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Preseason Notes (1 Viewer)

ChicagoArch

Footballguy
I thought it would be good to have a thread for preseason notes, injuries, big performances, etc.

Texans at Panthers

Benardrick McKinney sat this game out, allowing Zach Cunningham to play 39 snaps. He put together 4 solos and 3 assists. KJ Dillon has been a popular S sleeper. Dillon parlayed 42 snaps into 2 solos and an assist. The rest of the Houston defense doesn’t leave a lot of tackles for Ss. Dylan Cole was a UDFA LB this year. He’s got some fans out there who think he could actually earn snaps as early as next season. Cole put up 2 solos and an assist on 38 snaps.

Two LBs had solid stat lines for Carolina. Jared Norris had 4 solos and 4 assists on 52 snaps. Jeremy Cash had 3 solos, an assist and half a sack on 39 snaps. Cash is a college safety who plays LB in the NFL. Both were UDFAs last year and both would need an injury or two to the top 3 LBs on the depth chart to be useful during the regular season. Dezmen Southward put together 4 solos and 2 assists on 53 snaps. He’s a former 3rd round pick at S who was asked to play CB. He’s bounced around a few teams and practice squads. Rotoworld has him listed 2nd behind Kurt Coleman at FS.

Broncos at Bears

Derek Wolfe suffered a pretty bad sprained ankle. It looks like Wolfe will be ready for Week 1. The more important consequence could be it gives someone else a chance to pass Jared Crick as the opposite end. Adam Gotsis was a 2nd round pick last year. He’s been getting some positive pub after a ho-hum rookie season. Demarcus Walker was a 2nd round pick this year. Both will earn snaps during this season regardless. If one is able to take over for Crick, they could become a valuable producer in the spot formerly manned by Malik Jackson. Jamal Carter Sr and Orion Stewart are both UDFA Ss. They led the team in tackles, Carter with 6 solos and Stewart with 5 solos.

Nick Kwiatkoski has a potentially productive role this year with Danny Trevathan coming back from injury. Kwiat had 5 solos and an assist but ended up with a concussion. Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks are set as 2 of the starters on the DLine. The second DE spot is still up for grabs. The battle is between Mitch Unrein, Jaye Howard and Jon Bullard. I couldn’t find any snap count information. Unrein played with the starters. Neither Unrein or Howard produced a stat, while Bullard had 2 solos and 1 for a loss. He also whiffed on a sack on Paxton Lynch.
 

Falcons at Dolphins

De’Vondre Campbell and Duke Riley will both start at LB for Atlanta. The question comes down to who gets sub package snaps alongside Deion Jones. Campbell played 10 snaps against the Dolphins. He ended up with 3 solos, 1 for a loss, and an interception. Riley played 27 snaps and put up 2 solos and 3 assists. Round 1: Campbell.

Obviously, the big story here is Raekwon McMillan’s torn ACL on the opening kickoff. It’s a shame. McMillan is only 20 but his owners get to spend the next year hoping this doesn’t turn into a Ragland situation. Mike Hull is currently considered the replacement for McMillan at Mike, although it’ll be a 2 down role. Hull had 1 solo against the Falcons. Cordrea Tankersley, the 3rd Round rookie CB, led the team with 6 solos.

Vikings at Bills

The battle for starting WILL has been between Emmanuel Lamur and Edmund Robinson. It’s a 2-down role so the usefulness is questionable even in deeper leagues. Lamur had 1 solo, 1 assist and 1 PD. Robinson had 2 solos, 2 assists and 1 PD. The #3 WILL, Eric Wilson, led the team in tackles, putting up 5 solos, 2 assists and 2 PDs. He may have just added his name to the competition. Minnesota’s 4th round pick, Ben Gedeon, is currently backing up Eric Kendricks at MIKE. Gedeon piled up 5 solos and an assist. Some people are hoping Jayron Kearse beats out Andrew Sendejo at SS. Kearse, the sophomore 7th rounder, added 2 solos and an assist.

Ramon Humber has been listed as the starting WILL. Considering this team found lighting in a bottle last year with 33-year-old Lorenzo Alexander, we have to be prepared to consider Humber a legit starter. He played with the starters against the Vikings. He didn’t play every snap but played with Preston Brown in the Nickel. Humber also led all starters in tackles with 2 solos and 2 assists. Gerald Hodges may be the guy who has the best shot to replace Humber in the starting lineup. He ended the day with 2 solos. Brown already seems to have won the battle against Reggie Ragland for the starting Mike. Ragland had a solid game with 4 solos, 2 assists and a TFL. Trae Elston, a sophomore UDFA S, led the team with 5 solos and 1 assist while adding a PD. Rotoworld lists him as the #3 FS. PFF gave a high draft grade to UDFA DT Marquavius Lewis. Lewis produced 4 solos, 1 sack and 3 TFLs. He’s not on MFL yet but I’ll be keeping an eye on him. The Ronald Darby trade leaves a starting CB spot up for grabs. Shareece Wright, last year’s Raven’s frequent burn victim piled up 3 solos and an assist. I’m looking elsewhere.

Washington at Ravens

Josh Harvey-Clemons put together 6 solos and added a QB hit on 35 snaps. The 7th round safety is trying to lock down a roster spot. Zach Vigil also put up 6 solos on 23 snaps. Vigil sits at the bottom of the ILB depth chart after going undrafted to the Dolphins two years ago. He was claimed off waivers by Washington on Tuesday. Mason Foster (12 snaps), Will Compton (6 snaps) and Zach Brown (12 snaps) are battling for the 2 starting ILB spots. Compton didn’t produce a stat. Foster had 3 solos and 1 assist. Brown had 2 solos, 2 assists and 1 TFL.

Brent Urban is a starter at DE for Baltimore. He led the team with tackles with 4 solos, adding a sack. He’s probably still available in your league. He might be worth a pickup. Patrick Onwuasor also had 4 solos. He started the game last season that Zach Orr missed due to injury. Kamalei Correa was already injured at the time and is expected to start in Orr’s spot. Correa only had 1 solo. I couldn’t find snap counts for the Ravens. I assumed Onwuasor had more snaps than Correa, but it’s still worth monitoring.

Jaguars at Patriots

Blair Brown is a popular 5th round LB for the Jags. He won’t earn a starting spot this year unless there’s an injury but he proved his popularity was warranted with 3 solos and 5 assists. The 3rd Round DE, Dawuane Smoot, has seen interest all offseason. That interest grew after Dante Fowler’s brush with the law. Smoot had 4 solos and 2 assists. The Jags had a productive 3rd Round DE last year as well. Yannick Ngakoue had 1 solos, 2 assists and a sack. Fowler had 2 solos and a QB hit.

New England didn’t play their starters, giving young guys the opportunity. Elandon Roberts and Jordan Richards both had 3 solos and 5 assists. Both also left the game with an injury. The DE spot across from Trey Flowers is up for grabs this offseason. Most people assume Kony Ealy will take it after the Pats traded for him. The cost, dropping from a 2nd to a 3rd, isn’t substantial and Ealy hasn’t had a good camp. Geneo Grissom, a 3rd round pick from 2015, hasn’t had a good camp and notched 1 solo and 4 assists. Derek Rivers was drafted in the 3rd round this year. They all seemed to be losing to the 4th round rookie, Deatrich Wise though. Wise has been getting a lot of good pub during training camp but very few people have noticed. He notched 2 assists before leaving the game with a concussion. The situation is worth watching. Wise may only miss a short time and could still win the starting spot. Or he may miss too much time and lose the competition by default, leaving Ealy, Grissom and Rivers battling for it.

Saints at Browns

It’s usually not a good sign when a CB leads the team in tackles. PJ Williams had 6 solos. That was on 43 snaps. Alex Okafor vs Hau’oli Kikaha for the DE spot opposite Cameron Jordan is one of two position battles to watch. Okafor played 12 snaps, the same as locked in starters Sheldon Rankins, Kenny Vaccaro, AJ Klein and Craig Robertson. Kikaha played 16 snaps. Neither produced a stat. Okafor is still a LB on MFL but Rotoworld updated their depth chart to make him a DE which MFL will pick up before the season starts. Stephone Anthony (33 snaps) and Alex Anzalone (40 snaps) are competing for the WILL. Anthony had 3 solos and a sack but seems to be disliked by the coaching staff. Anzalone had 1 solo and 2 assists, but most importantly for Anzalone, didn’t get hurt. David Onyemata is currently behind Tyeler Davison in replacing the IRed Nick Fairley at DT. Onyemata turned 37 snaps into 4 solos and an assist.

Cleveland has a competition at MIKE. It’ll be a two-down role, but if you think Cleveland will be losing a lot of games and the opposing teams will be running the clock in the 4th quarter, it could still be a low-end fantasy viable position. Tank Carder and Joe Schobert are battling. Carder played 19 snaps and recorded 1 solo while missing another tackle. Schobert turned 14 snaps into 2 solos, 1 sack and a PD. Advantage: Schobert. Rookie UDFA Kenneth Olugbode sits 3rd on the MIKE depth chart and used 42 snaps to produce 4 solos and an assist. Carl Nassib and Nate Orchard are competing for the DE3 spot behind Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah. Nassib played 33 snaps and garnered 1 QB hit, 1 FR and 1 offside penalty. Orchard, the former 2nd Rounder, got 2 assists and .5 sacks on 30 snaps. If you’re in a deeper league, I’d bet Nassib is owned while Orchard is riding your waiver wire. The recently-acquired Calvin Pryor played 34 snaps and contributed 1 assist. There are questions as to whether he’ll even make the roster.

Eagles at Packers

Derek Barnett played 23 snaps. He produced 2 sacks and 2 assists. He’s #good. I’m starting to regret only drafting him on 1 lineup. Nate Gerry is trying to earn the backup LB spot after playing S at Nebraska. He turned 17 snaps into 3 solos. Rookie UDFA S Tre Sullivan played 27 snaps and led the team with 4 assists. He also laid a huge hit on Malachi Dupree. Sullivan needs more play like this to lock in his roster spot and start moving up the depth chart.

Marwin Evans is a sophomore UDFA S. He has some depth chart issues. He did perform will in the game, leading the team in tackles with 6 solos and 1 assist, and adding an interception on 41 snaps. Rookie Josh Jones played 43 snaps, lining up at both S spots as well as LB. He earned 4 solos. 2nd Round CB Kevin King hasn’t had a great camp and turned 36 snaps into 5 solos.

Steelers at Giants

TJ Watt played a ridiculous 63 snaps on defense, adding another 10 on Special Teams. It’s the preseason. He turned it into 2 sacks, 3 solos, 2 assists, 2 more QB hits and a PD. If OLB can be a viable position in your league, he should be productive. Mike Hilton is a UDFA sophomore CB. He played 19 snaps against the Giants. He had 6 solos, an assist and a sack. Javon Hargrave is the starter this year at NT. He had 2 solos, an assist and a TFL on 15 snaps. Keith Kelsey is a UDFA ILB out of Louisville. He recorded 1 solo for every 3 defensive snaps. He’s below Tyler Matakevich, LJ Fort and Steven Johnson on the depth chart just to back up Ryan Shazier and Vince Williams.

Landon Collins played 10 snaps. He led the team with 4 solos, an assist and a TFL on 10 snaps. He just won’t let anyone else tackle for the Giants… BJ Goodson played 25 snaps. Most people think he’ll be the starting Mike this year. He had 1 sack. Darian Thompson and Andrew Adams are competing for the FS starting spot opposite Collins. Thompson played 25 snaps and earned 1 solo. Adams played 23 snaps and earned 4 solos. I doubt Collins will allow either to get tackles during the regular season.

