Johny The Greek's Cornerback Corner: Week 8
What are the best CB options for IDP fantasy football leagues in Week 8?
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 81 calls for leagues of all shapes and sizes. Of those 81 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 73 “adjusted” calls.
Of those, 55 were correct (matched, beat, or were within a slim margin of their projection on Yahoo and MFL), and 18 were incorrect (didn’t match or beat projection and weren’t even close), giving us 75% accuracy for Week 7.
Of those 55 correct calls, 20 were “massive hits” (doubled, tripled, or more, their projection), giving us a 36% massive hit rate on correct calls for Week 7.
We are 71% accurate overall for the season, with 38% of all correct calls resulting in “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
Week 7: 75% accuracy, 38% 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.
Vikings at Chargers
Outlook: The Thursday night game to kick off Week 8 sits at 43 points for the early total with Los Angeles favored by a field goal at home. Los Angeles is just inside the top ten for passing yards per game, while Minnesota is in the middle of the pack. Los Angeles has the most wide receiver targets in the league (at the time of writing), while Minnesota is third-worst for this ranking.
We’ve got an ideal setup for Byron Murphy and our Minnesota corners this week, but it will be “deeper leagues only” for Tarheeb Still and our Los Angeles options.
Minnesota Vikings
Josh Metellus (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week as a starting safety that’s incorrectly designated a corner in Yahoo. He was deployed as a deep safety for only 2% of his total snaps last week; the rest were all in the sweet spot (box, slot, blitz attempt, or defensive line)!
Byron Murphy (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside cornerback.
Isaiah Rogers (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week and was deployed as an outside cornerback, but also had a nice chunk of box snaps.
Los Angeles Chargers
Tarheeb Still (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. This would be IDEAL if the matchup were better.
Donte Jackson (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 83% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Benjamin St Juste/Cam Hart (CB): SIT them both. Neither player crossed 49% of snaps played last week, and this is not the kind of matchup where we can get away with starting a part-time corner and expect decent production. Carson Wentz is no longer capable of being the completion machine he used to be, and JJ McCarthy has even more difficulty completing passes than Wentz does.
Dolphins at Falcons
Outlook: The early total for this showdown in the Chinese food carton (not sure what else I can compare that stadium to) sits at 46 points with Atlanta favored by a touchdown on the road. Atlanta is just outside the top ten for passing yards per game, while Miami is now the 6th-worst team in the league for passing offense. Both teams are among the middle of the pack in terms of targeting their wide receivers. We can fire up the usual suspects in medium to deeper leagues, and that should be about right for this matchup.
Miami Dolphins
Storm Duck/Rasul Douglas (CB): Duck practiced most of last week but ultimately ended up inactive. He would be a SIT in his first game action since Week 1 if he can go this week. Rasul replaced him once more to the tune of 89% of snaps played as an outside cornerback and would be a SOLID option if Duck is inactive again this week. SIT Rasul if Duck is active, we need to see what that looks like, and then readjust afterwards.
Jack Jones (CB): SOLID. He played 59% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback and then sat due to the blowout.
All others (CB): SIT. We had a host of backup corners come in for garbage time against Cleveland, none worth mentioning.
Atlanta Falcons
AJ Terrell (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He also saw a decent chunk of snaps in the box, which was likely just a one-off game plan thing against a San Francisco team that ran the ball 39 times last week.
Mike Hughes (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Billy Bowman/Dee Alford (CB): Bowman was inactive last week. He would be SOLID if he can play this week as a slot corner that’s designated a safety in most places (unfortunately for us). Alford has been the preferred replacement corner for Atlanta this season and replaced Bowman last week to the tune of just 33% of snaps as a slot corner. A huge part of that was the San Francisco game plan; they just crammed CMC down their throats. Whoever it is in this slot for Week 8 should see more action, as that is not the Miami offensive approach; they’ll air it out a bit. (Alford would be SOLID if Bowman is inactive again).
Bears at Ravens
Outlook: We’ve got a higher early total at 49.5 points with Baltimore favored by a touchdown at home for this battle in Baltimore. Chicago is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game, while Baltimore is within the worst third of the league. Same setup for wide receiver targets, middle of the pack for Chicago, and not good at all for Baltimore.
We can fire up our Baltimore corners in most leagues; Chicago still does pepper their wide receivers with enough targets for our Ravens’ corners to be busy this week. But it will be “deeper leagues only” for our Chicago corners against a Baltimore team that really only targets Zay Flowers when it comes to their wide receivers each week, with or without Lamar Jackson under center.
