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Week 8 IDP Hits

Let's Check on Key Injuries

This week’s IDP waiver pickups went heavy on injury impacts. So let’s update some key situations ahead of the rest of the Week 8 games …

DeForest Buckner’s Return

The Colts hope to get DT DeForest Buckner back for Sunday’s game against the Texans, officially listing him as questionable.

His practice week looks encouraging for the return, but might also signal that you should wait to use him in IDP lineups:

• Limited
• Full
• No practice (“not injury related - resting”)

The rest day makes sense for a guy coming off a five-week high ankle sprain. And it would also make sense for the Colts to limit his playing time Sunday.

Buckner carries upside every time he’s on the field. But be cautious this week. I just lowered his playing-time and stat projections.

Zack Baun Ready to Go

The Eagles LB left last week’s game with a shoulder injury and opened this week not practicing. But Baun returned to full practice Thursday, followed with another on Friday, and carried no injury designation on the final report.

I boosted Baun’s playing time projection but still have him behind teammate Nakobe Dean in the Week 8 LB rankings.

Baun’s coming off three meh games and gets a non-friendly matchup for LB scoring (Bengals).

Terrel Bernard Out

The Bills’ top two LBs left in the second half of what evolved into a lopsided win over the Titans last week. 

Dorian Williams’ knee issue didn’t seem like a big deal. And indeed, he spent just one practice limited this week. He should be set for his normal usage and performance at Seattle.

Terrel Bernard, on the other hand, missed practice all week and will miss the game. Buffalo lists him with the ankle injury (from last week), plus pectoral and personal.

The pec may still bother him some, but Bernard returned from it to play in the past three games. He reportedly left the team to deal with the personal matter this week but is already back. So the ankle’s what we’ll need to watch beyond this week.

Injury Impact

Bernard’s absence will push Baylon Spector back into the lineup, as projected in Tuesday’s waiver article.

Spector got three games of elevated playing time when Bernard left Week 2 and then missed the next two contests. He delivered nice fantasy production, ranking 20th among LBs over those three weeks. 

But Seattle comes in yielding the fifth-fewest points per game to LBs. So treat Spector as an LB4 with upside.

Williams has seen his snap shares vary some but been a strong bet for tackles. So he sits in LB3 territory even for the negative scoring matchup.

Who Takes Slot for Tampa?

The Bucs will miss primary slot defender Tykee Smith this week after the rookie suffered a concussion in Monday night’s loss to the Ravens.

The situation’s especially noteworthy because of this week’s matchup with Atlanta. Just in case you missed the stats I highlighted in the waiver article, here are the past five weeks of slot CBs vs. the Falcons:

• Week 7 -- Coby Bryant: 11 tackles, INT
• Week 6 -- Troy Hill: 9 tackles
• Week 5 -- Tykee Smith: 11 tackles, PD, FF
• Week 4 -- Alontae Taylor: 4 solos, 2 PDs
• Week 3 -- Chamarri Conner: 10 tackles, 2 PDs, INT

Start Christian Izien?

I included those numbers initially with a call to pick up DB Christian Izien. Tampa used him as a general secondary fill-in early this season – first at outside CB in an injury-riddled opener and then in place of Antoine Winfield for four games.

Izien played just 10 snaps in Monday night’s loss to the Ravens, though, despite Smith leaving that game in the first quarter. And the Bucs split slot snaps among six DBs.

But Izien tied for second most, spending all the snaps he did play in that spot, according to Pro Football Focus. And I checked with longtime Bucs reporter Greg Auman on Saturday morning just to confirm that Izien should be the guy.

Does that make Izien a lock? Of course not. DB is the most volatile position in fantasy. But check out Smith’s playing time across six healthy games this year:

• Week 1 – 68%
• Week 2 – 67%
• Week 3 – 60%
• Week 4 – 79%
• Week 5 (at Atlanta) – 99%
• Week 6 – 60%

Worth a shot.

Now let’s hit some other situations around the league …

Atlanta Falcons

LB Troy Andersen remains out with the knee injury he suffered back in Week 4. He did return to practice this week, managing limited workouts each day.

Andersen’s absence is good news for LB Nate Landman, who climbed from 79% playing time to 100% in his second game back from IR.

Landman has managed just 5 solo tackles across his two games back, though, and merely looks OK for IDP use in Week 8.

