IDP Recap: Preseason Week 2
IDP Recap: Preseason Week 2
With just one week remaining in the 2024 NFL preseason, here's what we've learned so far to help you prepare for your IDP drafts.
We’re about two weeks out from the start of the 2024 NFL regular season. With two weeks of the preseason behind us, we’re not seeing many of our favorite IDPs in action, but we are getting a look at guys who could be relevant at some point during the season. After all, the NFL’s war of attrition is just getting started.
We’re also getting a better idea of how injury voids are being filled — hello, Joe Andreessen! And suspicions we’ve harbored during training camp are being confirmed before our eyes: yes, the Eagles really do like Zach Baun.
What else did we learn from this weekend? Let’s dive into it.
Eagles 14, Patriots 13
Judon is gone so it’s time for “next man up.” Anfernee Jennings, Josh Uche, and Keion White are all names to watch. Here’s how they looked.
Raekwon McMillan got the start in the middle and was out there for 47% of snaps. He made the most of it too: 8 total tackles with no misses. Ju’Whaun Bentley has yet to play in the preseason so take this with a pinch of salt, but should Bentley miss time, McMillan could be a decent spot start.
If you’ve been living under a rock the whole training camp, we’ll reiterate for you: Devin White and Zach Baun are the Eagles linebackers in 2024. Both started the game before giving way to Nakobe Dean and Jeremiah Trotter. Baun currently has an ADP of LB92, so check your waiver wires.
Nolan Smith got the start and was impactful on 25 snaps, though we’re hoping that pressure rate bumps into double digits as the season progresses.
Cooper DeJean has returned to practice but we’re yet to see him on the field. Here’s hoping we get a peek in Week 3 as he works his way back from the hamstring injury.
Falcons 12, Ravens 13
David Ojabo is starting to show flashes of what we saw at Michigan, and what led to the Ravens taking him in the 2nd round in 2022 even though he was recovering from a torn ACL, putting up a PFF overall grade of 89.5 in this game. The Ravens need all the help they can get off the edge and a healthy Ojabo would be a massive boon.
Eddie Jackson is a strong addition to this Ravens’ back end. The former Bear will be mixed in with Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton giving new Ravens DC Zach Orr flexibility at both safety spots. Jackson played 7 snaps in the sweet spot vs. Atlanta and 10 snaps deep, continuing a career trend of being used both in the box and deep.
Rookie DT Ruke Orhorhoro made his presence felt in the Baltimore backfield on Saturday. Orhorhoro was thought of as a reach by some on draft night. But he’s been impactful so far in limited playing time.
If your favorite Falcons player has stepped foot on the field in a preseason game, he’s not a starter. Raheem Morris hasn’t played any starters on either side of the ball in Weeks 1 and 2, and reports say he isn’t planning to in Week 3 either.
Giants 10, Texans 28
Christian Harris is yet to make his preseason debut, and he might not, due to a nagging calf injury. Henry To’oTo’o has been his on-field fill-in so far playing the same amount of snaps as Al-Shaair, so it’ll be interesting to see what the splits will be when Harris returns.
Don’t forget about Desmond King in CB-required leagues. King is penciled in as the Texans’ primary punt returner and played 70% of his snaps in the sweet spot as Houston’s slot corner.
Jalen Pitre got on the highlight reel picking off Daniel Jones on the 2-yard line for a touchdown, while adding 2 tackles on just 14 snaps versus the Giants. After crashing back to earth in 2023 following a meteoric 2022, could we see Pitre as something of a post-hype sleeper in 2024?
The Giants’ starting edge rushers finally got a run against Houston after not playing in preseason Week 1. Both Burns and Thibodeaux played 20 snaps each, registering 1 pressure. Burns finished with a 90.3 pass rush grade from PFF, and Kayvon had a 75.0 grade. Ojulari played 19 snaps in relief and struggled in run support, putting up a 40.2 overall grade and 36.5 run defense grade.
Bengals 3, Bears 27
With no Hubbard or Hendrickson once again, Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy got to start against the Bears starting offense. Playing just 14 snaps, both were comfortably stonewalled with neither player recording a single pressure.
I know I was quick to crown Austin Booker the preseason DROY, but the reality is Chicago will likely rotate that EDGE role with Booker and Walker during the season. Montez Sweat, however? Well, he could easily be a lock to jump into that upper echelon of 85+% of snaps in 2024.
