IDP Fantasy Football Instant Reaction & Waivers Week Seven Edition (Part One)

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Taking a look at the NFL Week 7 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 four games of week seven. Keep an eye out for part two dropping tomorrow. Let’s get into it.

Denver Broncos @ Arizona Cardinals

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Broncos: Linebacker Todd Davis (LB) had a career day this week while sitting on my bench in two leagues, to be fair though I don’t think many people are benching Darius Leonard (LB), Kwon Alexander (LB) or players of that caliber for a hit or miss tier-two linebacker. Davis recorded 10 combined tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PD, 1 INT and 1 TD playing 76% of snaps this week. He’s been a solid tier-two guy all year this was just a special week for him. Justin Simmons (S) was next with 7 combined tackles on 100% of snaps played. He’s been reliable and productive all year and remains a weekly autostart for me.

The other two IDP relevant linebackers had very opposite days in this game. Von Miller (LB, EDGE) had a monster game with 4 combined tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 TFL playing 85% of snaps this week. While this production was outstanding he only had four tackles so it all comes down to the sacks and bonus plays for him to produce, those types of plays are impossible to predict and rare so unless it’s for a specific EDGE or OLB slot I’m not playing him.

Brandon Marshall (LB) played 94% of snaps this week, the most he’s played all year, but only had 4 combined tackles so it’s looking like he’s still not quite there yet. If he ever gets on track he’ll be a nice addition at linebacker.

Bradley Chubb (DE, LB) had his second awesome game in a row with 3 solo tackles, 2 sacks and 2 TFL playing 88% of snaps this week. He was quiet to start the year but seems to be picking up steam, I would play him if you can get him as a DE, as a linebacker it’s too much of a risk for me.

Chris Harris (CB) had a great game with 6 combined tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT on 97% of snaps this week. He has been a decent play against teams with an effective passing offense, so it’s a little strange he went off this week against the flailing Cardinals pass offense.

Derek Wolfe (DE) had a nice fill-in game with 3 combined tackles and 1 PD playing 70% of snaps, I used him in a couple leagues where I had bye week issues. He’s one of the guys along with Chris Jones (DE) and Leonard Williams (DE) that I use for spot starts during bye weeks, they seem to have slightly better than usual odds to get you a serviceable game for a week or two.

Cardinals: The Killer B’s were at it again this week, minus standout safety Tre Boston (S), who was injured and out. Antoine Bethea (S) led the way with 8 combined tackles playing 100% of snaps while Budda Baker (S) was next with 8 combined tackles and 1.5 TFL playing 98% of snaps.

Josh Bynes (LB) had a good day as well with 6 combined tackles and 0.5 TFL playing 100% of snaps this week. All of those guys are auto starts for me every week, and with the Cardinals offense still looking pretty terrible and losing the time of possession battle every week you can be sure they’ll all get plenty of opportunity for points every week.

Patrick Peterson (CB) is so good that opposing offenses try to stay away from him and fail just about every week. He’s fast enough and smart enough to get in on plenty of plays every week even with that in mind. He had another solid week with 6 solo tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT playing 98% of snaps. Against any team that passes the ball remotely well, he’s a nice start for IDP corner.

Haason Reddick (LB) played 100% of snaps again this week for the third week in a row but only had 4 combined tackles, I think we can safely say he’s going to get playing time now if you want to add him in waivers, his production has been up and down though so I would only do this in much deeper leagues.

Chandler Jones (DE) had another nice week with 3 combined tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL playing 81% of snaps this week, you paid defensive end tier-one prices to get him so you’re starting him weekly. As am I. Robert Nkemdiche (DT) is the other defensive lineman worth looking at for IDP purposes this year and was on a hot streak. He cooled down this week with just 2 combined tackles playing only 34% of snaps this week.

That’s concerning, his playing time has been much better than that most of the year, he may have been hurt or I missed something, regardless tread carefully if you’re planning on starting him next week.

Tennessee Titans @ LA Chargers (London)

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Titans: It was another weird game in London that came down to a missed two-point conversion for the win and neither side saw a ton of tackles. The Titans IDP, in particular, did not seem to produce like they normally do. Jayon Brown (LB) survived the return of Wesley Woodyard (LB) and continued to play well with 7 combined tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL playing 73% of snaps this week.

