Josh Norman may have been tossed like a rag doll but he’s been one hell of a streaming corner recently
Welcome to Johny The Greek’s Cornerbacks Corner week six. Week five was another solid week with a ton of excellent corner streams and many massive hits yet again. We took advantage of some solid matchups last week and had another double digit massive hit week overall and were at 78% accurate for the week. As the season continues I’m becoming more and more comfortable with the rookies and injury replacement corners I haven’t had a ton of experience streaming with before and the overall accuracy has drastically increased since the first couple weeks of the season. As we know what each teams offensive and defensive strengths look like and continue to learn more every week we should get better and better as the season continues. Let’s get the usual stuff out of the way and get into our week six streaming options.
If you’re new to this article series the idea behind it is that in the IDP world cornerbacks are the red headed step child, often neglected or scoffed at. Not here. I freaking love streaming corners and have for some time now. We’re going to be looking at things like expected game script, opposing offensive tendencies, snap counts, role and historical production to inform our weekly decisions on what corners are an “ideal” streaming option. By giving this entire thing more than two seconds thought we will have a distinct advantage over our opponents who are not doing this over the course of the season. We are going to put ourselves in the best position possible every week to score the most IDP points humanly possible from our cornerback slots.
Just a little background, I’ve been playing IDP for seventeen years now and streaming corners for well over a decade of that time. I have won many titles in both redraft and dynasty and also in best ball and DFS as well as college fantasy football. I am a true degenerate. Personally I like to stream not only whatever the current week is but if my bench is big enough I’ll load up two more ideal streamers for the following week and by doing so I’ve already taken my pick of the litter a week before anyone else is even thinking about their corners. Corner is a naturally spotty position but by looking at all the factors I listed above we will have better outcomes than the majority of IDP owners who simply put in a “known” corner with a big name (Richard Sherman for example) into their corner slots and ride out the production whether or not that matchup makes sense each week. That won’t be us, we’re going to waterboard our opponents with ideal matchups all season until they drown from our flood of IDP points.
It looks like we’ll have some pretty solid matchups this week and we’ll continue to target those for our ideal matchups but in today’s NFL where passing is the name of the game I’m sure we’ll find solid streaming options in just about every matchup so even those of us in the deepest of leagues have some options. Alright let’s have a look at how we did last week with some transparency and have a look at this week’s matchups. I always give last weeks results as well as an overall season long accuracy because it’s important to be honest and up front with stuff like this, if I’m in a slump and making bad decisions you’ll know it and can decide if you want to follow these streaming suggestions or not.
Last week I made 52 recommendations, of those 10 were declared inactive or injured, 33 were correct (met or exceeded projection) and 9 were incorrect (below projection). We don’t count acts of God here and I specifically ask people to check for inactives before each game so discounting those I was 78% correct last week, 73% accurate for the season overall. Of those 33 correct calls last week 17 of them were “massive hits” (doubled or tripled projection) for a 51% massive hit rate this week, the best so far this season. More than half of the correct calls last week were massive hits, that’s incredible.
Disclaimer Time! I’m not going to get all of these correct. Cornerback especially is a wildly inconsistent position for production in IDP fantasy football. That’s why most people hate it with a passion. My whole thing is to put yourself in the best position to succeed by looking at all the variables and making the absolute best streaming call possible. After that you pray. Your team is your responsibility and yours alone, you set the lineup not me. Take ownership if things go south, these are only suggestions. I will do my absolute best to make sure that these recommendations are the best possible and will base these on factual information and statistics from places like NFLGsis.com, PFF and other fantasy and NFL data and statistics sites. I will also use the force, sometimes a gut feeling is all I have to go on in an unknown situation but if it comes down to that just know this isn’t my first rodeo.
I don’t work for the NFL, I don’t get to sit in on defensive team meetings for all thirty-two teams, I don’t get inside information. If a player has looked solid all season and has been playing a ton of snaps and they get yanked right before a game obviously I had nothing to do with it and since I don’t work for said team no one told me. (See Vernon Hargreaves 2019). If someone goes down with an ACL it’s not because I made a voodoo doll of them and stuck it with pins. These decisions are the same ones I’m making for my teams so if things go bad for you they go bad for me as well. I’m just here to help, don’t kill the messenger.
Article Key:
Outlook: This will be a brief overview of the two offenses and how that will effect the outlook for each teams cornerbacks corps. We’ll look at offensive ranks, expected game scripts and how the game should go. This will help us identify if this is a matchup we want to target for streaming corners or not.
Ideal Matchup: This is the best possible matchup for this teams cornerbacks, streaming any corners from this team, especially guys that are talented and play all the snaps gives you the best chances at excellent production from those corners.
Solid Matchup: This isn’t a perfect matchup to stream corner but it’s still pretty good, if you’re in a deeper league and have fewer options to stream from this matchup is still a better option than most.
Avoid: This matchup will likely be terrible to stream corner from, due to anything from a god awful opposing quarterback who can’t complete passes to a banged up wide receiver corps or even a run first offense like the 2019 Ravens were (they didn’t pass all that often because frankly they didn’t need to, their run game was ridiculous) there’s something that makes this a bad matchup to stream corners from, avoid if possible. However there may be specific corners who get a “solid” in an otherwise “avoid” matchup simply due to their talent and ability to make plays in all aspects of the defense (see Logan Ryan (CB)).
Texans @ Titans
Outlook: Ninth ranked passing offense and middle of the pack passing offense, which is strange for the Titans because Tannehill has been lights out since last season, regardless AJ Brown (WR) is back and looks amazing so I’d give them a bump just for that. Texans passing defense is top ten, Titans not so much. It’s division also so who knows what’s going to happen. I feel like we get a shootout, I’m starting the known and reliable corners here pretty confidently.
Houston Texans
Bradley Roby (CB) Solid
Lonnie Johnson (CB) Solid
Vernon Hargraves (CB) Avoid
Tennessee Titans
Malcolm Butler (CB) Solid
Jonathan Joseph (CB) Avoid
Chris Jackson (CB) Avoid
Bengals @ Colts
Outlook: Both passing offenses are middle of the pack, nothing special. Colts pass defense and overall defense is still best in the league while Cincy’s is also surprisingly top ten. The Ravens mediocre pass defense held the Bengals to three whole points last week, I’m guessing Indy can do that as well. Colts corners could score some points this week since Joe Burrow (QB) has been throwing a ton the last few weeks, just an insane amount of attempts. For the Bengals I’m likely avoiding everyone here, this feels like a Colts ground attack game where they dominate time of possession and suck the life out of this game with run game and good defense, not a shootout, not a great game for streaming corner in general but the Colts could have a couple decent performances.
Cincinnati Bengals
William Jackson (CB) Avoid
Darious Phillips (CB) Avoid
LeShaun Sims (CB) Avoid
Indianapolis Colts
Kenny Moore (CB) Solid
Xavier Rhodes (CB) Solid
Rock Ya Sin (CB) Solid
Falcons @ Vikings
Outlook: Falcons pass game is still top ten, Vikings was better last week but still isn’t all that great. The good news is both passing defenses are steaming hot garbage, 31st for Falcons and almost as bad for the Vikings. This could very well be a shootout and is one of the games I am very interested in for streaming corner this week. And a ton of these corners are guys that aren’t known as well as most so there should be good availability for these guys in regards to streaming this week.
Atlanta Falcons
Kendall Sheffield (CB) Solid
AJ Terrel (CB) Solid
Isaiah Oliver (CB) Avoid
Minnesota Vikings
Jeff Gladney (CB) Solid
Cameron Dantzler (CB) Solid
Mike Hughes (CB) Solid
Broncos @ Patriots
Outlook: Neither passing attack is great, both end of the pack. Broncos passing defense is ranked 30th while the Patriots is just outside the top ten. Cam Newton (QB) should be able to complete passes at will due to the poor Broncos pass defense which is excellent for Broncos corners, as for Patriots corners I might take a stab at Gilmore but besides that I’m probably all set. Broncos corners should give us a couple options this week.
Denver Broncos
Bryce Callahan (CB) Solid
Kareem Jackson (CB) Solid
Micheal Ojemudia (CB) Solid
New England Patriots
Stephon Gilmore (CB) Solid
Jonathan Jones (CB) Avoid
JC Jackson (CB) Avoid
Football Team @ Giants
Outlook: Both of these passing attacks are horrendously bad. Washington’s pass defense is very good, the Giants just outside the top ten. That’s a recipe for a bad game for streaming corner. I’ll still play Logan Ryan (CB) because he’s really playing free safety according to NFLGSIS and will likely produce no matter what. James Bradberry (CB) will likely be on McLaurin so he should see work as well but then again he could just shut him down completely like he did with Amari Cooper (WR) last week so I’m less confident in Bradberry this week. Those two are essentially matchup proof but this might be a bridge too far, other options might be better options this week. Kendall Fuller (CB) on Washington is the only guy I’d even consider on the other side and only in much deeper leagues.
Washington Football Team
Kendall Fuller (CB) Solid
Ronald Darby (CB) Avoid
Jimmy Moreland (CB) Avoid
New York Giants
Logan Ryan (CB) Solid
James Bradberry (CB) Solid
Ryan Lewis (CB) Avoid
Darnay Holmes (CB) Avoid
Ravens @ Eagles
Outlook: Neither passing attack is good, the Ravens is the second worst in the league. Both passing defenses are middle of the pack and in general I think we’re safe to start the two cheek splitters on the Ravens (Peters and Humphrey) and Slay on the Eagles but I wouldn’t touch anyone else here, both Ravens stud corners are essentially matchup proof and this matchup is OK enough to start them and Slay is a coin flip for a good game I’d only start in deeper leagues, everyone else I’d avoid.
Baltimore Ravens
Marcus Peters (CB) Solid
Marlon Humphrey (CB) Solid
Jimmy Smith (CB) Avoid
Philadelphia Eagles
Darius Slay (CB) Solid
Nikel Robey Coleman (CB) Avoid
Corey LeBlanc (CB) Avoid
Browns @ Steelers
Outlook: Browns passing attack is really bad, Steelers just OK, middle of the pack. Steelers passing defense is middle of the pack while the Browns is 30th overall. This feels like a low scoring battle in the trenches for the most part, however the Steelers should be able to complete passes pretty easily against this pass defense so I’m starting Browns corners, particularly Denzel Ward (CB) pretty easily, as for the Steelers any of their corners can blow up any week due to the nature of their defense forcing turnovers and their corners blitzing often and getting sacks. A tackle floor will be nonexistent however, they’ll need big plays to produce and that’s always a recipe for inconsistency and possibly disaster. Browns corners are a go, Steelers corners only if you’re desperate and need a homerun that could just as easily be a strike out.
Cleveland Browns
Denzel Ward (CB) Solid
Terrence Mitchell (CB) Solid
Kevin Johnson (CB) Avoid
Pittsburgh Steelers
Joe Haden (CB) Solid
Steven Nelson (CB) Solid
Mike Hilton (CB) Solid
Bears @ Panthers
Outlook: Panthers passing offense is now ranked fifth in the league!!! Bears…yeah no. They’re way at the end of the rankings as expected, in fact their entire offense is pretty terrible, good thing their defense, passing defense in particular is solid. The Panthers passing defense is surprisingly just as good as their passing offense, fifth in the league, which blows my mind. This one could give us some solid options from the Bears, Fuller as always and Jaylon Johnson (CB) is in a great spot to bounce back this week. For the Panthers I’m probably steering clear, that Bears passing offense isn’t going to be completing a ton of passes for easy tackles plus Donte Jackson (CB) is injured and out this week most likely. Maybe Justin Burris (CB) since he’s essentially a hidden safety for them but that’s probably it.
Chicago Bears
Kyle Fuller (CB) Ideal
Jaylon Johnson (CB) Solid
Buster Skrine (CB) Avoid
Carolina Panthers
Rasul Douglas (CB) Avoid
Troy Pride (CB) Avoid
Corn Elder (CB) Avoid
Justin Burris (CB/S) Solid
Lions @ Jaguars
Outlook: Both passing attacks are just mediocre. Jacksonville’s passing defense is really bad while Detroit’s is middle of the pack. Matt Stafford (QB) should be able to complete a ton of passes which is great for the Jags corners if we can figure out who they are, that entire unit is shredded by injury. As for Detroit I might start Okudah since he’ll probably get picked on but besides that I’m probably looking for other options. Decent matchup, not amazing.
Detroit Lions
Amani Oruwariye (CB) Solid
Desmond Trufant (CB) Avoid
Jeff Okudah (CB) Solid
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tre Herndon (CB) Solid
CJ Henderson (CB) Solid *If healthy*
DJ Hayden (CB) Avoid *Placed on IR*
Chris Claybrooks (CB) Solid *If Henderson is out, avoid if he is in*
Jets @ Dolphins
Outlook: The Jets have the worst passing attack in the league, no Miami corners for me this week. The Dolphins passing offense is middle of the pack. Neither passing defense is good, both towards the end of the pack. The Jets guys who have been decent, Pierre Desir (CB) and Bless Austin (CB) if he plays, maybe whoever we think the injury replacement is if he doesn’t, look like nice options this week but this will be a one sided affair likely for both the actual game and for streaming corner options this week.
