Week 8 IDP Hits: Sneaky Sack Candidates Could Power Your Second Half

But First: Mack Looks Back

Khalil Mack has delivered a sack in each of his two games back from a four-week elbow injury. But Thursday night added something else important.

Look at the stat lines, and the two outings will look identical. But Mack played just 20% of the snaps in Week 7’s loss to the Colts; 12 total snaps for that contest.

His total and rate more than doubled against the Vikings, to 28 snaps and 57% of the team total. That still leaves some room vs. the 74% Mack played in the season opener, but it’s enough to make us comfier including him in IDP lineups going forward. And he might’ve played more against Minnesota if the game had been closer. No Chargers defender played more than 88% in the lopsided win.

Mack’s playing-time growth is particularly welcome with a Week 9 visit to Tennessee on tap. The Titans enter Week 8 with the league’s second-most sacks allowed and second-worst sack rate allowed.

He and Tuli Tuipulotu look like strong plates for that one.

Now let’s check in on some other edge situations.

Greenard’s Breakthrough Was Bound to Happen

Vikings Edge Jonathan Greenard led his Thursday night stat line with a sack but backed that up with 3 tackles for loss and 2 QB hits. And he entered the night a stronger candidate for those numbers than he might’ve seemed.

Greenard produced just 1 sack through his first six games. But he entered Week 8 tied for 15th in the league in total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

Greenard has now posted 2 QB hits in three games and notched 2+ tackles for loss in three of the past five contests. Life might even get a little easier for him once Edge Andrew Van Ginkel gets back on the field.

That obviously didn’t happen this week, but Van Ginkel’s three limited practices this week suggest that return (from his neck injury) is nearing.

Want to Know Some Other Breakthrough Candidates?

You can find pass rushers every season who disappoint with their sack numbers but hide much better pressure stats behind them.

Those guys don’t always convert that pressure into sacks, of course, but it’s a good place to look for production boosts going forward. If a player is already regularly getting into the backfield, it’s a much shorter trip to simply turn more such plays into sacks.

Here are some guys that fit:

Josh Hines-Allen, Edge, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville’s lead pass rusher looks wildly disappointing by the traditional numbers, with just a half-sack through seven games. That leaves DT Arik Armstead (3.5) as the sack leader for a team that ranks last in sacks per game.

But Hines-Allen tallied 7 pressures his last time out, according to Pro Football Focus. That matched his season high and marked the fifth time in seven games that Allen notched 5 pressures or more. He also logged 3 QB hits for the third time this year in that Rams contest.

For the season, only four edge players have totaled more pressures than Hines-Allen’s 33:

• Jared Verse (38)
• Micah Parsons (37)
• Tuli Tuipulotu (36)
• Aidan Hutchinson (36)

Each of those guys has at least 4 sacks for the year. And George Karlaftis -- who enters Week 8 tied with Hines-Allen at 33 pressures -- has 3.5.

None of that makes Hines-Allen a lock to explode with sack production after this week’s bye. We’ve seen swings in production throughout his career, with the past four years surrounding a 17.5-sack high (2023) with three years of 8 sacks or fewer.

But even the lowest season sack total of his career (7) would mean a strong second half to 2025. And matchups with the Raiders and Texans coming out of the bye could jumpstart that turnaround.

Laiatu Latu, Edge, Indianapolis Colts

Latu has fared better than Hines-Allen, with 2 sacks among six outings. But I’d expect we’ll se more … and soon.

Latu sits tied for seventh among all edge players in total pressures (30). He also racked up 7 QB hits (though just 1 sack) over the past two games.

Combine that with this week’s Tennessee matchup, and you’ll find Latu much higher in the Week 8 DL rankings than he usually sits.

Matchups with the Steelers and Falcons present much less sack upside the ensuing two weeks.

Abdul Carter, Edge, New York Giants

I’m not surprised this year’s third overall pick has endured a slow statistical start. He likely sat outside draftable territory in the preseason redraft rankings for your league.

Carter’s on the smaller side for the position (252 pounds) and really spent just one full season on the edge for Penn State.

But his mere half-sack through the first seven games of his NFL career masks further sack upside. Carter’s 27 pressures tie him for 12th among all edge players. He has tallied a solid 8 QB hits, though five of those came in the win over the Chargers, and none has come over the past three games.

Carter’s a less-good bet than the previous two guys to start delivering sack production, and there’s no upcoming matchup to target.

But the rookie will be interesting to watch the rest of the way, at least for potential hints at what we can expect next season.

His playing time -- 69.5% of total defensive snaps so far -- is an undeniable positive, at least. And his 14.8% pass rush win rate ranks 32nd among 133 qualifying defenders, according to ESPN.

Giants Remain Excited About Him

Giants OLBs coach Charlie Bullen says he’s not concerned by the lack of sacks:

Edge Brian Burns stands in Carter’s corner as well:

“Abdul is a great talent. Obviously the numbers aren’t there, but they will come. I’ve been telling him to keep his head down and keep doing what [he’s] been doing. ‘You’re getting pressure, you’re winning. It’s not like you’re losing. The sacks will come.”

