IDP Recap: Week 2
With Week 2 in the books, let's get you up to speed with a recap of the biggest IDP headlines from each game.
Is it Week 2 or Week 12? With all the injuries it feels like the latter. This week, we lost Terrel Bernard and Jermaine Johnson, but on the flip side, we found Will McDonald and Dorian Williams. Fred Warner is the main event, and Blake Cashman was cash money like always. What else went down? Let’s find out.
Bills 31, Dolphins 10
Just over 19 months after the football world stopped with Damar Hamlin collapsing at midfield, he’s back playing 92% of snaps with a respectable 14.3% tackle rate. Hamlin could be a sneaky pickup at DB this week with rookie Cole Bishop still barely utilized and the linebacker core depleted.
The reason Hamlin is so needed? Buffalo lost another linebacker in Terrel Bernard, who is set to miss about a month with a pectoral strain. With Bernard’s prolonged absence, Baylon Spector and Dorian Williams were the two mainstays at linebacker for the Bills. Both accrued 10 tackles a piece, though Williams had the better efficiency with just a 9.1% miss rate to Spector’s 15.4%.
Ed Oliver was quiet in Week 1 but got into the sack column this week against Miami, we also got a repeat performance from Von Miller. Rousseau was sackless though he did have an encouraging snap share of 68% while still sitting nearly the whole 4th quarter in a blowout.
Unless you’re in an All-22 league, PFF grades alone do not equal fantasy points, as showcased by Jordyn Brooks. Brooks played all 45 snaps in the loss and tallied his best PFF-graded game ever (92.2 overall, 90.6 run defense, 77.9 tackle, 81.6 coverage). He only scored 10.5 points by Big 3 Scoring though, with running mate David Long and his 18.75 points by way of 11 tackles (24.4% rate and 2 TFLs) leading the way on the fantasy scoresheet.
Ja’Marcus Ingram had a career day, putting up 2 passes defended and 2 picks, one of which was a pick-six on his way to a 31.6-point evening. Don’t however go blowing all your remaining FAAB on him. Even in a game where the starters sat the majority of the 4th quarter, Ingram only played on 23 snaps (30%). Let someone else chase that mirage.
Buccaneers 20, Lions 16
I keep talking about who’ll play opposite Aidan Hutchinson and support him. I’m starting to think he doesn’t need it.
Alex Anzalone left Sunday’s game halfway through with a concussion, I’m not going to speculate between Malcolm Rodriguez and Jack Campbell as I’d probably get it wrong. If you’re stuck on who to play, check out Mike Woellert’s masterpiece here.
The Kenny Britt flag plant is over for Josh (minus injury of course.) Tampa Bay played an eye-popping 86 snaps on defense. Britt played 41 and SirVocea Dennis 45, with Dennis outscoring Britt 10.5 to 4 points. It’s a full-blown rotation.
Christian Izien came through for anyone who like-for-like swapped him with the injured Antoine Winfield. The second-year safety out of Rutgers had 9 total tackles (10.6% rate) and an interception on 100% of snaps as he balled out to the tune of 24.95 points.
Brian Branch is special. Through two weeks he’s tied for 3rd on the team in tackles with 13, which is good. It’s his play in the passing game that we love, though. He’s got 5 passes defended and a pick already, good for 26 points in Big 3 Scoring!
Colts 10, Packers 16
Last week Julian Blackmon and Nick Cross scored nearly the same amount of points and I told you to follow the snaps and play Blackmon. Well, Blackmon was injured this week and Rodney Thomas isn’t a 1-for-1 replacement. Cross went for 15 tackles (21.7% rate) and only 1 miss in 98% of snaps. You can probably fire them up as an either/or/both scenario moving forward.
Laiatu Latu left Sunday's loss early with a hip injury and underwent further tests Monday to confirm his Week 3 availability. It’s not expected to be serious, and a game against the Bears might be all he needs to get his first NFL sack.
