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IDP managers have been hit with an onslaught of defender headlines as we hit mid-week of the Thanksgiving season. As of Tuesday, multiple impact fantasy defenders have been lost this week for various reasons. These aren’t minor losses, either. They are significant losses with long-term ramifications. Some of them we saw coming, and some we didn’t. Some will lead to quality fantasy replacements, and others won’t.
Atop the IDP news pile was Tuesday's announcement that the Colts are releasing Shaquille Leonard. We've telegraphed his exit for months now, so it doesn’t come as a surprise. The real news will be where Leonard ends up after waivers. He is still heavily involved in tackles, even when his snaps are limited, but does he still have big plays in him? Indy says no, and the stat sheet backs that up. Meanwhile, his replacement (E.J. Speed) makes our list below.
Other big news this week includes the season-ending injuries to IDP stalwarts Talanoa Hufanga and Kyzir White. We touched on Hufanga and his replacement in our rankings, but Arizona’s situation is also interesting. Aside from elevating the value of Josh Woods, who we discuss below, do not be surprised if White’s injury leads to Zaven Collins rotating back inside. That would mean quality tackle production from a player who is widely available as a fantasy DL.
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Casual IDP Streamers and Fades
Stream: E.J. Speed, LB, Indianapolis Colts
Colts beat writers have been talking about Speed for a while, noting the team’s strong desire to get him on the field more often. With the release of Shaquille Leonard, that task becomes easier.
Speed is rostered in just 1.7% of IDP leagues, and his opportunity share should skyrocket now. The Colts offer a fantasy-friendly LB scheme, and Speed could take advantage. He's a worthwhile gamble this late in the season.
Stream: Kevin Byard, DB, Philadelphia Eagles
Byard is the 32nd most-started DB this week. He’s also the 30th most rostered.
Historically, this former Titan has had strong ball skills and good tackling numbers. This week he gets Josh Allen, who leads the league in turnovers. There is DB1 upside to Byard in this matchup.
Fade: Nicholas Morrow & Zach Cunningham, LBs, Philadelphia Eagles
Between them, Morrow and Cunningham have exactly three games with double-digit tackles. Despite Nakobe Dean being out nearly the entire year, they have yet to capitalize with fantasy production. Morrow has shown the ability to log some big plays, so he's the one to gamble on if you must. However, I'm fading both against a Buffalo team that runs the ball at the league median rate.
Fade: Shaquille Leonard, LB, Free Agent
Okay, I realize Leonard is low-hanging fruit. But hear me out.
A lot of people are going to hang onto Leonard to see where he lands. The potential that he could turn back into the elite LB1 overall is compelling, especially considering he isn't that old. We have seen linebackers come off the street and turn into tackle machines late in seasons, so why not Leonard?
The risk of holding onto Leonard in shallow leagues is strong, though. First off, your roster space may be very limited in a league where you start just three or four defenders. Odds are you want to save that space for injured RBs or WRs. Leonard won't fit in your IR. There's also no telling where he will land, what scheme he will find himself in, and there's a chance his new team may bring him along slowly.
Can you afford to stash Leonard for several weeks while he learns a new scheme or struggles to find a new team? Or is there an active and productive LB on waivers who can actually help you get into your fantasy playoffs instead?
Shaq Leonard has been an elite coverage LB for majority of his career. He’s struggled some this year, but I just don’t think he fits the Colts new scheme. Bring me this to Miami🔥 pic.twitter.com/e0zVfe8nWF
— King of Phinland🐬👑 (@KingOfPhinland) November 21, 2023
Premium/Deep League Streamers and Fades
Stream: Jordan Battle, DB, Cincinnati Bengals
Nick Scott has struggled since joining the Bengals. As a result, his snaps were finally capped against the Ravens. While Scott got the start, he played only 17% of the snaps and has no injury designation. Reports out of Cincy are Jordan Battle simply earned the 86% snap share he got over Scott.
Battle returned on the investment Cincy made in him, too. He notched 12 tackles (10 solo) and looked better than Scott on film. The hope here is Battle continues to play and earns the starting role outright, and Scott's role is minimized. If that's the case, he could enter the DB2 conversation.
Stream: Christian Barmore, DL, New England Patriots
Every week, at least one pass rusher gets a bump in the face of a tasty Giants matchup. This week, Barmore receives one of those bumps. He is New England's top-rated pass rusher, generating multiple pressures per game. Barmore also gets the same opposing blockers who surrendered 1.5 sacks to Jonathan Allen in Week 11.
#Patriots DT Christian Barmore doing the WADDLE😮 pic.twitter.com/kuzn56Pvsm
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 1, 2023
Fade: Chargers Defensive Backs Not Named Derwin James
The Ravens are the second-lowest volume pass offense in the NFL this season, and that was with Mark Andrews. They are also below the league median in offensive plays per game.
While the injury to Andrews could spur more deep shots to OBJ and Zay Flowers, it could also mean a bigger commitment to the run game. The Ravens' defense is the best in the league and should keep this competitive, especially if Marlon Humphrey plays and shadows Keenan Allen. That would be bad news for the fantasy prospects of the Chargers' corners.
Fade: Preston Smith & Rashan Gary, DL, Green Bay Packers
Despite a few struggles last week, the Detroit Lions continue to have a stalwart offensive line. This is especially true on the edges, where they’ve allowed just 33 quarterback pressures and five sacks all season. While we like Gary and Smith as DL3 options in deeper leagues, there is a distinct risk they don’t produce at all in this matchup.
If you have doubts about these two, several players are widely available with higher upside or safer floors. Josh Uche has a higher ceiling and a much better matchup. Meanwhile, Derrick Brown and George Karlaftis feel like safer options who are rostered in fewer leagues.
Defenders Worth Adding
Paulson Adebo, CB, New Orleans Saints
I'll return to this well because Adebo's roster rate is too low. He is currently the 57th most rostered DB in fantasy, behind teammate Marshon Lattimore and many others. The issue with that is Adebo is the seventh-highest-scoring fantasy CB this season. He's ahead of Lattimore by 20 points. Teams still target Adebo a lot, and he's shown the ability to get you plenty of deflections and turnovers.
Josh Woods, LB, Arizona Cardinals
Now that Kyzir White is out for the year, Woods feels like the most likely predecessor to White's lead LB role. Woods has played over 80% of the snaps for Arizona in four of their past seven games. That rate may jump with White out, as should the 5.4 tackles that Woods has averaged in that stretch.
Jadeveon Clowney, DL, Baltimore Ravens
Clowney has five sacks in his past six games. However, he’s just the 70th most rostered DL in fantasy. Every team left on his regular season schedule is in the bottom half of pass protectors, too.
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