Woodyard only had 4 combined tackles on 91% of snaps in his first week back from injury. I am not worried though. He was bound to be a little rusty and the Titans, in general, did not have a ton of tackles this week. Most of the Chargers scoring was from long bomb touchdowns without needing long, drawn-out drives that produce multiple tackles.

Cornerbacks Logan Ryan (CB) and Adoree’ Jackson (CB) both had serviceable games, Ryan more so than Jackson. Ryan had 5 solo tackles and 2 PD playing 100% of snaps while Jackson had 3 solo tackles playing 100% of snaps this week. Jackson also fielded one punt but for zero yards. If you play in a league with return yards, he can usually get you a nice little bonus on top of his tackles and pass defenses with some punt returns.

Jurell Casey (DT) had a bit of a down game with 2 combined tackles and 0.5 sack playing 82% of snaps this week. He’s been solid far more often than not this year so no worries here, it happens. Kevin Byard (S) only had one solo tackle this week while playing 100% of snaps which is not great. He has been on fire lately but can suffer from up and down production. This week was definitely down.

Rashaan Evans (LB) came back to earth with Woodyard’s return which was predicted and mentioned in my start/sit article. He’s a dynasty piece for now unless Brown or Woodyard gets hurt again this season.

Chargers: Denzel Perryman (LB) has been really the only reliable Chargers linebacker this season as far as both playing time and production. He had both this week with 8 combined tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT playing 82% of snaps. He’s been a fine tier-two linebacker this season and definitely playable in deeper leagues.

Derwin James (S) was next on the box score with another outstanding game.  He finished with 8 combined tackles on 99% of snaps. He’s been a tier-one producer this year and is the future of the IDP safety position. The flashes we saw from him and Minkah Fitzpatrick (S) when Reshad Jones (S) was out earlier this year give us some glimpses of the future top guys for IDP safety for many years to come.

Adrian Phillips (S) and Desmond King (CB) both had nice games this week. Phillips had 7 combined tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD playing 56% of snaps and has been decent the last couple weeks but was quiet before then. That is not enough consistency for me, especially at safety where there are so many options. King was predicted to have a huge year this season but has been quiet. I have only mentioned him now and one other time this season. He had 7 combined tackles and 1 PD playing 66% of snaps this week. There are more consistent options out there for IDP corner or you could just stream for solid matchups.

Melvin Ingram (DE) had a great day with 5 solo tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL and 2 PD playing 89% of snaps this week. He’s been really up and down without Bosa there to scare the living shit out of the offensive coordinator this year. Despite that he’s had a few great weeks and his stock will go through the roof when Bosa returns and opposing teams can no longer double team Ingram without risking their quarterback’s health when Bosa busts through the line and plasters him.

New England Patriots @ Chicago Bears

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Pats: There are only a few players who have consistent enough playing time and production on the Patriots for me to be interested in them and unfortunately most of those guys had down games this week. Trey Flowers (DE) only had 2 combined tackles and 1 PD playing 87% of snaps this week. He has been solid though so I’m going to keep playing him.

Devin McCourty (S) is another I usually like. He had 4 solo tackles playing 99% of snaps this week and has been very up and down this season. His brother, Jason McCourty (CB) is the last. He had 2 solo tackles playing 67% of snaps this week. So not great for my Patriots IDP players.

Patrick Chung (S) and Kyle Van Noy (LB) sit atop the box score this week. Chung had 7 combined tackles and 1 PD on 100% of snaps. Van Noy had 6 solo tackles and 1 TFL plus a special teams touchdown playing 93% of snaps. He’s been decent as a tier-two or three linebacker, but I am all set personally.

Donta Hightower (LB) had 5 solo tackles on 76% of snaps this week. That’s about the extent of the Patriots IDP I want to talk about this week and that was probably too much. Find other teams for your guys. The Patriots are too random to count on for anything really fantasy football-wise.

Bears: For the second week in a row Khalil Mack (DE, LB) had an absolute clunker, 1 solo tackle on 84% of snaps played. If you played him as a linebacker you probably got your booty hole turned inside out. However, if you played him as a defensive end there’s a good chance you survived his latest bad game since a lot of other defensive ends had off games this week (JJ Watt, Trey Flowers, Akiem Hicks, etc ).

When you play him as a defensive end and he drops a dud you can survive it most of the time unless all of your opponents’ defensive ends go off at once. There will usually be at least one who does just as bad and makes it a wash. Playing him as a linebacker though isn’t ideal. Your opponent could be starting someone like C.J. Mosley or Darius Leonard against him and that makes for a bad day. I only mention it cause of the amount of shit I caught for this opinion on Twitter last week…carry on.