Buccaneers at Bengals

Kendell Beckwith was TB’s 3rd Round pick. The best that can be expected of him this year, without injury, would be the starting SAM spot and coming off the field in sub packages. He played 35 snaps and had 3 solos, 2 assists and a sack. The guy currently ahead of him on the depth chart, Devante Bond suffered an injury that could keep him out of the rest of the preseason. Kwon Alexander had 4 solos and an assist in 13 plays on the opening drive. Keith Tandy and Chris Conte both played the 13 snaps with the starters. Free agent signing JJ Wilcox and 2nd Round pick Justin Evans each played 35 snaps. Wilcox produced 3 solos and 2 assists. Evans had 1 solo and 4 assists. Both will earn snaps during the regular season.

CB leading a team in tackles… KeiVarae Russell had 6 solos and a PD. Russell was a 3rd round pick by the Chiefs last year but was waived in September. He was immediately claimed by the Bengals. Otherwise, the Bengals young players produced. 2016 3rd Round pick Nick Vigil had 3 solos and 3 assists. Rookie 3rd Round pick Jordan Evans had a sack, 2 solos and an assist. Rookie 6th Round pick Jordan Evans had 5 solos and an assist.

49ers at Chiefs

Austin Calitro is a UDFA LB who has already been waived by the Jets this year. He had 7 solos and 1 TFL on 25 snaps. That’s 2 snaps fewer than Reuben Foster who had 2 assists and a PD. Aaron Lynch showed up after losing some weight after OTAs. Lynch had 2 sacks, an assist and a PD in 15 snaps. He could lock up the DE3 spot on the depth chart with more games like this.

The ILB spot opposite Derrick Johnson is available. Ramik Wilson (17 snaps) got the start and had 2 solos and an assist. 5th Round rookie Ukeme Eligwe (41 snaps) has impressed in camp and led the team with 3 solos and 2 assists. Former starters Josh Mauga (20 snaps) and Justin March-Lillard (14 snaps) and new acquisition Kevin Pierre-Lewis (23 snaps) are also competing.

Titans at Jets

The two notable stat lines here appear to be Kevin Byard and Jayon Brown. The 2016 3rd Round pick Byard will be the starting FS. He had 4 solos and 2 TFLs. Brown appears to be Sean Spence’s replacement as the 3rd ILB. He had 4 solos and 1 TFL.

UDFA LB Connor Harris has been a popular name. The depth chart after Darron Lee is unsettled. Harris had 24 snaps, 2 solos and an assist.

Cowboys at Rams

With Barry Church now playing in Jacksonville, the starting SS spot is available in Dallas. Jeff Heath is the projected starter but a pair of 6th round draft picks could give him some competition. Xavier Woods tallied 6 solos and an assist. Kavon Frasier produced 5 solos. 1st Round Taco Charlton notched a sack and 3 solos.

There’s not much to say about the Rams. Kevin Peterson, a rookie UDFA CB, had 5 solos. Kevin Davis, a rookie UDFA LB had 3 solos and 2 assists. Maurice Alexander will be the starting SS this year for the Rams. Two guys I kept an eye on last year were Ss Marqui Christian and Blake Countess. Christian had 4 solos and Countess had a solo and an assist.

Raiders at Cardinals

The competition for ILB could be pretty easily determined. Corey James had 7 solos and 5th round rookie Marquel Lee had 5 solos and an assist. 7th Round rookie Shalom Luani is 3rd on the SS depth chart. He added 5 solos, an assist and a PD. Two rookie DLinemen had standout games. UDFA Latroy Lewis and 7th Round pick Treyvon Hester both had 2 sacks and 4 total tackles. Maybe the 2nd team interior O-Line for the Cardinals isn’t good.

Josh Bynes is definitely worth keeping an eye on, 6 solos, an assist, .5 sack and a PD. Deone Bucannon will miss time into the season. The Cardinals have Karlos Dansby and Hasaan Reddick. Bynes could find a way onto the field. Budda Baker had 5 solos and a PD. In the HOF game, he lined up at both safety spots, slot corner and outside corner. They are going to use him all over the field and he’s going to make plays.

Lions at Colts

The biggest news for Detroit is the potential loss of Kerry Hyder for the season. They’ll take a second look but it looks like a torn achilles. The Lions will already be missing Armonty Bryant for the first 4 weeks due to a Substance Abuse policy suspension but now it seems like his roster spot should be safe. That means the DE starting across from Ziggy Ansah for at least the first 4 weeks will be former 6th Round pick Cornelius Washington, who, in 4 years, is averaging 7.5 tackles and .75 sacks per season. Washington is injured at the moment, so Brandon Copeland, Jeremiah Ledbetter, rookie UDFA Jeremiah Valoaga (6 solos and a sack) and rookie UDFA Alex Barrett (4 solos, 2 assists and a sack) will get chances. Just spitballing here Detroit, I bet the Jets would take a 5th round pick for Sheldon Richardson, who would be a substantial improvement. Outside of the DE situation, Jalen Reeves-Maybin logged 4 solos and 2 assists. That’s not enough to overcome Tahir Whitehead and Paul Worrilow at WILL, but it’s a start.

There wasn’t much to learn from the Colts. Antonio Morrison and Jon Bostic, who are at the top of the ILB depth chart, didn’t play. And Edwin Jackson (3 solos, 2 assists) Anthony Walker Jr (1 solo, 1 assist) and Sean Spence (2 solo) didn’t do anything to move ahead of the two. Spence, after being an offseason hype darling, seems to have dropped to the third team defense. Barkevious Mingo had 5 assists against the Lions, so again, former 1st round picks will get as many chances as they need.

Seahawks at Chargers

There aren’t a lot of position battles on the Seattle defense. Who starts at CB across from Richard Sherman is the primary one. Shaquil Griffin had an assist. Jeremy Lane didn’t play. Bradley McDougald and Delano Hill are the other additions to the team.Their roles will need to be determined. McDougald had 2 solos. Hill had a solo.

The backup SS spot in Los Angeles could be valuable this year. The SS in a Gus Bradley defense is a fantasy producer. Jahleel Addae hasn’t played 16 games since 2013. Rotoworld says Adrian Phillips is the current backup. He had 4 solos and 1 assist. Rayshawn Jenkins was drafted in the 4th Round out of Miami. He had 3 solos and 2 assists. Desmond King was a steal in the 5th Round. He can play slot corner and either Safety position. The only question will be whether he gets on the field enough to make plays. He put together 3 solos, an assist and a PD. Otherwise, Nigel Harris, a UDFA LB, put together 6 solos and 3 assists.

 
Chargers | Denzel Perryman may need surgery (Mon Aug 14, 07:19 PM) - Updating a previous report, Los Angeles Chargers LB Denzel Perryman (ankle) may need surgery on his injured ankle and will miss at least the first four games of the regular season, according to a source.

Our View: Wow. This injury was originally thought to be a high ankle sprain. This sounds much worse. If he's set to miss the first month of the regular season, then the PUP list is a possibility for the young linebacker. When healthy, Perryman is one of their best run defenders. Remember this when considering RBs going up against the Chargers, like Broncos RB C.J. Anderson in Week 1. 
Is the pick up Toomer?  

 
Is the pick up Toomer?  
Interestingly, they started Dzubnar, and it wasn't pretty.  Got hung up on Kamara's first run that went for a TD and just didn't seem to be involved in anything.  Toomer came in late in the 2nd Quarter.  I think Toomer is the play still.

 
(RotoWire) Okafor started and recorded a sack, a quarterback hit and two tackles for a loss in about a quarter of action in the Saints' preseason game Sunday against the Chargers.

Analysis: According to Jeff Duncan of The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Okafor is the clear leader to start at defensive end in Week 1. The Saints have been searching for years for a serviceable starting option opposite Cameron Jordan along the defensive line, and it appears Okafor could be a viable fit after spending the last four seasons in Arizona. While the 26-year-old primarily played outside linebacker in the Cardinals' 3-4 defensive scheme, he flashed impressive edge-rushing abilities at times. It remains to be seen whether Okafor can provide enough sack to consistently make a fantasy impact, but assuming he's able to lock down a starting gig, he may be worth a flier in deeper IDP formats.

 
(RotoWire) Okafor started and recorded a sack, a quarterback hit and two tackles for a loss in about a quarter of action in the Saints' preseason game Sunday against the Chargers.

Analysis: According to Jeff Duncan of The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Okafor is the clear leader to start at defensive end in Week 1. The Saints have been searching for years for a serviceable starting option opposite Cameron Jordan along the defensive line, and it appears Okafor could be a viable fit after spending the last four seasons in Arizona. While the 26-year-old primarily played outside linebacker in the Cardinals' 3-4 defensive scheme, he flashed impressive edge-rushing abilities at times. It remains to be seen whether Okafor can provide enough sack to consistently make a fantasy impact, but assuming he's able to lock down a starting gig, he may be worth a flier in deeper IDP formats.
I was going to mention him.  Intriguing and sneaky.  Oh, and he's currently listed at LB so maybe you can get him from a snoozing owner for a song.  He's only rostered in 1/5 leagues I looked in.

 
Week 2

Sorry guys. Out of town this weekend. Throws my whole week off. I’ll try to get the rest done tomorrow night. Not that that really helps as Week 3 already starts tomorrow, but I like to be thorough.

Ravens at Dolphins

Kamalei Correa had 2 solos. He had an up-and-down game. It would be shocking at this point if he didn’t start the season in Orr’s spot, but don’t expect Orr’s numbers. And his job doesn’t seem 100% secure. Brent Urban and Carl Davis are projected to be the starting DEs. They both added a solo and an assist. Tim Williams had a sack. The OLB depth chart is pretty open behind 34 year old Terrell Suggs.

Last I heard, Mike Hull was still in line to be the starting MIKE, although he’s expected to only play 2 downs. He had 4 solos, an assist, a TFL and a PD. Cordrea Tankersley is definitely someone to keep an eye on in CB-required leagues. After leading the team with solos in Week 1, he had 2 solos and an interception. He’s still behind Byron Maxwell and Xavien Howard on the depth chart so he’s only watchlist worthy at this point. There’s been a battle for the DT spot next to Ndamukong Suh between last year’s starter, Jordan Phillips, and 5th Round pick Davon Godchaux. Neither has been doing much but Godchaux has the lead currently. It would take a very, very deep DT-required league to even roster him. Chase Allen, a UDFA LB, had 7 solos, an assist and a PD. A.J. Hendy (6 solos) and Maurice Smith (5 solos and an assist) are both down the depth chart at SS.

Bills at Eagles

The Bills seem to be in full-on tank mode. They traded away Sammy Watkins and replaced him with Jordan Matthews. They traded away Ronald Darby and replaced him with EJ Gaines. You almost have to expect more moves. Right now, they’re planning on starting 29 year old Jerry Hughes, 34 year old Kyle Williams, 34 year old Lorenzo Alexander and 30 year old first-time starter Ramon Humber. If they’re serious about tanking, they need to deplete their defense. They’ll never compete with the Jets like this. Darby’s trade does almost guarantee Tre’Davious White (3 solos, 1 assist, 1 TFL) will be starting so he’s worth a hold. The other CB position is most likely being decided between the recently acquired Gaines, Kevon Seymour, Leonard Johnson and Shareece Wright. Gaines had the best statistical game with 3 solos and a pick. The Bills apparently put Reggie Ragland on the block as he doesn’t fit the current scheme. I don’t see that trade happening unless a team suffers an injury or two.

