Fantasy Football: 5 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups to Exploit in Week 18

Matchups are everything in the NFL, especially at the receiver position.

For fantasy purposes, being able to identify which receivers have advantageous (or disadvantageous) matchups is a sharp way to get a leg up on your opponent.

Each Friday this piece lists the best wide receiver-cornerback matchups for the upcoming week. It doesn't take a genius to tell you to start Tyreek Hill, but there will be weeks when some WR1s have better matchups, and other weeks when typical WR2 or WR3s have matchups that bump them up in our weekly rankings.

The numberFire (nF) Player Matchups chart helps to identify advantageous matchups for specific positions. Then, Pro Football Focus (PFF) Player Grades and their WR/CB Matchup chart are great starting points for identifying which specific matchups we want to target.

Projections and rankings via numberFire. All statistics via NFL Next Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise stated.

Week 18 Receiver-Cornerback Matchups

D.K. Metcalf (SEA)-Starling Thomas (ARI)

numberFire Projection: 12.5 points (WR7)

• 71.5 Yards
• 4.9 Receptions (8.2 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• +120 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

The Seattle Seahawks face a must-win game against the Arizona Cardinals this weekend, so expect them to feed star receiver D.K. Metcalf early and often.

D.K. has really come on over the second half of the season, serving as the half-PPR WR5 with 14.9 fantasy points (FP) per game. Over that stretch, Metcalf has averaged 4.6 receptions and 81.3 yards per game. He's led Seattle with a 22.7% target share, 40.7% air yard share, and 37.5% red zone target share. D.K. has run hot with touchdowns with six scores in his last eight games.

Metcalf (6'4", 235 pounds) is expected to see a lot of Starling Thomas (5'10", 194 pounds) on the outside. Thomas' 44.2 PFF coverage grade is the 10th-worst among qualified cornerbacks this season. He's given up the seventh-highest catch rate (80.5%) and the fifth-highest passer rating when targetted (138.3).

Thomas won't be the only defender on Metcalf, however. Per Next Gen Stats, the Cardinals play zone coverage at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL. That still bodes well for D.K. considering he's PFF's 23rd-rated WR against zone. In that split, Metcalf has recorded 18.2 yards per reception, tied for fourth in the league.

Frankly, it hasn't mattered who Arizona puts in their secondary -- they're all fantasy-friendly to WRs. On the season, the Cards have given up the ninth-highest average depth of target (aDOT), sixth-most adjusted fantasy points per target, and highest catch rate (71%) to receivers.

This is a great spot for Metcalf to cap off another stellar season with a big performance.

Calvin Ridley (JAX)-Tennessee Titans

numberFire Projection: 11.6 points (WR11)

• 65.1 Yards
• 4.9 Receptions (8.3 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• +145 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Calvin Ridley has surpassed 10 half-PPR points just once in his last five games but has the matchup to thrive in Week 18.

Ridley's Jacksonville Jaguars visit the Tennessee Titans with a playoff spot on the line. Even if Christian Kirk is activated off IR, I'm expecting a healthier Ridley to serve as the No. 1 option in the passing game.

With Kirk shelved the last four weeks, Ridley owned a team-leading 26.8% target share. Although he averaged just 4.8 receptions per game over that span, the utilization was spectacular -- 6.5 downfield targets (10-plus yards) per game and a 47.6% red zone target.

Despite that, he hasn't found much success in fantasy. That should change this week, as the Titans boast the fifth-worst pass defense in the NFL, per numberFire's metrics. On the season, Tennessee has surrendered the second-highest target rate and fifth-most yards per route run (YPRR) to opposing wide receivers.

Ridley torched the Titans for 103 yards and two touchdowns in their Week 11 matchup. Since then, Tennessee has suffered a series of injuries in their secondary. Kristian Fulton has since been placed on IR, while Sean Murphy-Bunting and fill-in Tre Avery have both missed at least one game.

Ridley will have more upside if Trevor Lawrence (questionable) is active. However, he still saw strong utilization with C.J. Beathard under center last week, leading the team with 34.8% target and 48.1% air-yard shares.

Regardless of who's under center, expect Calvin Ridley to see plenty of work in an advantageous matchup.

DeAndre Hopkins (TEN)-Jacksonville Jaguars

numberFire Projection: 11.0 points (WR14)

• 66.6 Yards
• 4.8 Receptions (8.4 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• +150 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

31-year-old DeAndre Hopkins quietly notched the seventh 1,000-yard season of his career last week, but I don't think he's done producing quite yet.

