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Week 15 IDP Hits

Get Ahead of Next Year's Breakouts

Is next year’s breakout LB sitting on waivers in your dynasty league right now?

He might be. I can guarantee you that’s where Zack Baun was this time last year. Jamien Sherwood was probably hanging out with him, perhaps with E.J. Speed as well.

And the year before gave us Terrel Bernard and Ernest Jones.

We’ll, of course, learn more this offseason about players and situations that could produce the next group. But we can also stash some potential breakthroughs right now to avoid having to fight league mates for them later.

Rookie LBs to Stash

This trio has seen limited playing time this year but could find much bigger roles in 2025.

Edgerrin Cooper, Green Bay Packers

Cooper returns this week from a hamstring injury that cost him three games.

The second-round pick had seen role growth before the injury, including his two largest snap shares of the season his last two times out. But Cooper has yet to exceed 71% playing time and has yet to post attention grabbing stats.

He displayed cross-category scoring potential in college, though:

• 84 tackles
• 17 tackles for loss
• 8 sacks
• 8 career passes defensed
• 2 career INTs
• 3 career forced fumbles

Cooper then delivered a 90th-percentile speed score at the Combine and landed in a good spot.

Green Bay has consistently run two full-time LBs under HC Matt LaFleur. And No. 1 LB Quay Walker – a former first-round pick – hasn’t been all that good through three seasons.

He sits just 62nd this year in Pro Football Focus total-defense grade among 87 non-edge LBs who have played at least 200 snaps. And that’s up from Walker’s first two seasons.

There’s room for Cooper to overtake him as Green Bay’s top LB in 2025.

Junior Colson, Los Angeles Chargers

The third-round pick landed with his college HC and DC and quickly drew praise for his knowledge of the defense. 

But that has given way to modest usage in a rookie season that has also seen Colson navigate hamstring and ankle injuries. He returned last week from a four-game IR stint but ran third among LBs, even with Denzel Perryman out.

Colson’s probably not a great bet to overtake Daiyan Henley for 2025. But he could easily slot in next to Henley, with Perryman and Troy Dye both on one-year deals and proven to be limited contributors.

Colson’s not a super athlete for the position but was an effective tackle collector across three seasons at Michigan and then came off the board second among non-edge LBs as an early draft entrant.

Payton Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

I’ve mentioned Wilson a few times along the way and dug into his upside back in early June.

In short: 

• He was hyper-productive in college, leading to his 2023 sweep of the national Butkus (top LB) and Bednarik (top defensive player) awards.
• He tested well at the Combine (97th-percentile 40 time at 6’4, 233).
• And he fell in the draft because of significant injury questions (two ACL tears).

Wilson also turned 24 before he played his first NFL snap. All of that would make him a prospect to be wary of on the offensive side of fantasy.

Why?

Because you most likely would have had to pay more in rookie-draft capital for Wilson’s college production. And the far greater focus on offensive players means the drafter in your league would still be clinging to him.

The Difference on Defense

There’s simply less risk to betting on this profile among IDPs, though.

Wilson got drafted far less – and later when he did go – in dynasty leagues than an offensive version of his profile would have.

Wilson has flashed a few times as a rookie, most recently returning a fumble for a TD in the Week 13 win over Cincinnati. But he has also played just 45.5% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps this year and sits outside the top 50 LBs. So he’s probably freely available in many leagues.

Uncertainty for 2025

I don’t know what Pittsburgh will do at LB next season. 

Patrick Queen’s likely locked into one spot after signing a big three-year deal last offseason. Though even he’s headed for a much larger cap hit next year ($17.6 million vs. this year’s $6.1 million).

Cole Holcomb still has one year left on his deal, after losing all of this season to the recovery from last year’s knee injury. But he looks like a strong cut candidate with a $7.6 million 2025 cap hit vs. just $1.6 million in dead cap.

And Elandon Roberts – the veteran who has split time with Wilson all year – hits free agency in March ahead of his age-31 season.

There’s clearly opportunity for Wilson to claim a full-time role in his second year. And if that happens, he could be a fantasy revelation.

Cedric Gray, Tennessee Titans

Here’s a sneakier one … and the player among these four most likely to be sitting on your waiver wire.

The fourth-round pick has yet to play a defensive snap for the Titans. But that’s not really shocking. He opened the year on IR with a shoulder injury that kept him out through Week 8.

Gray returned to a LB corps that was already starting offseason addition Kenneth Murray and third-year man Jack Gibbens, following the trade of Ernest Jones to Seattle. Even after Gibbens went down for the season, veteran Jerome Baker was there.

Tennessee hasn’t had much reason to rush Gray along.

Perhaps it’s a bad sign that Gray still didn’t see the field in Week 14. With Murray and Baker both inactive, the Titans ran Luke Gifford and Otis Reese as full-timers.

But missing the first half of your rookie season is bound to set any player way back – especially a Day 3 pick.

What’s to Like?

Despite spending four years at UNC, Gray didn’t turn 22 until late October. That means he spent three years starting relatively young for the Tar Heels. And he posted impressive numbers.

Gray racked up 100+ tackles each of those three seasons, including a high of 145 in 2022. Over that span, he also delivered:

• 30 tackles for loss
• 13 passes defensed
• 8.5 sacks
• 6 forced fumbles
• 5 INTs
• 5 fumble recoveries

That collection of stats indicates a highly active player with range. Gray consistently earned positive pass-rushing and coverage grades from PFF, though he proved more variable as a run defender …

He also tested above average for the position at the Combine in:

• 40 time (67th percentile)
• Vertical (68th)
• And broad jump (68th)

Not a Lock for Pro Production

Now’s a good time to acknowledge that Gray might not help our dynasty teams at all. 

• He’s small for the position (47th-percentile height, 30th-percentile weight).
• He was merely a fourth-round pick despite four years in college and that aforementioned production.
• He went seventh among non-edge LBs in the draft

Perhaps he’s a career reserve and special-teams player.

But if he’s more than that, Gray’s in a good spot for opportunity.

Baker saw two teams dump him within the past year. Gibbens will be a restricted free agent in March coming off a nasty right-ankle injury. Murray’s got one more year on his Titans deal … but might be a cut candidate with a $10 million cap hit vs. $2.5 million in dead cap.

That all makes now a good time to stash Gray and then wait to see what happens.

Veteran LBs to Watch in Free Agency

These guys are headed for free agency in March, at ages young enough to keep them intriguing ... if they land well.

In alphabetical order:

• Divine Deablo, Las Vegas Raiders (2025 age: 27)
• Isaiah McDuffie, Green Bay Packers (26)
• Jack Sanborn, Chicago Bears (25 – restricted)
• Malik Harrison, Baltimore Ravens (27)

Every year presents us with at least a couple emergent veteran LBs who suddenly find opportunity. These four carry that kind of upside in the right spots.

All four will be more interesting if they sign with new teams. None qualifies as a “must” stash, though. So judge whether doing so makes sense for your situation.

Next week: Young Edge Players to Stash

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.