Great players found themselves in situations where their 2021 season fell short to injury. Let’s evaluate who can help your fantasy team and who will hurt it.
Who is the defensive player you are rooting the most for this NFL season because their season ended short last season? #UnfinishedBuisness pic.twitter.com/Mnhz8ZFcJ2
— Mase (@caliking49er17) July 12, 2022
Every season has its share of injuries and unfortunately, some seasons end sooner than others. While looking through my rankings, I wondered about some of these players who were injured in the previous season. I posted a poll on Twitter asking who everyone wanted to see come back strong after a season-ending 2021 injury.
Who would you rather draft in IDP redraft formats this season?
— Mase (@caliking49er17) July 17, 2022
After receiving the responses via Twitter I’ve decided to give some updates and outlooks on a handful of IDP players who ended their season early in 2021.
In this series of articles, I will give an update on the current contract, the status of each player, complete with ADP, and what this means for both your redraft and dynasty teams. All stats are from PFF.com, all contract information is from Spotrac.com, all ADP is from IDPGuys.org and all FPPG is per FantasyPros.com.
Danielle Hunter, DE, Minnesota Vikings
Sleeper: DL • My Football League: DE • Yahoo: DE
| Year | Yearly Finish via FantasyPros | Games played | FPPG AVG. |
| 2021 | DL71 | 7 | 12.1 |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A | 0.00 |
| 2019 | DL1 | 16 | 12.7 |
Contract Details/ ADP
Danielle Hunter is currently 27 years old and in the fourth year of a five-year deal that currently is set to have him as an unrestricted free agent in 2024. The second year of this current contract was Hunter’s biggest year of his career statistically, and he did not play a single down in 2020. In the IDPGuys combined dynasty, ADP Hunter is the DL8 with an ADP of 118.50. Players around the same ADP as Danielle Hunter include Gabriel Davis, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and Tony Pollard.
2021 Injury
In 2021 Danielle Hunter was coming off a season-ending neck injury just before the 2020 season. Hunter appeared in several games for Minnesota before tearing his pectoral muscle 27 plays into the game against the Dallas Cowboys in week eight of 2021. Of his 384 snaps in 2021, Danielle Hunter tallied over 30 combined tackles, six sacks, and 31 pressures. In Hunter’s absence Everson Griffen, Sheldon Richardson, and Kenny Willekes saw time at the edge of the defensive line for the Vikings.
2022 Off-Season
In the off-season, the Vikings added new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell to the organization. After a series of inter-divisional trades with the Lions and Packers, the Vikings brass heavily invested in the secondary by selecting safety Lewis Cine, and corner Andrew Booth.
The Vikings also signed former Green Bay Packers defensive end Za’Darius Smith to start on the opposite side of Hunter. The Vikings’ new defensive coordinator, Ed Donatell, plans on playing Hunter as a defensive end and also outside linebacker as read in this SI article.
2022 Season Outlook
What do I personally feel the player is capable of in the upcoming season. Regardless of scheme or front Danielle Hunter will be wreaking havoc in opposing backfields and breathing down quarterbacks’ necks all season long. The current DL8 ADP just shows that Hunter is being drafted just after the players that are considered to be elite at that position.
If you draft Danielle Hunter as your DL1 id make it redraft, as I am unsure of Hunter’s situation past this season and would prefer to have Hunter as my DL2 in dynasty formats.
Blake Martinez, LB, New York Giants
Sleeper: LB • My Football League: LB • Yahoo: LB
| Year | Yearly Finish via FantasyPros | Games played | FPPG AVG. |
| 2021 | LB149 | 3 | 9.4 |
| 2020 | LB4 | 16 | 14.8 |
| 2019 | LB9 | 16 | 14.1 |
Contract Details/ ADP
The former fourth-round selection is going into the final year of his current three-year contract in 2022. Blake Martinez will be 28 years old this season. Martinez’s current contract does not promise anything beyond this season for fantasy managers. In the IDPGuys combined dynasty, ADP Martinez is the LB23 with an ADP of 151.25. Players around the same ADP as Blake Martinez include Kamu-Grugier-Hill, Adam Thielen, and Kenneth Murray.
