2025 Week 8 WR/CB Fantasy Matchups

With Fantasy Points Data, we wanted to answer one big question: what if we tailored all of the data our team has gathered (hand-charted from our team of experts) directly to the fantasy player?

Based on years of playing season-long fantasy, dynasty, and DFS — and using all the charted data out there to build models and try to gain an advantage in a game where the margins are shrinking — we believe we’ve found where we can do things better. That is the Fantasy Points Data Suite.

The Data Suite (with the keen eye of lead charter Steve O’Rourke) allows me to analyze WR/CB fantasy matchups better than I was ever able to in the past.

WR/CB Tool

Our WR/CB Matchup Tool is sortable with loads of matchup data.

A note on our process: there are very few situations in the NFL in which one receiver will match up with one corner for the vast majority of his routes. So honestly, WR/CB matchups in the traditional sense are perhaps the most overrated form of fantasy analysis.

We aim to do them better: our process breaks down how many routes a receiver runs from a certain alignment, and assigns a weighted score based on how much that receiver is expected to see a given defender based on those alignments. So it will measure how often we expect a receiver to face all defenders in a matchup, not just one particular defender, and weigh a score by those expected percentages.

Then, later in the week, Ryan Heath examines schematic matchups for NFL Premium and All-In subscribers with his Advanced Matchups column. We believe we attack coverage matchups from every angle for our subscribers.

If I do believe there will be a “shadow CB” situation, I’ll mention it and break down the matchup.

Shadow Situations

SHADOW ALERT! Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II vs. Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb

It is going to be interesting to see how the Broncos choose to deploy Surtain when trying to curtail this high-flying Dallas attack. In the fantasy industry, we certainly consider Lamb the Cowboys’ #1 WR, but George Pickens is absolutely no slouch.

In their three fully healthy games together this year, Lamb has run 115 routes to Pickens’ 113. And Lamb — who at times has been one of the best slot receivers in the NFL — runs outside the numbers more than you might think. While Pickens dominates with an 89.4% perimeter route share, Lamb runs outside at a 70.4% clip.

I’ll compare this situation to the Broncos’ Week 4 matchup with the Bengals. In that game, Ja’Marr Chase ran 15 routes outside and 13 routes in the slot. Surtain aligned over Chase on 13 of the 15 perimeter routes, and just 5 of the 13 slot routes, allowing just 2 catches for 8 yards in his primary coverage. Meanwhile, he aligned over Higgins on 7 routes — all perimeter — allowing 1 catch for 19 yards. I suspect the Broncos will play Dallas in a similar fashion.

Make no mistake that Surtain is one of the toughest matchups going. Even the two guys who “got” him this year, Quentin Johnston and AJ Brown, tallied 9.1 and 8.0 PPR fantasy points, respectively, in his coverage.

While I’m not benching Lamb by any stretch in season-long, I think Pickens is a really intriguing DFS option because folks will still consider Denver a tough matchup overall — the Broncos allow the fewest schedule-adjusted FPG to opposing perimeter WRs this year. But Dallas has had to score on everyone given their defensive struggles, and to date, Dak Prescott has held up his end of the bargain.

SHADOW ALERT! Jets CB Sauce Gardner vs.Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase

This is a “check the practice reports” situation. Gardner left last week’s debacle against the Panthers with a concussion, after holding Tetairoa McMillan catchless in his primary coverage in their matchup last week.

If Gardner goes, the Jets will probably have him follow Chase, who runs 66% of his routes from the perimeter, but it’s also possible they assign him to Tee Higgins who runs almost exclusively outside (86%). More than likely, it’ll be Gardner on Chase when Chase is outside, and on Higgins when Chase goes into the slot.

If Gardner doesn’t play? Well, then that’s an upgrade for Joe Flacco and this entire offense across the board.