Terrence Brooks had 7 solos and an assist. Rotoworld has the former 3rd round listed as a backup FS. Bleedinggreennation.com has him listed as a SS. Of course, they’ve also got Nate Gerry listed as a DB rather than an LB. Derek Barnett had another sack. Barnett vs Myles Garrett for the rookie sack lead is a serious question. Anyone banking on a post-hype Vinny Curry breakout may be pretty disappointed. Speaking of Ronald Darby, he intercepted Tyrod Taylor and added a solo. He’s locked in at the top of that Philly depth chart at least until Sydney Jones is up to speed. The problem is, depending on who is starting across from him, Darby may not see a lot of targets. Steven Means notched 2 sacks on the night. Means is a 6th year DE who has played a total of 19 games. He’s at the bottom of the DE depth chart.

Buccaneers at Jaguars

Adarius Glanton and Riley Bullough are listed at #2 and #3 on the WILL depth chart behind Lavonte David. The 4th year UDFA, Glanton, had 4 solos, 2 assists, 2 TFLs and a sack. Bullough, the rookie UDFA, was right behind with 3 solos and 2 assists. With Devante Bond’s injury, Kendall Beckwith wins the starting SAM spot by default. He had a decent statistical game with 2 solos, 2 assists and 2 TFLs. He’ll still only play 3 downs in real action. J.J. Wilcox (1 solo, 2 assists) and Chris Conte (1 solo, 1 PD) are still battling for the starting SS position. I can’t find any recent reports on who’s winning, but I’ve got Wilcox on a few rosters so let’s hope it’s J.J.

Dante Fowler was charged with 3 misdemeanors from a July arrest. There will be a suspension from the league, but who knows if it will be this year or next year. The team may also discipline him. Yannick Ngakoue and Dawuane Smoot should have increased value when a suspension comes down. The time to pick up Sheldon Day may have come and gone. He may already be on rosters in your league. He had 3 solos, 2 assists and a sack from the DT spot. Rotoworld still has him behind Abry Jones on the depth chart but Day was a 4th Rounder last year while Jones was a 2013 UDFA. A lot of people are keeping an eye on 5th Round rookie Blair Brown, who had 1 solo and 2 assists. It’s interesting when 3 people on the same depth chart lead a team in tackles for a preseason game. For the Bucs, it was WILL. For the Jags, it’s FS. Rotoworld has them listed #1 Tashaun Gipson (5 solos), #2 Peyton Thompson (4 solos, 1 assist) and #3 Jarrod Wilson (5 solos, 1 assist, 1 PD). It’s probably just a fluke or Rotoworld has the depth chart wrong and one of these guys is a SS.

Vikings at Seahawks

Another sleeper DT who is probably already on a roster in your league is Jaleel Johnson. The 4th Round rookie produced 4 solos, 1 assist and 2 TFLs. With the continued absence of Sharrif Floyd, the productive spot next to Linval Joseph is not locked down. Keep an eye out for Jaleel. Ifeadi Odenigbo is a 7th Round rookie out of Northwestern. He sits at the bottom of the DE depth chart. He logged 4 solos, 2 assists and a sack. The battle for the 2-down starting WILL rages on, Edmund Robinson (2 solos, 3 assists), Ben Gedeon (2 solos, 3 assists) and Emmanuel Lamur (1 solo, 3 assists) seem to have pulled ahead of Eric Wilson (1 solo, 1 assist).

Shaq Griffin had a game, 4 solos and 2 PDs. Unfortunately, he may have lost his shot to start, because the Seahawks signed Tramaine Brock after his domestic violence case was dismissed. Last year was the first year Brock had started, and that was for San Fran, so he’s not a guaranteed starter. He may just be insurance. Brock had 2 solos and an assist. Seattle’s rookies safeties showed up on Friday. 4th Round rookie FS Tedric Thompson had 3 solos, 4 assists and a pick. Delano Hill, the 3rd Round rookie SS, had 4 solos and 2 assists. Free agent addition Bradley McDougald only had a solo in this game.

Bears at Cardinals

Deon Bush led the team with 7 solos. He was a popular sleeper as a 4th Round pick last year, but the offseason additions have pushed him down the depth chart. Quintin Demps will be starting at SS and either Adrian Amos or Eddie Jackson will be starting at FS this year for Chicago. The competition for the 2nd DE spot after Akiem Hicks is heating up. Jonathan Bullard had 3 solos, 1 TFL and a sack called back by a Kyle Fuller penalty. Roy Robertson-Harris was a UDFA OLB last year. The Bears held on to him, had him gain a little weight in the offseason and converted him to DE. It looks like he maintained some of his athleticism though. RRH had 3 solos, 2 sacks and a PD for fun. Jaye Howard, brought in as insurance if Bullard didn’t figure things out as a sophomore, had 1 assist. Keep an eye on ILB. Danny Trevathan still isn’t playing because of last year’s injury. Nick Kwiatkoski didn’t play because of his concussion. If neither is ready for Week 1, John Timu would be worth a start. He produces any time he gets an opportunity.

Scooby Wright had 4 solos and a TFL. It’s worth a watch as Deone Bucannon won’t be ready for Week 1. All it takes is one injury to make Wright valuable for a few weeks. I think Rotoworld has their depth charts a little mixed up. They’ve got Budda Baker (1 solo, 1 assist) as the #2 SS behind Antoine Bethea. They’ve got Harlan Miller (4 solos) and Ironhead Gallon (3 solos) backing up Tyrann Mathieu (2 solos, 1 TFL, 1 pick) at FS. The Cards Safeties can be a little interchangable. They only moved Mathieu from SS to FS to try and protect him from injury. Until he overtakes Bethea, Baker will back up Mathieu in case of injury. Once Baker replaces Bethea, their secondary will be scary as either Baker or Mathieu will be able to do anything so they’ll be able to disguise their coverage really well. Ironhead was a LB at Georgia Southern. He’s a SS. Miller had played CB and belongs as FS. Cards Ss are always productive when they play. Know their names.

Panthers at Titans

David Mayo is backing up Thomas Davis at WILL, but I doubt he would get much of a role should Davis go down. Mayo had 5 solos, 5 assists, 1 TFL and a PD against Tennessee. The backup SAM, Jeremy Cash, produced 4 solos and a sack. Tom Kislingbury tweeted that Mayo had to show Cash where to line up on every play, which isn’t a great sign… Dezmen Southward had another solid game with 3 solos and an assist.

Jayon Brown only had 1 solo. He also added a PD that led to an interception. He’s still getting a lot of positive pub. Adoree’ Jackson had 2 solos.

Chiefs at Bengals

Justin March-Lillard only had 4 defensive snaps. If you’ve got him on a roster and you need to cut down that roster, he could be a good candidate to go. It’s not looking good for him to make the roster. I’m still working under the assumption that Ramik Wilson starts, mainly because I haven’t heard otherwise. Josh Mauga and Ukeme Eligwe both put up good numbers. Mauga had 2 solos and 5 assists. Eligwe had 3 solos, 1 assist and a sack. I’m curious who backs up whom. Ramik Wilson started last year in Mauga’s place because of injury so it’s safe to assume Mauga backs up Wilson. Pure speculation here, but either Eligwe or Kevin Pierre-Louis (1 assist) back up Derrick Johnson. Not a stretch to expect the 34-year-old to get banged up again this year or retire at the end of the season.

Nick Vigil had 0 solos and 8 assists. How does that even work? The story here might be DE Chris Smith with his 1 sack and 5 QB hits. The story of Smith to the Bengals is a good one. Smith was a 5th Round pick by the Jags in 2014. Last year, the Bengals and Jags had team practices together. The Bengals DC Paul Guenther watched some tape on the guy which piqued his interest. He asked Andrew Whitworth, the Bengals LT last year, about Smith. Whitworth was impressed. Cincinnati offered up a 7th Round pick in April when they sensed Smith was on the roster bubble. After Carlos Dunlap, there are a lot of snaps available for a DE. 3rd Round pick Jordan Willis added a sack. Shawn Williams will be out 4-6 weeks. Derron Smith (4 solos, 1 assist), Clayton Fejedelem (1 solos, 1 assist) and Josh Shaw (3 solos), a converted CB, will fill in for Williams. It’s not normally a high-scoring position.

Colts at Cowboys

Luke Rhodes and Anthony Walker Jr. have been playing the most snaps at ILB. They’re not at the top of the depth chart, it just seems like the coaches want to see more of them. The sophomore UDFA, Rhodes, had 7 solos and 2 assists. The 5th Round pick, Walker, put together 3 solos and 2 assists. Darius Butler had 1 assist on 34 snaps. He’s the expected starter at SS while Clayton Geathers recovers. T.J. Green, on the other hand, played 31 snaps at outside CB, slot CB and S. He had 2 solos and 1 assist. Indy wants to use him as their defensive Swiss Army Knife. It will be interesting to see what the role produces once the season starts.

Xavier Woods had a big Week 1 game. He missed week 2 with an injury. Kavon Frazier had 1 solo, 2 assists and a TFL. Jeff Heath had 5 solos. Damien Wilson had 4 solos and 2 assists. He’s got a couple of felony assault charges against him from an incident over the summer so he’ll be facing a league suspension at some point. I think at this point, it’s a shorter list to list the Cowboys IDP who aren’t facing some kind of suspension.

Packers at Washington

Packers safeties have been putting up stats this offseason. Josh Hawkins had 5 solos, 2 assists and 3 PDs. Marwin Evans had 3 solos and 3 assists. Josh Jones missed this game with injury. Obviously, Ha-Ha Clinton Dix and Morgan Burnett will be the starters and Josh Jones will be the Micah Hyde role.

There isn’t much to say here. No one really had a big statistical game. Josh Harvey-Clemons had 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL. Zach Vigil had 3 solos and an assist. Fabian Moreau had 3 solos. Su’a Cravens missed this game with injury.

Jets at Lions

Seriously, the Jets don’t even know how to tank correctly. 28-year-old Demario Davis played 37 snaps while UDFA Connor Harris played 10. If the Jets didn’t know what they had when they traded for Davis, why make the trade? I understand giving starters reps together so they know how to play together, but still. Shamarko Thomas had 3 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL on 15 snaps. I’m still avoiding because the Jets safety starters are set and Thomas was terrible on the Steelers.

With the loss of Kerry Hyder, Detroit will be relying on Cornelius Washington as their starting DE opposite Ziggy Ansah. Washington had 3 solos and a sack on snaps. I’m going to be grabbing him on a roster. 5th Round rookie Jamal Agnew had 5 solos, 1 assist and 1 PD. The WILL battle continues. Jalen Reeves-Maybin had 2 solos and 1 TFL. Paul Worrilow had 2 solos and 1 assist. Tahir Whitehead didn’t record a stat in 16 snaps.

Patriots at Texans

Derek Rivers is done for the year with a torn ACL. That leaves more questions at DE. Deatrich Wise missed this game with a concussion. He’s back to practicing, so he still has the chance to be the starter opposite Trey Flowers and MFL just switched him from DT to DE. Kony Ealy played the 2nd most snaps on defense with 42, and didn’t do anything with them. No stats whatsoever. Rookie UDFA Harvey Langi is worth a watchlist spot as he played 49 snaps and had 3 solos and 1 assist. Langi is an LB but may also play a little DE, the same way they use Shea McClellin interchangably. Obviously, McClellin isn’t useful for IDP, which isn’t a good sign for Langi, but he’s still worth keeping an eye on.