Andersen should be on track for a Week 9 return, but we’ll have to see what his role looks like. He and Landman split playing time back in Week 1, the only game so far for which we’ve had both on the field.

Carolina Panthers

LB Josey Jewell returned to practice this week after missing the past three games with groin and hamstring injuries. He put in three limited days and is questionable for the game.

I have yet to see any indication on his status beyond that, and that gives me little reason to consider him for IDP lineups.

Jewell carries fantasy upside when healthy, but he’s dealing with a pair of injuries and played just 69% of Carolina’s snaps in his last healthy outing (Week 3). I’d rather skip the risk on this one.

Rookie Trevin Wallace should be a good bet for playing time even if Jewell returns and remains the top play among Carolina LBs. Claudin Cherelus is also questionable … and not worth waiting on.

Other Iffy Panthers

Edge Jadeveon Clowney (shoulder) and DL A’Shawn Robinson (knee) are questionable as well for the game against Denver.

Clowney put in full practices all week. If he’s active, he should be fine for normal use (which isn’t high-level). If he’s not active, it might mean Carolina’s about to trade the veteran.

Robinson opened the week not practicing before going limited Thursday and Friday. He’s probably not worth the risk.

Cincinnati Bengals

Edge Sam Hubbard is having a notably inconsistent season, likely thanks mostly to the hamstring injury he’s been playing through.

The Bengals seem to have settled into more of a rotation system up front to help Hubbard managed the issue.

Since his second season (2019), Hubbard has played between 74% and 84% of Bengals defensive snaps each year. That’s also the range in which he opened this season, but check the evolution:

• 77%
• 74%
• 75%
• 80%
• 65%
• 49%
• 54%

We don’t generally like when our players get less playing time, for obvious reasons. But Hubbard has tallied 5 of his 6 QB hits for the season over the past three games.

It’s probably good for him to be on the field less. And he plays a position where that matters a bit less. The big plays generally matter more for D-linemen than high tackle volume.

You should still expect volatility from Hubbard. This week’s matchup looks solid, with Philly a friendly tackle matchup for D-linemen. Hubbard sits in just DL3 territory, though, because he lines up almost exclusively in RT Lane Johnson’s territory.

Hubbard’s best hope for a big play will be converting a sack on some snap that finds a TE lined up in front of him.

Big Day for Other Edge?

Fellow Bengals Edge Trey Hendrickson, meanwhile, gets the other side in the second game since LT Jordan Mailata landed on IR (hamstring).

Last week saw Jalen Hurts take 10 pressures and 4 sacks on just 21 dropbacks against the Giants. No starting QB is taking pressure at a higher rate for the season.

That’s why you’ll find Hendrickson inside the top 5 of our DL rankings this week.

Cleveland Browns

LB Jordan Hicks is set to miss his third game among the past four with a nagging elbow injury.

His early Week 4 departure boosted Devin Bush to near-full playing time for that game and the following week. But Week 6 found Mohamoud Diabate overtaking Bush.

The second-year former undrafted free agent played 74% of Week 6 snaps to Bush’s 55, and then remained ahead of him (40% to 15%) amid Hicks’ Week 7 return.

There’s nothing exciting about Diabate, though he is an above-average athlete for the position.

Neither he nor Bush should factor into your Week 8 IDP plans.

Green Bay Packers

I mentioned changes in the Packers secondary last week. But I didn’t hit on S Evan Williams, because his previous two games left uncertainty.

The fourth-round rookie played less than 40% of the snaps in each of the first four contests, including three games of 10 total snaps or fewer. But here are his snap shares over the past three outings:

• 100%
• 66%
• 100%

And the pass defense has played well over that stretch, holding the Rams to 236 yards, Cardinals to 214, and Texans to 55.

Williams supplied 10 and 9 tackles in the two games with full playing time.

He’s interesting going forward. That includes this week against the Jaguars, though they’ve been a negative matchup for DB scoring by our adjusted fantasy points allowed.

Is Quay Walker Playing?

Green Bay’s lead LB is questionable for Sunday with a concussion. He has not yet cleared the protocol as of this writing and never made it past limited in practice this week.

LB Eric Wilson led LB playing time last week, with Walker leaving early. That doesn’t make him a lock to do so again. But it makes him the top Green Bay option if Walker turns up inactive.

