Twelve years ago, I introduced "The Dirty Dozen" and "The
Delicious Dozen" around Thanksgiving time. The idea then
- as it is today - was to identify negative and positive receiver
matchups, respectively, as a way to prepare owners for the upcoming
stretch of fantasy games that usually determine fantasy championships.
Receiver-cornerback matchups are among the most critical ones
in the real game, yet very few fantasy analysts spend any time
breaking them down - and few do it in much detail. Even in an
era where teams play zone defense more than 70 percent of the
time, it does not mean we cannot isolate the matchups that could
help or hinder our fantasy receivers the most.
The fantasy industry as a whole tends to rely on name recognition
when it comes to avoiding a potential matchup rather than doing
enough research to find out which defenders are playing well consistently.
They also tend to stick with their opinions about struggling corners
for far too long when they finally break through and begin playing
well. The truth is that defensive players ebb and flow in much
the same way offensive players do.
Note: The cutoff for this piece was 360
coverage snaps. At roughly 30 coverage snaps per game, we should
be able to eliminate any players who are not "full-timers."
Below each write-up is the remaining schedule and the projected
matchups each corner should see in coverage in that week. Keep
in mind that receivers move across the formation a lot, while
most defensive coordinators seem to favor keeping their corners
on one side of the formation, so this is far from an exact science.
In cases in which a receiver there isn't a discernible difference
in how often a receiver plays on one side of the field or the
other (which is quite common), the most likely player to see primary
coverage from the cornerback below will be listed first. Receivers
expected to see less of him will be listed second or third.
I have included the percentage of snaps (when applicable)
that each receiver lines up in the area that the cornerback usually
defends. In other words, if a cornerback plays lines up primarily
on the right side of the defense, the number to the side of the
receiver indicates how often he lines up on the left side of the
offense.
All coverage data courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
*** - Denotes a potential shadow corner
Note: In an effort to make this article
more reader-friendly and cut down the amount of time it takes
me to write it, I am making some changes to the format this week.
* Has logged 591 of his 601 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(293 on the left side and 298 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 30-of-54 for 310 yards and two
touchdowns with one interception and six pass breakups
From the trade block to the Dirty Dozen in just over a month.
That is what we call an in-season reversal of fortune. It's no
wonder Woolen's name is supposedly being floated around in trade
talks through five weeks, as 13 of the 18 passes thrown in his
direction were caught (72.2 percent) for 183 yards and one TD.
Starting in Week 8 (Seattle's bye week), however, he owns the
third-best passer rating against in the league among cornerbacks
with at least 175 coverage snaps. Quarterbacks are completing
only 47.2 percent of their passes in his coverage, while his 127
receiving yards allowed rank third among that same group. Somewhat
amazingly, he has not given up more than nine yards per catch
in any of those six post-bye games either. The Seahawks' pass
rush obviously has something to do with that low number, but Woolen
deserves a ton of credit for it as well and the fact that he hasn't
yielded even 40 receiving yards in a game since the season opener.
Woolen is a big reason why any "normal" receiver who
faces Seattle needs to be downgraded for fantasy purposes. The
only receivers to top 15 PPR fantasy points against the Seahawks
since their Week 8 bye are Puka Nacua (16.3) and Chimere Dike
(15.4).
Week 14: Dylan Drummond/Darnell Mooney (assuming Drake London
sits out another week) Week 15: Alec Pierce (41-33 left-right)/Michael Pittman Jr. (33-39) Week 16: Puka Nacua (39-24)/Davante Adams (33-52) Week 17: Xavier Legette (27-39)/Tetairoa McMillan (50-35)
* Has played 497 of his 545 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(228 on the left side and 269 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 23-of-43 for 224 yards and one
touchdown with no interceptions and eight pass breakups
If only Surtain had not given up his first touchdown since Week
8 of last season to Terry McLaurin in Week 13, Surtain would be
No. 6 on this list. That is how much even one touchdown matters.
(Also, Washington was probably more open to the idea of challenging
him since it was his first game action in five weeks.) Unlike
last season when teams rarely threw at him down the stretch, a
few teams have tempted fate by targeting him nine times (the Commanders
last week and the Colts in Week 2). While there is no question
Surtain has not been quite as dominant this year (versus his Defensive
Player of the Year campaign in 2024 when he did not allow 40 yards
in his coverage in any game), there is one metric that says he
is enjoying another banner season: he is allowing a career-low
53.5 percent catch rate. His eight PBUs are one short of tying
his career high as well. Perhaps no other stat illustrates how
much fear Surtain puts into offenses more than this one: Riley
Moss has been targeted a league-high 77 times despite allowing
a 53.2 percent catch rate. In case it was not already obvious,
non-elite receivers should be benched if they are going to spend
more than half of their day lined up across from Surtain.