Chicago Bears
Tyrique Stevenson/Nick McCloud (CB): SIT them both. Stevenson left early last week with a shoulder injury and is doubtful for this week. McCloud replaced him, but this matchup is not ideal in the slightest and not worth chasing.
Nahshon Wright/Jaylon Johnson (CB): SIT them both unless Johnson is inactive; in that case, Wright would be solid, deeper leagues only, as a full-time outside corner. Johnson is due back from IR this week or next, and this is his slot; Wright is the backup. If Johnson is back this week, we don’t need to chase it with this matchup, and they could ease him back into the lineup in terms of actual playing time (plus reinjury risk, etc).
Kyler Gordon (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 75% of snaps last week as the slot corner.
Baltimore Ravens
Marlon Humphrey (CB): SOLID. He played 84% of snaps the last time we saw him as an outside cornerback that also had a nice chunk of box and slot snaps.
Nate Wiggins (CB): SOLID. He played 94% of snaps as an outside cornerback the last time we saw him.
TJ Tampa/Keyon Martin (CB): SIT them both. Neither crossed 21% of snaps played the last time we saw them (bye last week).
Bills at Panthers
Outlook: The early total for this one is 48.5 points with Buffalo favored by a touchdown on the road in Carolina. Buffalo is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game, while Carolina is within the worst third of the league for this ranking. Carolina is just outside the top ten for targeting their wide receivers, while Buffalo is in the middle of the pack.
We can fire up the known options here in medium to deeper leagues, and that should be pretty close to what we get from this setup.
Buffalo Bills
Tre’Davious White/Maxwell Hairston (CB): White would be SOLID if Hairston is inactive again this week as a full-time outside cornerback. Hairston is due back from IR now or very soon. I would SIT him in his first live game action ever; we have no idea what that will look like.
Christian Benford (CB): SOLID. He played 91% of snaps the last time we saw him (bye last week) as an outside cornerback.
Taron Johnson (CB): SOLID. He played 70% of snaps the last time we saw him; all of those snaps were from the slot, box, or were a blitz attempt.
Brandon Codrington (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, leagues with return yards only. He returned to his kick-returning duties the last time we saw him against Atlanta, where he had 135 return yards. He does not actually play cornerback, just special teams and punt/kick returns. You know if that’s valuable for your particular league setup or not, adjust accordingly.
Carolina Panthers
Mike Jackson (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Jaycee Horn (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Chau Smith Wade (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 73% of snaps last week, but those snaps were from the slot or box, which helps offset some of that bad playing time.
Jets at Bengals
Outlook: We’ve got a lower total at just 42.5 points for this showdown in Cincy with the Bengals favored by a field goal at home. Cincy is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game (but has looked a ton better since that second half against Green Bay), while New York is dead last for this ranking. Cincy is now within the top ten for targeting their wide receivers, while New York is the 4th worst team in the league for this ranking.
This is an ideal matchup for Sauce and our New York corners, but it will be “deepest leagues humanly possible” for Dax Hill and our Cincy options against either an ineffective Justin Fields or a backup quarterback under center (Tyrod) for New York this week. Chase and Higgins combined for 33 targets last week, and the Cincy wide receivers were targeted with 37 of the 45 total passing attempts against Pittsburgh. Let’s hope that trend continues in Week 8.
New York Jets
Sauce Gardner/Azareyeh Thomas (CB): Sauce would be SOLID if he could play, which seems unlikely. He suffered a concussion last week and probably won’t clear protocol in time. Thomas appeared to be his direct replacement. I’ve never even typed that name before, never mind seen him as a preferred replacement option. I trust it zero percent (SIT), but it’s there if you want to take the risk; the matchup is spectacular, and we’ve got a million teams on bye this week. Do what you need to do.
Brandon Stephens (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He also saw a nice chunk of box snaps.
Michael Carter/Jarvis Brownlee (CB): SIT them both, is my official call. However, if Carter is inactive again, then Brownlee is essentially guaranteed a decent role this week, and the matchup is pretty good. We haven’t seen them both active and healthy yet, and Carter is still listed as the starter in several depth charts. There’s a strong chance that Brownlee barely plays at all if Carter is healthy, and an even stronger chance that they both split the role like some butt cheeks if they’re both healthy, which is just as bad for us. It’s a mess, and guessing wrong here could be devastating, but the matchup is very nice, so do what you will with this information. If Carter and Sauce are both inactive, then the odds are even better that Brownlee will have some kind of role this week.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dax Hill (S/CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. He would be IDEAL if the matchup weren’t so incredibly terrible.