All Systems Go

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith vs. Giants slot CB Andru Phillips

All the press in Philadelphia is about AJ Brown and whether or not he’s satisfied with his role in the Eagles’ offense (I would hope so after his 2-TD explosion against the Vikings in Week 7), but it’s possible that Smith has been the better player this year, and for our game, especially of late.

Check out what Scott Barrett had to say in this week’s Everything Report:

“A.J. Brown finally had a big two-touchdown fantasy performance, exceeding 14.0 PPR points for just the second time this season. But with DeVonta Smith seeing double the first-read targets (8 to 4) and nearly double the XFP (18.1 to 10.8), I think it’s worth asking: Is Smith’s role better than Brown's this year?

Data Charter Zach Swails certainly likes his deployment more, mentioning, “I think this Eagles offense wants to run through DeVonta. He's moving around the formation more, running routes across the middle, including easy button hitches. A.J. seems stuck strictly on the outside, running outside routes, and even his TD was more of a scramble drill where he ad-libbed a 9 route and broke away from [Vikings DB] Joshua Metellus.”

Across the full season, Smith is averaging virtually the same XFP/G as Brown (12.9 to 12.8), and has seen only three fewer first-read targets (38 to 41). This pair should, at worst, be back-to-back in rankings every week.”

Smith has gone over 100 yards in two of his last three games. The outlier, of course, was a mediocre 4/49 performance against the Giants in Week 6, an overall complete stinker for the Eagles’ offense.

But this past week had a new wrinkle for Philly…

Yes, Smith scored a 79-yard TD on a tendency breaker for the Eagles — under-center play action, something they needed to add to their playbook given that almost all of their plays under center have been Saquon Barkley runs to this point (which also partially explains Barkley’s struggles).

And Smith seems to have been the one who got the play into the game plan.

Look, I seriously doubt that the Eagles are all of a sudden going to look like the Bill Walsh 49ers — Jalen Hurts clearly has his preferences, and turning his back to the defense is not typically one of them (which is not unique in today’s NFL — Joe Burrow is another example). But this was an encouraging development for this offense in general, and defenses will have to stay on their toes.

The Giants have been a top-10 matchup for opposing slot WRs by schedule-adjusted FPG, and they’ve allowed the 4th-most FPG overall (15.6) to slot WRs. Smith seems to have leveled up his game this week, and with the Eagles looking to get the bad taste of Week 6 out of their mouths, I’m projecting him as a top-12 WR this week against the Giants. If AJ Brown (hamstring) doesn’t play, Smitty will get pepped with targets (Brown has missed two practices this week but is still expected to go).

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice vs. Commanders slot CB Mike Sainristil

Do you want the good news or the bad news on Rice? Well, I’m going to give you both anyway!

The good news is obvious — in his first game in over a calendar year, Rice scored 2 touchdowns and garnered a target on 50% of his routes! That’s absurd! The bad news? Rice ran a route on just 42.5% of the Chiefs’ dropbacks… it will be tough to maintain elite fantasy production if he’s that limited in terms of usage. However, I’m not going to panic. As said, it was his first game in over a year, and the Raiders were utterly noncompetitive. The Chiefs pulled Patrick Mahomes for Gardner Minshew in the third quarter, and Rice ran just 3 routes after halftime (the Chiefs didn’t call a single dropback in the fourth quarter). So the gameflow might have dictated the lack of volume.

Of course, that could be a concern this week as well, with the Chiefs 12.5-point favorites against a Jayden Daniels-less Commanders team. But hooooo boy, the matchup is juicy. The Commanders have gotten absolutely debacled by opposing slot WRs, allowing a league-high 538 receiving yards to them, including a 2nd-highest schedule-adjusted FPG over the last five weeks. Sainristil has been the primary culprit, as he has allowed the 2nd-most receiving yards in closest coverage among predominant slot CBs (Andru Phillips).