Week 14: Tre Tucker Week 15: Justin Jefferson Week 16: Quentin Johnston/Keenan Allen Week 17: Terry McLaurin
* Has played 584 of his 628 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(236 on the left side and 348 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 32-of-58 for 403 yards and one
touchdown with one interception and seven pass breakups
This list never fails to surprise from year to year. Flott is
the first of a handful of surprising names on here. As part of
a New York defense that ranks fifth in terms of most fantasy points
allowed to receivers, Flott's presence on this list does not make
much sense. With that said, he is doing the one thing well that
typically determines who makes this list and who does not: preventing
touchdowns. The first one he allowed this season came in Week
13 to Kayshon Boutte. Amazingly, it is also the first touchdown
he has allowed in his coverage since Week 1 of LAST season. New
England certainly did not avoid throwing his way (4-for-4), but
the Patriots were one of the few teams to have much success doing
so (opponents have only registered a catch rate above 50 percent
six times this season when throwing at Flott). A very encouraging
sign for his future is the fact that a few of his most important
metrics (catch rate and passer rating against being two of them)
are actually improving this year in his first full year as a starter.
Flott is not a cornerback matchup that fantasy managers need to
avoid heading into the fantasy playoffs per se, but the evidence
seems clear that his presence will not likely be the reason why
managers win their matchup in a given week.
Week 14: bye Week 15: Terry McLaurin/Treylon Burks Week 16: Justin Jefferson/Jordan Addison Week 17: Tre Tucker
* Has logged 595 snaps of his 603 cornerback snaps on the
perimeter (283 on the left side and 312 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 26-of-46 for 397 yards and four
touchdowns with five interceptions and no pass breakups
One of the detriments of using passer rating to identify who
makes the list in these two pieces each year is how much touchdowns
are weighed. So, why is Horn inside the top 10 of "good"
cornerbacks if he has already given up four? Well, being tied
for first in interceptions among cornerbacks is a big part of
it. Let's be clear about one thing when it comes to his season.
He had one miserable day against the Saints (150 yards allowed
and two TDs, including one each to Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson).
Without that one game, his passer rating against is 46.5, which
is elite and falls more in line with the marks from his first
two seasons in the NFL. Granted, he only played in 16 games in
those years, but the point remains the same: Horn is a top-five
corner in the league when he is healthy. While availability has
been the knock against him for most of his career (and rightfully
so), it has taken a turn for the better over the last two years
with 27 games played (even after missing the Panthers' Week 13
upset of the Rams with a concussion). Interestingly, the two other
TDs he has surrendered this season have been to bigger players
(Darren Waller in Week 5 and Jauan Jennings in Week 12), which
might be an important variable I might consider when deciding
if I want to take my chances on starting a receiver who is expected
to line up across from Horn.
Week 14: bye Week 15: Chris Olave Week 16: Mike Evans Week 17: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
8. DJ Turner,
Bengals (Passer Rating Against: 73.9) ***
* Has logged 712 snaps of his 744 cornerback snaps on the
perimeter (340 on the left side and 372 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 20-of-44 for 318 yards and three
touchdowns with two interceptions and a league-high 12 pass breakups
Turner showed signs that he was about to have a special 2025
season last year when he managed to allow a catch rate of 53.8
percent and a passer rating of 74.0 across 329 coverage snaps
(no touchdowns or interceptions). He was lost for the season in
Week 11, however, which naturally pushed him back under the radar
for most people. Turner's emergence did not seem to be a thing
this year until he effectively shut down DK Metcalf on a Thursday
night in Week 7, but the reality of the situation is that he has
been good all season outside of one game (Week 3). While quarterbacks
have not quite completely avoided him, the aforementioned Pittsburgh
game was the last time he was thrown at more than three times.
Over the last three games, he has given up a mere 22 yards on
six total targets. As one might imagine for a cornerback who allows
only 45.5 percent of the passes in his coverage to be completed,
Turner needs to be viewed by fantasy managers in the same way
Pat Surtain is: if the opponent's top receiver doesn't get much
slot usage, he probably needs to be benched in fantasy.
Week 14: Gabe Davis/Josh Palmer/Brandin Cooks Week 15: Zay Flowers/Rashod Bateman Week 16: Jaylen Waddle Week 17: Marvin Harrison Jr/Michael Wilson
* Has logged 411 of his 536 cornerback snaps on the left
side.
Notable coverage numbers: 29-of-58 for 296 yards and one
touchdown with no interceptions and six pass breakups
Gonzalez missed the first three weeks of the season recovering
from a hamstring strain and pretty much picked up right where
he left off last year. His passer rating against allowed is three-tenths
of a point higher than it was in 2024, while his catch rate allowed
is 4.8 percent lower. He is also on pace to give up significantly
fewer yards after the catch this year (60; it was 171 last year).
