This article is part of our Corner Report series.
This article will go game by game for the Thanksgiving and Black Friday slates looking at the top wide receivers from an offense and, based on the inside/outside and left/right splits of those receivers, identify the cornerbacks most likely to face them in man coverage. This post will have to be a little shorter and lean more on speculation/generalities than the entries to come, because teams haven't yet conclusively revealed their personnel tendencies.
Receivers rarely see the same corner every play, be it due to formation quirks or zone coverage calls by the defense, so a receiver's fortunes depend on much more than just the quality of the corner they're likely to see the most in a given game. Even against a bad corner, a good receiver can be denied the opportunity if the pass rush or something else outside his control complicates things. But it's part of the puzzle, and it's worth keeping track of.
Receivers are left with an Upgrade, Downgrade, or Even verdict based on their projected matchup. This shouldn't be read as 'good' or 'bad' but rather a measured tweak from the receiver's baseline projection.
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears
DETROIT LIONS WIDE RECEIVERS
Amon-Ra St. Brown will do damage against almost any defense, and the fact that players like Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon are standout corners doesn't do anything to change that. Still, Johnson and Gordon are usually a challenge for most receivers. This just isn't a Most Receivers case. Even Jameson Williams might
This article will go game by game for the Thanksgiving and Black Friday slates looking at the top wide receivers from an offense and, based on the inside/outside and left/right splits of those receivers, identify the cornerbacks most likely to face them in man coverage. This post will have to be a little shorter and lean more on speculation/generalities than the entries to come, because teams haven't yet conclusively revealed their personnel tendencies.
Receivers rarely see the same corner every play, be it due to formation quirks or zone coverage calls by the defense, so a receiver's fortunes depend on much more than just the quality of the corner they're likely to see the most in a given game. Even against a bad corner, a good receiver can be denied the opportunity if the pass rush or something else outside his control complicates things. But it's part of the puzzle, and it's worth keeping track of.
Receivers are left with an Upgrade, Downgrade, or Even verdict based on their projected matchup. This shouldn't be read as 'good' or 'bad' but rather a measured tweak from the receiver's baseline projection.
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears
DETROIT LIONS WIDE RECEIVERS
Amon-Ra St. Brown will do damage against almost any defense, and the fact that players like Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon are standout corners doesn't do anything to change that. Still, Johnson and Gordon are usually a challenge for most receivers. This just isn't a Most Receivers case. Even Jameson Williams might be somewhat exempt from the rule, both because he has been excellent in general and because the weakness of Johnson and Gordon is that neither is fast by cornerback standards. You want fast corners on Williams. Tim Patrick doesn't see a ton of work as the WR3 in a 2TE-heavy offense, but he remains a mostly capable player and one the Bears need to account for.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick
CHICAGO BEARS WIDE RECEIVERS
Carlton Davis is out for Detroit, leaving them with Terrion Arnold and the particularly beatable Kindle Vildor as your likely boundary corners, and Amik Robertson the main one in the slot. It's not a very good group, though they're likely well-coached by Aaron Glenn. Arnold is raw at best at the moment and Vildor was supposed to be more like a practice-squad type than a starter. Emmanuel Moseley would ideally be able to start instead of Vildor, but Moseley only played special teams in his season debut last week. Keenan Allen might be toast, but Robertson is 5-foot-8. DJ Moore and Rome Odunze are both too much for the boundary corners covering them, especially Vildor. If the Lions stop the Chicago passing game it would probably need to be dictated by the pass rush, because these corners can only do so much.
Upgrade: DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze
Downgrade: N/A
Even: N/A
Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants
DALLAS COWBOYS WIDE RECEIVERS
CeeDee Lamb refuses to quit and his fantasy owners might be able to harvest some real production in this game against an overmatched Giants secondary. Dru Phillips has been the most successful Giants corner, even as a rookie, but it's hard to tell whether some of that might be due to playing the slot rather than the boundary – generally boundary coverage is regarded as more difficult. Even if Phillips is tough in the slot, the Cowboys can line up Lamb against Deonte Banks or Cor'Dale Flott if they choose, and Banks in particular does not seem ready to cover like an NFL cornerback to this point. Jalen Tolbert might be able to beat the likes of Banks and Flott a few times, too, but the Cooper Rush handicap is likely to affect a player like Tolbert more severely than Lamb. It will be interesting to see if Dallas gives more snaps to KaVontae Turpin, because guys like Jalen Brooks and Jonathan Mingo just don't appear to be viable players. Then again, at around 150 pounds Turpin might be too small to play much more.
