Week 5 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: WR

Josh Gordon
Josh Gordon
Aug 15 2013 Cleveland OH USA Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon 12 makes a catch in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at FirstEnergy Stadium Andrew Weber USA TODAY Sports

Andre Johnson broke the trend against the Seahawks, putting up nine receptions for 110 yards against a D that has allowed few WR points. Of course, DeAndre Hopkins got the Richard Sherman treatment for most of the day and walked away with just two catches for 27 yards. There will obviously be times when a player outdoes expectations against a tough matchup but those are outliers, not the norm. For the most part, tough matchups mean low fantasy output so despite being wrong on Andre last week, I’d still avoid Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton against the Seahawks.

Luckily, the tough Steelers and Buccaneers defenses are on bye weeks but Torrey Smith, Brandon Marshall, A.J. Green, Nate Washington, and plenty of other receivers have tough matchups this week. Steve Smith figures to get the Patrick Peterson treatment against the Cards so he’s a tough start as well.

On the positive side, Calvin Johnson, Victor Cruz, Josh Gordon, Marques Colston, Demariyus Thomas, and DeSean Jackson are all liable to see big games on Sunday. With Stephen Hill and Santonio Holmes out against the Falcons, even Jeremy Kerley might be worthy of a start on matchup alone.

Let’s take a look at how the WR matchups are shaping out heading into Week 5.

Browse Defensive Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
WR

AVG
WR
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 5 Opponents

1

12.03 Seahawks Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, Darrius Heyward-Bey

2

13.00 Steelers BYE

3

15.27 Buccaneers BYE

4

15.57 Dolphins Torrey Smith, Marlon Brown

5

16.60 Saints Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery

6

17 Patriots A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu, Marvin Jones

7

17.5 Lions Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, James Jones

8

17.5 Colts Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin

9

18.1 Cardinals Steve Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Brandon LaFell

10

18.27 Chiefs Nate Washington, Kendall Wright, Kenny Britt

11

18.57 Titans Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery, Dexter McCluster

12

19.4 49ers Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins

13

20.57 Panthers Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Andre Roberts

14

20.77 Texans Anquan Boldin

15

21.6 Browns Stevie Johnson, Robert Woods

16

21.9 Jets Julio Jones, Roddy White, Harry Douglas

17

22.77 Vikings BYE

18

23.03 Bengals Julian Edelman, Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson, Danny Amendola (Q)

19

23.3 Jaguars Chris Givens, Tavon Austin, Austin Pettis

20

26.3 Broncos Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Dwayne Harris, Miles Austin (Q)

21

26.3 Raiders Vincent Brown, Eddie Royal, Keenan Allen

22

27.37 Ravens Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson

23

27.83 Giants DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant, Riley Cooper

24

28.1 Cowboys Demariyus Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker

25

29.67 Rams Justin Blackmon, Cecil Shorts

26

29.93 Chargers Denarius Moore, Rod Streater

27

29.97 Falcons Jeremy Kerley (Stephen Hill, Santonio Holmes likely out)

28

31.23 Bears Marques Colston, Kenny Stills, Robert Meachem, Lance Moore (Q)

29

31.3 Bills Josh Gordon, Davone Bess, Greg Little

30

31.67 Eagles Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Ruben Randle

31

32.23 Packers Calvin Johnson, Ryan Broyles,

32

35.37 Redskins BYE

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse Defensive Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

author avatar
Igor Derysh
Igor Derysh is Editor-at-Large at XN Sports and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, and FantasyPros. He has previously covered sports for COED Magazine, Fantasy Alarm, and Manwall.com.