In other injury news, DeForest Buckner added to his back injury with a sprained ankle and was set for an MRI on Monday. He was X-rayed in the second half and they came back negative; however, he is still a longshot to play against the Bears in week 3.
Xavier McKinney followed a solid Week 1 performance with a similar output in Week 2. Though deficient in the tackle department (8 total), through two weeks McKinney has 2 passes defended and 2 interceptions and is averaging 17.75 PPG on 100% of snaps.
Fifty-six linebackers have played 75 snaps through 2 weeks. By PFF overall grade, Quay Walker is 46th out of 56 (48.3 overall) and Isaiah McDuffie is 50th (46.6 overall). Walker has played 100% and McDuffie 98% of snaps. This was a position of need in the draft for Green Bay in 2024, so don’t be surprised when we get more of Edgerrin Cooper (and maybe even Ty'Ron Hopper).
Raiders 26, Ravens 23
Oweeeeh! Oweh! Oweh! Oweeeeeh! Ooooweeh! Oooweeh! (you know the tune). But in all seriousness, I’m not trusting this. Oweh is usually a guy with a lot of pressures and no sacks, this feels like a massive overcorrection in the other direction. Kyle Van Noy continues to be underrated and if you can get anything half decent for Oweh and grab Van Noy off waivers, do so in a heartbeat.
It might be only Week 2, but Maxx Crosby still hasn’t taken a snap off yet. That’s right folks, he’s still playing 100% of snaps. For an EDGE, that’s unheard of. It’s also one of the reasons he’s one of the few guys you can count on for a 35+ point game, like his 38.5-point outing on Sunday.
Robert Spillane was a revelation last year racking up nearly 150 tackles and 3.5 sacks to go with some splash turnovers. Sunday afternoon, “Big Bob” was in peak 2023 form with 10 tackles (15.4% rate) and an interception on his way to 25.5 points. On a related note, Divine Deablo exited the game with a hip injury in the 4th quarter, so keep a close eye on practice reports this coming week.
Trenton Simpson is not Patrick Queen yet. By this point last year, Roquan Smith had 21 tackles and 1 sack for 17.43 PPG, and Queen had 19 tackles and 1 sack for 17.68 PPG. Fast forward 12 months, Smith’s stats look similar, (18 tackles, 1 interception, 2 passes defended, 17.25 PPG). But through two weeks, Simpson has 10 tackles, half a sack, and 1 pass defended at 10.25 PPG. His down game this week, however, (5.25 points) did come while playing 100% of snaps for the first time in his young career, so don’t cut bait yet.
Chargers 26, Panthers 3
Derwin James played 59% of his 44 snaps from deep. It’s only Week 2 but that’s now two games in a row he’s failed to score over 8.5 points. I touched on this very briefly last week as a hunch that this year would be the year his scoring dropped off. Well, that hunch is starting to itch into full-blown worry.
Both Josey Jewell (11 tackles, 1 miss, 15.9% rate) and Shaq Thompson (14 tackles, 20.3% rate, 2 misses, ) were heavily involved in the game as the Chargers ran the ball 44 times against the Panthers. I’d still lean Thompson over Jewell, but both should be playable every week with Carolina predicted to be in negative game scripts with teams looking to run out the clock every week be it either newly promoted Andy Dalton or recently benched Bryce Young under centre.
If you risked Joey Bosa in your lineup on Sunday after he missed back-to-back practices on Thursday and Friday, you lucked out. Or like me, you figured it was Bryce Young and unless Bosa was inactive there was no way you’d sit him. Either way, he bailed us out despite only playing 14 snaps. I will say, if it was anyone but the Panthers, I would have looked for other options.
As mentioned before, for everything you need linebacker-related, check out Mike’s green dot article. This situation in Los Angeles could get messy moving forward between Daiyan Henley, Denzel Perryman, and Junior Colson. Perryman only played 65% of snaps this past week to Henley’s 90%. So, if you’ve got questions, “Mikey Dubs” more than likely has answers.