Upgrade: CeeDee Lamb
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin
NEW YORK GIANTS WIDE RECEIVERS
Malik Nabers is inherently the squeaky wheel but he formalized the matter by complaining about Brian Daboll to the press. It frankly makes Nabers look less than lucid when he suggests Daboll wasn't trying to get him the ball all along – perhaps Tommy DeVito would be the culprit rather than Daboll – but the result either way is increased political pressure to feed Nabers. Nabers should see 10 targets in this game, and with that the matchup considerations aren't really worth fretting over even if the Dallas defense plays some version of well. Darius Slayton might work better with the cannon-armed and reckless Drew Lock than the modest-armed DeVito, but Micah Parsons might make Lock get rid of the ball before Slayton can press downfield. Wan'Dale Robinson is always fairly matchup and quarterback-proof due to how gadgety his targets tend to be.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Malik Nabers, Wan'Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton
Green Bay Packers vs. Miami Dolphins
GREEN BAY PACKERS WIDE RECEIVERS
Jayden Reed would seem to have the best matchup here, although Kader Kohou is likely a solid slot corner. It's just categorically tougher to beat Jalen Ramsey on the boundary. Then again, Kendall Fuller (concussion) is out and he's normally a tough cover, so Fuller's absence arguably means the easiest matchup is for whoever avoids both Ramsey and Kohou. Storm Duck is likely the remaining corner, and while he is both big and very athletic, Duck likely went undrafted for a reason (and clearly, it isn't because of the name). Christian Watson and/or Dontavyion Wicks have a golden opportunity with Romeo Doubs (concussion) out, but whoever gets Ramsey will envy the other. It seems unlikely that the Dolphins would consider either of Watson or Wicks worth a shadow assignment from Ramsey.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks
MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVERS
Tyreek Hill (wrist) is pretty much impossible to bench, but it seems like his injury might be a real limitation on his current abilities. The good news is the Packers probably won't have Jaire Alexander (knee), and the rest of the Packers boundary corners are probably better suited as backups. Jaylen Waddle would benefit from the same fact. What's working against them is the venue and weather – Lambeau Field under 30 degrees is one of the classic situations where you'd worry about Tua Tagovailoa's ability to drive the ball. If Tagovailoa can hold strong in the difficult conditions then one or both of Hill and Waddle should be able to land some punches.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Las Vegas Raiders
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVERS
DeAndre Hopkins would roast these corners but Andy Reid appears intent on giving more snaps to not just Xavier Worthy, but also Justin Watson and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Watson is one of the worst players in the NFL and everyone but Reid knows it, but for some reason Watson's playing time appears non-negotiable. It's pretty simple: Watson and Smith-Schuster can only get open against botched coverages, and Hopkins can beat tight coverage that Watson and JSS otherwise are subjected to due to their inability to separate. Worthy is very raw but is still a legitimate threat to this defense, or any other that doesn't take care with its deep coverage.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: DeAndre Hopkins (Upgrade if given 40+ snaps), Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS WIDE RECEIVERS
Jakobi Meyers is a good candidate to get followed by Trent McDuffie in this game, but Meyers saw a good amount of Patrick Surtain last week and it didn't matter. It's not what you'd call a good matchup, but Meyers' usage is all but locked in and he's clearly a good player. The other Raiders wideouts are not. Tre Tucker is a gadget player and DJ Turner is just nothing at all. Tucker and Turner would see lesser corners if Meyers is against McDuffie, but Tucker and Turner can't be counted on no matter how easy the matchup is.
Upgrade: N/A
Downgrade: N/A
Even: Jakobi Meyers (arguable/arguably inconsequential Downgrade if shadowed by McDuffie), Tre Tucker