2021 Injury
The 2021 season started decent for Blake Martinez, in his 142 snaps, Martinez totaled 20 combined tackles, and was targeted in coverage 10 times allowing a 100% catch rate (80.4% all time). Unfortunately, Martinez’s year was cut extremely short as he tore his ACL in Week 3’s contest against the Atlanta Falcons.
Martinez played only 5 snaps in the contest. Shortly after the game, it was announced that he would be out for the duration of the season.
2022 Off-Season
The Giants drafted a handful of defensive talent in the 2022 NFL draft, interestingly enough two linebackers Micah McFadden, and Darrian Beavers. McFadden’s fifth-round selection was a two-year captain at Indiana and looks more of a special team and backup addition.
Beavers was a sixth-round selection, a big-bodied linebacker who needs time to further develop his coverage and finish tackles at the NFL level.
2022 Season Outlook
Even with the new additions to the front seven, I don’t see any current threat to Blake Martinez’s snaps in 2022. Anything past that is still a mystery. The Giants brought in new defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, who is known for favoring the blitz.
Blake Martinez took a pay cut to stay in New York and is in the last year of his contract so I fully expect Martinez to have a good amount of opportunity this season to put up big-time points for your IDP squad in redraft formats.
As the current LB23, Martinez is a steal to be rostered as your LB2. With Blake Martinez’s skillset and time in the league, I believe he is either resigned by New York if they like what they see this season or Martinez finds another team through free agency. Whichever the outcome I feel comfortable having Martinez as one LB2 in dynasty formats.
Sebastian Joseph-Day, DT, Los Angeles Chargers
Sleeper: DL • My Football League: DT • Yahoo: DT
| Year | Yearly Finish via FantasyPros | Games played | FPPG AVG. |
| 2021 | DL114 | 7 | 9.4 |
| 2020 | DL58 | 14 | 5.9 |
| 2019 | DL77 | 16 | 4.6 |
Contract Details/ ADP
In the off-season, Sebastian Joseph-Day signed a 3-year deal and will begin his fourth season with his second team, the Los Angeles Chargers, in 2022. Due to the new deal, the twenty-seven-year-old isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until 2025.
The length of the contract is a decent cushion for true position dynasty managers who have Joseph-Day rostered. Joseph-Day is not one of the thirty-six total defensive linemen in the IDPGuys July 2022 combined dynasty ADP. Some Defensive linemen toward the end of the ADP are Devonte Wyatt, Arnold Ebiketie, and Josh Sweat.
2021 Injury
Sebastian Joseph-Day went into 2021 looking to capitalize on his 2020 season where he was a nice fantasy bandaid for redraft formats. In the first six weeks in 2021, Joseph-Day averaged 8.8 fppg and was ranked as the DL14in scoring via FantasyPros.
In week 7 against the Detroit Lions Sebastian Joseph-Day injured his pectoral muscle. He then sat out of the week 8 contest and reaggravated it in practice in week 9. Shortly after, he opted to have surgery and didn’t play another snap until the Super Bowl, where he played in three downs.
It should be noted that in 2021 before the injury Joseph-Day had the most pressures of his career with the least amount of snaps in his three-year career.
2022 Off-Season
Despite rumors of Joseph-Day making another run with the team that drafted him, he ultimately decided that signing with the Chargers was the best decision for his career going forward. The Los Angeles Chargers’ interior defensive line consists of rookie Otito Ogbonnia, Austin Johnson, and now Sebastian Joseph-Day.
Jerry Tillery was on the interior in 2021 but seems he will be utilized at the edge this season. With Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa on the outside of the Los Angeles front, seven is looking fairly better than the 2021 defensive unit.
2022 Season Outlook
Despite Sebastian Joseph-Day coming off of injury, I am ready to draft him in deep redraft, best ball, and true position IDP dynasty leagues. 600-800 snaps are what I believe the newly acquired defensive lineman is lined up for in Los Angeles.
He may not be useful outside of your DL3, but he does give some upside with his ability to create pressures and bring down the ball carrier from the interior line. As his ADP dropped off around April, I would wait to draft him until much later in drafts.
A thousand thank yous for reading my article “2021, Out For Season, in for 2022”! If you enjoyed it, read all my work on my IDP Guys author page and follow me on Twitter @Caliking49er17.
