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 LBs | 75-100% SNAPS | INJ | SUSP | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Sr : 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.