The linebacker duo of Roquan Smith (LB) and Danny Trevathan (LB) have been solid the majority of this season and both had nice days today. Trevathan sits atop the box score with 10 solo tackles playing 97% of snaps this week. He’s been a nice tier-two linebacker this year. Smith recorded 5 combined tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL on 55% of snaps this week. He’s a great dynasty option and has been a solid tier-two guy this season with a lot of upside.

Kyle Fuller (CB) was a tier-one start for me this week with the ideal matchup against the Patriots super efficient offense and he did not disappoint. He had 5 solo tackles, 2 PD and 1 INT on 98% of snaps played and was a perfect streaming corner for this week.

Eddie Jackson (S) and Adrian Amos (S) both had serviceable days at safety this week with Jackson recording 5 combined tackles on 95% of snaps while Amos had 4 solo tackles and 1 PD playing 100% of snaps. They’ve been decent options in much deeper leagues but personally, I’ll look elsewhere. They have been too spotty for me.

Akiem Hicks (DE) is the other IDP relevant player on the Bears and had a down week with 2 solo tackles playing 92% of snaps this week. He’s still a great spot start and is playable weekly in deeper leagues.

Buffalo Bills @ Indianapolis Colts

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Bills: It was another week of bad offense for the Bills leading to plenty of time on the field for their IDP players. Taron Johnson (CB) led the production with 7 solo tackles and 1 TFL playing 55% of snaps. It is the first time I’ve ever seen this guys name so let’s wait for some consistency before making any moves.

Tremaine Edmunds (LB) was next with 7 solo tackles and 1 PD on 100% of snaps played. Edmunds has been great all year. Continue to start him with confidence. Matt Milano (LB) had a down game with 4 solo tackles on 98% of snaps this week, we all knew he’d have to cool off eventually. His playing time has remained hovering around 100% of snaps so the opportunity will be there, keep playing him.

The safety duo of Jordan Poyer (S) and Micah Hyde (S) both had nice games this week. Poyer recorded 5 combined tackles on 100% of snaps played and this was a “down” week for him. This kind of game is his floor and most weeks he scores much better than this. Hyde had 5 solo tackles playing 92% of snaps and this was one of his few “good” games this season. He has nosedived from last years production and I’ve been steering clear of it.

Both Jerry Hughes (DE) and Trent Murphy (DE) had clunkers this week. They made popular bye week fill-ins and rostered in most deeper leagues. I would still be OK with playing either one for a week or two in relief of someone with an injury or to fill in for a bye week but that’s about it.

Colts: Once again it was Darius Leonard (LB) at the top of the box score for the Colts this week, he had another monster game with 17 combined tackles on 93% of snaps played. He has 78 combined tackles through the first seven games this season and is on pace for an incredible year, especially for a rookie. He is a must-start every week.

Mike Mitchell (S) filled in for Clayton Geathers (S) and Matthias Farley (S) who were both injured and out this week. Mitchell recorded 7 solo tackles, 1 INT and 2 PD on 91% of snaps. I would not add him though, this will be either Farley or Geathers job, whichever one gets healthy first.

Kenny Moore (CB) was next with 7 combined tackles, 2 PD and 1 INT on 100% of snaps. He hasn’t been consistent so I’m looking elsewhere for corner help. Anthony Walker (LB) had 5 combined tackles and 1 TFL on 77% of snaps this week and continues to be a productive tier two safety despite the lower production this week. Jabaal Sheard (DE) had a solid game with 2 solo tackles, 1 sack and 2 TFL on 88% of snaps. He has been a great bye week fill in. Play him weekly in deeper leagues.

Margus Hunt (DE, DT) had a down week with 1 solo tackle, 1 TFL and 1 PD on 70% of snaps. He’s back to low owned in most leagues cause of the injury and a couple down weeks, but I plan on keeping him around for a bye week fill in or if any injuries pop up. Denico Autry (DT) and Clayton Geathers (S) both didn’t play this week with injuries. They’re the other IDP relevant options I normally talk about. They should be back next week hopefully.

Make sure you catch part two dropping tomorrow and keep an eye out for my start or sit article dropping Saturday. 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. We’ve got you covered with player profiles, waivers, analysis, snap counts and injury updates all with no paywall @ idpguys.org


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