Matchups Start/Sit

The Eagles allowed over 120 total yards to Leonard Fournette last week and have allowed four straight games with 80-plus rushing yards given up to a lead RB. Philadelphia has also allowed 4 or more receptions to RBs every game this season. While Kenyan Drake is generally the primary pass-catching back, Jacobs has 11 receptions in four games this season and will continue to see targets from Derek Carr. Jacobs is set up for a great matchup against Philadelphia Week 7.

Sterling Shepard is left standing, but will likely face one of Donte Jackson, A.J. Bouye, or C.J. Henderson (if healthy). The Panthers allowed less than 200 passing yards to opponents four of the last five weeks. A Week 6 Vikings matchup broke that streak (Kirk Cousins threw for over 370 yards). Despite a bad performance against a great Vikings WR corps, the Panthers secondary has been sneakily solid against opposing WRs. Now they face Daniel Jones, who has 4 touchdowns to 4 interceptions this season. Shepard and the limping Giants WR corps is not in for a good matchup this week.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are steamrolling everyone in their path and improving every week. This week’s improvement is going to be in the Josh Allen/Stefon Diggs connection. The Bills playmakers are valuable fantasy assets this week in a likely beatdown of the Titans.

The Titans took a 180-degree turn from last season. This is the toughest turn-around spot struggling stars Ryan Tannehill and A.J. Brown could ask for. The only bright spot has been the production of Derrick Henry, who looks to be fed yet again in an attempt to jump-start the offense.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter today with one of the best overall teams in the NFL. Tom Brady is playing like he’s 25, Leonard Fournette has unlocked bell-cow mode, and all three starting receivers are in the top 16 in Fantasy Points Per Game. The Bucs have a tough matchup on a short week, but look to stay firing on all cylinders.

The Philadelphia Eagles come in with a struggling, but talented, offense and a firewall of a defense. Jalen Hurts has been electric for fantasy, accurately spreading the ball around and staying effective on the ground. Rookie Devonta Smith, his number one target, is primed for his biggest game of the season against washed veteran Richard Sherman.

Justin Fields averaged 9.4 (No. 5 among qualified quarterbacks) Air Yards Per Attempt prior to Week 5 and has looked a bit better each week. He hasn’t been running the ball as much as expected, but that will come given his speed. The Packers will be without Jaire Alexander, and replacement corner Kevin King ranks outside the top 100 among CBs for yards per receptions allowed and Passer Rating allowed. Fields has been airing the ball downfield in his first few starts, so expect him to connect on a couple of those against a Packers secondary that is a little more breakable without Alexander.

Cleveland’s defense has been stingy against the run, with Austin Ekeler’s 66 rush yards being the most an RB has gotten against the Browns so far this season. Cleveland’s opponents often go pass-heavy, a game plan that favors Arizona’s receivers and Chase Edmonds more than James Conner. With 5 TDs this season, Conner has been the goal-line back for the Cardinals. However, he only has 4 total receptions and averaged 3.2 (No. 58) True Yards Per Carry prior to Week 5, before gaining just 2.9 yards per tote. Conner won’t see a good matchup for his skillset this week in Cleveland.

The Indianapolis Colts have struggled to move the ball all season, and now they face an uphill battle against the Baltimore Ravens. Carson Wentz has been serviceable, but his lack of upside makes him a tough start in standard roster formats. He has shown an ability to get the ball to Michael Pittman. Despite negative Game Scripts, the team continues to feed running back Jonathan Taylor.

The Ravens have the much better team. Lamar Jackson is primed to scorch the Colts, in route to feeding Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews. Baltimore’s running back room remains a crap shoot that makes it impossible to trust any of them in seasonal leagues.

The Rams are rolling and Matthew Stafford is balling. They face off against the Seahawks and their near league worst defense, which bodes well for the success of fantasy assets Darrell Henderson and Cooper Kupp.

The Seahawks have been struggling to win, and Chef Russ hasn’t been cooking the last two weeks. With the projected Game Script and Chris Carson likely out, Seattle will pass more. Tyler Lockett looks to have another boom week, while D.K. Metcalf draws the short straw with his matchup against Jalen Ramsey.

Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs will certainly get his fair share, but Emmanuel Sanders behind him is in line to eat on this generally pass-heavy Bills team. Sanders had 6 (No. 5 among qualified wide receivers) Deep Targets and 335 (No. 8) Air Yards entering Week 4. Josh Allen likes to air it out, so expect Sanders to see plenty of run in what should be another high scoring affair Sunday night.

Pat Freiermuth and Eric Ebron only have a combined 19 targets out of Big Ben’s 170 pass attempts through four weeks. The Broncos, outside of five receptions to Mark Andrews last week, have not allowed more than three receptions to a tight end group so far this season. Freiermuth will have a hard time breaking out in Week 5 facing a good secondary with a small Target Share.

Darnell Mooney is inside the top-30 among qualified wide receivers in both Air Yards Share (33.5-percent) and Target Share (22.9-percent) for the Bears. Remember last week when Marquise Brown dropped two touchdowns against the Detroit Lions? Mooney is an equally as fast WR (4.38 40-Yard Dash, 95th-percentile) with better hands (two career drops on 117 targets).

Nelson Agholor has an 84.8-percent (No. 24) Snap Share, 114 (No. 7) Routes Run, and a 95.0-percent (No. 18) Route Participation. Fantasy football is about opportunity and being involved on offense is the first step to productivity. With 6 (No. 5) Deep Targets and a 14.0 (No. 21) Average Target Distance, he has a defined role on offense too.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a major edge in talent in this matchup. Joe Mixon is seeing elite opportunity metrics and is set up to smash. While Joe Burrow’s lack of pass attempts limits his ceiling, he’s talented enough to support more than one fantasy-relevant receiver.

The Urban Meyer experiment is failing miserably. Trevor Lawrence is struggling, D.J. Chark is still unreliable, and Laviska Shenault is being misused. The only saving graces from this offense have been James Robinson and Marvin Jones.

Devonta Smith is the clear No. 1 WR for Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. The “Slim Reaper” had a 51.2-percent (No. 6 among qualified wide receivers) Air Yards Share and a 26.8-percent (No. 16) Target Share through the first 2 games of the season and saw 6 of 38 team targets Monday night. While his week 2 and 3 lines did not look great, chase the targets. Against a bad defense in Week 4, Smith has a good chance to put up numbers similar to his Week 1 output.

Rondale Moore was a popular waiver add the last couple weeks. However, the speedy and agile receiver only saw two targets for two receptions and a yard last week. Moore has taken the majority of his snaps out of the slot. However, Christian Kirk is a major slot receiver for the team as well, and Moore hasn’t overtaken him yet, with just a 42.1-percent (No. 95) Snap Share prior to Week 3’s dud. Apart from top-15 WR Chris Godwin, the Rams have not allowed many yards to slot receivers.