Rice ran 35.3% of his routes from the slot last week and was targeted on 67% of those routes. This game is not on the DFS main slate, but I am dabbling in Rice overs this week. He’s a slam-dunk WR1 for me, as I think he’ll play more this week.

Broncos WRs vs. Cowboys DBs

The WR money train against the Cowboys expired last week, but with some massive caveats — not only were the Commanders down both Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel, but they lost Jayden Daniels during the game as well. With Daniels out and the receiving corps decimated, Marcus Mariota went “Full Levis.”

Now, the overconfident Bo Nix does have the tendency to put the ball in harm’s way when he shouldn’t, but he also has the moxie and poise and grit to lead a team to an improbable fourth-quarter comeback, the way he did last week against the Giants. Nix will also deliver the ball to his receivers will confidence, even if he doesn’t know where it’s going most of the time — among 40 QBs with 50 or more dropbacks this year, Nix’s catchable throw rate is just 70.3%, 6th-worst (the aforementioned Mariota is worst). What’s more, his catchable throw rate on throws of 10 or more yards is just 49.3%… worst in the NFL!

But the fact remains that this Dallas secondary remains gettable. Despite Washington’s struggles last week, Dallas still allows +9.0 schedule-adjusted FPG to WRs, 3rd-highest in the NFL over the last five weeks. Trevon Diggs is still in concussion protocol, to boot. We have Courtland Sutton ranked as a WR1 this week, and I like Troy Franklin’s chances to return value as a bye-week WR3 against Bland in the slot.

And if you’re hunting for cheap DFS value, Marvin Mims should have a shot to make a big play. Whether Nix gives him a chance on the throw is the biggest question.

Colts Perimeter WRs vs. Titans DBs

The Titans just put top CB L’Jarius Sneed, who wasn’t having the best season anyway, on IR with a quad injury. That leaves their primary perimeter CBs as Jalyn Armour-Davis and Colts castoff Darrell Baker, the latter of whom has allowed a 3rd-highest 3.3 fantasy points per target among CBs with 50 or more coverage snaps played. The Titans are already allowing an 11th-most 21.9 FPG to opposing WRs aligned out wide, and that was with Sneed relatively healthy. Tennessee is also allowing the 10th-most FPG on throws to WRs of 20 or more air yards, which is notable because Alec Pierce’s 19.7 aDOT ranks 3rd among WRs with 50 or more routes run, behind only Tyquan Thornton and Jalin Hyatt.

Michael Pittman is a strong WR2 for fantasy, but I’ll be dabbling in some DFS dart throws on Pierce, who is coming off a season-best performance with 10 targets, 5 catches, and 98 yards receiving. He’s $4600 on DraftKings and has long-TD potential, but there’s a cheap receiver I like even more in this game…

Titans WR Elic Ayomanor vs. Colts DBs

Are you a bad enough dude to play someone in this woeful offense in your DFS lineups? The Colts have been one of the best stories in the entire NFL this year, but we’ve loved them from a fantasy standpoint because they’ve been giving up a ton of production.

For the Chargers last week, Justin Herbert threw for 400+ yards because he had to — the Colts built a big early lead, and the Chargers couldn’t run the ball. But that production matters all the same. Over the last five weeks, the Colts have given up a league-high +13.3 schedule-adjusted FPG to opposing WRs. That includes a 2nd-most +8.0 to outside WRs, and a 3rd-most +5.7 to opposing slot WRs.

And remember, they recently put top outside CB Charvarius Ward on IR with the friendly-fire concussion he suffered in pregame warmups in Week 6. That is notable for the rookie Ayomanor, who hasn’t reached 30 receiving yards in three games but had 38 yards and scored against the Colts in Week 3. Ayomanor runs 89.4% of his routes from the perimeter, and he’s once again expected to be the Titans’ top outside WR with Calvin Ridley (hamstring) sidelined. For $3900 on DraftKings, you could do a hell of a lot worse. I’m also intrigued by fellow rookie Chimere Dike, who saw a season high in routes and turned in 4/70/1 in Mike McCoy’s first game as the Titans’ interim coach. But Dike is only marginally cheaper ($3500) and draws a tougher matchup with Kenny Moore back to man the slot for the Titans.

