Death of the Solo: The Changing Face of Tackles in IDP?

In the vast majority of IDP leagues, linebackers are the unquestioned kings on defense. And tackles are what propel them to the throne.

Tackles offer more than just points. They also offer a measure of weekly stability that edge-rushers can't match. With the latter, it can often be mudstomp the quarterback or bust. But the steady tackle production from linebackers means a steady flow of delicious McDonald's Fried Apple Pie fantasy points.

Seriously, why did those ever go away? Health? I'll take my chances. Fry it.

There are two types of tackles, and it's pretty self-explanatory which is which. Bring a guy down all by your lonesome, and it's a solo. Need help or get there at the same time as a teammate, and it's an assist. Solos are worth more than assists in most IDP formats (usually a 2:1 ratio), so the mantra for drafters is clear—get the guy who doesn't need assistance. Take the 100-solo beefcake.

But a funny thing happened on the way to my losing the King's Classic Dick Butkus Division championship game (again) last year. It seemed to my admittedly dim bulb that the solo-to-assist ratios for most linebackers were leaning more toward assists than in previous years—so much so that I reached out to The Guru (FBG's own John Norton) and asked, "Am I crazy, or has the tackle ratio shifted?"

He replied, "Yes, you're crazy. But you aren't wrong."

So, this analyst decided to investigate this development—and what it might mean for IDP managers in 2026 and beyond.

And as it turns out, we're in the Upside-Down.

On Stat Crews

Fun fact: Tackles are not an official NFL statistic. Sacks? Sure. Tackles for loss? Yep. But the tackles themselves? Nope.

There are 32 stat crews. One for each stadium. Some weeks an NFL team gets the home cooking of their own crew. Other times it's a road crew that can be less kind to the visiting team. All of those stat crews have the same mandate from New York (I said it wasn't an official stat. Never said the NFL doesn't have a 36-page instruction book on how to score tackles). But the way those stat crews award solos vs. assists can vary—wildly.

Stat crews are a whole other column unto themselves, so it's a point that I won't grind into dust here. But for those who might not have been aware that tackle scoring is anarchy, it's at least worth pointing out just how wide the gap can be from stat crew to stat crew.

Here are the three solo-heaviest stat crews in the NFL in 2025, from data courtesy of Ryan Sitzmann (via Mike Woellert)

And here are the three assist-heaviest crews last year.

In case you were wondering, the league-wide average last year was 275 solos, 213 solos, and a solo percentage of 56.4

Total tackles are a number that will be a lot more helpful to us in October than now. Part of the reason the three clubs in the bottom chart all awarded more total stops last year is that those teams were terrible—the teams themselves and the opponents they face will play a bigger role in "tackle-rich" environments than the stat crews. What matters is the large gap between Tampa Bay (the solo-heaviest stat crew) and Arizona (the assist-heaviest)—over 16 percent.

IDP drafters shouldn't drop a linebacker 10 spots because he plays eight or nine games in front of an assist-heavy crew like Cincinnati's. But when choosing between two similarly-ranked linebackers, stat crews are a legitimate consideration.

With that said, there was all of one stat crew in the NFL that awarded more assists than solos in 2025. The league-average solo percentage was north of 55 percent.

So, what in the actual hell happened to the linebackers in 2025?

What the What?

To be fair, I didn't look at every three-down linebacker in the NFL last season, because that's a lot of math, my abacus only has so many beads, and that much counting is about as appealing to me as an IRS audit or manscaping with a cheese grater. But what I did do was look at the top-10 linebackers in total tackles over the past five seasons and at their solo vs. assist ratios.

It was…yeah.

The number of linebackers with 150 total tackles has varied a little, but in 2025 it matched the second-highest total of this timeframe. The solo-to-assist ratio spiked a bit in 2022 when half a dozen players hit 100 solos. But the variance was never more than five percent. No biggie.

Until 2025.

From 2021 to 2023, 13 linebackers logged 100 solos in a campaign. Last season, no one did for the second year in a row. From 2021 to 2024, not one linebacker in the top-10 in stops was "Upside-Down" (more assists than solos). In 2025, more than half of them were. And last season, for the first time this geezer can ever remember, as a whole those top-10 tacklers were credited with more assists than solos.

Call it solos going off a cliff. Call it assists going Space-X. Call it the Demogorgon's fault. Whatever. It's the biggest tackle shift in a long time—and it's in the wrong direction.

Since the only thing better than being marginally scientific is being thoroughly marginally scientific, I decided to dig a little deeper—by selecting a quartet of veteran linebackers who all have a reputation for elite tackle upside and looking at how the last five seasons have treated them.

A four-for-five, if you will. Arby's should have that. They can keep the fifth sandwich. Just gimme a bag of sammiches for five bucks. Throw in a fried pie, too.

First up, last year's tackle king—Jordyn Brooks of the Miami Dolphins.

Brooks has been a tackling machine over the past half-decade, with four seasons of 140-plus tackles over that span. He also avoided having to battle Vecna inside a mall with a 54.1 solo percentage in 2025—close to the 55.9 percent he posted in 2023. But that 2023 campaign was his worst of the lot, and last year was the first time Brooks dipped under 55 percent. There was a dip, even if it wasn't an especially large one.

Next up is another player who is no stranger to 100-solo seasons—Foyesade Oluokun of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Oluokun's 128 solos and 70 percent solo percentage in 2022 is admittedly an outlier. He logged 90 assists in 2021 against 102 solos. At 31, it's not outrageous to say that his best football is behind him. But the ninth-year veteran's solo percentage dropped by over 10 percent in 2025 relative to the year before. That's not nothing.

Our third contestant on "Doing it Solo" (wait a second) is the young pup of the lot—sixth-year pro Nick Bolton of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bolton tore his ACL in 2023—an injury that limited him most of the following season. But even then, his solo percentage was consistently solid—not one year under 60 percent over his first four NFL seasons. In terms of total tackles, the 26-year-old rebounded nicely in 2025. But his solo percentage plummeted to under 48 percent.

Finally, we have a linebacker who has been tackling ball-carriers since the days of leather helmets, and a player who was included here specifically because he already had a reputation for being a high-assist player in recent years—Demario Davis of the New York Jets.

Among the four linebackers listed here, Davis is the only player to travel the Upside-Down more than once—he also had more assists than solos in 2022. And at 37 and change, Davis isn't winning any footraces. But last year's 143 total tackles with the Saints were his most over this five-year sample. The problem is that his 44.8 solo percentage was his worst.

Are there exceptions? Yes—Baltimore's Roquan Smith had a better solo percentage in 2025 than his previous two seasons with the Ravens. But all four of the linebackers here had a five-year low in solo percentage in 2025, and the list keeps going. Jamien Sherwood of the New York Jets topped 150 stops for the second straight season in 2025, but his solo clip fell by 16 percent relative to 2024. Zaire Franklin of the Green Bay Packers had 165-plus tackles in three straight seasons and had never heard of Hawkins, Indiana before last year.

The list is long—and depressing. If you set the Over/Under on the top-50 linebackers in fantasy points last year who were either upside-down or posted five-year (or career) lows in solo percentage at 70 percent, I would bang the over—and then collect my money.

Why Did It Happen?