Fantasy Football WR Report: Man, zone coverage performance ahead of NFL Week 16

Posted by author December 19, 2024 Football

• Brian Thomas Jr. is in a great spot to keep his strong rookie season going: Thomas’ success against man coverage puts him in line for a great week in an ideal matchup.

• Ladd McConkey is back and should deliver for fantasy managers in Week 16: McConkey’s dominance against man coverage should be on full display this week on Thursday Night Football versus the Denver Broncos.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated Reading Time: 24 minutes

This fantasy football wide receiver report will build on PFF’s wide receiver grades against man and zone coverages.

By providing additional fantasy-related details, including opponent coverage tendencies, we’ll look to find one more edge to help us dominate our fantasy leagues this season.

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Arizona Cardinals

Week 16 opponent: Carolina Panthers

Man coverage rate: 20.6% (26)
Zone coverage rate: 71.9% (10)

Versus man

Player	Routes run	Receptions	Receiving yards	Target rate	PPR points	FF PTS/RR
Chris Moore	2	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.00
Zay Jones	31	1	13	3.2%	2.3	0.07
Zach Pascal	5	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.00
Greg Dortch	63	6	64	17.5%	18.4	0.29
Michael Wilson	114	11	144	18.4%	37.4	0.33
Xavier Weaver	6	0	0	16.7%	0.0	0.00
Marvin Harrison Jr.	116	18	213	29.3%	57.3	0.49

Versus zone

Player	Routes run	Receptions	Receiving yards	Target rate	PPR points	FF PTS/RR
Chris Moore	6	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.00
Zay Jones	70	2	6	5.7%	2.6	0.04
Zach Pascal	10	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.00
Greg Dortch	175	23	194	15.4%	42.4	0.24
Michael Wilson	301	30	338	13.0%	75.8	0.25
Xavier Weaver	21	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.00
Marvin Harrison Jr.	307	29	474	18.2%	100.4	0.33

The Panthers have played zone coverage at a top-10 rate this season but slot in at 27th in yards allowed per reception (11.5) and 30th in yards allowed per coverage snap (7.43) from those looks.

This is typically a favorable matchup for wide receivers, which will ideally help Marvin Harrison Jr. overcome his current slump. Harrison leads the Cardinals’ wide receivers in target rate versus zone, but that clip still pales in comparison to his target rate against man coverage, which has led to lower fantasy outputs. He ranks just outside the top 50 (minimum 100 routes) in fantasy points per route run against zone.

Click here for even more insight into receiver performance against man and zone coverages