Exploiting the right matchups can provide fantasy football paydirt

The beginning of the fantasy football season has been quite the rollercoaster rise, and the panic from managers who are suffering though early-season struggles is off-the-charts. If you are one of those people lamenting over a 1-2 or 0-3 start, take a deep breath. Your season is far from over. It just means you have to work a little harder. 

Discovering favorable matchups to exploit each week should be a natural part of your research. Each week, you should be looking at the players who had big weeks and find out why. Sometimes an opportunity arises because of injury, but often success occurs with just a favorable matchup, and if you see a pattern develop, you strike.

An easy must-play for NFL Week 4 is Cardinals rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. We knew he was talented coming into the season, but after watching Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste in coverage over the first three weeks of the season, Harrison managers should be salivating.

Through three games, opposing No. 1 receivers have amassed 306 receiving yards and five touchdowns against St-Juste. It was Mike Evans in Week 1, Malik Nabers in Week 2, and this past week Ja’Marr Chase absolutely exploded. With the target share Harrison receives, this week is going to be a hot one for his fantasy managers.

Finding favorable matchups gets easier the more games that are played. After three weeks, it’s easy to see that Rams cornerback Cobie Durant is wildly overmatched. He has allowed 327 receiving yards and four touchdowns to the opposition’s No. 2 receiver — with Jauan Jennings’ three-touchdown performance capping it off. Bears rookie receiver Rome Odunze should match up regularly, as the Rams likely will use Tre’Davious White to cover veteran DJ Moore.

If those rookies don’t entice you, then how about second-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba squaring off against Detroit’s Amik Robertson. The poor slot coverage of the Lions has been a pattern this season, and we’ve watched Cooper Kupp and Chris Godwin both expose the weakness. Smith-Njigba had a dominant day working against poor slot-coverage in New England and should have no trouble at all, reprising that performance against the Lions on Monday night.

Betting on the NFL?

To be successful at fantasy football, you need to find the right matchups. Your in-season work should be focused on who is sitting in the most favorable spot each week. It’s not about the names, it’s about the numbers. If you can acquire such a player, then you’re winning more than half the battle, and there is a fantasy football championship in your future.

Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.