New York Jets
Pierre Desir (CB) Solid
Bless Austin (CB) Sold *If healthy*
Lamar Jackson (CB) Avoid
Brian Poole (CB) Solid
Miami Dolphins
Byron Jones (CB) Avoid
Xavien Howard (CB) Avoid
Nik Needham (CB) Avoid
Packers @ Buccaneers
Outlook: The Packers passing offense is the third best in the league, great news for Tampa Bay corners, while Tampa’s is pretty good as well, just outside the top ten. Both passing defenses are just mediocre and we could very well have a shootout on hour hands, this looks like a terrific matchup to stream corner from, especially when we factor in the corners involved from each team, guys like Jaire Alexander (CB) and Carlton Davis (CB) should excel pretty easily this week. This is the way.
Green Bay Packers
Jaire Alexander (CB) Ideal
Kevin King (CB) Solid *If healthy*
Josh Jackson (CB) Avoid
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carlton Davis (CB) Solid
Sean Murphy Bunting (CB) Solid
Jamel Dean (CB) Avoid
Rams @ 49ers
Outlook: Both passing offenses are middle of the pack range, however the story here is the pass defenses. The Rams rank second in the league currently while San Francisco ranks third. This feels like a low scoring game that won’t be great for either cornerback corps, I’d look elsewhere to stream this week.
Los Angeles Rams
Jalen Ramsey (CB) Avoid
Troy Hill (CB) Avoid
Darious Williams (CB) Avoid
San Francisco 49ers
Jason Verrett (CB) Avoid
Akello Witherspoon (CB) Avoid
Jamar Taylor (CB) Avoid
Chiefs @ Bills
Outlook: Two top five passing attacks loaded with stars and both quarterbacks playing lights out this season makes this one a slam dunk already. The Chiefs pass defense is top ten and the Bills is middle of the pack but I really don’t think that matters much this week, this one has all the makings of a shootout and both these teams are coming off a loss. First one to one hundred wins. Start the corners. All of them! Well, the good ones that play anyways.
Kansas City Chiefs
Bashaud Breeland (CB) Solid
Chavarious Ward (CB) Solid
Rashad Fenton (CB) Avoid
Buffalo Bills
Josh Norman (CB) Solid
Tre’Davious White (CB) Solid *If healthy*
Taron Johnson (CB) Avoid
Cam Lewis (CB) Solid *If Tre’Davious White (CB) is injured and out, avoid if he plays*
Cardinals @ Cowboys
Outlook: The rankings haven’t caught up to the injury yet for the Cowboys, they are still ranked as the best passing attack in the league. I highly doubt that’s the case with the Red Rifle in there. As for the Cardinals they’re middle of the pack but Dallas’s defense and pass defense is absolute dog crap so they’ll be able to pass at will, start your Cowboys corners with confidence. As for the Cardinals corners that’s a little harder since we don’t really know what this Cowboys offense will look like with the backup at the helm, I’d probably just avoid Cardinals corners this week and look elsewhere but in deeper leagues it’s never a terrible idea to flip the Patrick Peterson (CB) or Byron Murphy (CB) coin.
Arizona Cardinals
Patrick Peterson (CB) Solid
Byron Murphy (CB) Solid
Dre Kirkpatrick (CB) Avoid
Dallas Cowboys
Jourdan Lewis (CB) Solid
Trevon Diggs (CB) Solid
Darryl Worley (CB) Solid
Please remember to check inactives before submitting your final lineups Thursday night, Sunday at 11am Eastern and 330pm Eastern Time, prior to Sunday night football and Monday night. Players can and will suddenly become inactive after looking “good to go” all week (See “Robert Woods 2019″). That’s on you to keep an eye on. Also this article was published days before kickoff and I have zero intention of updating it a hundred times with injuries and inactives prior to kickoff. That stuff is on you, figure it out, or don’t, it’s not my lineup.
These are only suggestions, your lineup is ultimately your responsibility and yours alone. Good luck this week and all season, go get that hardware and cash.
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