Fantasy Football: Week 9 Wide Receiver Matchup Report

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

Mitchell Layton-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).

This week's article is for our subscribers only, so the chart below is a sneak preview of just the data for WR1s. For more analysis of the other positions like WR2s, TE and RBs, plus Week 9’s interesting matchups to watch, check out the full article at FullTime Fantasy.

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KEY INJURIES & NEWS IN THE SECONDARY

• HOU DB Bradley Roby (hamstring) - Ruled out against the Jaguars. Jonathan Joseph is expected to return, Gareon Conley will be the Texans No. 2 CB. D.J. Chark should continue to put up monster numbers with Gardner Minshew under center.
• HOU DB Lonnie Johnson (concussion) - Isn't expected to play in Week 9 against the Jaguars. Houston will be without two of their top three corners and J.J. Watt. This bodes well for Chris Conley, who is coming off a 100-yard performance.
• BAL DB Earl Thomas (knee) - Confirmed he'll play against the Patriots. Baltimore-New England is one of the marquee matchups of the week. It will be fun to watch Thomas making big hits on Patriot ball carriers.
• BAL DB Marlon Humphrey - Spent 82% of his snaps as the slot CB in week 7 in his first game with Marcus Peters. Don't expect similar numbers this week, unless the Ravens ask Humphrey to shadow Julian Edelman. Humphrey was shadowing Tyler Lockett in Week 7, which explains his high-usage rate in the slot.
• BAL DB Jimmy Smith (knee) - was limited in practice but will play.
• DET DB Darius Slay (hamstring) - Limited in practice but is expected to play versus Oakland. He will likely shadow Tyrell Williams. Although Williams has had double-digit PPR points in each of the five games he has played, Slay has the ability to shut down any receiver in the league. Slay has dominated matchups with more skilled receivers so slide Williams down your WR rankings a bit.
• BUF DB Levi Wallace (shoulder) - Limited in practice but is expected to play against the Redskins. Along with No. 1 CB Tre'Davious White, opposing quarterbacks have been limited to 208 yards per game. Not many fantasy owners were expecting much from the Redskins, but perhaps a few were thinking of firing up Terry McClaurin or Chris Thompson. This would not be the best week to get sneaky with Washington players.
• MIA DB Xavien Howard (knee) - Has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season. Howard was the clear-cut No. 1 DB for the Dolphins.
• MIA DB Aqib Talib (rib) - Talib is still on IR and not eligible to return until week 15. Time will tell whether or not he will make his Miami Dolphins debut this season or next season.

INTERESTING MATCHUPS TO WATCH

HOU WR DeAndre Hopkins vs. JAX DB A.J. Bouye

Hopkins is poised to have a brilliant day against the league's third-worst defense in average receiving yards per game allowed to opposing No. 1 WRs. Jacksonville also allows the most targets per game to opposing No. 1 WRs.

The difference in workload and (accordingly) production for Nuk over the past three games compared to the first five weeks of the season has been striking.

• Weeks 1-5: 44 targets, 31 receptions, 347 yards, 2 TDs, (PPR WR17) 
• Weeks 6-8: 37 targets, 29 receptions, 270 yards, 1 TD, (PPR WR3)

Will Fuller's injury (hamstring) certainly has something to do with this, but did we really think Deshaun Watson wasn't going to feed one of the league's best WRs more than seven or eight targets per game all year? Over his last three games, Hopkins is seeing 12.3 targets per game. Continue to fire him up as a WR1 who can finish as the position's top scorer.

Click here to view the full chart and read about some more WR-CB matchups to watch in Week 9.

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