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Week 3 IDP Hits: Get to Know This New LB and More Risers

But Week 2 Also Found Some Fallers

Week 1 only started to answer our questions about plenty of nebulous situations.

Week 2 changed some things. It knocked some guys down and rebounded some others.

Most of all, though, it reminded us that we’re still figuring plenty of things out. So let’s apply that next round of playing-time data and see what it might mean for Week 3 and beyond.

Bengals Rookie LB Not Such a Sure Starter

Second-round LB Demetrius Knight played a solid 76% of the snaps and tallied 10 tackles (8 solo) plus a pass breakup in his NFL debut.

That snap share dipped to 58% last week, however, and Knight halved his Week 1 tackle total. Veteran journeyman Oren Burks picked up the extra snaps, climbing from 29% playing time in the opener to 45% last week.

I’ve seen no indication of injury to Knight, and Knight didn’t perform particularly well in coverage or run defense. Burks’ time both weeks has been split evenly between run and pass snaps. Knight, meanwhile, went from 65.5% pass snaps in the opener to 70.7% in Week 2.

We’ll see how playing time goes between them in Week 3.

Devin Lloyd Just Gonna Keep Screwing with Us?

Jaguars LB Devin Lloyd played an alarmingly low 34% of snaps in Jacksonville’s Week 1 victory over Carolina. That’s especially alarming for a fourth-year LB who’s working under a new coaching staff for a team that has already declined the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.

That playing time rebounded to 70% in Week 2, however, and Lloyd grabbed an INT to go with 5 tackles. Fortunately, that wasn’t enough to flash statistically in most formats.

I say fortunately because 70% playing time is not a high enough level to make Lloyd regularly usable in most IDP leagues. It’s also still short of his snap shares for each of the past three seasons:

• 2022 -- 80%
• 2023 -- 97%
• 2024 -- 79%

Lloyd remains a guy to avoid in most cases. We’ll see whether there’s any further evolution to his role.

Cardinals LB Rebounds ... Somewhat

I mentioned the poor Week 1 playing time for new Cardinals LB Akeem Davis-Gaither in last week's article. So it's only fair that I report his Week 2 improvement now.

The former Bengal climbed from 37% playing time in the opener to 62% in Week 2.

That's still not a level that'll put him in our IDP lineups in most cases. But it's clearly a big improvement. We'll see if ADG can reach relevance this season.

CB’s Return Alters Packers Secondary

CB Nate Hobbs started his first game for Green Bay in Week 2, coming off summer knee surgery. He played just 46% of the snaps, but that looked like a planned deployment rather than any setback with his knee. Hobbs’ final tackle came midway through the fourth quarter.

Hobbs -- primarily a slot corner for the Raiders before hitting free agency this offseason -- played 27 of his 32 defensive snaps on the outside in his Packers debut, according to Pro Football Focus.

That kept Javon Bullard running as the primary slot man for Green Bay in the win over Washington. And it knocked CB Carrington Valentine’s playing time down from 100% in the opener to 61% vs. the Commanders.

Expect Hobbs’ snaps to increase going forward, likely at Valentine’s expense unless Packers coaches decide they need better play in the slot (or an injury alters the lineup). Keisean Nixon remains the full-time starter at the other outside CB spot.

Micah Parsons Still Ramping Up

Parsons has delivered a solid 1.5 sacks through two games with the Packers despite a limited role coming off his inactive summer.

The edge star did increase his playing time from 45% in Week 1 to 68% last Thursday, but that still found him short of the 80-82% range he lived in with the Cowboys. Don’t be surprised if there’s another snap boost in Week 3.

Elsewhere in the Green Bay front seven: DL Karl Brooks jumped from 51% playing time in Week 1 to 70% against Washington. Brooks has been an interesting player since he was a 300-pound edge at Bowling Green. He’s now splitting time between end and DT.

Brooks isn’t making much of a statistical impact so far, though, and his PFF pass-rushing grade has dipped both from 2023 to 2024 and from last year to this year so far. He’ll get a lot less interesting if that doesn’t rebound -- and likely lose playing time in a crowded unit.

Titans Just Might Like Their Young LB

Second-year LB Cedric Gray slipped from 8 tackles in Week 1 to just 5 in Week 2. But that actually hid an increase in playing time.

Gray went from an 82% snap share in the opener to 93% in last Sunday’s loss to the Rams. And that came despite the opponent going 60-40 with its pass-run split.

Gray’s not likely to overtake LB Cody Barton in playing time this year. The veteran got $7 million a year on a three-year contract this offseason, with the first two years of that pact basically guaranteed.

But sharing the field with an overrated journeyman does help Gray’s chances of delivering numbers. Keep an eye on the young guy.

Let’s Appreciate What Jaelan Phillips is Doing

Phillips’ 2024 season ended in Week 4 thanks to an ACL tear in his right knee. That followed a 2023 cut short by a Week 12 tear in his right Achilles’ tendon.

Yet Phillips has played at least 40 snaps in each of this season’s first three games. He played exactly 40 in Week 1 and Week 2, and then 42 in Thursday night’s loss at Buffalo.

If you look at the snap percentages instead, you might think Miami is increasing his role:

• 55%
• 67%
• 70%

But the snap totals make it appear that Miami has a range it wants him to play. That play has yet to include any sacks or QB hits, but Phillips has improved his PFF pass-rushing grade each game. His 5 hurries against Buffalo produced a strong 86.4 grade. And now he gets a long rest before a Monday night home date with the Jets in Week 4.

Between that and a Week 5 visit to Carolina, Phillips might prove useful in sack-friendly formats.

Here’s a Mistake I’ll Probably Make Again

I didn’t want to list Trenton Simpson as my Ravens sleeper pick before the season. I didn’t believe in a guy with outstanding athleticism who failed to hold down the starting gig last year after posting just-OK stats at Clemson.

But I rolled with it after it became clear (I thought) that Baltimore was going back to him and Roquan Smith delivered a vote of confidence. Mistake. Turns out I shoulda just gone with my gut on rookie Teddye Buchanan.

After splitting time with Simpson in the opener (34% snap share for Buchanan, 31% for Simpson), Buchanan completely took over in Week 2.

The fourth-round rookie jumped to 82% playing time in the win over the Browns, while Simpson tumbled to 20.5%.

Buchanan’s been a dynasty stash, and he’s worth watching in deeper redraft formats as well. He brings high-level athleticism (76th-percentile 40 time, 94th-percentile vertical) and delivered big numbers in his lone season at Cal:

• 114 tackles
• 12 tackles for loss
• 5 sacks
• 4 passes defensed
• 2 forced fumbles

The season before that found Buchanan grabbing 3 INTs at Cal-Davis. 

We’ll see if his Week 2 playing-time level holds.

Here’s Why I’ll Probably Repeat the Mistake

I know I’m going to be wrong about some players. I’ll like some prospects who turn into nothing. And I’ll dislike some who quickly become productive pros.

That doesn’t mean I’ll be automatically changing my projection if a guy gets drafted earlier than expected or lands a starting job I didn’t think he deserved. But a little humility’s gonna help the rankings more than it will hurt them.

So I’ll defer at times to NFL team decisions. They’re digging into the players more deeply than I am, monitoring them more closely, and deciding exactly what they want those players to be doing.

But I’ll also keep watching for the factors I believe they’re underrating.

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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.