Giants 18, Commanders 21
Question time! When do we make the transition from “It’s just Week __, relax, it’ll be fine” to “You’re legitimately worried? That’s a reasonable response as it’s Week __.” Because I’ll be honest, I’m at that second phase already with Brian Burns (7.25 points), and to a lesser extent, Kayvon Thibodeaux who at least put up a decent fantasy performance this week (14.5) due to some TFLs and a couple QB hits.
After seeing no action in Week 1, Micah McFadden started beside Bobby Okereke with Darius Muasau missing the game with a knee injury. Both McFadden (20.25) and Okereke (21.30) rewarded fantasy managers with strong performances and McFadden’s slightly reduced snap share (79%) was due in part to him leaving briefly with an injury in the 2nd quarter. It’ll bear monitoring when Muasau starts practicing again what the Giants do with that 2nd LB slot.
Jason Pinnock was a top-13 safety last season with 12.1 PPG. The Giants let McKinney walk in the offseason and drafted Tyler Nubin, who generated a lot of buzz, making Pinnock fall through the cracks. Well, Pinnock exploded this week (31.55) for anyone who’s got him on their IDP roster. He had 9 total tackles and 2 sacks, all while playing 59% of his snaps from deep. Nubin may hit waivers in shallower leagues with no taxi spots, but his usage (58% sweet spot) is interesting even if his production so far isn’t.
In CB-required leagues, Benjamin St-Juste has grabbed my attention. He’s got 4 passes defended through 4 weeks after only recording 4 all last season. He’s the only Commanders player outside of Bobby Wagner to have played 100% of snaps and his 9.2% tackle rate isn’t terrible. You never know, the Juste might be worth the squeeze.
Speaking of Bobby Wagner, if you were to look up “Old Faithful” online, your Google image search would only show pictures of Wagner. Through two weeks he’s averaging 17.63 PPG and is on pace for another 160-tackle season with his 16% tackle rate.
Browns 18, Jaguars 13
After a quiet Week 1, Josh Hines-Allen bounced right back to his 2023 form with a 25-point performance buoyed by a sack and 4 QB hits. His running mate Travon Walker couldn’t mirror his Week 1 success, even against Cleveland’s JV tackles, and turned back into a pumpkin with just a 4-point performance.
Week 1 was not a blip. Foye Oloukun is no longer a 100% snap share player. Foye (18.4 points) only played 82% of Week 2 snaps. Jacksonville is going heavy on their rotation. Devin Lloyd over-achieved (22.50 points) on just 67% of snaps, and is averaging over 17 PPG for the year. I’m much more worried about Lloyd than Oluokun long-term. Can you use this run to turn Lloyd into someone with more reliable production or a more stable role?
Myles Garrett (18.65 points) told reporters Sunday that his foot doesn't “feel great,” but he will play through it moving forward after sustaining the injury in training Thursday last week. Keep an eye on practice reports moving forward and hope that positive upcoming matchups — Giants, Raiders, and Commanders — offset any possible reduction in playtime/effectiveness.
Jordan Hicks was back close to a 100% snap share (88%), but his 24.25 points came in a much different way than usual. His 5.7% tackle rate was almost half his career average of 11.7% and 17 of his points came from impact plays: 1 sack, 2 passes defended, 2 QB hits. I’m unsure if this deviation from the norm is positive or negative, but it’s worth monitoring.
Seahawks 23, Patriots 20
Jerome Baker left Sunday’s game early with a hamstring injury and did not return. Baker dealt with a similar injury in camp and played through it in Week 1. Tyrice Knight filled in after Baker’s departure and with his 15.9% tackle rate in limited action, could be a spicey waiver addition.
Boye Mafe and Derick Hall left Sunday’s game with injuries; Hall with a suspected concussion, and Mafe sporting a knee injury. Hall, unlike Mafe, did return later in the contest leaving this as one to monitor closely this week with Mafe averaging a sack a game and 19.38 PPG on the season so far.