It’s probably time to say goodbye to Dax Hill from our rosters. The 2023 star has almost exclusively played at outside corner this preseason (35/39 snaps) as coach Zac Taylor said he would.
Lions 24, Chiefs 23
Felix Anudike-Uzomah continues to get plenty of playing time this preseason. “Furious” George Karlaftis is locked in at one EDGE spot, but Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wants to get FAU mixed in as much as possible, giving him over 50 snaps in game 2. Mike Danna is currently listed as the starter blocking the way, but he’s no elite talent.
One of the biggest takeaways from preseason is “don’t overreact to small sample sizes.” On paper, Leo Chenal struggled as Nick Bolton’s replacement, but he only played 12 snaps. Chenal finished with a 43.8 PFF overall grade and a 25.6 tackle grade due to missing 1 of his 2 tackle opportunities.
Detroit have sorted out their starting safeties, as the Lions played all backups this weekend and Ifeatu Melifonwu got plenty of playing time. That gives us Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch as perceived starters.
Vikings 27, Browns 12
Speaking of young safeties getting plenty of playing time, Lewis Cine played every snap of the game against the Browns. A former 1st round pick, Cine’s struggles to stay on the field have been well-documented. Cine did look good as he fights for a roster spot, registering 8 total tackles on an 11.1% miss rate and one interception.
Dallas Turner only played 13 snaps this weekend and failed to record a pressure after looking good in week 1.
Cleveland is operating the same way as Atlanta, with no presumed starters playing in either Week 1 or Week 2.
Cardinals 13, Colts 21
Keep an eye on Adetomiwa Adebawore in the last round or two of your best ball drafts. He’ll be a situational pass rusher, but with the loss of Samson Ebukam, Gus Bradley will be looking for different ways to generate pressure. Adebawore has 7 pressures in preseason so far.
Darius Robinson could be in line for a decent workload in 2024 due to the Ojulari injury. Even though he’s just a rookie, he sat out Week 2 with all the other presumed starters when you’d think they’d want to get him as much game time as possible.
The Colts are still looking for Julian Blackmon’s safety partner. Rodney Thomas played 33 snaps, Nick Cross played 23, and Ronnie Harrison played 24.
Commanders 6, Dolphins 13
There’s a giant Christian Wilkins-sized hole in the Dolphins’ defense beside Zach Sieler. The Dolphins used 7 other interior guys not named Sieler to fill it with mixed results.
If you haven’t already, check your waiver wire for K.J. Henry. He has 7 pressures in 2 games, and the depth chart outside of Dorrance Armstrong is wide open.
Jamin Davis has completed his transition to EDGE in hopes of saving his roster spot. Davis played exclusively on the edge on 21 snaps versus the Dolphins.
Bills 9, Steelers 3
Joe Andreessen set the Twitter streets ablaze with 11 tackles on a 25% tackle rate, leaving meat on the bone with a 15.4% miss rate. Is he the Matt Milano replacement? No idea, but I do know he didn’t have a Wikipedia page until yesterday.
Buffalo, I’m begging you to stop rotating your D-Line and give Greg Rousseau a full snap share in 2024. “Old Greg” had 3 sacks on 7 pass rush snaps versus the Steelers.
Ed Oliver returned to preseason action after sustaining an injury at training camp last week, and he’ll look to add on to his breakout season in 2023.
T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith continue to be sidelined this preseason. Which is fine by us as it means more Nick Herbig! Herbig only played 13 snaps but made his presence known for sure.
Seahawks 15, Titans 16
The Titans pass rush will get a huge shot in the arm with Arden Key's six-game suspension under the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy being overturned, a league source told ESPN on Saturday.
Titans 7th-round rookie Jaylen Harrell made a splash in Saturday’s game, recording 2 sacks on 18 snaps. Seventh-rounders are never guaranteed to make the final 53-man roster, but games like this go a long way.
If you’re not following Adam on Twitter (@adamidp), you’re hamstringing yourself for the season. One guy he highlighted this weekend is Derick Hall, who had a great game on 23 snaps versus the Titans, continuing from a strong Week 1.
Jets 15, Panthers 12
Both teams sat their presumed starters all game, which meant we got another look at Will McDonald in limited action, and he looked good. Here’s hoping the coaching staff thinks the same and we get to see more of him in 2024.
