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Week 10 IDP Hits

Let's Assess Changing Situations

LB Troy Andersen is finally back for the first time since his Week 4 knee injury.

He put in full practices all week and carries no injury designation into Sunday’s game against the Saints. He does, however, carry the question of how much he’ll play.

Split at LB

As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve only seen Andersen and LB Nate Landman share the field once all season – back in Week 1. Landman opened that game on the field and played 54% of snaps. But Andersen worked in from the very first defensive drive and played 46%.

Landman lost the next four games to a calf injury. And Andersen was kind enough to get hurt two games before Landman returned – in the same game that saw Andersen win NFC defensive player of the week.

I have yet to see any hints at how they’ll coexist this week and going forward. So I have each guy projected as a half-time player for Week 10.

That leaves both down in LB5 territory of the Week 10 rankings – with Kaden Elliss, of course, much higher as the only sure full-time Atlanta LB.

Avoid Both LBs?

In most cases, I’d just say to pass on both affected Falcons LBs. But each could be worth a hold while we wait for the situation to play out.

Landman sports a much lower fantasy ceiling, with value driven by tackle volume. Stash him on your bench for now if his production over the past four games has proved useful in your tackle-friendly format.

Andersen is the exciting upside talent – a player I’ve been waiting to use since he arrived as an intriguing prospect.

I’ve been keeping him stashed where possible through the five-week knee injury. And I’ll keep doing so this week while we wait to see his playing time.

If Andersen re-emerges as a near-full-timer, he could be an IDP difference maker over the second half.

Baltimore Ravens

LB Roquan Smith saw a strange dip to 75% playing time in the Week 9 win over Denver, helping produce a season-worst stat line (3 total tackles).

But he rebounded Thursday night against Cincinnati. Smith played all 82 snaps, racked up 12 tackles (6 solo) and finally registered his first QB hit of the season.

Smith’s Pro Football Focus grades say his performance is down overall, with a particular drop off in coverage play (career-worst 47.5 grade, 62nd among 75 LBs who have played at least 200 snaps).

But Smith has remained a full-timer. He sits 12th in fantasy points per game for balanced-scoring formats. And even his pass-defensed production lines up with previous.

So there’s probably nothing to do here other than to be aware of it.

More Playing Time for No. 2 LB

Perhaps Smith’s performance dip has helped get second-year LB Trenton Simpson on the field more.

Here are this season’s weekly snap shares for the former second-round pick:

• 70%
• 100%
• 51%
• 63%
• 67%
• 63%
• 62%
• 96%
• 97%
• 90%

Simpson still has just the one truly good fantasy outing this year – Week 9 vs. Denver. But the playing-time increase obviously helps his chances of being usable in deeper leagues the rest of the way.

Carolina Panthers

S Jordan Fuller is questionable once again despite putting in his second straight week of full practices.

Fuller hasn't played since Week 3 because of a hamstring injury that landed him on IR. Will that change this week? We'll see.

Don't look to him as an IDP option at least until that status clears up, though. If Fuller is back in the lineup for Sunday morning's game against the Giants in Germany, then we'll also have to forget about using rookie S Demani Richardson.

Cincinnati Bengals

For the second straight week, the Bengals split time Thursday night between safeties Vonn Bell and Jordan Battle.

Bell continued to “start” but played only 52% of snaps in the loss to Baltimore – after paying 49% the week before.

Battle entered the mix in the first quarter this time and wound up with 48% snap share – after 51% in Week 9.

My advice: Ignore both these guys. The Bengals likely hoped Battle – a 2023 third-round pick – would show up this summer ready to take over a starting job. He didn’t.

And Bell – who signed a one-year deal for just $1.2 million in the offseason after the Panthers dumped him – is simply a limited player at this point in his career.

We’ll see whether the Bengals settle on either as a full-timer at some point during the second half of the year. But neither is worth clinging to for that possibility.

