Favorable Wide Receiver Matchups for Week 17 (2021)
Each week Fantasy In Frames is highlighting key wide receiver matchups to take advantage of. Here are four favorable wide receiver matchups for Week 17
It’s here! Championship weekend for the majority of us Fantasy Football players, and hopefully you ignored my advice last week and made it to the Championship game in your respective leagues. Below are my four WR3/FLEX options at the Wide Receiver position that could propel your team over the line.
Gabriel Davis – Buffalo Bills
Buffalo’s second-year receiver has made an exceptionally strong case to be the team’s #2 option in the passing game from here on out. Stellar back-to-back games against Tampa Bay and Carolina before COVID-19 kept him out of the Bills’ big win over New England last week should see him return to the lineup this week. Davis will possibly be up against Fabien Moreau, who has allowed a Passer Rating against of 112.5 when targeted, second-highest of any CB with at least 80% of snaps. Moreau is listed as doubtful on Atlanta’s final injury report for the game, so we could be looking at an even better matchup for Davis in a backup for the already replacement level Moreau.
Michael Gallup – Dallas Cowboys
Michael Gallup WHAT A CATCH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 3, 2021
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/UvUOsoGGyl
The third option in the Cowboys’ passing game has a more than favorable matchup this week and could be the WR3/FLEX option that carries you to a Fantasy Football Championship! Gallup predominantly lines up as the left WR in the Cowboys offense with Amari Cooper on the right and CeeDee Lamb in the slot. This trio is one of the NFL’s best and gives opposition defensive coordinators headaches to the point where they’re almost forced to pick their poison. Arizona typically line Marco Wilson up as their right-sided Cornerback, and that hasn’t gone particularly well as Wilson has allowed a Passer Rating against of 127.9 when targeted. That’s good for the second-highest of all Cornerbacks playing at least 50% of snaps in the NFL. Now Marco Wilson has been ruled out for this contest, but that means that once again, we’re likely to see a backup player fill in for an already replacement-level starter against a talented pass-catcher in a strong passing offense.
Terry McLaurin – Washington Football Team
Scary Terry hasn’t really had the season he or us in the Fantasy Football community envisioned at the start of the NFL season. Expectations were revised once it emerged, Ryan Fitzpatrick would be out for the year, but even with Taylor Heinicke under Center and those revised expectations, it’s fair to say that McLaurin has underachieved. The former Ohio State man has a favorable matchup this week though and could reward fantasy players who roster him with a big point haul this week. McLaurin typically lines up out wide to the left for Washington, and he’ll be up against Eagles Cornerback Steven Nelson for the most part on Sunday. Nelson lines up as the right-sided outside corner for Philadelphia and although he’s been a steady presence on the defense, it’s not been particularly impressive from the former Pittsburgh Steeler. Nelson is allowing a Passer Rating against of 109.4 when targeted in coverage this year, and that ranks third-worst in the NFL for Cornerbacks who’ve played at least 80% of the snaps.
Donovan Peoples-Jones – Cleveland Browns
The former Michigan Wolverine pass-catcher has seen more playing time since OBJ’s release, and with at least 85% of the offensive snaps in four of the Browns’ last five games, we know that DPJ will see the field often on Sunday. He’ll likely see a lot of Steelers Cornerback Cameron Sutton, which might not be such a bad thing when you consider Sutton is allowing a Passer Rating against of 112.8 when targeted, which is worst in the NFL for a CB that’s played at least 80% of snaps. Peoples-Jones might not be a top-tier fantasy asset, but with a good-looking matchup and in a must-win game for the Browns, he could be valuable to your FF team on Sunday.