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This past weekend, fantasy football managers jumped at running back news. We made free agent claims following the trade of Christian McCaffrey, the injury of J.K. Dobbins, and the Chiefs backfield shakeup. This got me thinking: Could any such news have the same impact on IDP free agent transactions?
My conclusion is no. If a major defensive player gets injured, like Chargers CB J.C. Jackson (knee - out for the year) did this past week, that doesn’t necessarily mean more production for the next man up. Jackson’s value in previous seasons (not 2022, though) was in his ability to make interceptions. If you increase playing time to any other DB, that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll make interceptions.
LB is perhaps the exception. Fantasy production from tackles at LB is more tightly correlated with snap count than any other defensive position, and, because there are only two every-down LBs on most teams, they are scarcer than DBs. That’s why one LB on my list is the Bengals’ Akeem Davis-Gaither, who should have a bigger role now that Logan Wilson is out. The rest of the waiver wire is about sifting through the silt to find gold and throwing out the pyrite. Here is some gold.
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Willie Gay, LB, Kansas City Chiefs
Rostered in ~35% of MFL Leagues
In his first game back since serving a four-game suspension for a domestic violence offense, Gay made eight combined tackles, including four solo tackles, and half a sack. He has shown that skill before. He made eleven combined tackles and two tackles for loss in his last game before the suspension. It looks like he’ll remain a high-impact blitzing and tackling linebacker for the second half of the season. Next week is his bye, however.
Quay Walker, LB, Green Bay Packers
Rostered in ~55% of Leagues
The Packers' first-round pick blew up for 13 combined tackles in Week 7. This seems as good a time as any to point out that he’s still available in nearly half of all IDP leagues on MFL. He’s been having himself a fine season, with five games of six or more tackles.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Cleveland Browns
Rostered in ~60% of Leagues
Owusu-Koramoah hasn’t quite had the second-year breakout many expected after his impressive rookie season. (For one thing, he got less than 80% of the defensive snaps since the Browns run a crowded rotation of linebackers.) He is only No. 80 in the NFL in combined tackles, and he had some really bad games in there. (He made one single tackle in Week 3.) In the past four games, he has made 25 combined tackles, two of which were for losses, broke up three passes, and forced a fumble this past week.
Dorance Armstrong, DE, Dallas Cowboys
Rostered in ~55% of Leagues
With another sack against the Lions, Armstrong extends his streak to three straight games with a QB takedown. He has six sacks in the past six games. That puts him tied with Von Miller, Khalil Mack, Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Matthew Judon, and Rashan Gary for the fourth-most sacks in the league.
Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB, Cincinnati Bengals
Rostered in ~10% of Leagues
After Logan Wilson left Week 6 with a shoulder injury, Davis-Gaither had the start in Week 7. He made seven solo tackles and two assists. He also came up big in Week 3 when Germaine Pratt was injured, making nine solo tackles and four assists. He has not missed a single tackle, and his tackle grade, according to PFF, is 88.4 this season. Davis-Gaither will start for the next 1-4 weeks Logan Wilson is projected to miss.
Jamin Davis, LB, Washington Commanders
Rostered in ~50% of Leagues
While he only makes about three solo tackles and one or two assists a game, his tackles are often big ones. He has three sacks and four TFLs, after adding two against the Packers in Week 7. In leagues that value sacks and TFLs, he will have some spike weeks.
Duron Harmon, S, Oakland Raiders
Rostered in ~20% of Leagues
The ten-year veteran joined the Raiders this offseason after logging over 1,000 snaps in Atlanta last season to aid a weak safety unit. While starting the season as the No. 2 free safety, he has become the team captain and overtaken Jonathan Abram. (Abram, who is still listed as No. 1 on ESPN’s depth chart, only played 10 snaps at free safety in Weeks 4 and 5 but lined up as the slot corner 20 or more times in both games.)
Harmon played between 96% and 100% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps every game since Week 2 and lined up as the free safety most of the time. This week, he made six combined tackles, a pass breakup, his third of the season, and an interception, his second.
Sione Takitaki, LB, Cleveland Browns
Rostered in ~10% of Leagues
The Browns don’t really use any every-down linebackers. Instead, they shuffle between three starting LBs. (Even Owusu-Koramoah only has a 68% snap count this season.) Takitaki is one of those linebackers. He has been getting between 52% and 78% of the snaps every week since Week 3. He has made nine solo tackles, two TFL, and one QB hit over the past two games. Now Deion Jones just got activated from the IR last week and played 52% of the snaps in his first game back, but Jacob Phillips went down with a pec injury, so Takitaki keeps his spot in the rotation or enhances it if he plays ahead of Jones.
Fabian Moreau, CB, New York Giants
Rostered in ~15% of Leagues
Moreau has seen his snap rate continuously ramp up since Week 1 to where he is now playing 100% of the snaps. He made eight solo tackles in Week 6 and seven combined tackles in Week 7. He is giving up just a 35% completion rate, making him a top 10 shutdown corner, according to Next Generation Stats.
Ryan Neal, S, Seattle Seahawks
Rostered in ~10% of Leagues
The fifth-year safety, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent and is starting for the first time, has done a good job filling in for the injured Jamal Adams, who is out for the season. Since taking 100% of the snaps for the first time in Week 5, he has made five or more combined tackles in each of the past three games, including six solos each in the past two, one sack, a pick, and six pass breakups. The interception and four pass defenses took place this past week in the Seahawks' win over the Chargers. That’s good enough for him to be one of the top fifteen IDP scorers in just about every league in Week 7.
Jalean Phillips, DL/LB, Miami Dolphins
Rostered in ~25% of Leagues
After adding 1.5 sacks against the Steelers in Week 7, Phillips now has 3.0 sacks in the past four games. He’s in his second year. He made 8.5 sacks last year while playing just 54% of the snaps and now is playing close to 70% this season.
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