DJ Turner (CB): SOLID. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Josh Newton/DJ Ivey/Marco Wilson/Cam Taylor Britt (CB): This was originally Cam Taylor Britt’s slot and role. He was a healthy scratch last week and has been in flux all season. The other three players mentioned here appear to be part of last week’s experiment to find a new corner for this slot. Since none of them played more than 45% of snaps, there was no clear winner. SIT THEM ALL. It’s the Jets with either Justin Fields or a backup quarterback, not 2011 Drew Brees. We can skip it and not lose any sleep.
49ers at Texans
Outlook: The early total for this one sits at 43.5 points with Houston favored by 1.5 points at home. San Francisco has the best yards per game passing offense in the league at the time of writing, while Houston is among the middle of the pack. San Francisco is among the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers, while Houston is within the worst third of the league for this ranking.
It will be deeper leagues only for our San Francisco corners this week, with all that in mind. And we can fire up our Houston corners in medium to deeper leagues.
San Francisco 49ers
Deommodore Lenoir (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Renardo Green/Darrell Luter Jr (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Green left early last week with a toe injury, but is a full-time outside cornerback most weeks. Luter replaced him and played the same role for the remainder of the snaps last Sunday night. Luter would be a risky SOLID if Green is inactive this week.
Upton Stout/Chase Lucas (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Stout was inactive with an ankle injury last week; Lucas was his direct replacement and played 53% of snaps as a slot corner. Lucas would be a risky SOLID if Stout is inactive again this week.
Marques Sigle (S/CB): SIT. It’s officially over. He played just 30% of snaps last week and barely had any production. We’ll keep an eye on it, though. If another injury occurs or they shake up the safety corps, then there’s a chance we have our box safety in a corner slot once more at some point later in the season.
Houston Texans
Derek Stingley (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He also had a decent chunk of box snaps; see the Lassiter section below for a possible explanation for this.
Kamari Lassiter (CB): SOLID. He played 95% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He also had a decent chunk of box snaps; those were likely part of the game plan to slow down the Seattle rushing attack, and we’ll probably see the same this week with CMC in town.
Jalen Pitre (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week as a box safety and slot corner that may be incorrectly designated a cornerback in your league of record.
Browns at Patriots
Outlook: We’ve got the lowest total of the week so far at just 40.5 points for this showdown in Foxboro (New England is favored by a touchdown at home). New England is a top ten passing offense, while Cleveland is now the third worst across the entire league for passing yards per game. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for wide receiver targets.
We can fire up our Cleveland corners in medium to deeper leagues, but it should be deeper leagues only for our New England corners against this run first, throw to a tight end second, wide receiver target is a distant third, Cleveland offense in Week 8.
Cleveland Browns
Tyson Campbell (CB): SOLID. He played 84% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week and then sat due to the blowout.
Denzel Ward (CB): SOLID. He played 79% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week and then sat due to the blowout.
Myles Harden (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 50% of snaps last week as the slot corner and then sat due to the blowout, but has seemingly secured that role now that we’ve seen it for a few weeks.
New England Patriots
Christian Gonzalez (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Carlton Davis (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Marcus Jones (CB): SOLID. He played 83% of snaps last week as the slot corner and had another fantastic week of production. He has not been returning kicks recently, but his utilization and production have been stellar.
Giants at Eagles
Outlook: The rematch for this upset we saw a couple of weeks ago now sits at 41.5 points for the early total, with Philly favored by a touchdown at home. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. New York is among the middle of the pack for targeting their wide receivers, while Philly is still among the worst third of the league. Those rankings are going in opposite directions for these two teams, as the New York ranking falls without Nabers and the Philly ranking climbs as Brown/Devonta continue to whine in the local media about touches.
We can fire up our normal corners for this matchup in medium to deeper leagues and hope we get as much scoring and action as we did the last time these two teams met. In general, it’s probably a better matchup for our New York corners than our Philly corners, as Brown and Devonta saw 17 of the 23 total passing targets last week (the squeaky wheel(s) get the grease).
