Carolina Panthers
Mike Jackson (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Jaycee Horn (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Chau Smith Wade (CB): SOLID, much deeper leagues only. He played 61% of snaps as a slot cornerback last week. The utilization is great, but the playing time and matchup are not.
New York Jets
Sauce Gardner (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Brandon Stephens (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He also had a nice chunk of box snaps.
Jarvis Brownlee (CB): SIT. We need to see what this looks like with both Brownlee and Carter healthy to determine who owns this last starting cornerback slot. Carter was inactive last week, but we should get a look at it this week. Brownlee did play 68% of snaps last week as the slot defender, but I bet that he and Carter end up splitting that role like some butt cheeks.
Michael Carter (CB): SIT. We need to see what this looks like with both Brownlee and Carter healthy to determine who owns this last starting cornerback slot.
Patriots at Titans
Outlook: The early total for this matchup in the Music City sits at 43.5 points with New England favored by a touchdown on the road. New England is a top-ten passing attack (YPG) while Tennessee is the 2nd-worst in the league for passing yards per game. Tennessee is just outside the top ten for wide receiver targets, but we know many of those targets aren’t actually being caught. New England is in the middle of the pack for this ranking.
We can fire up our Tennessee corners in medium to deeper leagues, but it will be “deeper leagues only” for our New England corners, who may need to rely on splash plays for any production against this bad Tennessee passing attack (and that’s never a good bet).
New England Patriots
Carlton Davis (CB): SOLID. He played 89% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Christian Gonzalez (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Marcus Jones (CB): SOLID. He did not return any kicks once again last week, but played 67% of snaps and has excellent utilization and production.
Tennessee Titans
L’Jarius Sneed (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Roger McCreary (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 41% of snaps last week, but they were all from the slot or box, and he likely sat due to the blowout late. We’ve seen his playing time fluctuate before, but his utilization always remains excellent. With that being said, we aren’t starting any cornerback that only played 41% of snaps in a shallow or medium-sized league, ever.
Jaylyn Armor Davis (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Giants at Broncos
Outlook: We’ve got a lower total at just 41 points for this showdown a mile-high in Denver, with the Broncos favored by 8 points at home. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. Same for wide receiver targets. We can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues and be looking good for this one. Our New York corners get the edge here, as Denver’s dink and dunk approach to their passing game has been beneficial to our opposing corners since Bo Nix got there.
New York Giants
Paulson Adebo (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week but has only been under projection once this entire season despite the less-than-ideal utilization.
Cor’Dale Flott (CB): SOLID. He played 94% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Andru Phillips (CB): IDEAL. He played 86% of snaps last week and lined up in the slot and box for the majority of his snaps.
Denver Broncos
Patrick Surtain (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Riley Moss (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
JaQuan McMillian (CB): SIT. McMillian lost some snaps to Barron last week (down to 54%), but it’s not there yet. It appears to be a slow-motion displacement, and this matchup isn’t worth risking playing either of them at the moment.
Jahdae Barron (CB): SIT. Barron gained some snaps on McMillian last week (19% total), but it’s not there yet.
Colts at Chargers
Outlook: We’ve got a massive 48 points for the early total here with Los Angeles favored by 1.5 points at home. Both teams are within the top ten for passing yards per game or awfully close to it (LA is 11th). Los Angeles targets their wide receivers the 2nd most across the entire league, while Indianapolis is 11th overall for this ranking. We can fire up our Indy corners in an ideal matchup this week, and our Los Angeles corners will be “medium to deeper leagues” but are just shy of ideal with those opposing rankings.
Indianapolis Colts
Kenny Moore/Mike Hilton/Chris Lammons (CB): Kenny should be close to being healthy this week. He would be SOLID (borderline ideal, reinjury risk is the only negative factor) in his slot role against Los Angeles this week if he can go. Hilton is his primary backup, same role, with Lammons as the third option. Follow that order if you’re attempting to start the slot corner from Indy this week.
Chavarious Ward/Jonathan Edwards (CB): SIT Ward, he was concussed last week and likely won’t clear the protocol in time for this game. I would also SIT Edwards as we’ve only seen it once, and this cornerback corps is so banged up that we’re getting deep into the weeds here with the backups (it could just as easily be a different replacement this week, and we’d eat a zero with the wrong guess).
Mekhi Blackmon (CB): SOLID. He played 97% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback and is a starter now that Xavien Howard has retired.
Los Angeles Chargers
Tarheeb Still (CB): SOLID. He played 93% of snaps last week and had almost half of his snaps come from the slot or box.
Donte Jackson (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 66% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Cam Hart/Benjamin St Juste (CB): SIT them both. Neither one of them cleared 39% of snaps played last week, and this Indianapolis team may not need to pass as much with the way Taylor has been running this season.