Houston Texans

The Texans will miss lead LB Azeez Al-Shaair for the second straight game because of a knee injury. He remained out of practice all week, so we can’t count on Al-Shaair being ready for Week 9 yet either.

Houston also might miss LB Henry To’oTo’o, who’s questionable with a concussion. His practice participation followed an odd path this week:

• Limited
• No practice
• Limited

That doesn’t seem to bode well for To’oTo’o’s likelihood of clearing the protocol ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Colts.

Expect Neville Hewitt to play full time again, with Al-Shaair out. Jake Hansen also played every snap last week in To’oTo’o’s absence. We’ll see about that spot.

And LB Christian Harris? Still not designated to return from IR with his hamstring issue.

Indianapolis Colts

If it seemed like those 19 tackles for LB Grant Stuard came out of nowhere last week, that’s because they kinda did.

Stuard hadn’t played a single snap on defense before last weekend. He got the start because LB E.J. Speed was out, and then likely got a further boost from LB Jaylon Carlies leaving early.

Carlies looks like he’ll be out a while, but Speed’s back this week. That leaves room for Stuard to potentially work as the No. 3 LB. But he’ll almost certainly need another starter injury to push him back into relevance.

Stuard’s 64 snaps played last week give him 121 total for his four-year NFL career, which began when the Bucs selected him with the last pick of the 2021 draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars on Saturday activated LB Foye Oluokun (foot) from IR, which almost certainly means he’ll play Sunday against the Packers. (He’s officially questionable after limited practices all week.) 

How much he’ll play is a different question.

As I’ve noted before, Oluokun opened this season playing less than in the past. He spent just 85% and 82% of snaps on the field the first two weeks, before leaving Week 3 early with the injury.

That still led Jacksonville’s LB rotation. But we’ll have to see whether the Jags ease him back in this week.

What About Other Jags LBs?

LB Devin Lloyd is coming off his best stat line of the season and three straight games of 97% playing time or better. But he stayed on the field for just 75% and 67% of snaps in the two full games he shared with Oluokun this season.

Ventrell Miller and Chad Muma have been involved with at least minor roles, as the Jags have rotated LBs more than in the past.

The whole scenario adds risk to trusting any Jags LB this week. Barring more specific word on the plan, I’m going with Oluokun as the top bet, Lloyd next, and the other guys returning to small roles.

Kansas City Chiefs

No Michael Danna for the second straight week (and third time in four games) should mean another week of Felix Anudike-Uzomah as K.C.’s No. 2 edge player.

Last year’s first-round pick set career highs in total snaps (35) and snap share (56%) last week against the 49ers. He has also delivered at least 1 QB hit in four straight appearances. And he’s coming off the highest single-game PFF pass-rushing grade of his young career.

Anudike-Uzomah carries just 22 career tackles and 1.5 sacks into this weekend, so he’s no more than a low-level risk-reward play for IDP lineups. But he’s worth stashing where possible in dynasty leagues.

I liked the quick-twitch prospect after he racked up 19.5 sacks and 26 tackles for loss over his final two Kansas State seasons.

Los Angeles Chargers

Edge Joey Bosa is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Saints but says he expects to play.

That lines up with his return to limited practices this week after missing the past three games with a hip injury. He’ll remain risky for IDP lineups, though.

Bosa played just 14 and then 2 snaps his last two active games. So I’d like to see how he fares this week before trusting him in fantasy.

There’s upside to the matchup, at least, if you plan to try him.

New York Jets

LB C.J. Mosley returned from injury two weeks ago, but it’s been tough to notice.

The veteran played just 9 snaps (13%) in his Week 6 return against Buffalo. That increased last time out – but only to 32%.

The first one wasn’t shocking. Mosley remained limited in practice that week and entered the game questionable. But he was off the injury report last week.

Still Mosley indicated before last week’s Pittsburgh game that the toe remains an issue and that the plan is to keep building him back up:

How to Play Jets LBs

It appears that Jamien Sherwood’s play is at least part of why the Jets feel comfy easing Mosley back in.

The (former?) No. 3 LB has played all but 1 snap across Mosley’s two games back and racked up 22 tackles over the past two weeks.

We’ll see how the playing time works out as Mosley continues to get healthier. But Sherwood and Quincy Williams both look like good IDP options against the Patriots this week.

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.