New York Giants
Paulson Adebo/Deonte Banks (CB): SOLID, if healthy. Adebo left early last week with a knee injury. Banks was his replacement and would be SOLID, deeper leagues only, if Adebo is inactive this week. This is a full-time outside cornerback slot.
Cor’Dale Flott (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Andru Phillips (CB): IDEAL. He played 84% of snaps last week, mostly from the slot, but also had some box snaps and the occasional blitz.
Philadelphia Eagles
Quinyon Mitchell (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Cooper DeJean (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. He’s only been under projection once this entire season, and that was the last time they played the Giants, so it’s not necessarily a slam dunk due to the matchup and offensive tendencies of this Giants team.
Adoree Jackson/Kelee Ringo (CB): SIT them both. Neither player crossed 34% of snaps played last week. This final cornerback slot in Philly has been in flux for weeks now; we’ll continue to keep an eye on it.
Bucs at Saints
Outlook: The early total for this divisional showdown sits at 47.5 points with Tampa Bay favored by 5.5 points on the road. Tampa Bay is a top ten passing offense, while New Orleans is among the worst third of the league for passing yards per game. These teams were 4th and 6th, respectively, for wide receiver targets at the time of writing.
On paper, we’ve got an ideal matchup across the board here. Especially since passing yards per game (where New Orleans stinks) is more of just a barometer for the passing offense and far less important when compared to wide receiver targets (where New Orleans has been excelling). And we all know how good this Tampa Bay passing attack is; this is a slam dunk week for our Saints corners.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Zyon McCollum (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Jamel Dean (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He was down to just 66% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. He’s listed as “healthy” and had an interception. According to beat writer reports, this could be a new “rotation with rookie corner Benjamin Morrison” (who only played 32% of snaps), so it’s risky going forward. I would only start him in deeper leagues if possible, and if six teams weren’t on bye this week, I wouldn’t be recommending starting him at all.
Jacob Parrish (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only, risky. He was down to just 44% of snaps played last week. That could have been a game plan thing, as we got the “running Lions” instead of the “passing Lions” in Week 7. It could also be the new normal now that Zyon and Jamel are both healthy; we’ll have to wait and see. He did get to his projection in most places, and those snaps were from the slot or box, so it looks great beyond the playing time itself. More to be revealed here. I would only start him in much deeper leagues with this in mind.
Tykee Smith (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 94% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. He smashed his (outlandishly high) projection and has been spectacular all season long. If your league of merit has him listed as a cornerback, you “set and forget” him in one of your cornerback slots and never have to worry about that particular cornerback slot again this season.
New Orleans Saints
Alontae Taylor (CB): IDEAL. He played 97% of snaps last week and lined up all over the place. The majority of his snaps came from the slot or box.
Koolaid McKinstry (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Quincy Riley (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 58% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback, but has seemingly locked down this role as we’ve now seen it for about a month consistently.
Cowboys at Broncos
Outlook: The early total for this mile-high matchup sits at 47.5 points with Denver favored by 4.5 points at home. Dallas is the second-best passing offense in the league, while Denver is among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. Dallas is a top ten team for wide receiver targets, while Denver is among the top third of the league for this ranking.
We’ve got another ideal matchup on paper. Let’s fire up all the usual suspects and hope we don’t get a defensive struggle! And frankly, if we did get that, it would be shocking, as the Dallas defense is hot garbage and their offense is fantastic and likely good enough to overcome this stout Denver defense.
Dallas Cowboys
Trevon Diggs/Kair Elam (CB): Diggs would be a risky SOLID if he can play this week. He was inactive with a concussion that he somehow suffered at his house, not playing actual football. If he can’t clear protocol in time, then Elam appears to be his direct replacement. In that scenario, Elam would be a very risky SOLID that we’d only consider because the matchup is beautiful and we have six teams on bye this week. It’s far from certain, and it could just as easily be Reddy Steward or Bridges as the replacement if Diggs is inactive again, and I won’t know this ahead of time since I don’t work for the Cowboys.
DaRon Bland (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week and went back to being the slot corner. He immediately paid off that decision for the coaches and housed a pick-six. Grab him now off waivers, and let’s hope this decision sticks. His utilization last week was light-years better than what it’s been all season long.
All others (CB): SIT. Whether it’s Trikweze Bridges or Reddy Steward, it’s not safe. Beyond Diggs and Bland, there has been a rotating cast of characters in this Dallas cornerback corps; none of them are “safe” in the least.
