Fantasy Football Week 8: 5 WR/CB matchups to target and 5 to avoid

• Arizona Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins: He earned a 64.2 PFF receiving grade in his first week back and is a fantasy WR1.

• Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins: He has earned a  76.7 PFF receiving grade this season and will be a target hog with Ja’Marr Chase (hip, 80.3 PFF receiving grade) sidelined for four to six weeks.

• Jacksonville Jaguars WR Christian Kirk: He has earned a 70.8 PFF receiving grade this season and is a no-go versus Denver Broncos slot cornerback K’Waun Williams (65.1 PFF slot coverage grade).

Estimated Reading Time: 11 mins

Welcome to Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season. The sections below highlight five targets and players to avoid with data gleaned from PFF’s WR/CB matchup chart.

5 WR/CB MATCHUPS TO TARGET

WR DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals vs. CB Cameron Dantzler, Minnesota Vikings

• Arizona at Minnesota brings an exciting 49.0-point over/under. The Cardinals are 3.5-point road underdogs.
• X-wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins’ (64.2 PFF receiving grade) Week 7 season debut brought intriguing developments. Over the first two years of his Arizona tenure, Hopkins took 1,340 of his 1,658 snaps lined up wide-left (80.8% rate). 
• He had taken just 168 snaps (10.1% rate) in the slot.
• Last week, Hopkins played in the slot on 29-of-62 snaps (46.8% rate), lined up wide-left on 26 snaps (41.9% rate) and lined up wide-right on just six snaps (10.0% rate).
• This newfound role provides Hopkins access to severe mismatches like never before.
• Among NFL wide receivers with at least 10 targets in Week 7, Hopkins ranked No. 1 in targets (14), receptions (10), explosive pass plays (three), yards per route run (3.55) and targets per route run (48.3%). 
• The table below shows the Minnesota Vikings' cornerbacks, ranked in parentheses, among NFL cornerbacks with at least 100 coverage snaps.

• Hopkins should demolish both Sullivan and Dantzler. 

WR Gabriel Davis, Buffalo Bills vs. CB Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers

• Among 70 NFL wide receivers with at least 25 targets, Gabriel Davis’ 11.1% targets per route run rate ranks 70th. The high-powered Buffalo Bills offense (29.3 points per game, No. 2) keeps Davis involved as a fantasy WR2 every week. Defenses that allow high-catch rates bring enhanced opportunity to him as efficiency is crucial.
• The table below ranks Davis, in parentheses, among NFL wide receivers with at least 25 targets.

• PFF’s WR/CB matchup chart projects Davis (65.3 PFF receiving grade) to splits snaps somewhat evenly between Green Bay cornerbacks Jaire Alexander (67.4 PFF coverage grade), Eric Stokes (57.5 PFF coverage grade) and Rasul Douglas (80.9 PFF coverage grade). Stokes is key to Davis’ success.
• The table below ranks Green Bay cornerbacks, shown in parentheses, among NFL cornerbacks with at least 100 coverage snaps.

• Davis should dismantle Stokes’ flimsy coverage.
• Green Bay edge rusher Rashan Gary, who was working through a toe injury entering Week 7 and was knocked out of the game with a concussion, is unlikely to play in Week 8. His absence would afford quarterback Josh Allen an awfully cozy pocket.
• The table below ranks Gary among NFL edge rushers with at least 100 snaps. His positional ranking is shown in parentheses.