Week 9 Rankings: Standard | PPR

We talk about matchups in Fantasy Football a lot, but too often we look at it on the macro level. We think if a team is good or bad against the pass then that affects all receivers the same.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

Thankfully, our friends at ProFootballFocus provide data on the coverage skills of individual players, which gives us a much more reliable starting point. Each week in this column I'll focus on some of my favorite matchups for wide receivers and at least one matchup you should try to avoid.

I look at PFF's individual coverage grades. This helps sort out some of the noise and give us an idea of how each individual cornerback has performed, where they generally line up and who they'll cover most often.

I've included the PFF grade of each corner we're targeting this week. This grade is on a scale of 0 to 100, making it easily digestible.

Kelvin Benjamin vs. Troy Hill (PFF Grade: 39.1)

Benjamin hasn't been great since his hot start, but you should have no qualms about starting him in this matchup. That's because Hill has been one of the worst corners in football while filling in for Trumaine Johnson. Johnson is trending towards being a game time decision, so it will be something to watch on Sunday.

Hill is giving up more than 10 Y/A on targets his way and has allowed 77 percent of those targets to be completed. Maybe worst yet, he's given up 154 YAC, which is the third worst mark in football. Unless Johnson is active, you should have full faith that Benjamin will go off. Even if Johnson plays you'll still be starting the Panthers No. 1.

Kenny Britt vs. Daryl Worley (PFF Grade: 64.7)

On the other side of the field, it's easy to be skeptical of Kenny Britt because every time he has teased us with talent he has eventually let us down. But Britt has been fairly consistent this season by his standards, with at least six targets in every game but one and at least six Fantasy points in five of seven games.

Britt's matchup with Darryl Worley in Week 9 should make you feel even more confident. Worley has allowed a passer rating of 128.4 this season and 14.3 yards per reception. I'm not sure Britt will match his Week 6 breakout (7-136-2) again this year, but if he was going to do it, this is the type of matchup he'd do it against.

Cole Beasley vs. Tramon Williams (PFF Grade: 49.4)

Beasley is expected to slide back into the shadows with the return of Dez Bryant. But in Week 9, Beasley will be matched up with Tramon Williams, who we took advantage of last week with Quincy Enunwa.

Williams has been roasted this year, both outside and in the slot, allowing opposing quarterbacks to throw for 275 yards on just 29 targets. The only real concern for Beasley is that the Cowboys score points so easily on the ground that they don't need to air it out. Considering that Williams is surrendering 2.32 PPR Fantasy points per target, it won't take much volume for Beasley to be useful in that format.

Whoever is healthy for the Chargers and lines up in the slot vs. Brice McCain

McCain thinks Williams FP/target stat is actually pretty stingy. Why? The Titans slot corner has given up 2.45 PPR Fantasy points per target including a league-worst five passing touchdowns already this year. The Chargers are really banged up, so we may not know until later in the week who we should expect in the slot, it's also true that they've been moving their receivers around more lately. With that in mind, I would give at least a small boost to any Chargers' receiver that's active on Sunday.

One to avoid

Marvin Jones vs. Xavier Rhodes (PFF Grade: 76.6)

We saw Rhodes largely shut down Alshon Jeffery this week (Jeffery's touchdown came when Rhodes wasn't on the field) and that was a continuation of what we've seen most of the season from the Vikings/ corner.

Despite being matched up the the No. 1 on opposing teams, Rhodes has given up just 14 completions on 30 targets and has more interceptions than touchdowns allowed. Opposing quarterbacks have a 46.3 rating when throwing his way.

I do expect Jones to bounce back after a bit of a letdown, but it won't happen in Week 9.