Man vs. Zone Matchups for WR/TEs in Week 4: Michael Wilson, Tyler Warren Set Up for Success

Coverage schemes can often dictate what offenses and pass-catchers are able to do on a weekly basis. Being able to identify who excels against man or zone coverage can give you an edge in any fantasy football format, whether season-long, dynasty, DFS, etc.

Let’s take a look at a few players who find themselves in favorable spots ahead of Week 4.

Week 4 Man vs. Zone Matchups for WR/TEs

Michael Wilson @ New York Giants

Michael Wilson is coming off a 17-target game that resembled his league-winning stretch to end last season. Arizona was chasing points, Jacoby Brissett was throwing the ball everywhere and Wilson dominated targets in catch-up mode.

It’s simultaneously ugly and beautiful.

Through three weeks, Wilson has remained Arizona’s clear WR1, running a route on 97% of dropbacks, the third-highest rate in the league. He’s handled 26% of the team’s targets and should be able to put together a second consecutive strong showing against the Giants. New York is currently deploying man coverage at a top-five rate in the NFL, which bodes well for Wilson, who trails only Davante Adams in targets against man coverage so far this season (14).

The Giants are coughing up 103 yards per game to opposing WR1s, the third-most in the league, while Wilson is sporting a 31.4% TPRR against man coverage since last season. He continues to get the favorable looks in Mike LaFleur’s offense, seeing in-breaking targets, as well as motion usage. Wilson’s 16 routes from motion are tied for ninth in the league, while only Amon-Ra St. Brown and Chris Olave have more targets from motion (8).

Tyler Warren vs. Washington Commanders (London)

Washington is trying its best to replicate Brian Flores’ defensive scheme in Minnesota. The Commanders are blitzing a ton (42.2% of dropbacks), while calling zone coverage on the back end. The issue, however, is that Flores is the best at what he does, and the Vikings are better at disguising their intentions on defense.

Oh, and they also just have better players.

As a result, we’re seeing opposing passing games do whatever they want against the Commanders so far this season. Opposing tight ends are averaging 67.3 receiving yards per game against Washington through three weeks, the seventh-most in football, while also scoring the second-most fantasy points per game.

Given Washington’s defensive scheme, we could see Daniel Jones look Tyler Warren’s way quite a bit in this one. He’ll likely have to get the ball out quickly if Washington continues to blitz. And considering Warren is averaging just 4.9 yards per reception, the lowest mark among all wideouts and tight ends, the quick passing game could flow through him again this weekend.

Warren has been targeted on just over 30% of his routes against Cover-2 so far this season, so don’t be surprised if he flirts with double-digit targets once again.

Tetairoa McMillan @ Detroit Lions

Tetairoa McMillan had a very quiet game in Week 3, but is poised for a major bounce back this week. For starters, Jalen Coker is banged up, giving McMillan a bump in targets if he’s unable to play in this game. Secondly, a matchup with the Lions is about as good as it gets.

Detroit continues to deploy a ton of man coverage without the help of the league’s top safety duo on the back end. Against man coverage last year, McMillan posted a 28% target share, while averaging a healthy 2.21 YPPR. His 41.2% explosive play rate was good for the fifth-highest rate among wideouts against man coverage, and we know Detroit coughs up plenty of explosive plays in the passing game.