UDFA Dylan Cole is making himself hard to ignore. He played fewer snaps than Zach Cunningham, 38 to 44, but put up more numbers with 5 solos and 5 assists. Cole is now on MFL. I’m really looking for a way to get him on a couple of my rosters right before roster cut down… Cunningham had a good game as well with 4 solos and 3 assists.

 
Week 2

Sorry guys. Out of town this weekend. Throws my whole week off. I’ll try to get the rest done tomorrow night. Not that that really helps as Week 3 already starts tomorrow, but I like to be thorough.

Ravens at Dolphins

Kamalei Correa had 2 solos. He had an up-and-down game. It would be shocking at this point if he didn’t start the season in Orr’s spot, but don’t expect Orr’s numbers. And his job doesn’t seem 100% secure. Brent Urban and Carl Davis are projected to be the starting DEs. They both added a solo and an assist. Tim Williams had a sack. The OLB depth chart is pretty open behind 34 year old Terrell Suggs.

Last I heard, Mike Hull was still in line to be the starting MIKE, although he’s expected to only play 2 downs. He had 4 solos, an assist, a TFL and a PD. Cordrea Tankersley is definitely someone to keep an eye on in CB-required leagues. After leading the team with solos in Week 1, he had 2 solos and an interception. He’s still behind Byron Maxwell and Xavien Howard on the depth chart so he’s only watchlist worthy at this point. There’s been a battle for the DT spot next to Ndamukong Suh between last year’s starter, Jordan Phillips, and 5th Round pick Davon Godchaux. Neither has been doing much but Godchaux has the lead currently. It would take a very, very deep DT-required league to even roster him. Chase Allen, a UDFA LB, had 7 solos, an assist and a PD. A.J. Hendy (6 solos) and Maurice Smith (5 solos and an assist) are both down the depth chart at SS.

Bills at Eagles

The Bills seem to be in full-on tank mode. They traded away Sammy Watkins and replaced him with Jordan Matthews. They traded away Ronald Darby and replaced him with EJ Gaines. You almost have to expect more moves. Right now, they’re planning on starting 29 year old Jerry Hughes, 34 year old Kyle Williams, 34 year old Lorenzo Alexander and 30 year old first-time starter Ramon Humber. If they’re serious about tanking, they need to deplete their defense. They’ll never compete with the Jets like this. Darby’s trade does almost guarantee Tre’Davious White (3 solos, 1 assist, 1 TFL) will be starting so he’s worth a hold. The other CB position is most likely being decided between the recently acquired Gaines, Kevon Seymour, Leonard Johnson and Shareece Wright. Gaines had the best statistical game with 3 solos and a pick. The Bills apparently put Reggie Ragland on the block as he doesn’t fit the current scheme. I don’t see that trade happening unless a team suffers an injury or two.

Terrence Brooks had 7 solos and an assist. Rotoworld has the former 3rd round listed as a backup FS. Bleedinggreennation.com has him listed as a SS. Of course, they’ve also got Nate Gerry listed as a DB rather than an LB. Derek Barnett had another sack. Barnett vs Myles Garrett for the rookie sack lead is a serious question. Anyone banking on a post-hype Vinny Curry breakout may be pretty disappointed. Speaking of Ronald Darby, he intercepted Tyrod Taylor and added a solo. He’s locked in at the top of that Philly depth chart at least until Sydney Jones is up to speed. The problem is, depending on who is starting across from him, Darby may not see a lot of targets. Steven Means notched 2 sacks on the night. Means is a 6th year DE who has played a total of 19 games. He’s at the bottom of the DE depth chart.

Buccaneers at Jaguars

Adarius Glanton and Riley Bullough are listed at #2 and #3 on the WILL depth chart behind Lavonte David. The 4th year UDFA, Glanton, had 4 solos, 2 assists, 2 TFLs and a sack. Bullough, the rookie UDFA, was right behind with 3 solos and 2 assists. With Devante Bond’s injury, Kendall Beckwith wins the starting SAM spot by default. He had a decent statistical game with 2 solos, 2 assists and 2 TFLs. He’ll still only play 3 downs in real action. J.J. Wilcox (1 solo, 2 assists) and Chris Conte (1 solo, 1 PD) are still battling for the starting SS position. I can’t find any recent reports on who’s winning, but I’ve got Wilcox on a few rosters so let’s hope it’s J.J.

Dante Fowler was charged with 3 misdemeanors from a July arrest. There will be a suspension from the league, but who knows if it will be this year or next year. The team may also discipline him. Yannick Ngakoue and Dawuane Smoot should have increased value when a suspension comes down. The time to pick up Sheldon Day may have come and gone. He may already be on rosters in your league. He had 3 solos, 2 assists and a sack from the DT spot. Rotoworld still has him behind Abry Jones on the depth chart but Day was a 4th Rounder last year while Jones was a 2013 UDFA. A lot of people are keeping an eye on 5th Round rookie Blair Brown, who had 1 solo and 2 assists. It’s interesting when 3 people on the same depth chart lead a team in tackles for a preseason game. For the Bucs, it was WILL. For the Jags, it’s FS. Rotoworld has them listed #1 Tashaun Gipson (5 solos), #2 Peyton Thompson (4 solos, 1 assist) and #3 Jarrod Wilson (5 solos, 1 assist, 1 PD). It’s probably just a fluke or Rotoworld has the depth chart wrong and one of these guys is a SS.

Vikings at Seahawks

Another sleeper DT who is probably already on a roster in your league is Jaleel Johnson. The 4th Round rookie produced 4 solos, 1 assist and 2 TFLs. With the continued absence of Sharrif Floyd, the productive spot next to Linval Joseph is not locked down. Keep an eye out for Jaleel. Ifeadi Odenigbo is a 7th Round rookie out of Northwestern. He sits at the bottom of the DE depth chart. He logged 4 solos, 2 assists and a sack. The battle for the 2-down starting WILL rages on, Edmund Robinson (2 solos, 3 assists), Ben Gedeon (2 solos, 3 assists) and Emmanuel Lamur (1 solo, 3 assists) seem to have pulled ahead of Eric Wilson (1 solo, 1 assist).

Shaq Griffin had a game, 4 solos and 2 PDs. Unfortunately, he may have lost his shot to start, because the Seahawks signed Tramaine Brock after his domestic violence case was dismissed. Last year was the first year Brock had started, and that was for San Fran, so he’s not a guaranteed starter. He may just be insurance. Brock had 2 solos and an assist. Seattle’s rookies safeties showed up on Friday. 4th Round rookie FS Tedric Thompson had 3 solos, 4 assists and a pick. Delano Hill, the 3rd Round rookie SS, had 4 solos and 2 assists. Free agent addition Bradley McDougald only had a solo in this game.

Bears at Cardinals

Deon Bush led the team with 7 solos. He was a popular sleeper as a 4th Round pick last year, but the offseason additions have pushed him down the depth chart. Quintin Demps will be starting at SS and either Adrian Amos or Eddie Jackson will be starting at FS this year for Chicago. The competition for the 2nd DE spot after Akiem Hicks is heating up. Jonathan Bullard had 3 solos, 1 TFL and a sack called back by a Kyle Fuller penalty. Roy Robertson-Harris was a UDFA OLB last year. The Bears held on to him, had him gain a little weight in the offseason and converted him to DE. It looks like he maintained some of his athleticism though. RRH had 3 solos, 2 sacks and a PD for fun. Jaye Howard, brought in as insurance if Bullard didn’t figure things out as a sophomore, had 1 assist. Keep an eye on ILB. Danny Trevathan still isn’t playing because of last year’s injury. Nick Kwiatkoski didn’t play because of his concussion. If neither is ready for Week 1, John Timu would be worth a start. He produces any time he gets an opportunity.

Scooby Wright had 4 solos and a TFL. It’s worth a watch as Deone Bucannon won’t be ready for Week 1. All it takes is one injury to make Wright valuable for a few weeks. I think Rotoworld has their depth charts a little mixed up. They’ve got Budda Baker (1 solo, 1 assist) as the #2 SS behind Antoine Bethea. They’ve got Harlan Miller (4 solos) and Ironhead Gallon (3 solos) backing up Tyrann Mathieu (2 solos, 1 TFL, 1 pick) at FS. The Cards Safeties can be a little interchangable. They only moved Mathieu from SS to FS to try and protect him from injury. Until he overtakes Bethea, Baker will back up Mathieu in case of injury. Once Baker replaces Bethea, their secondary will be scary as either Baker or Mathieu will be able to do anything so they’ll be able to disguise their coverage really well. Ironhead was a LB at Georgia Southern. He’s a SS. Miller had played CB and belongs as FS. Cards Ss are always productive when they play. Know their names.

Panthers at Titans

David Mayo is backing up Thomas Davis at WILL, but I doubt he would get much of a role should Davis go down. Mayo had 5 solos, 5 assists, 1 TFL and a PD against Tennessee. The backup SAM, Jeremy Cash, produced 4 solos and a sack. Tom Kislingbury tweeted that Mayo had to show Cash where to line up on every play, which isn’t a great sign… Dezmen Southward had another solid game with 3 solos and an assist.

Jayon Brown only had 1 solo. He also added a PD that led to an interception. He’s still getting a lot of positive pub. Adoree’ Jackson had 2 solos.

Chiefs at Bengals

Justin March-Lillard only had 4 defensive snaps. If you’ve got him on a roster and you need to cut down that roster, he could be a good candidate to go. It’s not looking good for him to make the roster. I’m still working under the assumption that Ramik Wilson starts, mainly because I haven’t heard otherwise. Josh Mauga and Ukeme Eligwe both put up good numbers. Mauga had 2 solos and 5 assists. Eligwe had 3 solos, 1 assist and a sack. I’m curious who backs up whom. Ramik Wilson started last year in Mauga’s place because of injury so it’s safe to assume Mauga backs up Wilson. Pure speculation here, but either Eligwe or Kevin Pierre-Louis (1 assist) back up Derrick Johnson. Not a stretch to expect the 34-year-old to get banged up again this year or retire at the end of the season.

Nick Vigil had 0 solos and 8 assists. How does that even work? The story here might be DE Chris Smith with his 1 sack and 5 QB hits. The story of Smith to the Bengals is a good one. Smith was a 5th Round pick by the Jags in 2014. Last year, the Bengals and Jags had team practices together. The Bengals DC Paul Guenther watched some tape on the guy which piqued his interest. He asked Andrew Whitworth, the Bengals LT last year, about Smith. Whitworth was impressed. Cincinnati offered up a 7th Round pick in April when they sensed Smith was on the roster bubble. After Carlos Dunlap, there are a lot of snaps available for a DE. 3rd Round pick Jordan Willis added a sack. Shawn Williams will be out 4-6 weeks. Derron Smith (4 solos, 1 assist), Clayton Fejedelem (1 solos, 1 assist) and Josh Shaw (3 solos), a converted CB, will fill in for Williams. It’s not normally a high-scoring position.

Colts at Cowboys

Luke Rhodes and Anthony Walker Jr. have been playing the most snaps at ILB. They’re not at the top of the depth chart, it just seems like the coaches want to see more of them. The sophomore UDFA, Rhodes, had 7 solos and 2 assists. The 5th Round pick, Walker, put together 3 solos and 2 assists. Darius Butler had 1 assist on 34 snaps. He’s the expected starter at SS while Clayton Geathers recovers. T.J. Green, on the other hand, played 31 snaps at outside CB, slot CB and S. He had 2 solos and 1 assist. Indy wants to use him as their defensive Swiss Army Knife. It will be interesting to see what the role produces once the season starts.

Xavier Woods had a big Week 1 game. He missed week 2 with an injury. Kavon Frazier had 1 solo, 2 assists and a TFL. Jeff Heath had 5 solos. Damien Wilson had 4 solos and 2 assists. He’s got a couple of felony assault charges against him from an incident over the summer so he’ll be facing a league suspension at some point. I think at this point, it’s a shorter list to list the Cowboys IDP who aren’t facing some kind of suspension.

Packers at Washington

Packers safeties have been putting up stats this offseason. Josh Hawkins had 5 solos, 2 assists and 3 PDs. Marwin Evans had 3 solos and 3 assists. Josh Jones missed this game with injury. Obviously, Ha-Ha Clinton Dix and Morgan Burnett will be the starters and Josh Jones will be the Micah Hyde role.

There isn’t much to say here. No one really had a big statistical game. Josh Harvey-Clemons had 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL. Zach Vigil had 3 solos and an assist. Fabian Moreau had 3 solos. Su’a Cravens missed this game with injury.

Jets at Lions

Seriously, the Jets don’t even know how to tank correctly. 28-year-old Demario Davis played 37 snaps while UDFA Connor Harris played 10. If the Jets didn’t know what they had when they traded for Davis, why make the trade? I understand giving starters reps together so they know how to play together, but still. Shamarko Thomas had 3 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL on 15 snaps. I’m still avoiding because the Jets safety starters are set and Thomas was terrible on the Steelers.

With the loss of Kerry Hyder, Detroit will be relying on Cornelius Washington as their starting DE opposite Ziggy Ansah. Washington had 3 solos and a sack on snaps. I’m going to be grabbing him on a roster. 5th Round rookie Jamal Agnew had 5 solos, 1 assist and 1 PD. The WILL battle continues. Jalen Reeves-Maybin had 2 solos and 1 TFL. Paul Worrilow had 2 solos and 1 assist. Tahir Whitehead didn’t record a stat in 16 snaps.

Patriots at Texans

Derek Rivers is done for the year with a torn ACL. That leaves more questions at DE. Deatrich Wise missed this game with a concussion. He’s back to practicing, so he still has the chance to be the starter opposite Trey Flowers and MFL just switched him from DT to DE. Kony Ealy played the 2nd most snaps on defense with 42, and didn’t do anything with them. No stats whatsoever. Rookie UDFA Harvey Langi is worth a watchlist spot as he played 49 snaps and had 3 solos and 1 assist. Langi is an LB but may also play a little DE, the same way they use Shea McClellin interchangably. Obviously, McClellin isn’t useful for IDP, which isn’t a good sign for Langi, but he’s still worth keeping an eye on.

UDFA Dylan Cole is making himself hard to ignore. He played fewer snaps than Zach Cunningham, 38 to 44, but put up more numbers with 5 solos and 5 assists. Cole is now on MFL. I’m really looking for a way to get him on a couple of my rosters right before roster cut down… Cunningham had a good game as well with 4 solos and 3 assists.
Love your work but regarding the Cardinals....

"The Cardinals signed Branch in free agency last offseason, but he didn't make the impact expected as a pair of groin injuries shelved him for all but six games.

He took a paycut to stay with the team, and while Tyrann Mathieu, Antoine Bethea and Budda Baker are all bigger names within his position group, Branch has started at safety alongside Mathieu throughout training camp"

http://m.azcardinals.com/news-and-events/article-2/Tyvon-Branch-Tracking-Down-Praise/12af27b6-877d-4de6-9c72-21e7e7116618

And if being 100% healthy has him running down DJ in the open field, to go along with his knowledge and instincts, Baker isn't jumping him this year, he may jump Bethea (they start 3 safeties), but Branch isn't coming off the field unless he gets hurt. 

 
Branch (groin) played 14 of 54 defensive snaps during Saturday's preseason victory over the Raiders, Mike Jurecki of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports.

A starter as part of a five-man defensive backfield for the Cardinals, Branch notched four tackles (two solo) during his limited time on the field. If Saturday's configuration is any indication, he could be in line for significant snaps alongside fellow safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Antoine Bethea in the regular season.

 
Good call on Branch. I completely missed it. He’s still a CB on the MFL. Be very interesting if he maintains that into the season. I just can’t justify trading for a CB...

Broncos at 49ers

Three of Denver’s top Four DE were out with injuries. That left Adam Gotsis as the primary DE to play. He was on the field for 32 snaps. He ended up with 1 solo TFL. Denver expects both Derek Wolfe and Jared Crick to be ready for the season. The Denver Bronco’s mailbag writer thinks Gotsis has been playing well lately. Hopefully, it starts to show on the stat line. Not much else to say. No one really stood out. Although that may be more of a negative sign for San Fran’s offense.

Jaquiski Tartt had 6 solos, 1 assist and a sack. This may give Tartt-truthers a little more hope but he’s solidly on the 2nd team. Tartt may never be a thing. Miles Killebrew-truthers take note (I still believe in Killebrew…). Rashard Robinson had 3 solos on 20 snaps. I’m just gloating a little because I picked him up on all my rosters really early this summer. Robinson will be the CB1 on San Fran. He may be a decent producer this year. He may fall in that sweet spot of being good enough to not be benched, but bad enough that he gets targeted quite a bit. Aaron Lynch missed this game with an injury. After his 2 sacks against the Chiefs, if would have been good to see some more positive momentum.

Rams at Raiders

Troy Hill played the most snaps of Rams defensive players at 56, 15 more than Marqui Christian. It seems like it was a bit of an audition for Hill with Kayvon Webster out. According to the snap count article I found, written by 3K, it didn’t go well for Hill. 3K also mentioned SS Marqui Christian, DT Tanzel Smart and FS Isaiah Johnson as all having playing a significant number of snaps in both preseason games. The question will be if it means extra playing time in September.

Let’s try to parse out Oakland’s LB situation. Marquel Lee got a ton of love during rookie drafts. Jelani Jenkins was expected by some to be the starter when he signed on as a free agent. Tyrell Adams and Corey James were getting 1st team reps in OTAs. Everyone justified this by pointing to injuries to the other LBs. Everyone picked up Tyrell Adams. Marquel Lee and Corey James started Preseason Week 1. Adams started getting dropped as everyone assumed Lee would be the starter. At this point. James as a starter is the safest bet. For Preseason Week 2, James and UDFA rookie Nicholas Morrow got the starts. Snaps shook out as follows: James 37, Adams 36, Jenkins 34, Morrow 26 and Lee a measly 11. Oakland is still trying things out because their defense has been bad so far. Don’t invest too much unless you’re picking up James. I don’t think they know who will be starting week 1. In terms of production, Jenkins had 6 solos, James had 2 solos and 4 assists, Adams had 4 solos and 1 assist, Morrow had 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL and Lee had 2 solos and an assist.

Falcons at Steelers

From the beginning this year, the question has been Duke Riley vs De’Vondre Campbell. Riley played 23 snaps and had 2 solos and 2 assists. Campbell played 12 snaps and had 1 solo. Campbell won Week 1. Riley won Week 2 but I wouldn’t say it was a slaughter. This will come down to the wire. Tak McKinley saw his first action and had a QB hit on 10 snaps.

Anthony Chickillo had himself a day, 5 solos and 2 sacks. Chickillo put together some games last year when injury offered him opportunity. He still sits low on the depth chart and he’s not moving ahead of Bud Dupree, T.J. Watt or James Harrison. Javon Hargrave left this game with a head injury. He later specified that although he was in the protocol, he didn’t have a concussion. Hargrave will be the starting NT this year and can be useful in deeper DT-required leagues.

Saints at Chargers

Alex Okafor has the lead in the starting DE spot. He had 2 solos and a sack on 17 snaps. And he’s a DE on MFL now. Hau’oli Kikaha played 20 snaps and had a solo and an assist. Just to cover the bases, 6th Round rookie Al-Quadin Muhammad played 36 snaps and had 2 solos, an assist and 1.5 sacks. The former Beaver Obum Gwacham played 31 snaps and 2 solos, 1 assist and a sack. 32-year-old Darryl Tapp played 24 snaps and had 2 solos and an assist. NO overall had 8 sacks. The Chargers may be a team to target with your DEs this season. New Orleans has signaled A.J. Klein will play the SAM in base and take over for MIKE in the nickel. Klein had 4 solos, 2 assist and .5 sacks. Manti Te’o will play MIKE in base defense. Te’o had a game, 7 solos, 2 assists, 3 TFLs and a sack. It’s hard to trust a 2-down LB, especially one with Te’o’s injury history, but he could produce.

Preseason Superstar Dexter McCoil did it again with 4 solos and 3 assist. He also ran back a pick for a TD. With Denzel Perryman out for a few weeks, the competition to replace him was between Korey Toomer and Nick Dzubnar. Toomer had 4 solos, 1 assist and a TFL. Dzubnar 1 solo and 2 assists. Rookies Desmond King and Rayshawn Jenkins both produced. King had 2 solos, 1 sack and a PD. Jenkins had 3 solos and 1 assist. Both would produce given opportunity during the season.

Giants at Browns

I may have missed the B.J. Goodson train. Goodson had 5 solos, 2 assists and a sack. I’m always leary of teams that refuse to put resources in the LB position. You rarely see consistent production from these teams. You can’t get a decent LB out of Green Bay. Oakland was a revolving door last year. Goodson could be the exception. There’s a thought that Dalvin Tomlinson could start next to Snacks Harrison. Tomlinson had 2 solos and 1 assist. If you haven’t looked into Tomlinson, definitely worth a Google. He could’ve gone to Harvard and picked Alabama instead. Really interesting guy.

Tank Carder tore his ACL and is out for the season. He was battling Joe Schobert to be the starting MIKE. With Christian Kirksey and Jamie Collins, it will be a 2-down role but could still be useful in deeper leagues. Schobert could have won it outright with his performance, 5 solos, 1 assist, 1 sack and 1 PD. Briean Boddy-Calhoun had a solid game, 3 solos and an interception. Jason McCourty also forced a fumble and 4 solos. BBC and McCourty are battling for the 3rd and 4th CB spot.

 
Week 3 is the last time we’ll see most starters in the Preseason. They’ll also usually play the most snaps of any games in the preseason. Week 4 is usually how coaches decide the final roster decisions and very few useful players play, so I probably won’t do a write-up.

Dolphins at Eagles

Miami signed Rey Maualuga as LB depth. Rey came in a little heavy… They say he needs to lose more than 10 pounds before he’s in game shape. When he’s in game shape, he’ll be competing with Mike Hull at MIKE. Two backup LBs led the team in tackles. Deon Lacey had 6 solos, 1 assist and a TFL. Chase Allen had 6 solos and an assist. Lacey was a 2013 UDFA who went on to spend 3 seasons in the CFL. Chase Allen is a rookie UDFA. Hull definitely has a head start on the MIKE competition. It’ll be 2-down because Kiko Alonso and Lawrence Timmons will be on the field in sub packages. Timmons wasn’t great in coverage last year so that’s not set in stone. We’ll need to watch snap counts during the regular season.

