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 defensive 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 long since 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.

Often, that lone linebacker is wearing a sticker on his helmet—the green dot that signifies that the player is wearing the helmet communicator on defense and making 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.

As the number of every-down linebackers decreases each year, identifying the green dot linebackers is valuable information for IDP managers. To provide those managers with that information, once again in 2025 at Footballguys, we'll be maintaining 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 happened--whether due to injury or performance, the dot can (and will) change hands.

Two weeks into the season, it would be great to be able to say that the linebacker position was stable. That the players we expected to stay on the field have. That injuries to prominent linebackers have been minimal. Sadly, none of those things are true. As is the case every year, the linebacker landscape is ever-changing. Always in motion. A royal pain in the butt.

But of course, were linebackers more constant, there would be no need for this column.

It's good to be needed.

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.

Notes

Baltimore Ravens

After no Ravens linebacker except Roquan Smith played even 35 percent of the snaps for the Ravens in Week 1, fourth-round rookie Teddye Buchanan saw a big uptick in playing time in last week's win over the Cleveland Browns. Buchanan was on the field for 82 percent of the snaps and would have seen an even higher snap share had he and Smith not left the field late in a blowout. Buchanan's six total tackles against the Browns aren't blowing any IDP managers' socks off, but that snap share makes Buchanan worth a look on the waiver wire.

Buffalo Bills

There was no Matt Milano against the Miami Dolphins Thursday night, which meant a couple of things. The first was that Dorian Williams saw a larger role, logging six total tackles while playing 75.4 percent of the defensive snaps. The second was that after essentially being invisible on the stat sheet the first two weeks, Terrel Bernard had easily his best game of the season, logging seven total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a game-sealing interception. Whether Milano's absence impacted Bernard's night is a matter of conjecture, but Bills coach Sean McDermott told reporters he believes that Milano has avoided a serious pectoral injury.

Chicago Bears

After missing Week 1 with a hamstring injury sustained over the summer, T.J. Edwards returned to the lineup for the Bears last week against the Detroit Lions--and made it 30 snaps into the game before re-aggravating the same injury. Edwards has already been ruled out for Week 3, which could mean another big workload for third-year pro Noah Sewell. With Edwards on the shelf in the opener, Sewell played 98 percent of Chicago's defensive snaps and paced the Bears in both total tackles (nine) and solo stops (seven). Sewell is a viable LB3 in Week 3--especially for teams left short-handed by injuries at linebacker.

Cincinnati Bengals

After racking up eight solos and two assists in his first NFL game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, Demetrius Knight Jr.'s production dropped to just two solos and three assists against the Jacksonville Jaguars--largely because his snap share dropped from 76 percent in the season opener to just 58 percent in Week 2, while veteran journeyman Oren Burks saw a bump in playing time. Knight had an up-and-down training camp and preseason, and with his snap counts also changing considerably from week to week, the second-rounder from South Carolina is best left on fantasy benches until his role stabilizes.

Dallas Cowboys

It still makes this analyst's head hurt that Dallas defensive coordinator Matt "Not Good at His Job" Eberflus stubbornly refuses to let Marist Liufau near the field, but there was at least some good news for IDP managers in the team's overtime win over the New York Giants--Jack Sanborn saw his snaps bumped to 84 percent. Four solos and four assists isn't a great stat line, and Kenneth Murray Jr. is still wearing the green dot for the Cowboys because stupid. But fantasy managers who drafted Sanborn in the hopes of a breakout 2025 at least have a sliver of hope to cling to heading into Week 3.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos gave free agent Dre Greenlaw $10.5 million per year to bolster the linebacker room in the offseason. However, the team is still waiting for a return on that investment--Greenlaw missed the first two contests of 2025 with a bad hamstring, and the seventh-year veteran has already been ruled out for Week 3 as well. With Greenlaw still on the shelf, Justin Strnad will draw his third start of the year. Although Strnad's tackle numbers haven't been great, he quietly leads Denver with two sacks and saw an 80 percent snap count in last week's loss to the Colts. IDP managers hard up at linebacker could do worse.

Los Angeles Chargers

As was expected, with Denzel Perryman on the shelf last week, sixth-year veteran Troy Dye got the start opposite Breakout youngster Daiyan Henley. But Dye had just three total tackles in Monday night's victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, mostly because, as was expected, Dye's snap share was south of 70 percent. In both of the Chargers' games this season, the team's No. 2 LB has been on the field for 67 percent of the snaps. This isn't new--the Chargers used a lot of one-linebacker looks last year in Jessie Minter's first year as the team's defensive coordinator. Not much appears to have changed in 2025.

Minnesota Vikings

Based solely off the stat sheet from Minnesota's loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week, it might appear that with Blake Cashman out Ivan Pace Jr. (and not Eric Wilson) is the linebacker to roster in the Twin Cities--Pace had nine total stops (seven solo) and a tackle for loss, while Wilson was limited to five total tackles and a single solo. However, it was Wilson who wore the green dot, and while Pace was on the field for 89 percent of the snaps, it happened against a Falcons team that ran the ball 39 times. This week, the Vikings face a Cincinnati Bengals squad that has averaged about half that--last in the league.

New York Giants

The Giants have been hit hard by injuries at the No. 2 linebacker spot. First, Micah McFadden suffered a foot injury serious enough to land the veteran on injured reserve. Then, second-year fill-in Darius Muasau landed in the concussion protocol and has been ruled out for Week 3. The question of who might be the next man up for Big Blue when they host the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night may well be "no one," at least at linebacker. Once Muasau went down, the Giants featured a lot of three-safety looks, and given how shorthanded the Giants are at linebacker and how bad the Chiefs have been running the ball, there's little reason to think that will change.

Seattle Seahawks

After flashing down the stretch as a rookie, Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight garnered some IDP "sleeper" buzz over the summer. But unfortunately, the second-year pro also spent much of camp and the preseason sidelined by a knee injury, and that may have contributed to the reluctance by Seattle's coaching staff to leave Knight on the field full-time. After playing 56 snaps (74 percent) in the Seahawks' Week 1 loss to San Francisco, Knight's snap share dropped below 70 percent last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Knight may not be droppable yet, but he's not startable in most IDP leagues, either.

Gary Davenport ("The Godfather of IDP") is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can't make him call it X) at @IDPGodfather.

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