Packers at Cardinals
Outlook: The early total for this one sits at 45.5 points with Green Bay favored by 5.5 points on the road. Green Bay is within the top third of the league for passing yards per game, while Arizona is within the bottom third of the league for this ranking. These teams are 31st and 30th, respectively, for targeting their wide receivers (they don’t target them). It will be “deeper leagues only” across the board for this one.
Green Bay Packers
Keisean Nixon (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Nate Hobbs (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week for the first time since a season or two ago. He lined up mostly outside but also had some slot and box snaps. His production was mediocre, but the playing time and utilization improved drastically since the previous week. He’s lined up for some excellent production whenever the next ideal matchup rolls around (this ain’t it).
Javon Bullard (S/CB) SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 61% of snaps last week, but most of them were from the slot, which helps offset some of that bad playing time.
Carrington Valentine (CB): SIT. He only played 29% of snaps last week as the odd man out now that Hobbs is fully healthy.
Arizona Cardinals
Max Melton (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Will Johnson (CB): SOLID. He played 84% of snaps last week, mostly as an outside cornerback, but also had a nice chunk of box snaps.
Kei’Trel Clark (CB): SIT. He played just 15% of snaps last week and is considered “healthy,” so that wasn’t the issue. Green Bay will likely just cram Josh Jacobs down their throats this week anyway, so I doubt he’d see a huge increase in snaps due to the matchup.
Commanders at Cowboys
Outlook: We’ve got the highest total so far this week at a ridiculous 52.5 points for this one in Jerry-World (Washington is favored by a field goal on the road). Dallas is the 2nd-best passing offense in the league, while Washington is among the middle of the pack. Dallas targets their wide receivers the 4th most across the league, while Washington is among the middle of the pack.
This is an ideal matchup for our Washington corners, especially with reports that CeeDee should be back this week. And for our Dallas corners, medium to deeper leagues.
Washington Commanders
Quan Martin (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 98% of snaps last week as a starting safety that’s incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo. He did spend 58% of his snaps as a deep safety, but the rest were in the box, slot, or defensive line. All of that, plus the fact that Dallas can push the ball downfield, is a recipe for a nice week of production.
Will Harris (S/CB): SIT. This is just to put him back on the radar; he should be back around Week 8 and is a starting safety incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo.
Marshon Lattimore (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Trey Amos (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Mike Sainristil (CB): IDEAL. He came back to Earth with the production last week, but still played 96% of snaps and lined up in the slot, box, or blitzed, for every one of those snaps. That’s literally perfect. The matchup is fantastic as well, especially if CeeDee is back.
Dallas Cowboys
Trevon Diggs (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. Update, SIT, he suffered a concussion and will be out this week.
DaRon Bland (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback but also had a nice chunk of box and slot snaps.
Reddy Steward/Kair Elam (CB): SIT them both. Neither cleared 44% of snaps played last week as they continue to battle for the last starting cornerback slot in Dallas.
Falcons at 49ers
Outlook: The early total for this matchup in San Francisco sits at 45.5 points with the 49ers favored by 4.5 points at home. San Francisco throws for the most yards per game, while Atlanta is within the top third of the league for this ranking. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers. We can start our normal cornerback options in medium to deeper leagues for this one.
Atlanta Falcons
AJ Terrell (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Mike Hughes (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Billy Bowman/Dee Alford (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Bowman was inactive last week with a knee injury, and we saw Alford fill in for him as the preferred backup corner in Atlanta. This is a slot role. Alford would be a SOLID backup option if Bowman is inactive again this week.
San Francisco 49ers
Deommodore Lenoir (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Renardo Green (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Upton Stout (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 56% of snaps last week, but they were all from the slot or box/defensive line.
Marques Sigle (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. With the return of Malik Mustapha, we did get shenanigans. Sigle dropped to just 60% of snaps played. He’s playable in much deeper leagues with that playing time, but the era of him being a cheat code box safety that we can start every week in our cornerback slot appears to be over for the time being.
Bucs at Lions
Outlook: The largest total for the week is this showdown in Detroit with a massive 53.5 points, and Detroit is favored by 4.5 points at home. Tampa Bay is a top ten team for passing yards per game, while Detroit is within the top third of the league for this ranking. Tampa Bay targets its wide receivers the third most across the entire league, while Detroit is among the middle of the pack.
We have two of the most talented and productive offenses going head-to-head indoors this week. The rankings look good; it’s a huge total and a smaller spread. We can fire up everyone for this one (leagues of all sizes). May the football Gods bless us with a shootout and a back-and-forth affair.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Zyon McCollum/Kindle Vildor (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Zyon was inactive with a thumb injury last week, but would be an option if he’s healthy this week in an outside cornerback slot. Vildor only played 56% of snaps as a replacement, and Parrish had a much larger role without McCollum playing, so we can SIT Vildor if Zyon is inactive again this week.
Jamel Dean (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Jacob Parrish (CB): SOLID. He played 97% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. We can’t be sure that will continue to be the case when Zyon returns to the lineup, though. He does get a ton of slot and box snaps most weeks to begin with, and his production has been excellent recently. I’m just concerned that we’ll lose about 20% of his snaps when Zyon returns, like we did see earlier this season when McCollum was healthy.