Cleveland Browns

Devin Bush posted the big numbers among Browns LBs in Sunday’s loss to the Chargers: a team-high 8 tackles (6 solo) and a sack. But he didn’t lead the group in playing time.

That was Mohamoud Diabate for the second straight week. He played 91% of snaps to Bush’s 81% – a 6-snap split. Only S Grant Delpit played more snaps than Diabate.

Does that make Diabate the IDP play over Bush next time out? Not necessarily. But it’s enough to make you pause before running out to grab Bush off the strong stat line.

We also don’t yet know whether LB Jordan Hicks will be ready after the Week 10 bye.

There’s opportunity with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah out at least three more games. But we’ll need to learn more about this situation ahead of Week 11.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos made a change at LB in Week 9.

Justin Strnad had played 60% of snaps or more for five straight weeks, following the season-ending injury to Alex Singleton. But he dropped out of the starting lineup for the loss to Baltimore and played just 14 snaps (25%).

Veteran Kwon Alexander got the start and played 54%. That followed shares of 30% and 21% in his first two Denver appearances.

Neither looks likely to deliver IDP relevance the rest of the way.

Houston Texans

LB Azeez Al-Shaair put in a full practice Friday, his first since a Week 6 knee injury.

He carries no injury designation into Sunday night's game against the Lions. That should mean a return to his full role, and a high-floor option for our IDP lineups.

With LB Christian Harris still not back, it'll remain Henry To'oTo'o next to Al-Shaair.

Bet on Neville Hewitt returning to a reserve role.

Las Vegas Raiders

It hasn’t meant much production, but LB Divine Deablo has played more snaps since returning from his three-game oblique injury. By week:

• 74%
• 66%
• Out x3
• 93%
• 93%
• 85%
• 95%

Deablo has averaged just 5.25 total tackles per game over those past four weeks. His Week 6 sack against the Steelers has been all for the big-play categories (plus another tackle for loss in that game, if you’re league scores that).

Deablo saw similar playing time for most of last year and delivered stronger tackle production. We’ll see whether he can improve that after the Week 10 bye.

The remaining schedule opens with a positive matchup at Miami and ends with a positive matchup at New Orleans. But in between sit five straight negative LB-scoring matchups by our numbers.

Los Angeles Chargers

Edge Joey Bosa missed three straight games from Week 4 through Week 7 – surrounding the Chargers’ bye – with a hip injury.

He has been back the past two weeks and put in limited practices each day leading up to those games. But the hip has clearly remained a significant limitation.

Bosa played just 27% of snaps against the Saints in Week 8 and then 24% vs. the Browns last Sunday. He hasn’t played more than 20 total snaps in a game since Week 1.

Bosa needs to show us more before he belongs back in IDP lineups. He remained limited throughout this week and carries another “questionable” tag into Sunday’s game against the Titans.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins quietly yanked LB David Long Jr. from the starting lineup for the Week 9 loss at Buffalo, replacing him with Anthony Walker Jr.

How quietly? Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald watches the team every day and said after the Bills game that move “came as a surprise.” But at least we know what to expect for Week 10.

DC Anthony Weaver says it’ll be Walker over Long again … for now.

“That’ll be a decision based week-to-week,” he said Friday. “Love [Long]. He’s a captain. He’s an outstanding teammate. At this particular time, we just think ‘Walk’ gives us the best chance to go out there and execute from a defensive standpoint.”

I mentioned just this risk on Long at the top of the Week 9 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups article. It’d be nice if we could get better reporting on the defensive side to let us know before such changes happen. But oh well.

Walker played every snap of that Buffalo game and totaled 10 tackles (4 solo). This week’s matchup finds a Rams offense supplying the fourth-fewest LB points per game to opponents. So nothing exciting here.

Minnesota Vikings

Edge Dallas Turner has endured a challenging start to his rookie season.