There was a stretch of the season where teams were not afraid
to test him - the Browns, Falcons, Buccaneers and Jets each targeted
him at least six times from Weeks 8-11 - but he managed to allow
only 11 catches on 33 targets during that span. The Bengals and
Giants have enjoyed more success throwing his way over the last
two weeks (7-for-8), but it has resulted in a total of 52 yards
and the only touchdown he has surrendered this season. As most
"shadow" corners go nowadays, he typically only does
it when the opponent has a clear alpha receiver who New England
wants to stress. There are none of those left on the Patriots'
schedule between now and the end of the fantasy playoffs in Week
17 (Buffalo and Baltimore's top wideouts both work a lot out of
the slot), so we only need to slightly downgrade their matchups
for the (roughly) 30 percent of time they will line up across
from Gonzalez.
Week 14: bye Week 15: Gabe Davis/Josh Palmer/Brandin Cooks Week 16: Rashod Bateman/DeAndre Hopkins (40-29) Week 17: Adonai Mitchell/John Metchie (assuming Garrett Wilson
does not return from IR)
6. Mike
Jackson, Panthers (Passer Rating Against: 69.7)
* Has logged 713 of his 719 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(348 on the left side and 365 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 34-of-67 for 467 yards and three
touchdowns with three interceptions and six pass breakups
Jackson is the second surprise entry on this list. Not only is
he coming off a mediocre first season with the Panthers in 2024,
but he is also a former fifth-round pick who never logged a snap
with the franchise that drafted him (Dallas) and played for two
other teams before landing with Carolina in 2024. Through about
the first six weeks of this season, it looked like Jackson was
headed for another sub-par campaign, as he had just completed
a four-game stretch in which he surrendered 20 catches on 27 targets
for 337 yards and two touchdowns. Since then, he has been borderline
dominant, allowing a total of 12 receptions on 33 targets for
109 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions and three PBUs.
This will likely be the 28-year-old Jackson's third full season
as a pro; suffice it to say that he has never had a stretch quite
like this during his career. That fact alone makes it hard to
believe it will last much longer, especially when he is playing
on the opposite side of the field from a stud corner like Jaycee
Horn. With that said, the presence of both players on this list
makes it easy to understand why the Panthers rank as the seventh-most
difficult matchup for receivers this season. For now, fantasy
managers need to downgrade their receivers a bit when they face
Carolina, but Jackson will probably need to prove himself for
the rest of the season before I am willing to buy that he is a
matchup to avoid.
* Has logged 580 of his 608 cornerback snaps on the perimeter,
including 391 on the left side.
Notable coverage numbers: 29-of-48 for 377 yards and no touchdowns
with two interceptions and three pass breakups
One would naturally expect Trent McDuffie to be the Chief on
this list if there was going to be any corner from Kansas City
on it. McDuffie has not been bad by any means, but Watson has
been considerably better in the metrics I tend to focus on for
this piece. He is technically coming off his worst game of the
season (allowed seven catches on nine targets for 104 yards on
Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys), although he helped himself
- not to mention his passer rating against - by intercepting a
pass early in that game. Somewhat amazingly, the 104 yards he
surrendered in Week 13 were four more than he gave up in the previous
six games combined (100). Before the same game, Watson also had
not allowed more than three catches in his coverage all season.
The thing about Watson is that this is not out of the ordinary
for him. His career catch rate allowed through almost four NFL
seasons is 59.9 percent (60.4 this year). The only things that
have really changed in 2025 are that he is finally being given
the chance to play full-time and staying healthy enough to do
so. As a result, he is an under-the-radar player fantasy managers
will want to keep in mind as someone they hope their receivers
can avoid.
Week 14: Jayden Higgins (40-36 right-left)/Nico Collins (34-44) Week 15: Keenan Allen (37-21)/Quentin Johnston (29-57) Week 16: Elic Ayomanor (43-41)/Van Jefferson (39-47) Week 17: Troy Franklin (28-26)/Courtland Sutton (37-44)
* Has logged 491 of his 605 cornerback snaps on the left
side.
Notable coverage numbers: 26-of-50 for 390 yards and two
touchdowns with three interceptions and eight pass breakups
We do not need to go into too much detail with Stingley. Perhaps
the most notable thing is that while he is occasionally asked
to shadow, he does not need to because of the confidence the team
has in Kamari Lassiter. Yes, he will get beat for a touchdown
from time to time (twice this year on 424 coverage snaps and eight
times in his NFL career on 1,782 coverage snaps). With that said,
14 interceptions, 28 PBUs and a 53.4 percent catch rate allowed
over his career is more than enough proof that he is as good a
cornerback as there is in the league. The Texans are the third-worst
matchup for fantasy receivers. Stingley and Lassiter are a big
reason for that. Fantasy managers are advised to avoid receiver
matchups against the Texans as often as possible.
