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In IDP leagues, no position is more important than linebacker—the reality is that in most leagues, if you don't have a strong group of linebackers, you're done. Roasted. All over but the crying. Linebackers are usually the highest-scoring and most consistent players in fantasy.
By a wide margin.
The reason for that is tackles. Linebackers who rack up big-time tackle numbers have both a high fantasy ceiling and a high floor. And while talent is, of course, a factor in which linebackers pile up gaudy numbers of stops, there's another major consideration—opportunity.
The key to opportunity for most linebackers is simply being on the field. Snaps. It's hard to tackle a guy from the sideline—unless you are Mike Tomlin.
That joke stays in this column for eternity. Forever.
The problem is that in this day of nickel sets as the base defense, the age of three off-ball linebackers on the field most of the time is over. As a matter of fact, with many NFL teams playing either more dime or three-safety looks, there are quite a few situations in which just one off-ball linebacker is on the field for a team all the time.
Often, that lone linebacker is wearing a sticker on his helmet—the green dot that signifies the player is wearing a helmet communicator on defense and relaying the defensive play calls. That player very rarely leaves the field, and while teams sometimes use a safety in that capacity, the overwhelming majority of NFL teams give that assignment to a linebacker.
With the number of every-down linebackers decreasing by the season, knowing who those green dot linebackers are is valuable information for IDP managers. To provide that information to folks once again in 2025 at Footballguys, we'll maintain an updated list of both who is wearing the green dot for all 32 NFL teams and who the other three-down linebackers are.
There will also be notes to keep fantasy managers apprised as to why any changes to the list occur, whether due to injury or performance, the dot can (and will) change hands.
The last edition of this column was three weeks ago. And in the time since, the every-down linebackers list has been thrown into a blender. It has been madness. Chaos. Anarchy.
Pretty much.
More than one young linebacker who appeared set to assume a three-down role in 2025 has either been hurt and unable to impress coaches or just hasn't--potentially costing them said role. Both of the "loophole" linebackers with defensive back eligibility with some IDP providers are quite possibly toast. Oh, and a former IDP stalwart has risen from the dead like Lazarus.
So, it's been your typical August.
There are still a couple of gigs up for grabs, so this column could look different yet again once the first in-season edition rolls around. But as things stand entering the final weekend of the preseason, this is how the IDP landscape looks at linebacker.
Table time.
Note: Here at Footballguys, we set the benchmark for three-down linebackers at a 75 percent snap share. Linebackers listed with an asterisk (*) may not hit that benchmark on a weekly basis this season.
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