Denver Broncos
Patrick Surtain (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Riley Moss (CB): IDEAL. He played 98% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback. The utilization isn’t great, but the matchup is, and opposing teams avoid Surtain like the plague, which always shifts work towards Moss to begin with. This one is more of a gut feeling based on looking at this stuff for years now. No science to back this one up. Although I did read a great nugget about this from the IDP Show’s very own Eric Harms, “Moss has been targeted 50 percent more often than Patrick Surtain this season”. That absolutely tracks. I would rather go after Moss than Surtain any day of the week and twice on Sunday, and many coaches feel the same way.
JaQuan McMillian/Jahdae Barron (CB): SIT them both; neither one cleared 49% of snaps played last week. If you need a warm body, McMillian has been playing more than Barron in recent weeks, but they’re both essentially splitting the slot corner role.
Titans at Colts
Outlook: The early total for this AFC South showdown sits at 44.5 points with Indy favored by 11.5 points at home. Indy is the 6th best passing offense, while Tennessee is the second worst in the league for passing yards per game. Tennessee is a top ten team for wide receiver targets, while Indy is among the middle of the pack. The issue with that is that many of those Tennessee wide receiver targets aren’t actually catchable, so that’s a bit of smoke and mirrors.
Beyond that, Tennessee is so bad that we could be looking at backups by the end of the third quarter. It will be “deepest leagues humanly possible” for our Indianapolis corners this week, and medium to deeper leagues for our Tennessee corners.
Tennessee Titans
L’Jarius Sneed/Darrell Baker Jr (CB): SOLID if healthy. Sneed left with a quad injury last week and was replaced by Baker Jr. We’ve seen Baker Jr get work before, so if Sneed is inactive this week, then Baker would be a SOLID option in deeper leagues.
Jaylyn Armor Davis (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Roger McCreary (CB): SOLID. He played 51% of snaps as the slot corner last week and then sat due to the blowout.
Indianapolis Colts
Kenny Moore (CB): SOLID. He played 78% of snaps as the slot corner last week and crushed his projection in his first week back from injury. Unfortunately for us, he gets Tennessee for the matchup this week, so don’t expect a repeat performance in Week 8.
Chavarious Ward/Cameron Mitchell/Jonathan Edwards (CB): Ward was placed on IR after suffering a concussion last week. We won’t see him for at least a month. Mitchell and Edwards seemed to split his duties, and neither played enough to strike our fancy, particularly with this matchup on the docket. SIT them all for now, we’ll see how it shakes out, and then maybe find a nice option for a better matchup down the road.
Mekhi Blackmon (CB): SOLID. He played 100% of snaps as an outside cornerback last week.
Packers at Steelers
Outlook: The early total for the Sunday night game for Week 8 sits at 43.5 points with Green Bay favored by a field goal on the road. Both teams are among the middle of the pack for passing yards per game. These two teams are dead last (Pittsburgh) and second-worst (Green Bay) when it comes to wide receiver targets. 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 as an outside cornerback.
Javon Bullard (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played 80% of snaps last week, most of them from the slot or box. This is a massive improvement over his recent playing time and utilization. We’ll see if that was a one-time matchup thing or if this sticks going forward. We’ll take the good news for now.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jalen Ramsey (CB): IDEAL. He played 100% of snaps last week, and only 34% of those snaps were from an outside cornerback slot; all the rest were in the “sweet spot” (slot, box, defensive line, or a blitzing attempt).
Joey Porter Jr (CB): SOLID. He played 90% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback and crushed his projection. The “lesser of all evils” theory is holding for him so far. Who would you want to throw at as the opposing quarterback? Super Bowl winners and perennial Pro-Bowlers in Slay or Ramsey or the guy who’s been in the league for a cup of coffee? It appears to be a factor, whether it’s a conscious one or a subconscious one, that remains to be seen.
Darius Slay (CB): SOLID, deeper leagues only. He played just 68% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback, and we’ll have to see if this reduction in snaps has something to do with Joey Porter Jr now being healthy or was just a random occurrence.
Commanders at Chiefs
Outlook: The Monday night game to round out Week 8 sits at a massive 51 points for the early total with Kansas City favored by 5.5 points at home. Kansas City is a top ten team for passing yards per game, while Washington is among the middle of the pack. Kansas City is also a top ten team for targeting its wide receivers, while Washington is among the middle of the pack.
