The Shadow Knows Week 1 2018

There really aren't any "shadow" cornerbacks in the NFL any more.

The overwhelming majority of NFL teams in 2017 employed a "left side/right side" philosophy with their cornerbacks. There was all of one corner in the entire league who spent his afternoons trailing an opponent's No. 1 receiver – Patrick Peterson of the Arizona Cardinals.

And one of the first things Steve Wilks said after taking the reins in Arizona was that his 4-3 defense in the desert would feature more zone coverage and less of Peterson taking on top wideouts mano e mano all game every game.

Now, this isn't to say NFL teams never move corners off their "side" of the field (just as teams move receivers around the formation). Or that there aren't secondary matchups that could have a sizable impact on the fantasy fortunes of the NFL's top receivers. There are very few absolutes in the NFL.

But just because the Cardinals open the season hosting the Washington Redskins doesn't mean that Redbirds wideout Larry Fitzgerald and Washington corner Josh Norman will spend the game squaring off. Those days may return at some point (the NFL can be cyclical), but for now the days of the "shadow" corner are gone.

But we're going to keep doing this article every week here at Football Diehards. We're even going to keep the name, because I like it…so there.

However, in 2018 we're going to change things up a little, but going through the games that feature elite cornerbacks and high-end receivers and assigning a "panic level" for the latter. If that panic level's 1, you have nothing to worry about. If it's 3, you might want to temper expectations a tad. And if it's 5?

Well, 5 is bad. Like facing the Jaguars bad.

Speaking of the aforementioned Jaguars (who led the NFL in pass defense last year), that's as good a place as any to start our look at the Week 1 slate.

Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Giants (AJ Bouye/Jalen Ramsey vs. Odell Beckham)

You can't bench a healthy Beckham in any matchup, and Ramsey made a late appearance on the injury report this week. But assuming Ramsey plays this is about as bad as a matchup can get for OBJ. Ramsey's got the length and athleticism to body up Beckham in a way few cornerbacks can, and even if the Giants try to scheme Beckham open there's another elite corner waiting on the other side in Bouye.

Panic Level: 4 (It's a terrible matchup, but there's not a lot you can do about it but hope.)

Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens (Tre'Davious White vs. Michael Crabtree)

White scuffled a bit in Buffalo's dress rehearsal against the Cincinnati Bengals, but there's little question that he's far and away the Bills top cornerback and a rising young player at the position. He's probably going to see quite a lot of Crabtree Sunday in Baltimore – enough that I'd downgrade Crabtree into lower-end fantasy WR3 territory.

Panic Level: 4 (Depending on your WR depth, a week off for Crabtree may be in order.)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints (Mike Evans vs. Marshon Lattimore)

Evans and Lattimore made headlines last year with a sideline dust-up that earned Evans a suspension, but the real story was the Defensive Rookie of the Year putting the clamps on Evans. In two matchups with the Saints last year, Evans had just six catches for 68 yards total – including just one grab for 13 yards in their matchup in the Superdome.

Panic Level: 5 (There's no Jameis Winston to boot. If you have another decent option, consider it. For reals.)

Houston Texans at New England Patriots (DeAndre Hopkins vs. Stephon Gilmore)

In that meeting last year (a Week 3 win by the Texans) Gilmore had an interception, but he was also flagged for both pass interference and unnecessary roughness and Hopkins finished the game with seven catches for 76 yards. There's exactly zero doubt that Deshaun Watson's 2018 debut will feature a buttload of targets for "Nuk." Gilmore better eat his Wheaties Sunday morning.

Panic Level: 1 (Hopkins is as matchup-proof as any WR in the league, and Gilmore's paycheck is more elite than his coverage skills.)

San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings (Pierre Garcon vs. Xavier Rhodes) Xavier Rhodes barely ranked inside the top 50 at his position per Pro Football Focus last year, but he told the Twin Cities Star-Tribune he isn't worried about what outsiders think of him. “Every corner you ask who’s a top-five corner is going to rank himself No. 1,” Rhodes said. “You’ll never say another guy is better than you. [PFF] has me 46th. That’s them. At the end of the day, my guys know where I rank. My coaches know where I rank. The league knows where I rank. I’ll just go out there and cover the best receiver and try to lock him down.”

Rhodes is a very good cornerback, but as that PFF ranking shows he's not invincible – especially against really fast or physical pass-catchers. The problem here is that at this point in his NFL career he's neither of those things. Garcon wins with well-run routes and good hands, and Rhodes isn't the type of cover man who is going to be out of position a lot.

Panic Level: 3 (Garcon's a "meh" WR4 in Week 1. Marquise Goodwin is the Niners WR to start in Minny.)

Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers (Tyreek Hill vs. Casey Hayward) The Los Angeles Chargers were a top five pass defense in 2017, and the biggest reason for that was the play of the best cornerback in football who doesn't get called an elite cornerback. Only Jalen Ramsey of the Jacksonville Jaguars had a higher overall grade among cornerbacks last year at Pro Football Focus than Hayward, who allowed well less than half of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed, gave up just three touchdowns and had a passer rating against of under 60.

However, as good as Hayward might be, in two meetings with the Chiefs last year he had his hands full with the speedy Hill (and then some). In each of Kansas City's matchups with the Chargers in 2017 Hill caught 5 passes and found the endzone, and in those two games Hill piled up a total of 165 receiving yards.

Panic Level: 1 (If a 5/83/1 stat line don't do it for you I don't know what to tell you.)

Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos (Doug Baldwin vs. Chris Harris) Baldwin sat out the preseason and has publicly stated he doesn't expect to be 100 percent all season long. But head coach Pete Carroll insisted to Seahawks Wire that Baldwin's bum knee isn't going to be a major detriment. “I think the guys have done a really good job with Doug,” Carroll said. “There was a long-range plan way-back-when, when we had figured out he needed to rest some to get back and the idea was to ramp them up so that he would be in great condition last week and he could play and he was.”

Baldwin's injury concerns caused his ADP to dip in fantasy drafts this summer, and similarly his Week 1 trip to Denver could cause Baldwin to drop a bit in the weekly wide receiver rankings. So long as Baldwin's on the field you know he's going to see plenty of targets, but Chris Harris allowed fewer than 400 yards receiving all of last year – with a completion percentage of just about 50 percent.

Panic Level: 3 ( This is the poster matchup for what I mentioned earlier about tempering expectations)

Washington Redskins at Arizona Cardinals (Josh Norman vs. Larry Fitzgerald) Fitzgerald led the NFC with 109 catches last year, but he told the team's website that he hopes the ball is spread around a bit more this season. “I’m hoping we’re able to spread it out and more guys will be able to contribute, like we were able to do in ‘15,” Fitzgerald said. “I had a good year, but Mike (Floyd) had a good season, Smoke (Brown) was really dominant. You look at Chris Johnson’s year, David Johnson. The more guys you have that teams have to be able to account for, the more opportunities and more explosive your offense can be, because you have to prepare for so much more.”

Larry Fitz's fantasy owners don't have a ton to worry about in that regard given the state of Arizona's receiving corps – just as there's not a ton to be worried about in this matchup. That's not meant to be a dig at Josh Norman, who remains a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback. But Fitzgerald does a lot of his damage at this point in his career from the slot – and Norman doesn’t line up there.

Panic Level: 1 (The Cardinals will scheme Fitzgerald away from Norman as much as possible)

Washington Redskins at Arizona Cardinals (Jamison Crowder vs. Patrick Peterson) Per Arizona Sports, Peterson believes that playing less man-press and more zone in 2018 will be a good thing for him. “The only thing you see that will be a glaring change is me playing off the receiver a little more, giving me a better opportunity to see the ball thrown and breaking on it and being able to make a play on the football,” Peterson said. “I think that’s only going to add years onto my career.”

It's entirely possible that Crowder won't see a ton of Peterson in this game. In three-wide sets Crowder usually kicks inside, and this "new" Patrick Peterson won't be charged with following him. Unless, that is, the Cardinals decide to try to clamp down on the most proven wideout the Redskins have by a sizable margin. This isn't to say they will, but it wouldn't be a shocker, either.

Panic Level: 3 (I think the Cardinals are going t try to take Crowder away from Alex Smith here)

Los Angeles Rams at Oakland Raiders (Marcus Peters/Aqib Talib vs. Amari Cooper/Jordy Nelson) Just in case you've spent the last several months living in a cave in Adirondacks (hey, I don't judge), the Los Angeles Rams spent the offseason adding approximately all the veteran free agent defenders – including a pair of lockdown cornerbacks in Peters and Talib. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips didn't mince words while speaking with the Los Angeles Times. “These two together,” said Phillips, who begins his 42nd NFL season, “are probably the best I’ve had.”

As if Oakland's puzzling offseason (culminating) in the Khalil Mack trade) wasn't bad enough, the scheduling gods saw fit to pit the Raiders against a Super Bowl favorite in many circles in Week 1. We haven't seen Peters and Talib play together yet in a game that matters, so it's possible they won't mesh as well as we expect them to. But if this duo is as good on the field as they are on paper, they could rival Jacksonville as the most frustrating matchup for wide receivers.

Panic Level: 5 (By the end of the 2018 season Raider Nation is going to need a hug – and a drink.)