The Eagles DE rotation will be very important to watch this season. Jim Schwartz’s Wide 9 scheme is designed specifically to use the athletic advantage DEs have over OTs. This usually leads to very productive DEs under Schwartz. Obviously, Brandon Graham will be playing heavy snaps on one side. Derek Barnett is definitely the other DE to own in dynasty. The question will be if Vinny Curry or Chris Long can justify a large enough portion of the rotation to be useful this year. Curry is a question mark. He had been very productive in limited snaps early on, including 9 sacks in 2014 in 377 defensive snaps. The Eagles gave him a sizable contract extension before the 2016 season. Last year, while dealing with a nagging injury all year, he couldn’t beat out the out-of-position Connor Barwin for a starter spot. Against Miami, Curry had 1 solo, 1 assist and a sack, forcing a fumble on 15 snaps. Long had 15 snaps and 2 solos. Barnett played 18 snaps and didn’t record a stat.

Panthers at Jaguars

David Mayo continues to produce, 6 solos and 2 assists in 42 snaps. Jeremy Cash had another statistically good game, 5 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL in 36 snaps. Damian Parms had a notable stat line with 7 solos and 1 TFL in 41 snaps. Parms came into the league in 2015 as a box safety but hasn’t played in any regular season games.

Barry Church showed once again, the SS in a Gus Bradley scheme is an incredibly productive position. Church had 8 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL. Myles Jack had 4 solos and a TFL. It’s interesting that the same teams seem to have preseason snap count data and the same teams don’t. No one wants to watch Jaguars preseason games to compile snap count data. Hayes Pullard III had 2 solos. He’s a former 7th Rounder so I don’t have much hope for him, but if you haven’t heard of HP, he wrote an open letter to all 32 GMs two days before the draft. Well worth a read. It’s a good story which can definitely come in handy in the NFL full of Zekes, Frank Clarks, Mixons, etc.

Patriots at Lions

New England released Kony Ealy on Saturday. They aren’t too proud to admit when they’ve made a mistake. With Derek Rivers already out with an ACL tear, that limits options at DE. Rookie 4th Rounder Deatrich Wise and Geneo Grissom are the leading candidates but Kyle Van Noy and Harvey Langi (4 solos) will both see snaps. Both KVN and Langi are listed as LBs in MFL meaning if they play as DEs, they’ll be useless as IDP. But if one steps up and plays a lot of snaps, they’d be a good pickup for next year, assuming the change to DE. Trey Flowers usually moves inside in subpackages so there should be plenty of snaps available for a rotation of players. The Pats have used 3rd year S Jordan Richards all over the field. Richards has seen snaps at S, LB and Edge. He ended up with 1 solo and 1 assist.

Anthony Zettel and Cornelius Washington played the most snaps at DE. Zettel was drafted in the 6th Round out of Penn State last year. He plays inside and outside on the D-Line. This will be a situation worth watching this year. Washington is still considered the starter opposite Ziggy Ansah. Zettel had 1 solo on 31 snaps while Washington didn’t record a stat on 26 snaps. Jarrad Davis led the LBs with 42 snaps. He produced 5 solos and 3 assists. The big news for the LBs is Tahir Whitehead left in the first half with a knee injury. This could open the door for Jalen Reeves-Maybin. JRM played 32 snaps and put together 2 solos, an assist and a TFL. JRM would still need to beat out Paul Worrilow if Whitehead misses substantial time but that can be done. Antwione Williams, the starting SAM, is a banger, so there’s a good chance whoever earns the start at WILL will have 3-down usage. Tavon Wilson made his first appearance of the preseason, playing 40 snaps while Miles Killebrew sat out with an injury. Wilson added 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 PD.

Chiefs at Seahawks

Note: I wrote all this before the Chiefs traded for Ragland and released Mauga. It looks like Ragland and Wilson will be competing to start next to DJ. I think Eligwe is droppable unless you have really deep rosters.

Derrick Johnson played 35 snaps. Ramik Wilson only played 22. Wilson ended with 2 solos and an assist. Kevin Pierre-Louis was brought in to back up the 34-year-old Derrick Johnson. KPL played 37 snaps and had 3 solos and a sack. KPL could be a great pickup for next year if DJ retires or this year if DJ gets hurt again. Ukeme Eligwe (20 snaps) and Josh Mauga (19 snaps) played the rest of the snaps at ILB. Justin March-Lillard played 0 defensive snaps, so he’s droppable. Ramik played fewer snaps than DJ so he’s still coming off the field in sub packages. Daniel Sorensen played LB in sub packages last year and was really useful when you knew KC would be playing a lot of nickel. If your league offers points for tackles rather than just defensive tackles, Sorensen has even more value as he plays a lot of special teams.

Most of Seattle’s defense is set. The CB slot across from Richard Sherman is still available. Rookie Shaq Griffin had 3 solos and 1 PD. Tramaine Brock had 3 solos and a sack. Jeremy Lane will probably remain in the slot. He had 2 solos. Bradley McDougald had 2 solos and 3 assists. McDougald’s role will be really important for IDP. Since both Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas missed games with injury last year, McDougald may have just been brought in for insurance. There’s also been speculation that McDougald was brought in so Seattle could play more of a base Big Nickel with 3 Safeties on the field. It’s not a stretch. Can anyone name the Seahawks’ 3rd starting LB without checking?

Bills at Ravens

Note: I wrote all this before Buffalo traded Ragland to KC. This obviously changes everything.

Reggie Ragland may be a great buy low opportunity. The story all along has been that he’s not a great fit in the new 4-3 scheme. That may be the case and there have already been rumors he’s been on the trading block and the last few weeks have shown the Bills will take a draft pick for a player pretty easily. But Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier was asked if the only thing holding Ragland back was his knee. Frazier answered, “No doubt. He’s smart enough, he’s athletic enough, everybody recovers from this injury a little bit different. Some guys, it takes a year and a half. Some guys, they come back even sooner but as he works through some things that go along with rehab and getting accustomed to playing live football again, we have to be patient and let him just continue to improve. That’s the good thing, we’re seeing improvement. That encourages us and it’s just a matter of time before he can get that burst back that we like to see.” Ragland had 1 solo. Preston Brown had 6 solos and 1 assist. Ramon Humber had 3 solos. Still haven’t heard Gerald Hodges taking over the starting spot from Humber. Hodges had 4 solos and 1 assist. Tre’Davious White, Buffalo’s #1 CB, had 3 solos. Marquavius Lewis had 1 solo, an assist and a TFL. Still not on MFL, he’s a guy to keep an eye on. Kyle Williams is 34 years old. Jordan Poyer had 3 solos and 2 assist. He looks to be the starting FS which normally wouldn’t have a lot of value but the Bills defense could be on the field a lot.

The expectation for Kamalei Correa to take over Zachary Orr’s spot is still being left unquestioned. Correa had 1 solo. Patrick Onwuasor played in the 2nd half. He had 2 solos, an assist and forced and recovered the game-winning fumble. If Correa gets injured or falters, keep Onwuasor on speed dial. The Ravens are fairly set and I tend to ignore 3-4 OLBs, so there’s not much to say here. Brent Urban had 1 solo TFL. I need to make the decision within the next week if he’s going to make my primary roster after roster cutdown.

Jets at Giants

A quick sidebar on the Jets offense as it pertains to IDP. This offense has the potential to be so historically bad, that it could ruin any opposing team’s IDP production based solely on lack of opportunity. If they can’t sustain drives it will severely limit opposing teams’ tackle opportunities. So tackle-dependent IDP may not put up stats. Keep an eye on LBs early on against the Jets to see if their numbers are down. Conversely, Christian Hackenberg threw 2 pick-6s. So if Hack plays, CBs and Ss will have major boom-bust potential against the NYJ. Julian Stafford had 8 solos and 2 TFLs. He’s listed at the #3 ILB on the depth chart behind Darron Lee and Demario Davis. Stafford definitely produced last year when given the opportunity. If Lee or Davis misses time with injury, Stafford would be a good starter. Leonard Williams sprained his wrist. Coach Bowles didn’t seem too concerned. Odds are he won’t miss any time. Of course, if your best player is injured, it makes tanking easier. The Jets have been playing a lot more 4 man fronts this preseason so Williams, Mohammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson are on the field at the same time. Richardson is probably a good buy low as he’s usually considered the bottom of the three and he’s a little bit of a knucklehead off the field.

BJ Goodson had 3 solos and 1 assist. There isn’t too much to say about the Giants. Two sophomores, Andrew Adams and Darian Thompson, are battling for the starting FS spot. FS spots in general aren’t usually fantasy-relevant. Landon Collins isn’t going to let either have a tackle, but for fun’s sake, here you go: Adams had 3 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL, Thompson had 2 solos, 1 assist and a sack.

Cardinals at Falcons

Rodney Gunter is listed as the top DE for Arizona per Rotoworld. He played 26 snaps. He had 4 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL. From my understanding, last year, Gunter played NT. His snaps dropped last year. But his best two games were Week 16 and 17. Worth a watch. Cap Capi is at the bottom of the OLB depth chart. The former UDFA has arguably the greatest name on a team that includes Ironhead Gallon and Scooby Wright, and had 6 solos, 1 assist and 1.5 sacks. The Honeybadger had another interception. He could be up for a bit of a bounceback if he stays healthy.

Duke Riley played 32 snaps. De’Vondre Campbell played 5. I can’t find anything on why Campbell played so few. Jermaine Grace is a backup LB for Atlanta. The UDFA rookie played 31 snaps and produced 4 solos and 4 assists. Jack Crawford signed as a FA with the Falcons. He can play inside and outside. Crawford played 25 snaps and had 3 solos, 1 assist and 1 sack. Coach Quinn has been raving about him. It’ll be hard to get consistent snaps though.

Colts at Steelers

Darnell Sanky is a rookie UDFA. He had 9 solos and 1 assist. Vontae Davis put together a game with 4 solos, 3 assists and a TFL. But Davis is now week-to-week with a groin injury. Jon Bostic played 35 snaps, but didn’t produce a stat. That’s worrisome condiering I still have him on my roster… Indy’s other starting ILB Antonio Morrison played 32 snaps and had 4 solos, 2 assists and 1 TFL.

Vince Williams had a game. He played 37 snaps and had 4 solos, 4 assists and 0.5 sack. Tyler Matakevich didn’t do quite so much with his 38 snaps, compiling 3 solos.

Browns at Buccaneers

Cleveland spent most of the time while their starters were on the field in base 4-3. This led to 35 or more snaps for each of their starting LBs, Christian Kirksey, Jamie Collins and Joe Schobert. Schobert had 4 solos, 2 assists and 1 PD. His price has gone up dramatically, considering he was probably picked up off waivers last week. I offered a few guys a 5th and was turned down. That’s potentially setting some people up for major disappointment. Greg Williams’ Rams defense last year was base nickel. Josh Forrest was the LB3 and he played 90 snaps, compared to 1,000+ each for Mark Barron and Alec Ogletree. Obviously, this may have been personnel-based and hopefully, this game proves Williams likes Schobert more than Forrest. Jabrill Peppers has been playing Single High with Derrick Kindred played more of a SS/Box Safety role. One of the knocks against Peppers coming out was he only had 1 interception in college. He’s already matched that total in his first 3 preseason games. He added 3 solos. Kindred added 4 solos, 1 TFL and 1 PD. The Browns released Joe Haden, so Jamar Taylor and Jason McCourty should be the starting CBs.

Ryan Smith had 6 solos and 1 PD. He’s definitely behind Brent Grimes and Vernon Hargreaves on the CB depth chart, but that’s good production from a CB. Usually a bad sign though. George Johnson had 3 solos, 1 sack and 2 TFL. He’s been in the league for 6 years so this was probably just a fluke.