This is an ideal matchup for Sainristil and our Washington corners, but it will be “deeper leagues only” for our Kansas City corners unless Washington somehow gets healthy before this game. At the time of writing, Jayden Daniels exited this week’s game with a hamstring injury, and both McLaurin and Deebo were inactive. Without those 3 players, it will just be a bunch of handoffs and the occasional Zach Ertz target; none of that helps our opposing Kansas City corners in Week 8.
Washington Commanders
Quan Martin (S/CB): IDEAL. He did sit late last week as the game was out of hand, but he is typically a full-time starting deep safety that’s incorrectly designated a cornerback in Yahoo. He does get a decent chunk of box snaps each week as well.
Will Harris (S/CB): SIT. This is just a reminder that Will Harris is due back from IR starting this week or anytime in the next month or so. We will have a full-time starting safety who is incorrectly designated as a cornerback in Yahoo when that happens. If he does play this week, SIT him as they’ll likely ease him back into the lineup.
Mike Sainristil (CB): IDEAL. He played just 67% of snaps before sitting last week due to the blowout, but his utilization remains perfect, and his matchup this week is spectacular.
Marshon Lattimore (CB): SOLID. He played 82% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback and then sat late as the game was out of hand.
Trey Amos (CB): SOLID. He played 92% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback.
Kansas City Chiefs
Trent McDuffie (CB): SOLID. He played 71% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback before sitting late due to the blowout.
Jaylen Watson (CB): SOLID. He played 71% of snaps last week as an outside cornerback before sitting late due to the blowout.
Chamarri Conner (S/CB): IDEAL. He played 74% of snaps last week as a box safety with some bonus slot snaps before sitting late due to the blowout. He may be incorrectly designated in your league of merit.
Byes this week: Cardinals, Lions, Jaguars, Raiders, Rams, Seahawks
My Favorite Matchups, Week 8:
Minnesota Vikings corners against the Los Angeles Chargers
Baltimore Ravens corners against the Chicago Bears
New York Jets corners against the Cincinnati Bengals
Tampa Bay Bucs & New Orleans Saints, either side
Denver Broncos & Dallas Cowboys, either side
Washington Commanders corners against the Kansas City Chiefs
Week 8 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):
Josh Metellus
Jalen Pitre
Andru Phillips, Cooper DeJean
Tykee Smith, Alontae Taylor
DaRon Bland, Riley Moss
Jalen Ramsey
Quan Martin, Mike Sainristil, Chamarri Conner
SOLID (matchup or playing time isn’t perfect, best in medium to deeper leagues):
Byron Murphy, Isaiah Rogers, Tarheeb Still, Donte Jackson
Rasul Douglas (if Duck is inactive), Jack Jones, AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, Billy Bowman/Dee Alford
Nahshon Wright (if Jaylon Johnson is inactive), Kyler Gordon, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins
Tre’Davious White (if Hairston is inactive), Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Mike Jackson, Jaycee Horn, Chau Smith Wade
Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens, Dax Hill, DJ Turner
Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green/Darrell Luter Jr, Upton Stout/Chase Lucas, Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter
Tyson Campbell, Denzel Ward, Myles Harden, Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, Marcus Jones
Paulson Adebo/Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott, Quinyon Mitchell
Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean, Jacob Parrish, Koolaid McKinstry, Quincy Riley
Trevon Diggs/Kair Elam, Patrick Surtain
L’Jarius Sneed/Darrell Baker Jr, Jaylyn Armor Davis, Roger McCreary, Kenny Moore, Mekhi Blackmon
Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, Javon Bullard, Joey Porter Jr, Darius Slay
Marshon Lattimore, Trey Amos, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson
TRAPS (sit these players):
Benjamin St Juste, Cam Hart
Storm Duck
Tyrique Stevenson, Nick McCloud, TJ Tampa, Keyon Martin
Maxwell Hairston
Azareyeh Thomas, Michael Carter, Jarvis Brownlee, Josh Newton/DJ Ivey/Marco Wilson/Cam Taylor Britt
Marques Sigle
Kelee Ringo, Adoree Jackson, Jakorian Bennett
Trikweze Bridges, Reddy Steward, JaQuan McMillian, Jahdae Barron
Chavarious Ward, Cameron Mitchell, Jonathan Edwards
Will Harris
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!
Quan Martin IDEAL indeed! 28 pts in ESPN as of the 4th quarter.