No Judon? No worries. Keion White is here and it’s awesome, following up his Week 1 explosion with another multi-sack outing against Seattle. Next up? The New York Jets.
Another big injury, this time on the Patriots side. Ja'Whaun Bentley may miss the rest of the season due to a torn pectoral. Bentley lasted just 10 plays before leaving the game. Jahlani Tavai (98% snaps) and Raekwon McMillan (59%) would be the next men up.
Kyle Dugger is just fun to watch play football. He’s used in every part of the field, (D-line, box, slot, free safety, outside corner) and scores fantasy points in bunches. After finishing 2023 as the DB17/S9, he’s currently at DB4/S3.
Saints 44, Cowboys 19
The Saints’ top defensive scorer in Week 1 was a cornerback. In week 2? It’s a cornerback again, this time with Paulson Adebo picking up where Alonte Taylor left off. Adebo was most impactful against the pass with the majority of his points (18.7 out of 23.7) coming from 1 interception return and 2 passes defended. Taylor still rewarded managers with a 16.75 performance of his own, taking him to over 60 points on the season after his monumental Week 1. In fact, Taylor led all Saints defenders in tackles in Week 2.
Half a sack in 2 games? Chase Young revival season is on, baby! That’s like an 8.5 sack pace for the season, which would be a career-high. Ok, time to get serious. It’s been this way for over a year now. Carl Granderson is the pass-rusher we want in New Orleans as Cameron Jordan has bowed to Father Time. I am interested in seeing what Bresee does sophomore year after a lost rookie year though.
The Cowboys got boat-raced early by the Saints in this one, so much so that it was pretty much out of reach by halftime. Derek Carr only attempted 16 passes, so there were no real chances for the Cowboys’ main guys to pin their ears back and get after it. Just notch this up as an anomaly and move on I guess.
Through two weeks, Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker have had an almost identical deployment in terms of deep versus sweet spot. However, that’s where the similarities end. Hooker is averaging 3 PPG, with no splash plays and a 4.8% tackle rate, while Wilson is at 10.5 PPG, a 6.25% tackle rate, and 2 passes defended. With the peripheral metrics very similar, I’m taking the guy who’s showing the splash play skillset at the moment.
Jets 24, Titans 17
It wasn’t MetLife Stadium at least, but it’s still a huge loss. The budding star pass-rusher for the Jets, Jermaine Johnson, tore his Achilles in the matchup versus the Titans he confirmed via his Instagram on Monday.
I hate when it happens this way, but Johnson’s departure may have given us the Will McDonald breakout game. Now, one of his sacks came on the weekly Will Levis brain explosion, but with no Haason Reddick news and Johnson headed to IR, the Jets can’t afford to not give McDonald a decent snap share.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a healthy Harold Landry is a joy to watch. After missing all of 2022 with a torn ACL, last year he put up 10.5 sacks in a get-right year. So far, he’s up to 3 sacks in two games and is a force coming off the edge for Tennessee, averaging over 25 PPG in that span for fantasy managers too.
Are Quinnen Williams and Jeffery Simmons still top 5 DTs? Williams’ big sack season was back in 2022, and he’s still yet to record a single sack in ‘24, after only putting up 5.5 in 2023. Simmons has never had a double-digit sack season, with a career-best of 8.5 in 2021. Funny enough, he also recorded just 5.5 in 2023 and hasn’t had one this year either.
It only took one week but already we can insert the “Thanos dusted gif” into our group chats for Jack Gibbens. Ernest Jones played 100% of snaps against the Jets and was the highest PFF-graded player on the Titans’ defense in the process, (79.8 overall, 81.0 tackle, 84.9 coverage). Jones had 9 total tackles (15.8% rate) and steadied both the middle of the field and fantasy managers heart rates in the process.
49ers 17, Vikings 23
Fred Warner gave off main character “Fine I’ll do it myself” vibes on Sunday as he was absolutely everywhere against the Vikings: 9 tackles (16.7% rate), two forced fumbles, a sack, an interception, and 2 pass breakups had Warner as the best-of-the-best in a game that featured three players over 30 points and six over 20.
