Eyes of the Guru IDP Info: Week 10

The injury bug has spread from the linebacker position, and there were some impactful moves ahead of the trade deadline. Add those to a few lineup changes for teams returning from their bye in week nine, and we have a busy few days on tap leading up to round ten.

Guru's IDP Notes: Arizona Cardinals

The bye week was good to Josh Sweat. After his vanishing act in weeks six and seven, the rest and fresh legs led to a double sack performance versus the Cowboys in prime time. That said, don't get too excited about playing him this week. In fact, this could be a great time to put him on the trade block. Seattle is a horrible matchup, having allowed three total sacks over their last four games, with only one by an edge defender. After Seattle, Arizona gets San Francisco, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta. The first two of that group are mediocre matchups. The last four are the 8th, 2nd, 6th, and 4th worst matchups in the game for the edge position. The last two are during our playoffs.  

Guru's IDP Notes: Atlanta Falcons

Rookie Jalon Walker missed a couple of games before what might be his breakout performance. The time off to recover from a minor injury also provided a chance to rest up, which may have been a factor in Walker's 4-0-2 with a forced fumble and a batted pass against New England.

Another thing that might contribute to Walker's production over the next few games is the ankle injury suffered by Leonard Floyd. With Zach Harrison already sidelined, Floyd's injury reduced the edge rotation to three players, allowing Walker to lead the way with a 65% snap share.   

The Falcons had two defensive tackles land multiple sacks against New England. LaCale London played 70 snaps over the first month of the season, doing virtually nothing on the stat sheet. He played 28 snaps last week, going 4-1-2 with a forced fumble. Those numbers were enough to garner some attention and land him on the watch list for week ten, but this one smells like a scam.

Brandon Dorlus turned in a 3-1-2, which could also prove to be a mirage, but it feels a little more like a potential trend starter. Dorlus was a fourth-round pick last year and has been seeing a fair amount of playing time every week. He now has three and a half sacks on the season and has seen his tackle numbers improve every week since the team's week five bye. It's too early to get excited, but Dorlus has my attention.

After putting up solid numbers and playing at least 87% of the snaps in two straight games, JD Bertrand turned into a trap last week. His 4-1 was a drop off in production, and the reason was easy to identify. Bertrand's playing time was slashed to 44%. He was performing much better on the stat sheet than on the field, so Ronnie Harrison Jr. was given a shot at the job. Harrison logged a 60% play share.

Guru's IDP Notes: Baltimore Ravens

Alohi Gilman may not make a big impact on the stat sheet himself, but his presence is likely to be a plus for Kyle Hamilton. The Ravens fielded three safeties on 97% of the snaps in week nine, with Gilman working most as the deep man. This allows Hamilton to take on the playmaker role, moving around and working in the box often. Look for better numbers from him going forward, especially in the big play columns.   

The Ravens were in dire need of an upgrade on the edge. They made a deal for Dre'Mont Jones, who is a solid contributor and should claim a starting job as soon as next week. He might be an upgrade, but he is not a major difference maker.  

Guru's IDP Notes: Buffalo Bills

Michael Hoecht returned from his six-game suspension, made some noise in his first game back, and then tore his Achilles in his second game. Hoecht led the Bills' edge defenders with 66% of the snaps in week eight. The ripple of that was both Joey Bosa and Greg Rousseau seeing their lowest totals of the season at 44% and 52% respectively. With the loss of Hoecht early in last week's game, Bose and Rousseau were both well north of 70% again.   

Guru's IDP Notes: Chicago Bears

If he can stay healthy long enough to take advantage of it, C.J. Gardner-Johnson may have found his sweet spot at the Bears nickel safety. The Bears plugged him in after Kyler Gordon landed on IR, and Gardner-Johnson seems to have taken to the role like a fish to water. He was more impactful on the field than even his 5-1-1 on the stat sheet would suggest. It was just one game, so we need to temper our excitement, but he sure looked comfortable.  

T.J. Edwards finished at 1-4 with a pass breakup, but the most important number here is 78%. That represents his share of the playing time against Cincinnati. I've found nothing that suggests an injury or any other issue, so at this stage, I'll chalk it up to the team being careful with a guy who has been battling a sore hamstring for much of the season. Keep your eyes open for more info on this one, though.

This would be a good week to start Gervon Dexter Sr. The Giants have allowed over 12 tackles and almost 1.5 sacks per game to interior linemen since week four.

Guru's IDP Notes: Cincinnati Bengals

Watching the debacle in Cincinnati on Sunday, I jotted down, "Look for mass changes on the Bengals defense this offseason. It might start before that with the coaching staff. They can't stop anyone." They still have the bye week to deal with the defensive coordinator job if they choose, but the player personnel moves have already kicked off with the trade of Logan Wilson to Dallas. Wilson was already a non-factor, so the brunt of the fantasy implications from this trade lies with the Cowboys.  

Guru's IDP Notes: Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones hinted after the Monday night loss that there were moves coming. As is normally the case with Jones, he was not blowing smoke. One of the first deals announced on Tuesday was the acquisition of Logan Wilson, whom the Cowboys stole for the bargain basement price of a seventh-round pick.

Dallas was not done there, however. A few hours later, they announced the trade for Quinnen Williams, who is one of the game's premier interior linemen. With the Cowboys on bye this week, they will have time for both players to get acclimated. We can expect to see them both in the starting lineup come week eleven.

Wilson is a quality starting middle linebacker who should be highly productive in his new surroundings. Williams has been a solid DT1 for fantasy managers over his entire career. The concern I have here is the Cowboys' multi-player rotation up front. That could change with a dominating talent like Williams in the mix, but I need to see it before trusting him in my lineup.

Guru's IDP Notes: Denver Broncos