Tykee Smith (S): IDEAL, if he’s somehow incorrectly designated a cornerback in your league. If you’re reading this article, then you already know who this is and how good he is.
Detroit Lions
Amik Robertson (CB): SOLID. He played 96% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. With DJ Reed and Terrion Arnold injured and out for at least the next couple of weeks, this is your current Detroit cornerback corps.
Rock Ya Sin (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Arthur Maulet (CB): SIT. He played just 20% of snaps last week.
Avonte Maddox (CB): SIT. He's supposed to start over Maulet for this last CB slot but was inactive last week so we have no idea what that will look like.
Texans at Seahawks
Outlook: The Monday night game to finish off Week 7 sits at 42.5 points for the early total with Seattle favored by a field goal on the road. Seattle is the 4th best passing attack, while Houston is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers. We can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues, and that should work out well for this matchup.
Houston Texans
Jalen Pitre (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 88% of snaps as the primary slot corner and occasional box safety the last time we saw him (bye last week).
Kamari Lassiter (CB): SOLID. He played 93% of snaps as an outside cornerback the last time we saw him.
Derek Stingley (CB): SOLID. He played 90% of snaps as an outside cornerback the last time we saw him.
Seattle Seahawks
Devon Witherspoon/Nick Emmanwori (CB): IDEAL if he can play (Witherspoon). He was inactive again last week with a knee injury. Emmanwori replaced him as the primary slot defender, but he is a safety in most places, unfortunately for us (he would be SOLID if designated a cornerback in your league of merit, only if Witherspoon is inactive again).
Tariq Woolen/Shaq Griffin (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Woolen was inactive with a concussion last week but should clear protocol and play this week as a full-time outside cornerback. SIT Griffin and Nehemiah Pritchett if Woolen is inactive again. Seattle switched up their replacement corners on us last week, and Pritchett barely played at all. That right there is why I’m cautious about recommending backup corners unless we’ve seen it before.
Josh Jobe (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Byes this week: Ravens, Bills
My Favorite Matchups, Week 7:
Rams at Jaguars, either side
New Orleans corners against Chicago
Las Vegas corners against Kansas City
New York Giants’ corners against Denver
Indianapolis corners against the Los Angeles Chargers
Washington corners against Dallas
Bucs at Lions, either side
Week 7 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):
Jalen Ramsey, Dax Hill
Quentin Lake, Travis Hunter
Alontae Taylor
Chamarri Conner
Cooper DeJean, Josh Metellus
Paulson Adebo, Andru Phillips
Quan Martin, Mike Sainristil
Tykee Smith
Jalen Pitre, Devon Witherspoon
SOLID (matchup or playing time isn’t perfect, best in medium to deeper leagues):
Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr, DJ Turner, Cam Taylor Britt
Darious Williams, Cobie Durant, Jourdan Lewis
Koolaid McKinstry, Quincy Riley, Tyrique Stevenson, Nahshon Wright, Kyler Gordon
Rasul Douglas (if Duck is inactive), Jack Jones, Tyson Campbell, Denzel Ward
Kyu Blu Kelly, Eric Stokes, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson
Adoree Jackson, Kelee Ringo (see notes above for Jackson & Ringo), Byron Murphy, Isaiah Rogers
Mike Jackson, Jaycee Horn, Chau Smith Wade, Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens
Carlton Davis, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, L’Jarius Sneed, Roger McCreary, Jaylyn Armor Davis
Cor’Dale Flott, Patrick Surtain, Riley Moss
Kenny Moore/Mike Hilton/Chris Lammons, Mekhi Blackmon, Tarheeb Still, Donte Jackson
Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, Javon Bullard, Max Melton, Will Johnson
Marshon Lattimore, Trey Amos, DaRon Bland
AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, Billy Bowman/Dee Alford, Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green, Upton Stout, Marques Sigle
Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean, Jacob Parrish, Amik Robertson, Rock Ya Sin
Kamari Lassiter, Derek Stingley, Nick Emmanwori (if Witherspoon is inactive), Tariq Woolen, Josh Jobe
TRAPS (sit these players):
Brandin Echols
Emmanuel Forbes, Montaric Brown, Greg Newsome, Jarrian Jones
Storm Duck, Myles Harden
Darnay Holmes, Nohl Williams
Quinyon Mitchell, Jeff Okudah
Jarvis Brownlee, Michael Carter
Jaquan McMillian, Jahdae Barron
Chavarious Ward, Jonathan Edwards, Cam Hart, Benjamin St Juste, Avonte Maddox
Carrington Valentine, Kei’Trel Clark
Will Harris, Kair Elam, Reddy Steward, Trevon Diggs
Kindle Vildor, Arthur Maulet
Nehemiah Pritchett, Shaq Griffin
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!
Adebo or Branch rest of season?