IDP Matchups, Living the Stream: Week 7

In some weeks, IDP matchup plays are more valuable than others.

This is one of those weeks.

Injuries are a constant in the NFL and fantasy football, and Week 7 is no exception. Whether it's defensive backs like Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker of the Arizona Cardinals, linebackers like Anthony Walker of the Cleveland Browns and De'Vondre Campbell of the Green Bay Packers, or edge-rushers like Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, plenty of players are either banged up or on the shelf.

But this week also brings the Byepocalypse—a six-team bye week. The Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New York Jets, and Tennessee Titans are all off this week.

That means no Brian Burns of the Carolina Panthers, Sam Hubbard of the Cincinnati Bengals, or Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys on the defensive front. No Logan Wilson of the Cincinnati Bengals, Quincy Williams of the New York Jets, or Azeez Al-Shaair of the Tennessee Titans at linebacker. No Jayron Kearse of the Dallas Cowboys, Jalen Pitre of the Houston Texans, or Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans at defensive back.

There are holes galore in IDP lineups this week. And whether it's off the bench or the waiver wire, plenty of fantasy managers are looking for ways to fill them.

DE Samson Ebukam, Indianapolis (vs. Cleveland)

Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner may be the biggest name on the Colts defensive line, and edge-rusher Kwity Paye is the rising young star outside. But fellow edge-rusher Samson Ebukam has become a consistent force in his own right, and while talking to reporters, the 28-year-old credited Gus Bradley's "Wide Nine" front for allowing him to just cut it loose and wreak havoc.

"It's easy. I don't have to think, I just kind of go," Ebukam said. "If you eliminate the thinking out of the game for the D-linemen, they play a lot better, play faster, and we can just mess things up in the front and whoever's in the back can clean it up. It might not add up on the stat sheet for me, but I know that it's going to help us win the game. And if I can help win the game, that's what I'm all about."

Actually, Ebukam has done a pretty good job stuffing the stat sheet as well—in just six games, Ebukam is already just one sack off his career high, and he has reached the quarterback in four of the last five games. The Cleveland Browns have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to defensive ends this year, so there's a good chance the seventh-year veteran ties his career high in sacks in Week 7.

DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Tampa Bay (vs. Atlanta)

In his first two seasons in Tampa, Tryon-Shoyinka showed the occasional flash of the talent that made him a first-round pick back in 2021, but eight sacks over his first two seasons was something of a disappointment. While addressing the media, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said that talent wasn't the issue with Tryon-Shoyinka—it was a matter of refining his technique.

"For me, Joe has to finish at the top of the rush," said Bowles. "He beats linemen, and he either slips down or falls off the quarterback because he's launching too early and not running through the quarterback. He has to take those extra two steps. He left a lot of sacks out there last year; not that he didn't get back there, but he didn't finish the play. Finishing at the top of the rush is just as important as beating the guy initially off the line of scrimmage. Me and Joe talked about this, and he understands that; he's working towards that, and that's what we need to see from him."

Tryon-Shoyinka appears to have taken Bowles' words to heart—after taking down Jared Goff last week against the Detroit Lions, Tryon-Shoyinka is already just one shy of tying his career-best for a season. He's also playing 64 percent of the team's defensive snaps this season and draws a plus IDP matchup in Week 7 with an Atlanta Falcons team that has surrendered the sixth-most fantasy points per game to defensive ends this season.

LB Derrick Barnes, Detroit (at Baltimore)

Over the summer, just about every IDP pundit (this one included) believed that Alex Anzalone and rookie Jack Campbell would be Detroit's top two off-ball linebackers. But after an impressive camp and preseason, it has been third-year-pro Derrick Barnes alongside Anzalone. It's a development that surprised many—but not Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

"Just like I told you. I was excited about the player and what he showed on tape, what he did in the game, exactly who he is," Glenn said via Benjamin Raven of MLive. "And everybody's different. Every player is different, and sometimes it takes a player a year, sometimes you can come off the box ready to go, and sometimes it may take you three years. The thing is we saw a player in Barnes, and that's starting to show up in the games."

Barnes isn't an elite talent. He's also not a true three-down linebacker, although he did play 79 percent of the team's snaps last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But his per-snap productivity has been solid, and this week, he faces a Ravens team giving up the second-most fantasy points per game to linebackers. At a position where viable fill-in starters are hard to come by, Barnes is a fine bye-week play.

LB Micah McFadden, NY Giants (vs. Washington)

Like Barnes, McFadden was something of a surprise starter this season—he wasn't generally regarded as the favorite to start alongside Bobby Okereke. The second-year pro not only held off competition over the summer but also the late arrival of Isaiah Simmons, but the former Indiana standout said that his status as a starter isn't nearly as important as helping the Giants win some games.

"I mean, obviously, everybody wants to be on the field, and everybody wants to play, but at the same time, I think it's a lot bigger than that," McFadden told reporters. "It's about the team and getting the best guys in the building so that we can win on Sunday."

The Giants haven't been able to get those wins, but McFadden was all over the stat sheet Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills—seven total tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery. His 79 percent snap share in Week 6 was a season-high, but McFadden has hit the 10-tackle mark twice in the five games he's played and takes on a Washington Commanders team this week that has been a favorable IDP matchup for linebackers this season.

S Tre'Von Moehrig, Las Vegas (at Chicago)

In his third season, Moehrig is playing arguably the best football of his career for a Raiders defense that has quietly exceeded expectations six weeks into the 2023 season. The second-round pick out of TCU said recently that he's just trying to grow each day as a player and play his role in the team's defensive scheme.

"I'm taking it day by day, picking up pieces each day and trying to take it over to the game," Moehrig said via Sports Illustrated. "I think that goes for everybody. I don't think anybody would say they have it figured out, even the great ones. So, we just keep pushing. We want to be aggressive, but make sure we all do our 1/11 and just find a way to get to the ball against the run and the pass. Try to get our hands on the football, turning it over, breaking it up [passes], getting fumbles. So, that's our mindset."

Over the past three weeks, Moehrig has picked it up—14 total tackles, three passes defended, and two interceptions, numbers that land him inside the top-10 defensive backs over that span. He's admittedly something of a big-play reliant IDP option, but this week, he and the Raiders face a Bears team that will likely be rolling out an undrafted rookie free agent making his first career start,

S Justin Reid, Kansas City (vs. LA Chargers)

In what may be the weirdest development of the entire 2023 NFL season, an argument can be made that the Kansas City defense has actually outplayed the offense. In just his second season with the Chiefs, veteran safety Justin Reid has become the leader of the back end of that defense, and he told reporters that it was his intent in 2023 to become a linchpin for a unit that gets overshadowed all too often by Patrick Mahomes II and Company.

"I see myself as a play-caller on defense," he said. "I enjoy the Xs and Os, the checks, really getting everybody situated and put in the best position. Then playing different roles, from strong safety to free safety to dime linebacker to sometimes kicker. Having confidence in those roles and not having to be out there and think, just being able to play as offenses make shifts and make adjustments rapidly, to play fast at that point, you really start to take the game to a new level."

For the record, Reid really did play kicker for the Chiefs last year—and did a pretty good job of it. The 26-year-old did a little bit of everything last week against the Broncos, logging five tackles, notching a sack, and picking off Russell Wilson. Riding the hot hand with defensive backs is often a good idea—especially when that hot hand faces a Chargers team allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to safeties.

Gary Davenport (The Godfather of IDP) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPSharks.