Week 12 IDP Hits: Bears Might Need You to Play LB

Injuries Produce Uncertainty, Plus Playing-Time Surprises

Who the heck’s gonna play linebacker for Chicago this week?

It won’t be any of the Bears’ top three options there. T.J. Edwards was already out with a hamstring injury. Tremaine Edmunds and Noah Sewell saw Edwards sitting out last week and thought it looked so fun that they’re now down with groin and elbow injuries, respectively.

That leaves a dwindling supply of options who have collectively played just 50 defensive snaps in 2025. And we have to make an educated guess at the fill-in plan.

Here’s Who Will Likely Take the Field

D’Marco Jackson looks like the best bet to lead Chicago LBs against the Steelers.

He not only leads the remaining group in defensive snaps for the year (32) and leads the corps in special-teams snaps (64% of the season total), but Jackson also has history with DC Dennis Allen.

The Saints drafted Jackson in Round 5 of 2022, with Allen as HC, and both guys remained in New Orleans through 2024. (Well, Allen got dumped a little early.) The Saints waived Jackson on Aug. 26, and the Bears claimed him the next day.

Jackson Presents Some Upside

I wondered if Jackson could play his way into competing for a bigger role in New Orleans. His final season at Appalachian State delivered big numbers:

• 120 tackles
• 19 tackles for loss
• 6 sacks
• 5 passes defensed
• 1 INT
• 1 forced fumble

And Jackson built up to that with 13 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and 8 passes defensed over the previous two years. He followed that with an 89th-percentile 40 time and 86th-percentile speed score at the 2022 Combine.

None of that makes him a safe bet for playing time or your IDP lineup this week, of course. But I’ll be interested to see what we get.

Anyone Else?

The other two guys at a similar level on the depth chart:

• fifth-year vet Amen Ogbongbemiga
• fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite II

Hyppolite garnered a bit of summer buzz and had some Bears observers wondering if he’d get a shot to fill in for Edwards earlier this year. But he hasn’t played a defensive snap since Week 3 and has been a healthy scratch more than once.

Ogbongbemiga opened the year on IR with a shoulder injury before returning for the past two games. He has yet to play a defensive snap but has played more special-teams reps than Hyppolite in each of his two games back.

Chicago also has Carl Jones Jr. and 30-year-old Jalen Reeves-Maybin on the practice squad.

That whole quartet looks even less certain as playing-time candidates than Jackson does.

How Much Do the Broncos Trust Their Big-Money LB?

Speaking of LB playing time, it was interesting to see how Denver deployed their starters with Alex Singleton sidelined.

Singleton, in case you missed it, had the surprising revelation and quick treatment of testicular cancer earlier this month. It sounds like he could play in Week 13, when the Broncos return from their bye.

With Singleton out in Week 11, LB Justin Strnad assumed green-dot duties (relaying play calls in the huddle) and zoomed past Dre Greenlaw in playing time. Strnad played every snap, while Greenlaw took the field for just 61%, near-identical to his Week 10 usage (with Singleton on the field and Strnad third).

Perhaps the Broncos are still helping Greenlaw manage his health after a quad issue kept him out until Week 7 and kept him short of 50% playing time until Week 10. Either way, we’d have to assume a similar deployment if Singleton remains out for Week 13.

Greenlaw notably also has just 5 solo tackles through his four Broncos appearances.

Anthony Nelson’s Stats Belie His Playing Time

The Buccaneers have ruled out Edge Haason Reddick for the fourth straight game. He continues to deal with ankle and knee injuries and remained out of practice all this week.

That has clearly lingered longer than the team realized it would, with the Week 9 bye mixed in among the missed games. But it has allowed veteran Anthony Nelson to see the field a lot more.

Nelson made noise with a sack in the Detroit game that Reddick left early and then 2 more sacks plus an INT in his first start, against New Orleans. The production has quieted the past two weeks, but Nelson’s playing time has actually increased.

He racked up snap shares of 92% and 87.5% the past two games, but with nary a sack or QB hit. Nelson did tally 4 pressures in the loss to New England, according to Pro Football Focus, but just 2 last week against the Bills -- typically a negative matchup for sack production.

The same is true for this week’s Rams clash. Matthew Stafford has taken just 14 sacks in 10 games this season, with just four occasions where teams got him more than once.

So Nelson’s not an attractive IDP play for this week. But he’s in play deep and will get a much better spot for sack production next week against the Cardinals, if Reddick remains out.

Was This Safety’s Big Week Fluky or Overdue?

I mentioned back in Week 9 a shift in Ravens S Kyle Hamilton’s usage that should be good for his fantasy production. He then put forth a merely OK Week 9 and a fairly quiet Week 10 (1 assist, 2 passes defensed).