This game was a movie and Fred Warner won “Best Actor.” Blake Cashman however, was the winner for “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” as he did his best Fred Warner impression. Cashman had 13 tackles, (18.8% rate), 1 sack, a QB hit and 3 passes defended as he fell just shy of 35 points and removed any doubt around who the LB1 is in Minnesota.
If you play in a league with just box score watchers, sell them Pat Jones. Jones is 3rd in rotation and I can’t see a realistic way he gets more playing time. Andrew Van Ginkel is playing out of his mind and they gave Jonathan Greenard the bag in the offseason. They also traded up to get Dallas Turner in the first round so he will probably see more as the season progresses. Turner is day-to-day with a knee injury so should he or any of the others miss time, it will open more doors for Jones. For now, though, try to get something for a guy who’s equaled his previous season high in sacks in two games.
The Nick Bosa big game was coming. He mentioned in the offseason that he felt the best he had coming into a season in the last few seasons. After a goose egg in the sack column against the Jets, he was too talented to let it continue. Next week he might be playing against his financial broker as the Rams O-line is so injury-depleted they’ll be signing guys off the street to fill out the 53-man roster limit.
Rams 10, Cardinals 41
The Rams could use an Ernest Jones type in the middle of their defense. Christian Rozeboom missed 40% of his 10 tackle attempts, while Troy Reeder had a more respectable 8 tackles (12.3% rate) on his 98% of snaps and only missed one. Omar Speights has yet to see a single snap on defense.
He erupted onto the scene last season, and now Dennis “The Barbarian” Gardeck is nearly halfway to his career-best season in sacks through 2 games. I will pour some cold water on the hype: Gardeck only played 26 snaps on Sunday afternoon, and I think good friend of the show, Kyle Bellefeuil, could chuck a successful swim move on the guys Los Angeles is rolling out at tackle, even after a jumbo brat, some cheese curds and six Coors Lights.
Jared Verse is an absolute stud. I feel comfortable saying that just two games into his professional career. He’s only got 1 sack on the season, obtained in Week 1, and he still put up over 20 points this past week by being super disruptive in the run game with 7 total tackles, 3 for a loss, and a forced fumble.
Confirmation bias is a hell of a drug, but if you were in on Quentin Lake in the preseason, go and take another hit. Lake had 11 total tackles (16.7% rate) to go with his 10 tackles from Week 1. He’s yet to make a splash play, meaning he’s still only averaging 11.67 PPG, but with how often he’s around the ball and how depleted the Rams are, it’s bound to happen sooner rather than later.
Bengals 25, Chiefs 26
Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt had 28 tackles between them, while both are strong tackle accumulators and those numbers are unsustainable, Wilson’s tackle rate in this game (18.5%) is much more likely to be replicated than Pratt’s (26.2%) will.
Cam Taylor-Britt deserves a mention purely for the best interception I’ve seen in years. Running stride-for-stride with Xavier Worthy, he turned, leapt and snatched it one-handed while hanging in mid-air.
“While neither recorded a sack, it’ll be sooner rather than later. I’d even go so far as to put money on another 10+ sack season for Hendrickson.” That was me, just last week and Hendrickson came through with two. Coming up on the schedule? Washington, Carolina, Baltimore, New York (Giants), and Cleveland. Hell, he might have 10 sacks by Week 8!
George Karlaftis opened his 2024 sack account against the Bengals on Sunday. After recording 10.5 last year in his second season, we’d like to see “Furious George” not just repeat that number, but increase it in 2024. Chris Jones had a quiet game by his standards, with 3 QB hits and half a sack. My main takeaway from him is that he moves way too smoothly for a 30-year-old, 310-pound man.
Steelers 13, Broncos 6
Earlier I wrote that Trenton Simpson wasn’t Patrick Queen yet in Baltimore. Well, Patrick Queen looks more like the 2021 Patrick Queen than the 2023 version. Now, he did bounce back in the grading department (61 overall, 64.9 run defense, 79.6 tackle, 53.2 coverage) after one of his bottom 5 PFF-graded games of all time. But the fantasy points still aren’t there.
