With the return of bye weeks this week, as well as approaching the final third of the fantasy regular season, fantasy managers have a lot of decisions to make this week with regard to their fantasy lineups.

Therefore, it is important to know some key WR/CB matchups this week and prepare accordingly. Especially as some of the fantasy elite wide receivers could be in for a difficult ride week with their particular matchups.

So, without further ado, here are this week’s 6 Fantasy Football WR/CB matchups to know for Week 9.

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WR/CB Matchups: Week 9

Advantageous Wide Receiver Matchups

Jakobi Meyers (WR – LV) vs. Adoree’ Jackson (CB – NYG)

There is a lot of change in Las Vegas this week, with the Raiders parting way with head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. They have also benched Jimmy Garoppolo for rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback. This could potentially hinder Meyers this week.

However, his matchup is a great one. He is up against Jackson, who is giving up the 10th most fantasy points per route run against him out of all cornerbacks entering Week 9. According to FantasyPoints Data Suite, Jackson is giving up 0.39 fantasy points per route run against him. While Jackson does move around the defense quite a bit, there will be plenty of opportunities for Meyers to earn his fantasy points in this one.

The biggest question will be whether O’Connell will find him with the ball or not.

Michael Pittman (WR – IND) vs. C.J. Henderson (CB – CAR)

Pittman comes into Week 9 as the WR12 in fantasy football. He is clearly going to be started in all formats this week. However, there is a reasonable expectation he could have a spike week in Week 9. Pittman goes up against Henderson and the Carolina Panthers, who are coming off their first win of the season last week.

Henderson is giving up 0.33 fantasy points per route run against him so far this season. And while the Panthers are 25th in points allowed to fantasy wide receivers so far this season, Henderson is the cornerback you can exploit on this defense.

I would expect Gardner Minshew and the Indianapolis Colts to exploit this matchup as much as they can in Week 9 and get Pittman some space to work one-on-one versus Henderson.

Michael Thomas (WR – NO) vs. Tyrique Stevenson (CB – CHI)

This is arguably the most one-sided matchup of Week 9. And, while it is difficult to trust the New Orleans Saints offense right now if their offensive coordinator has done his homework, this should be a very good week to start Thomas in your flex.

Thomas is up against Stevenson, who is conceding a whopping 0.47 fantasy points per route run against him so far this season. He is currently conceding the second most fantasy points per route run against him out of all qualifying cornerbacks playing in Week 9. Only Keanu Neal of the Pittsburgh Steelers is conceding more.

Stevenson is also being targetted 23.1% of the time, which is the third most of all qualifying cornerbacks entering Week 9. Offensive coordinators have been targeting Stevenson heavily this season; expect the Saints to do the same in Week 9. Start Thomas with confidence this week.

Challenging Wide Receiver Matchups

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA) vs. Arthur Maulet (CB – BLT)

Smith-Njigba arguably has the toughest matchup of all the wide receivers this week. And, while he has seen an uptick in volume in recent weeks, he is still only running routes 67.1% of the time so far this season. In Week 8, he only managed routes on 66% of the time. So he is still hovering around his average, even in recent weeks.

He is up against Maulet in Week 9, who is allowing the third-fewest fantasy points per route run against him out of all cornerbacks playing in Week 9. Maulet is only allowing 0.11 fantasy points per route run against him so far this season.

With Smith-Njigba seeing only four targets in Week 8, with an aDOT of 0.0, and back to running 66/67% of routes, alongside this matchup versus Maulet, fantasy managers should be advised to sit him this week.

Keenan Allen (WR – LAC) vs. Michael Carter (CB – NYJ)

Allen has a really tough matchup this week against Carter of the New York Jets. Whilst you cannot sit Allen, and while Allen has the talent to overcome this tough matchup, be aware that the high ceiling we are used to seeing from him could potentially not be in play this week.

Carter is only allowing 0.17 fantasy points per route run against him so far this season. That is the ninth fewest of all cornerbacks playing in Week 9. Carter has not allowed many top-24 fantasy wide receiver performances this season. However, he has yet to face someone who is getting the volume and output that Allen is achieving so far this season.

Allen will still be a top option this week. However, it is unlikely he will finish in the top five or six in scoring at the position this week. Fantasy managers should be aware of this.

K.J. Osborn (WR – MIN) vs. Jeff Okudah (CB – ATL)

There has been a lot of change this week in Minnesota. Kirk Cousins is out for the season with a torn Achilles. The Vikings’ solution to this was to go out and acquire Joshua Dobbs from Arizona, who was benched on Monday by head coach Jonathan Gannon.

However, it is likely that the Vikings will start Jaren Hall this week for his first NFL start. The 5th-round rookie will have a hard time against one of the best defenses in the NFL so far this season. The Falcons are only allowing 26.2 fantasy points per game to fantasy wide receivers.

Okudah has been outstanding since being acquired in a trade from the Detroit Lions. He is only allowing 0.10 fantasy points per route run against him, which is the second-best of all cornerbacks playing in Week 9 so far this season. With a rookie quarterback in his first NFL start, mixed in with a horribly challenging matchup, Osborn should be sat by fantasy managers this week and placed on their bench,

Adam Murfet is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Murf, check out his archive and follow him @Murf_NFL.