Here at Pro Football Focus we chart every play of every NFL game, recording advanced statistics on exactly what a player does on every snap. Then as fantasy analysts we take that data and use it, along with our experience from years of playing fantasy football and watching games ourselves, to form the opinions that drive our advice and decisions. This series will take a deep look at how teams are using defensive backs against opposing offenses, and apply a fantasy spin to wide receivers.
With 12 weeks of data behind us we are starting to see much clearer trends of which CBs are shadow corners (play a minimum of 30 snaps in a week with 65% of their snaps at corner lined up against the same receiver). Taking that data, as well as their performances in allowed pass completion percentage, total yards allowed and touchdowns allowed, we can start to get a good picture of how the players they are likely to be assigned to cover will perform. This week I have taken the 24 cornerbacks who have 3+ games as a shadow corner and predicted who their main coverage responsibility will be on game day. The match-up is then graded on a scale of 1-10 (1 being bad, 10 being excellent) on how good a match-up it is for the wide-receiver. Notes on the match-ups can be found below the table.
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To read the companion IDP Man Coverage Targets article, looking at the league's most targeted receivers and who will be responsible for locking them down this week, go here.
Ross Miles is the IDP Editor and a Senior Fantasy Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy, as well as 2011’s most accurate IDP expert according to FantasyPros. Follow him on Twitter –@PFF_RossMiles
For an in depth look at the IDP landscape, snap counts and weekly match-ups from IDP Editors Jeff Ratcliffe and Ross Miles, check out our free-to-watch weekly show, The Nickel