IDP Green Dot Update: Week 18

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 maintain an updated list of 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 of why any changes to the list occur, whether due to injury or performance. The dot can (and will) change hands.

It's Week 18, and while that means most IDP leagues have concluded the season, some intrepid fantasy managers are willing to risk players sitting out due to injury or rest for one more week of fantasy football. One final battle for all the marbles.

Timely, ain't it?

That final showdown is made all the more complicated, though, by the possibility of linebackers sitting out, whether it's playoff teams resting guys or teams playing out the string shutting down banged-up players. The LB landscape is murkier than at any point in the season.

We'll try to add some clarity in Week 18, with a final ride of our own.

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

Buffalo Bills

Bills quarterback Josh Allen will start Sunday against the New York Jets, but he's likely going to play sparingly before exiting—along with quite a few Bills starters. Inside linebacker Terrel Bernard (calf) has already been ruled out, and how much the oft-injured Matt Milano plays is a genuine question. We may see a lot of Shaq Thompson and Dorian Williams against the Jets.

Carolina Panthers