Now let’s look at some other players and situations.

Jaguars Other Edge Ain’t Right

Jacksonville’s Travon Walker managed to miss just one game following Week 5 wrist surgery. But his playing time has tanked in the two contests since.

Walker went from 70% or more the first three weeks to staying on the field for just 29% and 26% the past two games.

Last Sunday also produced his worst PFF grades so far this season for pass-rushing, run defense, and overall. And it was the first time in his six games that Walker failed to register a single pressure.

I’m sure he welcomes the Week 8 bye. We’ll see if there’s any reason for role or performance optimism coming out of the break.

Panthers Rookie Latest to Exploit Jets’ Sack Fragility

Carolina second-round pick Edge Nic Scourton entered Week 7 with 0 QB hits through six games. He left that win over the Jets with 3 hits, including his first 1.5 sacks in the NFL.

Scourton looks like an upside talent for the long term. But his Week 7 production likely says more about the Jets matchup for sackers than it does Scourton’s 2025 fantasy upside.

Only the Jets have allowed more sacks than the Titans, and their 13.2% sack rate sits nearly 2 percentage points ahead of the next team (Tennessee and Minnesota tied, for now, at 11.3%).

Three consecutive Jets opponents have racked up 5+ sacks, and five of seven have registered at least. And the matchup stays favorable no matter which secret QB option winds up starting.

I included Bengals Edge Joseph Ossai among this week’s waiver targets for this specific matchup. The Jets then get a Week 9 bye, followed by these opponents through Week 17:

• Browns
• Patriots
• Ravens
• Falcons
• Dolphins
• Jaguars
• Saints
• Patriots

If you’re looking for sack upside in a given week, this is a good place to start.

Vikings Fill-In Refuses to Leave the Field

Minnesota opened the season with Ivan Pace Jr. running second to Blake Cashman at LB. But Eric Wilson stepped in after Cashman left the opener with a hamstring injury, and he has stayed in the lineup beyond Cashman’s return.

Wilson started the Week 7 loss to Philly and Thursday night’s loss to the Chargers. He played 84% and 82% of the snaps, respectively. Pace played no snaps against the Eagles and just 17 against the Chargers.

If you haven’t already dumped him, you can comfortably drop Pace across formats. The third-year LB doesn’t even look attractive for dynasty now that he’s been yanked for a 31-year-old journeyman.

That journeyman, meanwhile, has delivered a solid 8.0 fantasy points by our default scoring each of the past two weeks. That’s LB2-level production we can work with.

Is Elandon Roberts Gonna Matter or Not?

Last week, my subhead on the Raiders veteran LB read: “Elandon Roberts Probably Still Irrelevant for IDP.”

I guess that pissed him off, because Roberts proceeded to rack up a team-high 18 tackles in the shutout loss to the Chiefs. And his playing time rebounded to 93%. That might have revealed a pattern to us.

Check out the three games since LB Germaine Pratt left the lineup:

Roberts looks like he’ll play more when the opponent runs more. And the opponent’s more likely to run when the Raiders are trailing.

That figures to happen plenty for this 2-5 squad, though home dates with the Jaguars, Cowboys, and Browns among the next four games (after a Week 8 bye) might not deliver any blowout conditions.

That Chiefs game also marked the first time this year that Roberts has collected more than 5 tackles, and K.C. ran 77 offensive plays. That’s well above the league average of 61.2 plays per game this season.

So don’t get too excited about those Week 7 numbers for Roberts. But he might land in LB3 territory for our Week 9 rankings.

Nakobe Dean Might Impact Rookie LB’s Role

Eagles LB Nakobe Dean has been active for just two games this season, as he continues to work back into form off the patellar tendon tear he suffered in the playoffs.

Dean didn’t play a defensive snap against the Giants in his first game back. That jumped to 45% playing time, though, against the Vikings last week.

Dean appeared almost exclusively in base defensive sets, where he joined starting LBs Zack Baun and rookie Jihaad Campbell on the field. Campbell generally moved to edge in a 5-2 front in those cases, according to Philly Voice’s Geoff Mosher.

Dean did play eight snaps in nickel packages, though, an alignment that generally replaces a LB with an extra corner. Campbell came off the field for those plays.

The rookie still played 60 total snaps and 87% of Philly’s total on defense. That’s not a small enough share (yet) to be alarming, but it is his smallest of the season.

We’ll see this week whether Dean continues in the same role or increases his time, and whether/how that impacts Campbell.

The Giants have played more “12” personnel on offense since QB Jaxson Dart took over. Continuing that this Sunday would likely keep the Eagles in more base defensive sets (all three LBs).

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Week 8 IDP Waiver Wire: Two Edge Players Ready to Feast

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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.