Denver has spent more money on their O-Line than any other position group on their roster, and any other team in the NFL. Even with all that, T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith had their fantasy managers smiling after the game. It was possibly in part because even though he was in college since the Obama administration, Bo Nix never once looked like a first-round quality quarterback.
Baron Browning left with a foot injury, and we got nothing from Jonathon Cooper and not much from Nik Bonitto this week, with both failing to record a sack or even score over 7.5 points this week. We did get to see the rookie Jonah Elliss flash something, and of course 2023 sleeper darling Zach Allen absolutely terrorise Justin Fields with 9 (!) pressures.
Even if he doesn’t get you a splash play, Alex Singleton will give you a solid performance. “Kingleton” has 20 tackles through 2 games at a 15% tackle rate, which is pretty standard for him. Death, taxes, and 160 tackles a season for Singleton.
Bears 13, Texans 19
1 week after I pumped up T.J. Edwards over Tremaine Edmunds, Edmunds proved he’s more than capable of stuffing the stat sheet himself: 11 tackles (17.7% rate) and a sack on 100% of snaps. Upon revision, the correct answer for this situation is that you can play both. But I’d still back Edwards given his historical consistency if forced to choose. Sanborn looked great in your fantasy app, but he only played 11 snaps. He’s still just an “in case of injury, break glass” linebacker for me.
They each had a quiet Week 1. In Week 2, Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter were after Caleb Williams with a vengeance. Depending on who you use to track pressures, (NFL Next-Gen Stats, PFF, PFR, etc.) you might have seen Williams reported as being pressured on upwards of 90% of dropbacks. Yes, it was a layup matchup, but both guys are really, really good. Keep rolling them out there and reaping the benefits.
Henry To’oTo’o saw a reduction in his snaps down from 89% in Week 1 to 73% this week, but it didn’t affect his ability to put up fantasy points in any aspect. Both To’oTo’o and Azeez Al-Shaair were up over 20 points, with 10+ tackles and a sack each. Christian Harris is still on IR for at least another two weeks, so keep rolling both guys out in lineups.
Another quiet week for Montez Sweat has my attention but I’m not panicking just yet. The underlying metrics are still there and Sweat is a talented player. With the Colts, Rams, and Panthers as his next three matchups, it could be a good buy-low opportunity.
Falcons 22, Eagles 21
Nate Landman landed himself on Injured Reserve right before Monday’s game. This cleared up the linebacker room significantly and had Troy Andersen logging a much healthier 94% snap share versus his 44% from Week 1. Andersen notched 8 tackles (13.2% rate) without making a splash play, giving him a solid baseline as a weekly LB replacement moving forward.
After a modest Week 1, Jessie Bates was back dominating the box score, impacting the game at all levels. Bates not only secured the game-winning interception of Hurts as the Eagles were marching down the field to attempt a field goal, but his 12 total tackles (16.7% rate) and 2 passes defended meant that even without that pick, managers would have been more than happy with his output.
Devin White was a healthy scratch once again, leaving both Nakobe Dean and Zach Baun playing all but one of the defensive snaps. Even with the volume, I’m not overly interested in Dean except in the deepest of leagues. Baun, however, has 24 tackles and 2 sacks through 2 games. Even with 60% of that coming in a mammoth Week 1, he looks like a quality every week start.
Once again, I’m going to print before the pass rush data is published by PFF so I can’t check the metrics, but Philadelphia only got to Kirk Cousins one time, and it was interior lineman, Milton Williams. Both Bryce Huff and Josh Sweat have been ineffective so far this season, Huff has only registered a single assist through two games so far. I’m happy to move on from him at this point in redraft. On the Falcons side, it was another sack for Matt Judon. It’s good to see him producing consistently after starting last year with a bang and then missing the majority of the season through injury.
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