Week 14: Marquise Brown (35-30 right-left)/Quentin Johnston (38-30) Week 15: Michael Wilson (36-30)/Marvin Harrison Jr. (33-45) Week 16: Tre Tucker Week 17: Keenan Allen (37-21)/Quentin Johnston (29-57)
* Has logged 669 of his 691 cornerback snaps on the perimeter,
including 443 on the left side.
Notable coverage numbers: 40-of-70 for 379 yards and two
touchdowns with three interceptions and four pass breakups
Despite playing behind Brandon Stephens for most of last season,
Wiggins more than held his own during his rookie campaign (50
percent catch rate, no touchdowns and one interception on 497
coverage snaps). While he did eventually give up his first two
career TD catches earlier this year, most of his key metrics are
still very good (57.1 percent catch rate and 9.5 yards per reception).
Wiggins has been a bit inconsistent at times this year (six catches
on seven targets in Week 1, 7-for-9 in Week 8 and 6-for-8 in Week
10), but what he has done in the other nine games is almost otherworldly
(21-for-46). While inconsistency is something we can expect from
a 22-year-old corner like Wiggins, the good news for his future
is that he has already flashed dominance and probably will not
hit his athletic prime for another 3-4 years. His aforementioned
inconsistency means he is beatable (for now), so he is not a player
fantasy managers need to avoid at all costs with their receiver
matchups. Just know that time might be coming sooner than later.
Week 14: Roman Wilson (50-30 right-left)/DK Metcalf (30-51) Week 15: Tee Higgins (46-43)/Ja'Marr Chase (27-37) Week 16: Mack Hollins (42-33)/Stefon Diggs (28-22) Week 17: Christian Watson (35-29)/Romeo Doubs (38-43)
* Has played 686 of his 691 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(352 on the left side and 334 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 31-of-71 for 328 yards and no touchdowns
with no interceptions and five pass breakups
Mitchell was roughed up a bit in his first four NFL games last
season, but he has been nothing short of one of the league's best
since then. He has been even better in Year 2 than he was as a
rookie. His only shortcoming through nearly two full NFL seasons
is that he has no interceptions. No interceptions means he has
not made offenses pay for challenging him, which is one of the
primary reasons why he is one of the most targeted corners (tied
with Cleveland's Tyson Campbell for second in the league with
71). That is a minor complaint, however, as no corner who qualified
for this list has allowed a lower catch rate than he has (43.7).
Mitchell has twice given up more than 40 yards in his coverage
this season (versus the Broncos in Week 5 and the Vikings in Week
7). Somewhat amazingly, he got off to a slow start, permitting
a catch on 10 of 18 targets over the first three games. Beginning
in Week 4, his catch rate allowed is a freakish 39.6 percent.
Needless to say, fantasy managers need to lower expectations for
any receiver whenever Mitchell is expected to spend most of his
day lined up across from him.
Week 14: Quentin Johnston/Keenan Allen Week 15: Tre Tucker Week 16: Terry McLaurin Week 17: Gabe Davis/Josh Palmer/Brandin Cooks
* Has logged 497 of his 529 cornerback snaps on the perimeter
(338 on the left side and 159 on the right).
Notable coverage numbers: 21-of-40 for 204 yards and no touchdowns
with one interception and eight pass breakups
Did you think it was possible for a team with the second-most
forgiving defense against receivers entering Week 14 could have
a player on this list? Did you think he could be No. 1? To be
clear, small sample size is helping Porter, as his 367 coverage
snaps are just enough to get him to qualify. (He missed Weeks
2-4 with a hamstring issue.) The other thing helping Porter? He
is good at this cornerback thing. He has been particularly good
over the last four weeks, as only three of the 11 passes thrown
in his direction have been caught. His worst day was in Week 9
when the Steelers ambushed the Colts early and forced Daniel Jones
to throw 50 times. (Even in that game, he only allowed 63 yards
in his coverage.) The one stat that jumps out the most is the
sub-50 percent catch rate. It is an amazing number for any cornerback
to maintain this deep into a season. He is one of only four players
who qualify for this list who hold that distinction entering Week
14. While the Pittsburgh pass defense is not great as a whole,
fantasy managers are doing themselves a disservice if they start
a receiver who is likely to be shadowed by Porter.
Week 14: Zay Flowers/Rashod Bateman Week 15: Jaylen Waddle Week 16: Jameson Williams/Amon-Ra St. Brown Week 17: Jerry Jeudy/Cedric Tillman
Doug Orth has served as an analyst for FF Today since 2006 and joined the Fantasy Points team before the start of the 2024 season. He is also a highly successful high-stakes player who has not experienced a losing money season in any of his 25 years in this hobby.