Last Sunday, however, delivered Hamilton’s biggest fantasy outing of the season:

• 9 tackles (6 solo)
• 1 sack
• 2 passes defensed
• 1 forced fumble

It looks like an outlier lined up against the rest of his weeks, but that game marked the fifth straight in which Hamilton spent nearly all of his time in the box or at a slot-corner spot.

That’s a combo of high-value spots for fantasy DBs, and Hamilton has especially ramped up his pass-rushing usage. After nine total rushes through the first four weeks -- according to PFF -- Hamilton logged a then-high four rushes in Week 6, kicking off the five-game stretch I referenced above. He has followed that with games of 8, 6, 8, and 6 rushes.

Hamilton’s not likely to turn into Seattle Jamal Adams on the rush front. But he has registered QB hits each of he past two weeks and in three of his past four outings. There are more sacks coming, along with other fantasy production across categories.

Three Questionable DBs Add to Bears’ Challenge

Let’s swing back to the Bears, who present three more questions in their defensive backfield.

S Jaquan Brisker heads toward Sunday questionable for the second straight game. But he played through that tag last week despite making it to just one limited practice, and he stayed on the field for 54 of 55 defensive snaps.

This time, Brisker practiced in full Thursday and Friday. So he should be good to go -- and especially needed in a game that will find the Bears missing their top three LBs. Brisker looks like a high-end fantasy starter for Week 12.

Who’s Playing Corner?

The Bears also list CBs Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon as questionable for the game against Pittsburgh. Either guy would need to be activated from IR to be eligible to play, so we’ll get our first signal Saturday.

Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire says “it feels like Johnson has a better chance to play this week than Gordon, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Bears rest them for a short week against the Eagles next Friday.”

Johnson got two full practices in to close the week and does seem the better bet to return from his shoulder injury. Gordon looks like an iffy bet to play a big role even if active.

Chicago has turned to C.J. Gardner-Johnson in Gordon’s slot role in recent weeks and would seem to have little reason to change that for Week 12, with Gordon managing just one full practice (plus two limited) off a calf injury that landed him on IR for the second time this season.

What’s the Word on These Other Questionable Dudes?

Vikings Edge Jonathan Greenard remained limited in his only two practices this week after missing last Sunday’s game. But he said he’s “super confident” he’ll play against the Packers. That would put him in play for IDP lineups.

Patriots Edge Harold Landry III (not to be confused with the two previous iterations) is officially questionable, but I’m not really sure why. He went limited-full-full through the practice week and played 74% of snaps last week, within his normal range. I’ll update his status ahead of the game, but expect Landry to play.

Seahawks LB Ernest Jones is questionable with the same knee issue that knocked him out of Week 9 early and rendered him questionable last Sunday, coming off the team’s bye. Jones played through the issue then, though, and didn’t miss a snap. It’s tough to imagine him not being able to go this week, despite the odd injury progression:

• Full Wednesday
• Limited Thursday
• Out Friday

Falcons LB Divine Deablo is officially questionable after spending the past four games on IR with an elbow injury, but multiple reports point to him almost certainly being ready to face the Saints on Sunday. There’s IDP upside to Deablo, but he hasn’t proved especially helpful fantasy-wise so far this season.

We’ll see about Giants S Tyler Nubin, but he seems to be trending toward a return from his neck injury. Nubin missed practice all last week but still turned up doubtful (rather than “out”) on the final injury report. He made it back to limited practices every day this week. If he can’t go, Dane Belton should again step in for full playing time.

The Colts have officially activated CB Charvarius Ward from IR following his freak pregame concussion, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter says he’ll play against the Chiefs. Ward could get a boost in targets faced going forward, with CB Sauce Gardner joining the team since last he played.

Your Weekly Payton Wilson Update

Let’s close this out with a staple: the latest on Steelers LB Payton Wilson.

I mentioned last week that LB Malik Harrison’s return from injury introduced a new playing time challenger. That remained in Week 11, but Harrison played less and Wilson played more.

Here’s the weekly snap share for Wilson throughout the season (per Pro Football Reference):

• 87.5%
• 86.2%
• 47.3%
• 86.8%
• 65.9%
• 43.4%
• 67.2%
• 84.6%
• 56.2%
• 75.8%

The Steelers have particularly disliked Wilson in run defense. And the past two weeks gave us:

• a 15-point defeat at the hands of the Chargers that found the opponent rushing 31 times
• a 22-point beatdown of the Bengals that found Cincinnati dropping back nearly twice as often as it ran the ball.

Keep that factor in mind as you decide whether to use Wilson in a given week.

This week pits the Steelers against a Bears team that has leaned on the run since its Week 5 bye.

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Week 12 IDP Waiver Wire: Rashan Gary Doesn't Just Stink Now ... Right?

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Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.