Week 10 Best and Worst WR, TE Matchups: Jalen Coker, Darren Waller in great spot vs. Saints

It’s always a popular question — or string of questions — during my Friday live streams on the NFL on NBC YouTube channel: Which slot receivers have the best matchups? And which outside (boundary) wideouts are in good spots?

While it shouldn’t be the deciding factor in how you make your weekly lineup decisions, knowing if a pass catcher has a particularly good or bad matchup is valuable information that can sometimes serve as a tiebreaker for your most vexing start-sit decisions.

This season I’ll use this space to break down the best (and worst) matchups for pass catchers operating from the slot and those lining up primarily on the boundary. Some pass catchers, as you know, split their time between the boundary and the slot, making this little exercise more complicated. I’ll do my best to pinpoint the most appealing (and unappealing) weekly matchups, and what they might mean for your weekly start-sit decisions.

Week 10 Slot Matchups

Fantasy Points Data

Panthers vs. Saints

Saints fantasy points per target allowed vs. slot: 2.02 (10th)

The Saints in the chart above are in a section I would call “efficient without target volume” against slot pass catchers. Narrow it a bit — look at how teams have gone after the Saints’ defense since Week 5, for example — and they became a juicier slot target. Over the past month the Saints have allowed the league’s fourth highest completion rate over expected on slot throws, along with the fifth highest success rate and the fifth highest adjusted yards per attempt.

That should be a welcome development for both Jalen Coker and Darren Waller, both of whom I highlighted in Week 10’s Regression Files. I like this game as a potential back-and-forth affair between two fast-pace offenses that don’t mind throwing it a bunch. I know playing Waller this week might feel an awful lot like chasing points, and maybe it is. But his matchup and his role last week against Denver (99 air yards!) makes him too interesting to ignore against New Orleans.

Steelers vs. Bengals

Bengals fantasy points per target allowed vs. slot: 2.15 (5th)

In a matchup between two pass-first, pass-heavy offenses squaring off against pass funnel defenses, I think you’re going to want to play pretty much anyone you can play in this one. At worst, there should be a ton of drop back volume.

That, I think, should be enough to break Germie Bernard out of his mini-funk. The Bengals this season have given up a league-high 58 percent of their opponents’ receiving points to the slot. Only the Dolphins, Lions, and Raiders have allowed a higher EPA per pass attempt to slot guys in 2026. Bernard runs from the slot on 53 percent of his routes.

This matchup could be a nice little boost for Pat Freiermuth as well. The Muth — the kids at the local coffee shop are calling him The Muth — leads the Steelers this season with a 64.5 percent slot rate. Darnell Washington, who’s being targeted on an absurd 25 percent of his pass routes, operates from the slot at a 9 percent rate, in case you were wondering.

Falcons vs. Chiefs

KC fantasy points per target allowed vs. slot: 1.62 (26th)

Probably you have no choice but to play Kyle Pitts this week against a stingy Kansas City secondary. Consider this to be my public service announcement that slot matchups don’t get much worse.

Pitts, with a 35 percent slot rate, will take on a Chiefs defense allowing the eighth lowest success rate on slot throws and the second lowest expected touchdowns to slot pass catchers. I suppose this isn’t good for Drake London either, considering he operates from the slot at a 40 percent rate.

Week 10 Boundary Matchups

Fantasy Points Data

Bills vs. Jets

Jets fantasy points per target allowed vs. boundary: 1.98 (5th)

When I’m not whining about the Bills reverting to their old run-first ways, I’m looking for ways to pretend DJ Moore was a good draft pick in re-draft leagues. I might have found one here against a New York secondary that has crumbled of late, allowing the NFL’s sixth highest EPA per pass attempt to boundary wideouts.

Moore, running from the boundary at a 74 percent rate, should be in a good spot even if the Bills continue going run heavy, as I wrote about in Week 10’s Regression Files. The Jets are seventh in expected touchdowns to boundary wideouts. Only five defenses allow a higher adjusted yards per attempt on throws to the outside. You are allowed to feel OK about Moore in Week 10.

Patriots vs. Lions

Lions fantasy points per target allowed vs. boundary: 1.54 (28th)

I take no pleasure in kicking A.J. Brown drafters when they’re down. But I must. Brown, who enters Week 10 with the same EPA per target as Jahan Dotson, gets an ugly matchup against a Detroit secondary that has been shredded via the slot while holding its own against boundary wideouts.

The Lions somehow are allowing the league’s ninth lowest completion rate over expected on boundary pass attempts this season. Per my spreadsheets, DeMario Douglas has the (much) better Week 10 matchup, along with Hunter Henry. Be careful with how you deploy Brown — if he suits up, of course.