Week 7 IDP Sleepers
Week 6 was yet another week that potentially did some damage to your IDP lineups. Week 7 provides some enticing streaming options, especially with a number of teams on a bye.
Now you can listen to this article—just click the play button!
Week 6 provided a plethora of injuries that could very well be leaving holes in your lineups. The linebacker position especially took a hit. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and A.J. Johnson both landed on injured reserve, with Johnson out for the season. Ja’Whaun Bentley, Patrick Queen, Jaylon Smith, and Anthony Hitchens all left their respective contests last Sunday with injuries.
There were some significant injuries at the other positions too. Darrell Taylor, defensive end for Seattle, left on a stretcher in a scary sight, though was later moving all of his extremities. Darnell Savage for the Packers and Jonathan Jones for the Patriots also left early. All players listed above carry a questionable designation at best.
Injuries were not the only thing that opened eyes last week, though. We saw some shifts in playing time across the league that leave depth charts a little messy. One thing I mentioned in the last article was that to be a good sleeper, one of the main variables is a new role or uptick in playing time. We will hit on a couple of those here.
Defensive Line
Terrell Lewis, Los Angeles Rams
Terrell Lewis was drafted by the Rams in the 3rd round of the 2020 NFL Draft, though injuries prevented him from seeing any significant playing time. This season started the same way as he averaged only 31% of the team’s defensive snaps. However, he has caught fire over the last three games and his playing time reflects that improved play.
Over the last three games, Lewis has seen a snap share of 62%. During a Week 6 win, he led all edge defenders for the Rams in snaps at 68%. During this three-game span, Lewis has accumulated 9 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 QB hits.
Lewis gets a solid matchup for Week 7, squaring off with the Detroit Lions. The Lions are in the bottom half of the NFL in sacks allowed with 15, the 12th most in the NFL. The Rams offense should not have any issues dropping points on the Lions defense. This should lead to plenty of pass rush opportunities for Lewis, with the Lions being forced into a pass-heavy game script.
Linebacker
Micah Kiser, Denver Broncos
Micah Kiser’s fall from fame happened quite quickly. He started the 2020 season on fire, racking up 77 tackles in the Rams’ first 10 games. He then, unfortunately, landed on IR until the very end of the season and could not win his job back from an ascending Troy Reeder. Things only got worse for 2021 where Kiser was released by the Rams in favor of Reeder, Kenny Young, and Ernest Jones.
Kiser signed with the Broncos after they lost Josey Jewell, mainly for depth. Kiser got an opportunity to play in Week 6 after A.J. Johnson left the game with a pectoral injury. Kiser was quite efficient in his limited time, producing 3 tackles over just 18 snaps. The Broncos are without their top two linebackers, Jewell and Johnson, opening up plenty of vacant tackles for Kiser and Justin Strnad.
The Broncos square off against the Browns in Week 7. The Browns have generally been a very run-heavy team and have given up the 5th most points to linebackers on the season. There is a good chance that Kiser sees upwards of 75% (or more) of the team’s snaps, so don’t be afraid to fire him up if needed.
Defensive Back
Brandon Jones, Miami Dolphins
Brandon Jones has been an enigma since the start of his career. He always showed mouth-watering potential in limited playing time, but could never lock down a full-time role. Even to start the 2021 season, he only averaged 31% of the team’s snaps over his first four games.
Though that is incredibly low, Jones was still able to put up two huge games. In Week 2 he racked up 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. The very next game he added another 6 tackles, 2 for a loss, and 2 sacks. The very next game, he played 2 snaps… yeah, it was infuriating. Since his Week 4 disappearing act, Jones has started both Weeks 5 and 6.
Over those two games, he has played 73.5% of the team’s snaps. Jones has added 9 tackles with 1 going for a loss over those 2 starts. For the 2021 season, Jones has played incredibly efficiently. He has averaged 24.6 points per 100 snaps (minimum of 20 snaps) so far for 2021, which ranks him 4th best in the entire NFL.
Eric Rowe is now out of the picture, having seen just 21% of snaps in Week 6. It should be Jones and rookie Jevon Holland moving forward. The young safety duo will be active as they chase around Cordarelle Patterson out of the Falcons backfield.
Terrell Lewis and Brandon Jones have both seemed to grab ahold of a higher snap share on their respective teams through impressive play so far this season. Micah Kiser has now fallen into a potential volume role by default with the Broncos losing their top two linebackers to IR. I am willing to fire all three of these players up with confidence. Good luck on Week 7, my friends!
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