Taking a look at the NFL Week 9 from a IDP perspective; notes on what our writer @Orangeman3142 saw this weekend.
This is a continuation of our weekly article series that breaks down what we saw this week in IDP fantasy football. What happened and why, what we got right and what we got wrong and more importantly how to move forward and get better next week. We look at possible waivers and trends, snap counts and issues that affect production for your IDP team. Part one will cover the first three games of week Nine. Keep an eye out for part two. Let’s get into it.
Oakland Raiders @ San Francisco 49ers
Raiders: If you’ve been reading this article series throughout the year you’re fully aware by now that I only care about Tahir Whitehead (LB) as far as Raiders IDP production is concerned, everyone else sucks or is a dynasty piece that won’t make a difference this season (Maurice Hurst DT).
Whitehead had 7 combined tackles and 3 TFL on 100% of snaps played this week. He’s the only consistent producer on that team and he’s not even that great, second tier most of the time and occasionally spotty. If you’re playing any other Raiders besides him it’s probably not going well.
49ers: With both Ruben Foster (LB) and Jaquiski Tartt (S) out with injury this week we all knew it would be the Fred Warner (LB) show and he showed up for it with 7 solo tackles and 1 PD on 89% of snaps this week. He’s been a border of tier two guy all season with flashes of tier one production sprinkled in.
He’s a great dynasty piece and will be a solid guy for the 49ers linebackers corps for years to come. The next relevant guy this week for the 49ers was Solomon Thomas (DE) who recorded 3 solo tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL on 53% of snaps this week, for me he’s nothing more than a risky spot start but in dynasty he’s a good roll of the dice for the future.
DeForest Buckner (DT) had a nice week as well with 2 solo tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL playing 70% of snaps this week, this should be his floor but he’s slowed somewhat after his fast start to the season, he’s still an auto start weekly though.
Richard Sherman (CB) retreated back to mediocrity with 3 solo tackles on 82% of snaps this week proving once again that he’s far better at speaking at a podium and telling people he’s smart cause he went to Stanford than he is at playing football.
Chicago Bears @ Buffalo Bills
Bears: The dynamic linebacker duo of Roquan Smith (LB) and Danny Trevethan (LB) kicked some serious butt this week with Smith recording 13 combined tackles playing 86% of snaps this week while Trevethan had 12 combined tackles and 2 TFL on 87% of snaps played.
Both have been rock solid tier two guys this year with flashes of tier one production and both border on weekly auto starts at this point. Khalil Mack (DE, LB) was injured and out this week.
Adrian Amos (S) and Eddie Jackson (S) both had solid games as well with Amos putting up 7 combined tackles, 1 sack 1 TFL and 2 PD on 88% of snaps while Jackson had 5 combined tackles and 1 TFL playing 88% of snaps this week. Those are nice games but these two are too spotty overall for my liking personally.
Kyle Fuller (CB) had a surprisingly nice game with 3 combined tackles, 3 PD and 1 INT on 86% of snaps this week in a not ideal matchup, I definitely got that one wrong. Akiem Hicks (DE) is the other IDP relevant player on the Bears I track every week and he had 3 combined tackles and 1 TFL on 59% of snaps.
Bills: With outstanding producer Tremaine Edmunds (LB) injured and out this week it was backup Julian Stanford (LB) leading the way with 8 combined tackles and 1 sack on 100% of snaps played, he’ll be gone when Edmunds clears concussion protocol and comes back probably next week so don’t add him in waivers unless Edmunds is out an extended period of time.
Jordan Poyer (S) had a serviceable game with 5 combined tackles on 100% of snaps played this week, his production hasn’t been up to par for him lately but the playing time is there.
Jerry Hughes (DE) had a serviceable game if you played him as a spot start this week with 3 solo tackles and 2 TFL on 65% of snaps played, that’s about all he’s good for though. Matt Milano (LB) had an off day with 2 solo tackles and 2 TFL playing 100% of snaps this week, he’s been great most of the year though so no need to panic.
Tra’Davious White (CB) hasn’t been targeted enough this year to be a reliable IDP corner but had 3 combined tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT on 100% of snaps this week if you did end up playing him.
Kansas City Chiefs @ Cleveland Browns
Chiefs: Even with his snap percentage slashed due to bad pass coverage the last couple weeks it was Anthony Hitchens (LB) who led the way for the Chiefs even though he was less than 100% after an injury last week. He recorded 8 solo tackles on 69% of snaps this week and remains a good tier two option.
Reggie Ragland (LB) had a serviceable day with 6 combined tackles on 48% of snaps and is still best used as a spot start unless in a super deep league. Neither is getting anywhere close to enough snaps for me to feel comfortable playing them every week so start thinking on a replacement if you own either, Hitchens snaps have been dropping for a few weeks now and this is a season low for playing time for Ragland.
Chris Jones (DE) is a guy I use for spot starts and injury replacements who had a nice week with 4 combined tackles, 1 sack and 2 TFL on 68% of snaps this week. Kendal Fuller (CB) has been my favorite IDP corner this year but had a down game with 2 solo tackles and 1 PD on 97% of snaps, he’ll be fine.
Ron Parker (S) has been serviceable all year with Eric Berry (S) out with injury all season, he had 5 combined tackles on 99% of snaps this week, I haven’t played him yet this year but he’s been consistent as an end of tier two guy most of the season.
Browns: With both Joe Schobert (LB) and Damarious Randal (S) out with injury this week it was the perfect opportunity for Christian Kirksey (LB) and Jamie Collins (LB). Collins did well with 7 combined tackles on 100% of snaps but Kirksey injured his hamstring early in this one and ended up with just 3 solo tackles on 34% of snaps this week, hopefully it’s just a minor injury and he’ll be back soon.
Jabril Peppers (S) had a surprise day with 6 combined tackles on 92% of snaps played but has been bad the majority of this season so I need to see more before buying into him again, plus this boost in playing time is related to the Randal injury and won’t last.
Myles Garret (DE), Larry Ogunjobi (DT) and Emanuel Ogbah (DE) are the IDP relevant members of the Cleveland defensive line. Garret had a serviceable game with 2 solo tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL on 88% of snaps while Ogbah had a decent game as well with 4 combined tackles and 1 PD playing 81% of snaps which isn’t terrible if you used him as a bye week spot start.
Ogunjobi had another stinker with 2 solo tackles and 1 TFL playing 92% of snaps this week and continues to be up and down all season. Denzel Ward (CB) injured his hip early in this one and only had 1 solo tackle playing 12% of snaps as a result, we’ll be tracking all these injuries throughout the week.
Make sure you catch part two dropping tomorrow and keep an eye out for my start or sit article dropping Sunday morning. My bad habit of going too far into detail means this article is in multiple parts instead of one novel.
If you have any questions or need some advice feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@OrangeMan3142) or use the “Contact Us” box on our website (idpguys.org) to reach us. Our team of writers has over 100 combined years of experience in IDP fantasy football and we are always accessible and transparent with both our hits and misses.
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