We are only heading into week five, and already attrition is becoming a factor. The last two weeks have been brutal on both sides of the ball. While losing a good starter can be a gut punch, the silver lining is that for every player that goes down, someone else gets an opportunity. In many situations, streaming will be the order of the day. Go with the flow and stream well.
Guru's IDP Notes: Arizona Cardinals
Andrew Wingard left Sunday's game on a cart with a knee injury suffered on the third play. The Cardinals dodged a bullet when tests showed a bone bruise and no structural damage. This is a painful injury that can be slow to heal, so Wingard is likely to miss at least a game or two, but he will probably avoid IR. Wydett Williams Jr. finished the game at the position, going 3-2 on a 96% play share. The Lions are a plus matchup for safeties, so he might be worth a shot.
At 3-1-1, Josh Sweat had his best game of the season to date. Unfortunately, nothing has changed with the rotation, though the 54% share was also a season high.
Darius Robinson went 2-2-1 versus the Giants. He's produced well in two of the last three outings. However, Robinson is still seeing around 20 snaps per game. He's worth keeping an eye on just in case the coaching staff notices the production and expands his role.
Walter Nolen III had his first useful numbers of the year at 3-1-1. He too is on the radar, mostly because he's consistently seeing north of a 60% play share.
Guru's IDP Notes: Atlanta Falcons
Harold Perkins Jr. has seen his snap count grow each week. He reached a 70% share against the Saints. With the increased opportunity came the best stat line from Falcons linebacker this season at 7-3-.5 with a pass breakup. Kendal Daniels remains in the mix, but has clearly become second fiddle, seeing less than 40% of the action in back-to-back games.
Divine Deablo continues to lead the way in snaps each week, though his share took a hit in week four, slipping to just over 80%. It doesn't seem to matter how much he plays; Deablo simply has never put numbers on the stat sheet. Might we eventually see Perkins and Daniels as Atlanta's linebackers?
Over the last two games, C.J. Henderson is 17-1 with a forced fumble, a recovery, and 4 passes defended. While he's a good player who has been forced into the CB1 role due to injuries, Henderson is not a player who strikes fear into opponents. In fact, I expect teams to target him often when he is covering their best receivers. The moral of the story is that he should continue to be rather productive on most weeks. That said, don't look for the gaudy numbers against a Ravens offense with their backup QB, injuries at receiver, and Derrick Henry in the backfield.
Za'Darius Smith took an ugly hit to the helmet on the first play. He eventually popped up and looked fine running off the field, but Smith was done for the night. Keep an eye on his status as the week progresses.
Guru's IDP Notes: Baltimore Ravens
Trenton Simpson totaled nine stops and picked off a pass against Tennessee. Despite seeing just over half of the snaps each week, he is consistently outproducing Roquan Smith, who was 1-5 against the Titans. I've not yet had a chance to look at this closely, but at a glance it looks like Queen is lining up as the strong inside backer, which means he is accounted for in blocking schemes and is not getting off those blocks very well. Meanwhile, Simpson has more opportunity to flow.
Nnadi Madibuike has not yet turned in an eye-catching performance, but he was north of a 70% snap count in week four, going 3-1. If you need a tackle, don't wait for the big game. Grab him now while there is no competition.
With Trey Hendrickson inactive, Mike Green had an opportunity to impress. He was unable to capitalize at 0-2.
Marlon Humphrey went down early with a calf injury, leading to an expanded role for Chidobe Awuzie, who turned it into a decent line of 4-2 and a PD. Chandler Rivers shared time with Jaylinn Hawkins in the slot. Humphrey's status for week five is in question.
Guru's IDP Notes: Buffalo Bills
Greg Rousseau finally came back to earth, but he still managed four tackles and a pair of swatted passes. The good news is that there was no change in his role or snap count.
Ed Oliver played 41% of the snaps in week three. So he should have been closer to his normal role in week four, right? Apparently not. Instead, his share slipped to 32% against New England. If/when this guy is healthy and back to a full workload, he will be highly productive for us. If someone in your league let him go, don't wait for that to happen.
Davidson Igbinosun got the start for Christian Benford. The rookie was 3-2 with a pass breakup on 76 snaps. He worked on 57 plays over the first three games, going 8-5 with 2 pass breakups in the limited role. If Benford misses another game, the rookie could be busy against the Rams this week.
Guru's IDP Notes: Carolina Panthers
Jaelan Phillips suffered a hamstring injury and was checked out for concussion in week four. The Panthers are off in week five, so we probably won't hear anything about his status for a while.
Last week I talked about the potential of rookie Will Lee III against the Lions. While he was a starter who worked on every snap, it was veteran Akayleb Evans who drew the CB1 responsibilities and the strong stat line of 8-2 and a PD.
Guru's IDP Notes: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals got sacks from both Myles Murphy and Boye Mafe in their week four loss. Both players are getting enough snaps to make a bigger impact, but it is Mafe who took a step in the right direction as an IDP factor. He jumped up to an 84% share of the action and finished at 3-2-1. I like the chances of both having a good day against the Dolphins this week. Miami is allowing over 9 tackles per game and has given up 7.5 sacks to the edge position.
