Fantasy Football: Week 7 Wide Receiver Matchup Report

Breaking down defensive data to better predict how your players will perform this week.

By Scott Atkins and Matt Brandon

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Check out a new tool exclusively from FullTime Fantasy.

This new featured tool displays how each defense performs against their opponent’s receiving yardage gained by position.

So for example, if you see a team is ranked 1st vs. WR #1, that defense is currently the best at limiting their opponent’s WR #1 yardage compared to other teams. Or if you see a team is ranked 32nd against WR #2, that defense is the worst against WR #2’s or more accurately, the defense is allowing the most yards to WR #2’s compared to the other teams in the league. This a great tool to find and exploit useful matchups. Don’t forget to check out the all the positions as well (WR #1, WR #2, Other WRs, TE & RB).

For more analysis, including Week 7’s interesting matchups to watch, check out the full article at FullTime Fantasy.

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Key injuries and news in the secondary

• LAR DB Jalen Ramsey: The goal is for him to play against the Falcons (and shadow Julio Jones) this week. If Ramsey can go, Atlanta’s stud receiver should drop a few spots in your WR rankings.

• LAR DB Aqib Talib: Is expected to be placed on the IR list. With Talib out, it would be highly unexpected if Ramsey does not shadow Jones, especially considering the physical advantage Jones has against the rest of the Rams’ secondary.

• BAL DB Jimmy Smith: Returned to practice but doubtful to go against the Seahawks this Sunday.

• BAL DB Marcus Peters: Practicing on Thursday with his new teammates and should help the injury plagued (Tony Jefferson IR Knee) Ravens’ secondary against the Seahawks. DK Metcalf will likely draw Peters, but that shouldn’t prevent Metcalf from getting his fair share of targets, as Marlon Humphries is expected to shadow Tyler Lockett.

• NO DB PJ Williams: Suspended two games for leagues personal conduct policy. He’s the slot CB so whoever lines up in the slot for Chicago should have a much easier time on Sunday. Anthony Miller has been a huge disappointment this season. Perhaps this is the week he gets it going.

• CIN DB William Jackson (shoulder) and Dre Kitzpatrick (knee): Both members of the Bengals’ secondary are expected to be sidelined several weeks. The Jaguars should attack vertically, and you can be sure that Gardner Minshew will target D.J. Chark and Dede Westbrook plenty of times in their most favorable matchup to date.

• PHI DBs Ronald Darby (hamstring) and Jalen Mills (foot): Each player could play Sunday in Dallas, bolstering a Philadelphia secondary in dire need of some help. Darby has been out since Week 4 and Mills hasn’t seen the field all year. The Eagles could use the help after seeing Cousins torch them in Week 6. With Amari Cooper unexpected to suit up for Dallas, this would surely downgrade all the Cowboys receivers, specifically Michael Gallup, who will be Dak Prescott’s top target should Cooper sit out.

• AZ DB Patrick Peterson: Returns from his six game suspension against the Giants. Peterson doesn’t shadow many receivers because Arizona does not like when he travels to the slot. The return of Peterson would have hurt Sterling Shepard owners the most, as that is who he would have been tasked with shadowing. However, with Shepard ruled out, the Cardinals may ask Peterson to travel with Golden Tate as much as possible. Peterson’s return is a downgrade for Darrius Slayton and Cody Latimer too.