The first-round pick played a nice 51% snap share and delivered a sack in the Week 1 domination of the Giants. But his playing time cut in half the following week, and then further over his next four appearances:

• 14%
• 18%
• 7%
• 4%

That reversed for last week’s win over the Colts, however. Turner played 48% of snaps and notched his first QB hit since the opener.

"We wanted to make sure he was a little bit more involved in the game, and he showed up," HC Kevin O'Connell said afterward. "I thought it was a performance that I was not surprised by, and kind of had been telling you guys [could happen] as we move forward here, and based upon game plans and things like that. But I thought it was a real great step in the right direction for Dallas, and one that I think he'll build on."

It’s not enough to make Turner a 2024 redraft factor. But it was an encouraging turn for a guy with plenty of long-term upside.

New York Jets

Time for me to acknowledge that I haven’t been giving Edge Will McDonald IV nearly enough credit.

I began skeptical of the IDP upside for an “older” prospect (24-year-old rookie) who:

• Spent five years in college
• Closed that run with a meh final season (5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss)
• Weighed just 239 at the Combine
• Never reached 20 snaps in a game in his rookie season
• And opened this year still just a 50% playing time guy amid a needy pass rush.

But he has proved me wrong.

McDonald’s 5 sacks across weeks 2 and 3 obviously didn’t represent numbers we can commonly expect. But he has showed they also weren’t flukes.

As of Oct. 31, no player had more games with 20%+ pressure rates, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

According to PFF, only 11 edge players have more total pressures for the season. And that’s with McDonald ranking 24th among the group in pass-rush chances.

Even the thin man’s playing time has increased, to snap shares of 61% or higher in five straight games.

He has moved up our Rest of Season DL rankings – though McDonald remains a boom-bust weekly scoring bet, with a low tackle floor.

Welcome Back, Haason Reddick

The Jets finally got Edge Haason Reddick on the field for the past two games after his extensive holdout.

Reddick played an understandably limited 39% snap share in the Week 8 loss to the Patriots. That climbed to 57% in last week’s win over the Texans.

PFF also credited Reddick with 8 total pressures in that game. He officially notched a half-sack, with that assist also his only tackle.

We’ll see whether Reddick can climb back into IDP relevance, but that’s enough playing time to make him interesting. A Week 11 home date with the Colts likely carries more upside than this week’s visit to the Cardinals.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The playing-time trendline for LB K.J. Britt took a big ol’ dip last Monday night in Kansas City:

• Week 1: 66%
• Week 2: 48%
• Week 3: 51%
• Week 4: 89%
• Week 5: 93%
• Week 6: 100%
• Week 7: 100%
• Week 8: 97%
• Week 9: 54%

You wouldn’t know it by looking at his numbers, though. Britt tallied a season-high 6 solo tackles among 9 total, which tied for his second largest mark of the year. He also logged his first pass defensed of the year.

It helped bigtime that the Bucs played 85 total snaps on defense. So the drop of 43 percentage points vs. his Week 8 playing time only meant 14 fewer snaps – 13 fewer than when he played 100% against Baltimore in Week 7.

But the playing time matters more than the tackles here.

Britt on Way Out?

LB J.J. Russell jumped in for a season-high 36% snap share vs. Kansas City. He had played just 17 total defensive snaps for the year before logging 31 in that game.

If you’re not familiar with Russell … you probably shouldn’t be. He’s a special-teamer who has played just 164 total defensive snaps through three seasons since arriving as an undrafted free agent.

HC Todd Bowles conceded back in early October that they would consider rotating Britt out because of missed tackles. That it took another month to actually happen says more about the LB depth chart (not great) than it does about Britt’s play (still not good).

Fortunately for Britt, SirVocea Dennis is expected to miss the rest of the regular season following his early-October shoulder surgery. So there really might not be anyone capable of replacing the current starter.

But don’t be surprised if the playing time remains tenuous.

Who Belongs in Your IDP Lineup?

Have trouble figuring out which IDPs to get into your lineup each week? The Team Intel page combines our 3D Projections with the specifics of your situation to give you a clear picture every week.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.