Week 8 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: WR

Harry Douglas
Harry Douglas
Oct 20 2013 Atlanta GA USA Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas 83 runs with the ball after a catch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half at the Georgia Dome The Falcons defeated the Buccaneers 31 23 Dale Zanine USA TODAY Sports

With six teams on a bye this week, fantasy teams are missing key players like Brandon Marshall, Andre Johnson, T.Y. Hilton, Torrey Smith, and Keenan Allen. As if that weren’t bad enough, studs like Julio Jones, Randall Cobb, and Reggie Wayne have all been lost to injury. You’ll likely have to do plenty of lineup tweaking and the best place to start is by looking at the defensive matchups.

This week, Harry Douglas is liable to get the Patrick Peterson treatment but, after a big game against Darrelle Revis and the Bucs, he should be just fine, especially if Roddy White remains out.

On the other hand, anyone on the Chiefs, Rams, Jets, and Bills should be avoided.

The Pats shouldn’t have too much trouble against Miami but, with Gronk back, all of Brady’s receivers will have limited value. On the other hand, if Aqib Talib remains out, one of the Dolphins receivers could be in for a big game. Of course, it’s the Dolphins so you never really know which one. Last week it was Brandon Gibson.

I would avoid Denarius Moore against a very tough Steelers defense that has only given up two double-digit games to receivers, both in their game against the Vikings.

Justin Blackmon and Josh Gordon both have tough starts but they’ve been very good since coming back from their suspensions so they’re worth taking the chance on.

On the favorable side, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Rueben Randle, Pierre Garcon, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Jordy Nelson, Jarrett Boykin, DeSean Jackson, Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Anquan Boldin, and Calvin Johnson all have favorable matchups and are liable to post big days.

Let’s take a look at all of the fantasy football wide receiver matchups in Week 8.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

 Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
WR

AVG
WR
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 8 Opponents

1

13.72 Texans BYE

2

15.55 Titans BYE

3

15.72 Cardinals Harry Douglas, Roddy White (Q), Darius Johnson

4

15.95 Browns Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery, Dexter McCluster

5

16.18 Dolphins Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola (Q), Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson, Austin Collie

6

16.28 Seahawks Austin Pettis, Chris Givens, Tavon Austin

7

16.44 Panthers Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams

8

16.53 Patriots Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson

9

17.06 Steelers Denarius Moore, Rod Streater

10

18.57 Chiefs Josh Gordon, Greg Little, Davone Bess

11

18.62 49ers Justin Blackmon, Cecil Shorts

12

19.15 Colts BYE

13

19.72 Bengals Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, David Nelson, Santonio Holmes (Q)

14

21.33 Saints Robert Woods, Stevie Johnson

15

21.92 Buccaneers Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, Ted Ginn Jr.

16

22.37 Raiders Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders

17

23.7 Bears BYE

18

24.15 Cowboys Calvin Johnson, Kris Durham, Ryan Broyles

19

24.18 Jets A.J. Green, Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu

20

24.38 Jaguars Anquan Boldin

21

25.22 Rams Golden Tate, Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin, Percy Harvin (Q)

22

25.62 Ravens BYE

23

25.95 Lions Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Miles Austin (Q)

24

25.97 Giants DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper, Jason Avant

25

26.06 Vikings Jordy Nelson, Jarrett Boykin, James Jones (Q)

26

26.93 Chargers BYE

27

27.62 Redskins Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Eric Decker

28

27.98 Falcons Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Andre Roberts

29

28.04 Packers Greg Jennings, Jerome Simpson, Cordarrelle Patterson

30

30.03 Broncos Pierre Garcon, Leonard Hankerson, Santana Moss

31

34.32 Bills Marques Colston, Kenny Stills, Robert Meachem

32

36.43 Eagles Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Rueben Randle

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse 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.