PJ Jules replaced Bryan Cook at free safety in the starting lineup, but he shared time with Russ Yeast, who snagged 34% of the snaps.
Oren Burks played six snaps over the first three games. He poached 11 from Demetrius Knight Jr. in week four, dropping Knight to a 74% share. I'm not too concerned about it at this point, but it's something to monitor.
Guru's IDP Notes: Cleveland Browns
Mason Graham was rolled up on, suffering a sprained MCL and ankle early in the game. It is unclear how much time he will miss, though it is not a season-ending issue. Mike Hall Jr. took Graham's place in the lineup, but the Browns shifted Maliek Collins to Graham's three-technique position. Collins turned in a solid outing at 2-2-1 and could continue to be productive while Graham is out.
Tyson Campbell shadowed DK Metcalf for much of the game, leading to a quality outing at 6-1 and a PD. The Jets don't have a big physical receiver like that, so don't count on a repeat.
The Browns rack up 5 sacks against Pittsburgh. Yet Jared Verse still has zero on the season. Maybe he gets one this week when Cleveland faces a Jets offense that is tied for the third-most allowed on the season.
Guru's IDP Notes: Dallas Cowboys
If you are wondering, where did Jaishawn Barham go? The answer is, he went to Houston, where linebackers don't get much opportunity. The Texans' run game produced 42 yards on 16 carries, while the game flow led to Barham seeing just 39 snaps. He should fare much better this week against the Buccaneers. Not that Tampa Bay is all that much better at running the ball; it's that they have an undrafted rookie at quarterback and will be looking to protect him.
The DeMarvion Overshown watch is on. He is not yet practicing and is unlikely to suit up on the short week, but there is hope he can get back on the field for week six.
Markquese Bell stepped in at safety in week three and put up decent numbers after Jalen Thompson went down. With a week to prepare and the trade for Joey Porter Jr., the Cowboys took a different approach. They shifted Caleb Downs to safety much of the game, with Reddy Steward seeing time in the slot. It was Porter's first game, so he was limited to about half of the snaps. We'll have to see what happens here going forward.
Donovan Ezeiruaku couldn't get going versus Houston, but he continues to see 75% of the action. It's hard to overlook this week's matchup. Tampa Bay has allowed 16 sacks, 3 more than anyone else.
Guru's IDP Notes: Denver Broncos
Denver lost their top two corners in week four when Patrick Surtain II was helped off before halftime with a non-contact ankle injury, and Riley Moss took a shot in the ribs. Neither injury is season-ending, though both players will miss time. Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine replaced them. Abrams-Draine is an outside corner. The question is whether it will be Jahdae or Ja'Quan McMillian on the other side. Both players usually work in the slot.
Guru's IDP Notes: Detroit Lions
Alim McNeill was 2-1-1 against Carolina, giving him three sacks on the season. He has thus far contributed little more, with eight combined tackles on the year. This could be the week he picks it up a bit. The interior line is averaging 11.6 tackles and just short of one sack per game against Arizona.
The Lions' struggling defense gave us a different look in week four. Jimmy Rolder was in the starting lineup, though he only saw 7 defensive snaps. Derrick Barnes saw his playing time crash to 60%, and Malcolm Rodriguez had his biggest role of the year at 37%. The good news, for those of us with Jack Campbell at least, is that Campbell was back with 14 combined stops. Meanwhile, Barnes made 1 stop. The plan didn't exactly work, as Detroit gave up 32 points, but then the linebackers were never the problem to begin with. What this means for week five is anyone's guess, but it would sure make me gun-shy about starting Barnes.
The secondary continued to struggle greatly, leading to another big game (statistically at least) for Christian Izien at 7-4-1. The good news for Lions fans is that Brian Branch is expected to practice as soon as this week. Detroit is off in week six. If everything goes well, Branch could be back on the field for week seven. The time has come to make the move for Branch if you want to head off the competition. Don't get in too big a hurry to unload Izien, though. He's actually performed fairly well and will likely stay in the lineup until Kerby Joseph is ready. That could be a while.
Guru's IDP Notes: Green Bay Packers
At 4-5-1 with an interception, Edgerrin Cooper had a good game going. His day and his season ended with a torn Achilles and a cart ride to the locker room. Isaiah McDuffie is next up. He is a solid NFL backup with starting experience, but lacks the playmaking ability of Cooper. McDuffie should be at or near the top of the waiver list for those who lost Cooper or anyone in need at the position, but he is a considerable downgrade for both his team and ours. Zaire Franklin's stock gets a boost as he likely becomes the lead man.
Guru's IDP Notes: Houston Texans
Continue reading this content with a ELITE subscription.
An ELITE subscription is required to access content for IDP (individual defensive players) leagues. If this league is not a IDP (individual defensive players) league, you can edit your leagues here.