The Colts have allowed the 6th-most FPG on 20+ air-yard throws to WRs this year, so there’s a chance either Ayomanor or Dike hits one big play to pay off an investment. With the Titans 14-point underdogs, they could be throwing a bunch in the second half.

Falcons WR Drake London vs. Dolphins CB Jack Jones

There is nothing massive statistically that stands out about this matchup, but I just think London has a massive advantage over the 5’11”, 175-pound Jones, who has been the Dolphins’ primary perimeter CB this year. Jones has allowed a 122.8 passer rating when targeted, with 3 TD on 21 targets in his direction.

But mostly? London is playing at home, where this Falcons’ offense has been just completely different than the road version. London averages 23.4 FPG at home… which would rank him as the overall WR1 in fantasy, ahead of Puka Nacua. On the road, he’s averaged 8.5 FPG, which would rank him behind Marvin Mims.

Sometimes I don’t really have anything exciting to add outside of the fact that I think this one particular receiver has an advantage — London runs 43% of his routes from the RWR alignment, where Jones plays 62% of his snaps. We have London projected as a WR2 this week, but I like him more than that.

Pump the Brakes

Giants WRs vs. Eagles DBs

Let’s try this again! Two weeks ago, I gave out a Wan’Dale Robinson “under” prop given his matchup with Cooper DeJean and these Eagles DBs. It was wiped out by one of the worst series of miscues you’ll see a defender make…

Learning experience for the rookie Andrew Mukuba, who has generally been solid this year, but woof. Yet despite this, the Eagles are still a brutal matchup for opposing slot WRs, allowing a 7th-fewest -3.1 schedule-adjusted FPG to them over the last five weeks. And the Eagles should be better equipped than in their no-show against the Giants two weeks ago, as DT Jalen Carter and top CB Quinyon Mitchell are slated to play.

Giants QB Jaxson Dart is playing with huge energy right now, and he might get top perimeter WR Darius Slayton (hamstring) back from a two-game absence. But there is still some “horseshoe-in-the-you-know-what” going on here.

The Eagles should be sufficiently pissed off from that national-TV embarrassment to lock down these mediocre WRs.

Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle vs. Falcons DBs

The Falcons don’t use top CB AJ Terrell to shadow, and they’ll really haven’t had to this year, as they’ve stymied opposing WRs regardless, holding them to a 2nd-fewest 25.2 FPG as a whole (for comparison, Puka Nacua is averaging 23.2 FPG by himself).

Now, the conditions for the Dolphins passing game will be way better than last week, when it was windy and rainy, and Fantasy Points premium subscribers easily cashed a Tua Tagovailoa passing yards under if they tailed me. But this offense is still a disaster, with Mike McDaniel having to answer questions about his job status and Tua’s job status every week. The Falcons have the 2nd-best defense in the NFL by total yardage, but the Dolphins don’t have anyone else to throw to. You probably just have to suck it up and play Waddle this week.

Commanders WRs vs. Chiefs DBs

The Commanders could get both Deebo Samuel (heel) and Terry McLaurin (quad) back this week, but it’s a brutal matchup for them to return — the Chiefs have allowed a 3rd-fewest -9.2 schedule-adjusted FPG to opposing WRs over the last five weeks, holding down perimeter and slot WRs alike (with Trent McDuffie doing his occasional slot work). Moreover, the Commanders will have Marcus Mariota under center in place of the injured Jayden Daniels.

Deebo’s been more productive than McLaurin this year, so if I had to choose between the two of them, he’d be the play, and gamescript could help (though it didn’t help the Raiders last week). I’d consider Deebo a WR2 and McLaurin a WR3, both propped up by Byemaggedon.