Panthers Rookie Trevin Wallace is firmly entrenched behind Josey Jewell and Shaq Thompson. But, with Thompson’s injury history and Wallace’s ability to play sideline to sideline (4.51 40, 9.32 RAS), the upside is there. Wallace played 29 snaps and had a 13.8% tackle rate with no misses versus the Jets.
Chargers 13, Rams 17
How sure are we that Junior Colson will take Daiyan Henley off the field this year? The drumbeat continues on the back of another strong performance: 24 snaps, 91 overall Grade, 90.7 coverage grade, and a 16.7% tackle rate.
Sean McVay, like other coaches mentioned in this article, has yet to play his starters/vets in the preseason. Notably among that group are rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, who were taken in the 1st and 2nd rounds this year.
Rookie UDFA Omar Speights had a second straight great game on 40+ snaps. Speights recorded 9 tackles at a 21% clip and was given an 89.1 overall grade by PFF. The depth chart behind Ernest is barren, so keep an eye on the rookie.
Buccaneers 7, Jaguars 20
Remember Chad Muma? He’s one of those guys in the Leo Chenal mold who could be a strong LB handcuff as both starters have 3 down jobs. Well, he’s quietly having a decent preseason, though the missed tackle rate is worrying at 22% over 2 games. However, with no misses against the Buccaneers, he was everywhere with a 33% tackle rate in limited action.
If you’re like me and read the name Jose Ramirez, you think underrated Cleveland Guardians 3rd baseman. This Jose Ramirez is a former 6th-round pick of the Buccaneers last year who got cut at the end of the preseason. He might just avoid repeating history with a monster game on Saturday.
Another solid performance from K.J. Britt further solidified that LB2 role beside Lavonte David. Britt played 29 snaps, accumulating 5 tackles at a 17.2% tackle rate.
Cowboys 27, Raiders 12
Vegas rolled out their starting defense again. Malcolm Koonce will be the guy opposite Maxx Crosby and Divine Deablo will be the 2nd LB on the field when they play in 2 LB sets.
Nate Hobbs is going at CB8 and feels about right. Hobbs will man the slot role again this season and just put up a 14.3% tackle rate in limited action versus Dallas. Historically he’s been a 700 snaps-a-season guy at about a 10% rate, giving you a strong tackle floor to go with big-play upside.
Marshawn Kneeland is still running with the backups. He’ll get playing time this season, but it could be limited, as he sits firmly behind Lawrence and Parsons, rotating with Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Broncos 27, Packers 2
Last year the Broncos used a heavy dose of 2 LB sets when both Josey Jewell and Alex Singleton were healthy. This is a Cody Barton tweet. Barton played 14 snaps like 95% of the other Broncos starters and posted a 14% tackle rate. Now, I’m not saying they will be a full-time 2 LB team, but go check your waivers.
Jonah Elliss and Nik Bonitto continued their strong preseasons. I still believe that Jonathon Cooper and Baron Browning are the starting edge rushers for the Broncos, but Elliss and Bonitto will get more opportunities if they play like they did against Green Bay.
P.J. Locke was great for us in relief of Kareem Jackson’s suspension last season, but be mindful of lightning striking twice. So far in preseason Locke has only played 33% of snaps in the sweet spot. Against the Packers, it was no different.
Last week it was Lukas Van Ness; this week, it was Kingsley Enagbare and Brenton Cox Jr. With Green Bay sitting incumbents Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, the rotational guys behind them got the chance to shine.
Ty'Ron Hopper got the start with Edgerrin Cooper still banged up and neither Quay Walker nor Isaiah McDuffie playing. And he made the most of his 51 snaps. Hopper finished with 10 total tackles on a 19.6% rate with a missed rate of 9.1%.
Saints 10, 49ers 16
We touched on Turner and Young last week, and the latter had another strong showing against the 9ers. But we can’t forget about incumbent guys who will be starting on this Dline, one of whom had a breakout last year. Carl Granderson and Bryan Bresee also put up numbers versus the 49ers backups.
The 49ers’ big guns were on ice, like with most of the Shanahan/McVay coaching tree teams this preseason, but one guy fighting for a starting role is 2nd-year player Ji’Ayir Brown. Talanoa Hufanga is still recovering from his torn ACL, so Brown needs to put enough on tape to win that other role over George Odum when Hufanga returns. He had a strong showing versus the Saints, though it was on the most limited of snaps. So here’s hoping we see him more in Week 3.
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