Chargers at Rams

Not much to say for LA at LA. Trevor Williams had 5 solos. Williams is a UDFA sophomore CB. Jahleel Addae put together 4 solos, 1 assist, 1 TFL and 1 PD. Rayshawn Jenkins only had 1 solo. He may be a roster cut casualty in my primary league.

Marqui Christian again played over 40% of the snaps and had a big game, 9 solos. He’s been playing a ton this entire preseason. He still just watchlist at this point, but I’ll be watching early season snap counts quite a bit. He could be a big producer if they give him opportunity. Cassanova McKinzy is a great name. Cassanova contributed 4 solos on 32 snaps. Tyrunn Walker had 5 solos on 32 snaps. 5 solos in a regular season game would make him a top DT.

Texans at Saints

Dylan Cole played 25 snaps. He had 4 solos and 2 assists. Keep an eye on this guy. Pick him up if you’ve got the roster space. He’s a producer. And the Texans have a history of finding UDFA gems. Kurtis Drummond had 5 solos and 2 assists. He’s down the depth chart at SS.

Manti Te’o played 26 snaps and produced 2 solos, 2 assists and 1 PD. A.J. Klein added 2 solos and 1 assist on 25 snaps. Alex Anzalone was on the field for 33 snaps and had 2 solos and 1 PD.

Raiders at Cowboys

Nicholas Morrow is a UDFA rookie out of Division III Greenville College. He played 31 snaps and had 5 solos and 1 assist. Tyrell Adams had 28 snaps and produced 4 solos and 2 assists. Jelani Jenkins had 4 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL on 30 snaps. Draft darling Marquel Lee played 15 snaps and had 2 solos. Whoever ends up being the starter next to Cory James will have value. It’s still a really fluid situation.

Dallas lost Anthony Hitchens for the season with a torn ACL. This accelerates Jaylon Smith’s timetable. It also devastates their depth at LB. Damien Wilson and Justin Durant would need to step up if an injury limits oft-injured Sean Lee, or still recovering Smith. Neither Wilson or Durant played much last year. And Wilson pulled the ultimate Dallas move earlier in the summer, getting arrested for assault charges. Wilson had 2 solos, 3 assists and 1 TFL against Oakland.

Packers at Broncos

Josh Jones led the team with 4 solos and 2 assists. Hopefully, Jones has done enough to earn Micah Hyde’s role and will be on the field enough to produce. We’ll find out with Week 1’s snap count.

Shelby Harris was a 7th Round draft pick back in 2014. Denver is the 4th team to give him an opportunity. He may have secured his spot on the 53 against Green Bay. Harris had 5 solos, 2 assists and 3 sacks. Adam Gotsis had 3 solos and 1 sack, shortly after I dropped him to deal with roster cuts… Just to remind everyone Derek Wolfe and Jared Crick are both out with injuries. They’re both expected back for the regular season, but there may be more snaps available early on for Bronco DEs. There was recently a story that the Broncos were looking to trade T.J. Ward. If they feel comfortable enough with Will Parks and Justin Simmons, they may try to offload Ward.

Bears at Titans

Nick Kwiatkoski recovered from his concussion. He had 4 solos and 1 assist. Unfortunately, Eddie Goldman ended up with a concussion in this game. It’s his 2nd documented concussion as a pro. Hopefully he’ll be ready for Week 1. He’s a legit DT producer when he’s healthy, which isn’t consistent. Goldman had 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 TFL. No sign of a DE opposite Akiem Hicks. Hicks continues to produce with 2 solos, 1 assist and 1 sack.

Adoree Jackson had 5 solos and 1 assist. Based on draft capital, Jackson is almost guaranteed to start opposite Logan Ryan. Hopefully throw in a few punt and kick return TDs and you could have a very productive rookie CB. Jayon Brown had 4 solos and 1 assist. Kevin Byard had 3 solos and 1 assist vs Johnathan Cyprien had 1 solos and 2 assists. I couldn’t find snap count data easily. Interesting to see the FS outperform the SS.

Bengals at Washington

Vontaze Burfict was hit with a 5 game suspension. In other news, the sun rose in the east this morning. Burfict has to be one of the most suspended players in the league without having drug or domestic abuse issues. Nick Vigil played the most snaps at LB at 37. He’s been playing all 3 downs. He had 5 solos and 2 assists. Unfortunately, it’s already too late to buy low on him. Chris Smith played 20 snaps and had 1 sack. Jordan Willis had 2 solos and 1 sack in 23 snaps. Smith is still just a watchlist for me. I don’t think anyone else is paying attention. If his snap count starts to rise during the regular season, I will be getting him on my roster. I know a lot of people are excited about Carl Lawson. I don’t see it at LB. He played 23 snaps and had 1 sack. At safety, Clayton Fejedelem (1 solo, 34 snaps) has started all 3 preseason games as George Iloka has missed with injury. Derron Smith (2 solos, 2 assists, 1 PD, 43 snaps) started with Shawn Williams now out due to injury.

Washington’s top four tacklers were their top 4 ILBs. That lines up nicely. Martrell Spaight had 4 solos, 5 assist and 1 TFL. Will Compton had 6 solos and 1 assist. Mason Foster had 4 solos and 1 assist. And Zach Brown had 1 solo and 4 assists. Foster and Brown should be starting. Su’a Cravens missed this game. D.J. Swearinger had 2 solos.

49ers at Vikings

Aaron Lynch started out the Preseason with a bang with 2 sacks in Week 1. He hasn’t capitalized on that momentum though. Lynch parlayed 33 snaps into 1 QB hit. Considering the depth chart, snaps are going to be hard to come by unless he played so well to force the coaches to earn him snaps. He hasn’t played that well. Reuben Foster played 35 snaps and put together 5 solos, 3 assists and 1 TFL. He’s good. Arik Armstead had a sack on 30 snaps. Solomon Thomas didn’t have a stat on 23 snaps. Elvis Dumervil said Rashard Robinson could be the best CB in the NFC West. Forget Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson and Trumaine Johnson, Dumervil thinks Rashard Robinson can be the best. Robinson had 1 solo and 1 PD on 34 snaps.

Not a lot to say here. Minnesota’s defense is fairly set. Trae Waynes played 20 snaps and had 3 solos and 1 PD. Waynes will be starting across from Xavier Rhodes. Emmanuel Lamur left the game with concussion symptoms. He played 9 snaps and added 1 assist. Is it safe to say Edmund Robinson has won the starting WILL spot yet? Robinson had 3 solos and 1 assist in 30 snaps. For backup LBs, Eric Wilson played 25 snaps, Kentrell Brothers played 17 snaps, Ben Gedeon played 15 snaps and Elijah Lee played 6 snaps.

 
Week 3 is the last time we’ll see most starters in the Preseason. They’ll also usually play the most snaps of any games in the preseason. Week 4 is usually how coaches decide the final roster decisions and very few useful players play, so I probably won’t do a write-up.
Damn fine work.

 
Exceptional stuff, @ChicagoArch!!

I'll add some general stuff I've been thinking, my brain loosened by a new Sativa I'm rocking:

BJ Goodson is underrated.  40-ish on FBG is just not right.  I dunno about his talent, but I know about his opportunity.  I've been following the Giants LBs for years, looking for some value.  I even fell for Uangi Unake, or whatever the heck his name was.  Goodson has one other player in the back 7 that we need to worry about hogging tackles (Landon Collins, as good a defensive player as there is).  He's in a division with three good offenses, and the offense of the team he plays on doesn't appear to have a running game.  For a good defense, the Giants could be on the field a bit more than normal.  

I have one dynasty team with an embarrassment of riches at LB, and am considering offering Deone Buchanon for DeForest Buckner straight up.  Buckner is going to have good DE numbers, consistently, and is a DT.  I am selling Buchanon.  Writing is on the wall to me, he's getting battered as a small LB.  I might be a year early, but now is the time to get full value.  The above trade is CLEARLY not full value, I know.  

I have two names as the next Jatavius Brown/Buchanon/Barron types:  Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Jayon Brown.  Both are really cheap, and are worth it to stash for 10 weeks or so.  Perfect taxi squad guys.  I have both in my three leagues.  

I'll only grab whatever Indy linebacker is last, if I have room.  I liked Antonio Morrison coming om ut of school.  My plan is to grab Clayton Geathers and stash him on IR.  I haven't done it yet, because I want to do it in all my leagues simultaneously when timing is there.  

I am sticking with my Jelani Jenkins in Oakland.  I may be wrong, and I like Cory James as #2, but Jenkins has looked the best of the LBs, and I believe the team wanted to get a look what they had in the kids, and knowing what they had in Jenkins.  He has always played well, it's a health thing, and he's 25.  He reminded me of Perry Riley last year, where the youngsters were running around, manic, and Riley came in and just played solid, efficiently making plays.  Jenkins did the same in the preseason.  It's very encouraging that James seems to have improved.  People sometimes forget young guys can improve greatly.  

I am not letting Reuben Foster slip, but I'm not climbing over the couch to get him.  The injury thing makes me nervous.  Shoulder problems for a LB make me nervous.  Your risk tolerance may vary, but that's me.  

 
I have one dynasty team with an embarrassment of riches at LB, and am considering offering Deone Buchanon for DeForest Buckner straight up.  Buckner is going to have good DE numbers, consistently, and is a DT.  I am selling Buchanon.  Writing is on the wall to me, he's getting battered as a small LB.  I might be a year early, but now is the time to get full value.  The above trade is CLEARLY not full value, I know.  
I hope this works for you.  In my anecdotal experience, Bucanon's ship has sailed and he no longer holds much value.  He's been cut in several of my moderately deep IDP leagues.

I wouldn't even think twice about rejecting Bucanon for my Buckner.  Hopefully you can find a leaguemate that is more behind the times, but I'd recommend shopping him fast...

YMMV.

 
Just a quick note. I've seen some teams dropping Derrick Kindred. In the preseason, Kindred has been playing a good amount of SS/Box Safety while Peppers has been playing single high or 2 high. Kindred may end up with more tackles than Peppers this year. I would hold him if at all possible. That said, if he produces during the season, I would look to trade him pretty quickly. The Browns have so many draft picks next year, if they don't think the former 4th rounder Kindred is their long-term answer, they could easily draft another safety highly.

 
my hopeful tyvon staying a cb ship has officially sailed -

Rotoworld updated depth chart -

CB

1. Patrick Peterson

2. Justin Bethel

3. Tramon Williams

4. Brandon Williams

5. Jarell Carter

FS

1. Tyrann Mathieu

2. Harlan Miller

3. Ironhead Gallon

SS

1. Tyvon Branch

2. Antoine Bethea

3. Budda Baker

4. Rudy Ford

 
nonetheless, he's still the unquestioned starter at a position that gets tackles by the bushel, and he's being drafted or plucked off waivers WAY after Bethea and Baker.

 
Any Atlanta homers want to chime in on what to make of the ATL linebacker situation with Duke Riley receiving 6x the snaps of D'vondre Campbell in pre-week3 game? Norton seemed to think (IDP Podcast) this indicated that Riley has won the weak side LB job to start the season. I haven't seen this confirmed in any manner. Does anyone have confirmation on that theory or just general personal thoughts on how this might play out - early season and maybe even second half?

 
Well, I just noticed that Duke Riley started the dreaded pre-week 4 contest while Campbell was with Deion Jones watching the entire game one the sidelines. I think I can formulate that Riley is still in prove it mode to the coaching staff and will most likely NOT be the week 1 starter.

