Fantasy Football Week 12: 5 WR/CB matchups to target and 5 to avoid

Hopkins set to thrive in Week 12: Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has overall WR1 potential versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
Metcalf in a smash spot: Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf should smash the Las Vegas Raiders‘ lacking secondary.
Tough matchup for Pickens: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens has a tall task ahead versus the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis is the only team in the NFL that has not allowed a passing touchdown in its perimeter coverage.

Welcome to Week 12 of the 2022 NFL season. The sections below highlight five targets and avoids with data gleaned from PFF’s WR/CB matchup chart.

5 WR/CB MATCHUPS TO TARGET

Jacksonville-Baltimore has a moderate 43.5-point over/under.
Jacksonville’s offensive line earned a 28.0% PFF matchup advantage rating in PFF’s OL/DL matchup chart, tied for third best on the Week 12 slate.
Kirk (76.5 PFF receiving grade) has taken 66.24% of his offensive snaps and 77.1% of his receiving snaps lined up in the slot, mixing moderate consistency with explosive, run-after-catch gains.
The table below ranks Kirk’s slot-receiving data among 53 NFL wide receivers with at least 100 slot-receiving snaps (“No. 1” denotes the position’s best performance)

NFL Slot Receiver Data	PFF Slot-Receiving Grade	Per Routes Run %: Targets – Yards	Catch % – Contested Catch %	Yards After Catch per Rec.	Explosive Pass Plays of 15+ Yards
Christian Kirk	74.4 (No. 13)	19.7% (No. 19) – 1.69 (No. 19)	64.3% (No. 43) – 14.3% (No. 39)	4.9 (No. 23)	9 (T-No. 4)

Baltimore started Williams (40.0 PFF coverage grade) at slot cornerback for much of the year but later replaced him with first-round rookie safety Kyle Hamilton (88.6 PFF slot-coverage grade). Williams is likely to start with Hamilton (knee) now unable to practice though.
Williams logged a 61.7% slot cornerback rate during his time as the team’s majority starter in Weeks 1-8.
Veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey (80.8 PFF coverage grade) consistently operated as a backup slot cornerback in Weeks 8-11, logging a 35.5% slot rate.
The table below ranks Williams’ and Humphrey’s slot coverage data among 38 NFL cornerbacks with at least 90 slot coverage snaps.

NFL Slot CB Data	PFF Slot-Coverage Grade	Catch % – Yards Allowed per Cov. Snap	Forced Incompletion %	Explosive Pass Plays Allowed %	Open Target %
Damarion Williams	41.9 (No. 38)	70.0% (No. 21) – 1.98 (No. 33)	3.6% (No. 25)	6.1% (No. 36)	50.0% (T-No. 7)
Marlon Humphrey	78.4 (No. 4)	72.7% (T-No. 16) – 0.82 (No. 7)	0.0% (T-No. 30)	1.1% (No. 4)	45.5% (T-No. 5)