Reading the Defense: Week 8

Jene Bramel's Reading the Defense: Week 8 Jene Bramel Published 10/28/2015

DL TIERs

I'm going to work through some midseason tiers over the next few weeks. Time limitations will prevent me from providing the same amount of context as I do in the offseason, but this should provide a snapshot of where I feel these players are currently. During the season, I approach my lineups and roster with three DL categories in mind -- matchup independent every week starter / matchup play / too much upside to cut. Everyone else is on the watch list.

I'm going to roll through these team-by-team.

TEAM EVERY-WEEK STARTER MATCHUP PLAY UPSIDE TO HOLD
ARIZONA CALAIS CAMPBELL    
ATLANTA     VIC BEASLEY (DYN ONLY)
BALTIMORE   LAWRENCE GUY, BRANDON WILLIAMS TIMMY JERNIGAN (DT/DYN ONLY)
BUFFALO JERRY HUGHES, MARIO WILLIAMS MARCELL DAREUS  
CAROLINA   KAWANN SHORT CHARLES JOHNSON (DEEP REDRAFT ONLY)
CHICAGO      
CINCINNATI CARLOS DUNLAP, GENO ATKINS    
CLEVELAND      
DALLAS GREG HARDY TYRONE CRAWFORD DEMARCUS LAWRENCE (DYN ONLY), RANDY GREGORY (DYN ONLY)
DENVER MALIK JACKSON    
DETROIT EZEKIEL ANSAH    
GREEN BAY   MIKE DANIELS  
HOUSTON JJ WATT JARED CRICK  
INDIANAPOLIS HENRY ANDERSON    
JACKSONVILLE   CHRIS CLEMONS DANTE FOWLER (DYN ONLY)
KANSAS CITY ALLEN BAILEY, JAYE HOWARD   DONTARI POE (DT)
MIAMI CAMERON WAKE   OLIVIER VERNON
MINNESOTA EVERSON GRIFFEN BRIAN ROBISON SHARRIF FLOYD (DT/DYN ONLY), DANIELLE HUNTER (DYN ONLY)
NEW ENGLAND CHANDLER JONES JABAAL SHEARD, ROB NINKOVICH  
NEW ORLEANS CAMERON JORDAN    
NEW YORK GIANTS   DAMONTRE MOORE, KERRY WYNN, ROBERT AYERS OWA ODIGHIZUWA (DYN ONLY), JASON PIERRE-PAUL (DYN ONLY)
NEW YORK JETS MUHAMMAD WILKERSON, SHELDON RICHARDSON LEONARD WILLIAMS  
OAKLAND   MARIO EDWARDS  
PHILADELPHIA FLETCHER COX BENNIE LOGAN  
PITTSBURGH STEPHON TUITT, CAMERON HEYWARD    
ST. LOUIS ROBERT QUINN, AARON DONALD    
SAN DIEGO COREY LIUGET    
SAN FRANCISCO      
SEATTLE MICHAEL BENNETT CLIFF AVRIL  
TAMPA BAY JACQUIES SMITH GERALD MCCOY, CLINTON MCDONALD  
TENNESSEE JURRELL CASEY    
WASHINGTON   CHRIS BAKER  

EVERY-DOWN LINEBACKER PROJECTION


 

TEAM

*change from W6

EVERY-DOWN LBs75-100% SNAPSINJ | SUSPNOTES
ARIZONA Kevin Minter : Deone Bucannon   Alex Okafor : Daryl Washington Bucannon essentially every-down linebacker now
ATLANTA Justin Durant : Paul Worrilow      
BALTIMORE C.J. Mosley : Daryl Smith Elvis Dumervil : Courtney Upshaw Terrell Suggs (IR)  
BUFFALO Preston Brown : Nigel Bradham      
CAROLINA Luke Kuechly : Thomas Davis      
CHICAGO Christian Jones Pernell McPhee Shea McClellin  
CINCINNATI Rey Maualuga   Vinny Rey, Vontaze Burfict (IR-R)  
CLEVELAND Karlos Dansby   Craig Roberston  
DALLAS Sean Lee Rolando McClain    
DENVER Von Miller : Brandon Marshall Danny Trevathan DeMarcus Ware  
DETROIT Josh Bynes   DeAndre Levy Levy reportedly wants to return by year's end 
GREEN BAY Clay Matthews Julius Peppers : Nate Palmer Sam Barrington (IR)  
HOUSTON Brian Cushing Jadeveon Clowney    
INDIANAPOLIS D'Qwell Jackson Erik Walden : Jerrell Freeman   Jackson remained dime linebacker in W6
JACKSONVILLE Paul Posluszny : Telvin Smith Sr      
KANSAS CITY Derrick Johnson : Justin Houston Tamba Hali   Mauga back w/ Wilson sidelined, base ILB only 
MIAMI Jelani Jenkins Koa Misi    
MINNESOTA Anthony Barr : Eric Kendricks      
NEW ENGLAND Jamie Collins : Dont'a Hightower      
NEW ORLEANS Stephone Anthony Hau'oli Kikaha   Watch for new subpackage ILB rotation here
NEW YORK GIANTS       Beason closest to every down, still 75-80%
NEW YORK JETS David Harris : Demario Davis      
OAKLAND Malcolm Smith : Khalil Mack Aldon Smith    
PHILADELPHIA Jordan Hicks : Mychal Kendricks Connor Barwin : Brandon Graham Kiko Alonso Kendricks eased in, but ~85% and should rise
PITTSBURGH Lawrence Timmons : Ryan Shazier      
ST. LOUIS*** James Laurinaitis : Mark Barron   Alec Ogletree (IR-R) Barron now every-down OLB, Ogletree to IR-R
SAN DIEGO Melvin Ingram III Donald Butler Manti Te'o Injury watch for Te'o
SAN FRANCISCO***   NaVorro Bowman : Aaron Lynch : Michael Wilhoite : Ahmad Brooks   Starting to see Hodges rotate at ILB, watch for trend here 
SEATTLE Bobby Wagner : K.J. Wright Bruce Irvin   Irvin played every down last week
TAMPA BAY Lavonte David : Kwon Alexander      
TENNESSEE*** Avery Williamson Derrick Morgan : Brian Orakpo   Brown and Woodyard rotating now 
WASHINGTON***     Keenan Robinson, Perry Riley, Ryan Kerrigan Lots of injuries, will update after bye week

I'll update this table every week between now and Week 17.

WAIVER WIRE PRIORITIES

I'm checking the waiver wire in a mix of my most and least competitive leagues, including expanded lineups. If there's someone on your list who hasn't made mine, shoot me a note and I'll add them here. There were, thankfully, no major injuries to shake things up this week. So you'll be looking at matchups and recent trends to decide whether to make roster adjustments. I'm going to include players who may have been recently cut on the defensive line to give a sense of relative value there.

DE: Sheldon Richardson || Jason Pierre-Paul | Damontre Moore || Kawann Short | Mario Edwards

LB: Dont'a Hightower ||| Justin Durant | Jon Beason | Aaron Lynch | Will Compton

DB: Mark Barron ||| Trenton Robinson | Jaquiski Tartt | Kemal Ishmael

Subscribe to The Audible on iTunes or download our weekly IDP podcast here every Thursday for injury updates, player analysis and matchup discussion. Follow and ask questions on Twitter @JeneBramel.

Photos provided by Imagn Images