 
Will MFL run one more update before the season starts?
Player Position Updates (Published Tue Aug 22 7:50:49 p.m. ET 2017)
Player Position Updates (Published Wed Jul 19 5:32:30 p.m. ET 2017)
Player Position Updates (Published Tue Jun 13 6:35:11 p.m. ET 2017)
Player Position Updates (Published Tue May 9 11:33:32 p.m. ET 2017)
Player Position Updates (Published Tue Apr 4 11:54:29 p.m. ET 2017)

Final Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Mon Sep 5 12:11:37 a.m. ET 2016)
Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Sun Aug 21 11:09:10 p.m. ET 2016)
Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Thu Aug 18 12:47:30 a.m. ET 2016)
Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Wed Jul 13 7:36:25 p.m. ET 2016)
Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Wed Jun 8 7:32:22 p.m. ET 2016)
Preseason Player Position Updates (Published Tue May 3 5:01:17 p.m. ET 2016)

Should be one more.

 
ChicagoArch said:
Just a quick note. I've seen some teams dropping Derrick Kindred. In the preseason, Kindred has been playing a good amount of SS/Box Safety while Peppers has been playing single high or 2 high. Kindred may end up with more tackles than Peppers this year. I would hold him if at all possible. That said, if he produces during the season, I would look to trade him pretty quickly. The Browns have so many draft picks next year, if they don't think the former 4th rounder Kindred is their long-term answer, they could easily draft another safety highly.


where is Pryor?  Different sites have him either as the starter over Kindred or a B/U

 
where is Pryor?  Different sites have him either as the starter over Kindred or a B/U
It looks like Pryor played a decent amount last night in the 4th playoff game. I don't see any starters on the list. So at this point, I'm assuming Pryor is a backup and he was playing for a roster spot last night.

 
With Ward released from Denver, where does he sign? He's too good a player to remain unsigned (I think)

 
-OZ- said:
With Ward released from Denver, where does he sign? He's too good a player to remain unsigned (I think)
Tampa, but the real question is will Justin Simmons be close to replacement value to the departed Ward in Denver?

 
Tampa, but the real question is will Justin Simmons be close to replacement value to the departed Ward in Denver?


Simmons may not be the starter.  DEN has 3 guys lined up there that they like and I'm starting to get an impression that they may be doing some down-and-distance substitutions until one guy rises to the top.  Simmons does look like the first guy up right now.

 
A few notes on roster cuts:

Cardinals - LBs Scooby Wright and Zaviar Gooden are the primary names that were released.

Falcons - No notable cuts.

Ravens - No notable cuts.

Bills - UDFA DT Marquavius Lewis had a solid preseason and a PFF favorite. I was keeping an eye on him.

Panthers - UDFA LB Ben Boulware was a somewhat surprising cut. Carolina doesn’t have a ton of depth at LB.

Bears - DE Jaye Howard was signed as a FA this offseason. Either Howard was slow recovering from his hip injury or Chicago believes in Mitch Unrein and Jon Bullard. S Harold Jones-Quartey started several games last year and was a productive S but the Bears have added a number of Safeties in the offseason. LB John Timu has also been productive in limited playing time. Timu’s release must be good news for Danny Trevathan.

Bengals - DEs Wallace Gilberry and Will Clarke were both cut. This means Cincy must be ready to trust 3rd Rounder Jordan Willis and Chris Smith to back up Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson. Both Willis and Smith had good preseasons.

Browns - DT Xavier Cooper was an interesting cut. He was drafted in the 3rd Round back in 2015.

Cowboys - S Robert Blanton is the only notable cut. Blanton was brought in as a free agent and has starts at Safety. This may be showing trust in 6th Rounder Xavier Woods.

Broncos - Obviously, the big name here is S T.J. Ward. It seems Denver is comfortable with last year’s 3rd round pick Justin Simmons starting at SS. Simmons seems like more of a coverage S than in-the-box S like Ward. It’ll be interesting to see how much of Ward’s production Simmons take over. Two other names to watch here: Will Parks and Todd Davis. Parks was drafted in the 6th Round last year and would be the next guy up if Simmons falters. Davis always came off the field in subpackages last year so that Ward could play Nickel LB. If Davis plays in subpackages this year, it would be a substantial boost to his value. I might put a few feelers out to see if I can get him cheaply.

Lions - Antwione Williams was expected to be the starting SAM this season. It looks like he lost that competition to Paul Worrilow. That says about all we need to know about Williams.

Packers - No notable cuts in Green Bay.

Texans - S K.J. Dillon was cut. Dillon was a popular sleeper after being drafted in the 5th Round last year. LB Sio Moore was cut as well. Moore was useful last year but the Texans are really deep at LB. The Texans kept UDFA Dylan Cole though so he’s still a name to keep an eye on.

Colts - LB Sean Spence was a popular sleeper this year. He’ll probably find a home elsewhere but fantasy value may be lost. LB Edwin Jackson was placed on IR. That means the ILB depth chart is Antonio Morrison, Jon Bostic and Anthony Walker Jr. Signing a new LB would not be a surprise. There are so many moving parts here that it’s really hard to have a good judge of the situation at the moment. Last year, Clayton Geathers played ILB in sub packages while T.J. Green played S. Geathers is out at least the first 6 weeks with a neck injury. Because it’s a neck injury, he could easily miss the entire year. Indy has been trying Green out at CB this preseason, leaving former CB Darius Butler and sophomore UDFA Matthias Farley to battle for the starting SS position next to rookie 1st Rounders Malik Hooker. Indy also cut LB Akeem Ayers and DT David Parry.

Jaguars - UDFA DE Carroll Phillips was a semi-popular sleeper. But Jacksonville has too much depth at DE to allow Phillips a spot on the 53.

Chiefs - The notable cut here is LB Justin March-Lillard. JML played no defensive snaps in the Week 3 preseason game so this was predictable. With the addition of Ragland, it seems like the depth chart is as follows: At WILB, Derrick Johnson and Kevin Pierre-Louis. At MILB, Ramik Wilson, Reggie Ragland and Ukeme Eligwe. Ragland will start to take over the job from Ramik. Some have speculated that Wilson could eventually replace DJ.

Chargers - S Dwight Lowery lost his starting FS job to free agent acquisition Tre Boston.

Rams - No notable cuts.

Dolphins - LB Neville Hewitt was a little surprising given how much depth Miami has at LB and how injury-prone some of their starters are.

Vikings - LB Edmond Robinson is a bit of a surprise. Emmanuel Lamur apparently won the starting WILL. Lamur left the Week 3 preseason game with a concussion. 7th Rounder Elijah Lee was on a few dynasty rosters. He was cut as well.

Patriots - DE Geneo Grissom was cut. This leaves 4th Rounders Deatrich Wise as the DE starter opposite Trey Flowers. Wise will be in a rotation with a few of the LBs and new acquisition Cassius Marsh. Marsh was primarily a special teamer for Seattle but New England gave up a 5th and a 7th for him so he’ll play snaps at DE. LB Jonathan Freeny was also cut.

Saints - No notable cuts in New Orleans.

Giants - DE Devin Taylor and DE Owa Odighizuwa were both cut. The Giants are going to run JPP and Olivier vernon into the ground. They both played a ton of snaps last year and they’re going to play a ton of snaps again this year.

Jets - The Sheldon Richardson trade was the biggest news. At the moment, The Jets have no depth behind Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson, assuming Kony Ealy plays OLB. Ealy may be forced to play both positions because the Jets have such little talent. NT Deon Simon was a surprise cut, after most, myself included, thought he would win the starting job from  from Steve McLendon, allowing McLendon to be cut. UDFA LB Connor Harris definitely had his fans. They’ll be disappointed. S Shamarko Thomas didn’t succeed with his second chance. I’ll be surprised if he gets a 3rd.

Raiders - Jelani Jenkins ended up on IR and Ben Heeney was cut.. They’ve got Cory James, Tyrell Adams, Marquel Lee and Nicholas Morrow left at ILB. This will probably be a fluid situation all season, but it seems like James and Adams will start. Morrow was playing some sub package snaps during the preseason. OLB Shilique Calhoun was a surprise cut. He was a 3rd Round draft pick last year so he’ll get another chance on a new team looking for pass rushers.

Eagles - LB Nate Gerry will probably end up on the practice squad. I had hoped he would stay on the roster this year. Nigel Bradham could still be suspended at some point.

Steelers - The Joe Haden signing made CB Senquez Golson expendable. No other really notable cuts.

49ers - Some people may have still been holding onto DT Quinton Dial. No other notable cuts in San Francisco.

Seahawks - Adding Sheldon Richardson made DT Ahtyba Rubin expendable. Seattle also traded Tramaine Brock to the Vikings.

Buccaneers - Tampa Bay jumped on T.J. Ward pretty quickly. I can’t imagine they keep Ward, Chris Conte and J.J. Wilcox. They signed Wilcox in the spring. Conte had still been starting while Wilcox had been playing all over the field. This is a situation to monitor and it will be tough to start any of them Week 1. UDFA Riley Bullough was a Hard Knocks star, unfortunately, that doesn’t guarantee your spot on the 53.

Titans - NT Antwaun Woods was a surprise cut. He had been playing well, but Tennessee kept Sylvester Williams who they picked up in free agency last year.

Washington - No notable cuts.

 
Broncos - Obviously, the big name here is S T.J. Ward. It seems Denver is comfortable with last year’s 3rd round pick Justin Simmons starting at SS. Simmons seems like more of a coverage S than in-the-box S like Ward. It’ll be interesting to see how much of Ward’s production Simmons take over. Two other names to watch here: Will Parks and Todd Davis. Parks was drafted in the 6th Round last year and would be the next guy up if Simmons falters. Davis always came off the field in subpackages last year so that Ward could play Nickel LB. If Davis plays in subpackages this year, it would be a substantial boost to his value. I might put a few feelers out to see if I can get him cheaply.


Put UDFA Jamal Carter in your tracker as a name to keep an eye on.  DEN has supposedly fallen in love with him because of his play so far.  He is a rookie and was pretty nondescript at the U, aside from being a good tackler.  Not a great combine either, but apparently his talent may be a much better fit for the NFL.  DEN has him locked up for 3 yrs right now.  Might be one of those deep sleepers that ends up as an impact guy - maybe sooner rather than later.

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Put UDFA Jamal Carter in your tracker as a name to keep an eye on.  DEN has supposedly fallen in love with him because of his play so far.  He is a rookie and was pretty nondescript at the U, aside from being a good tackler.  Not a great combine either, but apparently his talent may be a much better fit for the NFL.  DEN has him locked up for 3 yrs right now.  Might be one of those deep sleepers that ends up as an impact guy - maybe sooner rather than later.

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And not currently on the MFL player database.

Edit: Not sure if it made a difference but I messaged MFL support after I posted this and about 20 mins later he was on the database. 

 
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And not currently on the MFL player database.

Edit: Not sure if it made a difference but I messaged MFL support after I posted this and about 20 mins later he was on the database. 
def makes a difference. I have messaged MFL in the past and they have added players very quickly.

 
And not currently on the MFL player database.

Edit: Not sure if it made a difference but I messaged MFL support after I posted this and about 20 mins later he was on the database. 
I got impatient when it took them what seemed forever to add Cleveland DT Trevon Coley to the database. Had just traded Hankins before his switch to DE and was counting on being able to grab an el-cheapo DT replacement. Finally contacted them about his absence and he was in the DB less than 30 minutes later. Maybe coincidence but I'm going to credit being the squeaky wheel and them being responsive.

 

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