The Titans aren't in playoff contention, but don't remind Mike Vrabel. This is one eliminated team I'm not worried about rolling over in the final week of the season.

Tennessee will start Ryan Tannehill this week. That decreases Hopkins' ceiling, but he should continue to see a heavy dose of targets. In seven Tannehill starts this season, Hopkins has averaged 4.1 receptions and 56.6 yards. Although he hasn't caught a touchdown from the veteran, he has seen 27.2% target and 54.5% end zone target shares.

That should be enough to produce against a Jags' D that's struggled to contain WRs. Jacksonville has given up the 5th-most touchdowns and 10th-most adjusted fantasy points per target to opposing receivers.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Jaguars play zone coverage at the third-highest rate in the NFL. That bodes well for Hopkins; he is PFF's 14th-rated WR against zone. He's tied for the fourth-most touchdowns (4) and ranks 13th in yards per route run in that split.

Hopkins could also find success down the field. He leads the NFL with 38 targets of 20-plus yards while Jacksonville has let up the 8th-most deep targets.

I'm not one to fall into the Week 18 incentive trap, but it's worth noting that Hopkins needs just seven receptions and 49 yards to reach two contract incentives. The yards feel like the most logical threshold for him to hit -- Hopkins has averaged 63.4 yards per game this season exceeding 50 nine times.

Brandin Cooks (DAL)-Benjamin St-Juste (WSH)

numberFire Projection: 8.2 points (WR25)

• 41.4 Yards
• 3.2 Receptions (5.1 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• +220 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Brandin Cooks enjoyed his second-best fantasy performance of the season when the Dallas Cowboys faced the Washington Commanders in Week 12. He turned four receptions into 72 yards and a score.

With an NFC title on the line, look for Cooks to have another impressive performance against the second worst pass defense in the NFL, according to numberFire's metrics. They've been especially uninspiring against wide receivers -- against whom they've surrendered the most yards per route run and adjusted fantasy points per target.

That bodes well for any receiver, especially ones on the field as much as Cooks. The veteran has run a route on 81.5% of drop backs this season. He's averaged 3.2 receptions, 4.8 targets, and 41.2 yards per game.

It helps that Cooks has been much better against man than zone this season, which Washington plays at the 10th-highest rate in the league. He's PFF's 25th-rated WR against man coverage, having caught 76.2% of his man targets -- tied for third-most among wideouts. Four of Cooks' seven touchdowns have come against man despite him being targeted more than twice as much against zone.

Dallas does a decent job moving Cooks inside and out, but he'll spend time against Benjamin St-Juste. St-Juste has been one of the most exploitable corners all season. He's given up the most yards and ninth-most receptions of any defender this season. The Cowboys completed 7 of 11 passes for 110 yards against him in their first matchup.

That included a touchdown by none other than Brandin Cooks.

Dallas has the highest implied total (30.5) of the week, which should give Brandin Cooks plenty of opportunities to produce.

Alec Pierce (IND)-Houston Texans

numberFire Projection: 6.0 points (WR53)

• 37.2 Yards
• 2.6 Receptions (4.6 Targets)

FanDuel Props:

• O/U 28.5 Yards
• O/U 2.5 Receptions
• +360 Any Time Touchdown Scorer

Alec Pierce only saw one target last week, but he made it count. The second-year speedster housed a 58-yard reception for his second touchdown of the season.

You want to see more than a single look, but he hovered around a 15% target share in the five weeks prior. Even when the targets haven't been there, however, the utilization has. Pierce leads the Indianapolis Colts with a 94.9% route rate, and he's been at 100% in 6 of their last 10 games -- never falling below 93% over that span.

Although production hasn't been there on a week-to-week basis, Pierce has proven to be a reliable deep threat. 30% of his targets have come 20-plus yards down the field. He quietly ranks 26th in the NFL with 263 yards on such targets.

So, while his role as Indy's primary deep threat is inconsistent, the matchup is there for him to produce in Week 18.

Pierce and the Colts host the Houston Texans. Houston's secondary has given up the fourth-most adjusted fantasy points per target to the WRs, but they've especially struggled with the deep ball. They've allowed the second highest aDOT (12.7) to the position and the sixth-most deep targets overall.

All Pierce needs is one blown coverage to produce. If the first 17 weeks were any indication, he'll have that -- and more -- against a suspect Texans secondary.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.