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Week 6 IDP Hits: You Need to Know About These LB Changes

Plus: Why Might Barrett Carter and Malik Mustapha Matter?

The most difficult, most asked fantasy question of Week 6 has been which Chargers RB to play in the wake of Omarion Hampton’s ankle injury.

I don’t have that answer for you here, of course. It’s an IDP article. You can check your Team Intel page to get that answer tailored to your situation (with the caveat that we’re all guessing at that work split).

But I lead off with that IDP-irrelevant to introduce similar situations in a lot of LB corps around the league.

If you play in a shallower IDP league, you might be able to just ignore these LB committees. But some of them include players who have impacted scoring through the first third of the season. So let’s try to sort them out.

Ravens LBs Deliver Numbers Without Roquan Smith

Smith sat out the Week 5 loss to Houston after leaving the previous game early with a hamstring injury. In his absence, rookie Teddye Buchanan played every snap and racked up 15 tackles, including 8 solos and 1 tackle for loss.

Third-year LB Trenton Simpson also stayed on the field for 94% of snaps, trailing just Buchanan and the two safety starters in playing time. He contributed 10 tackles (4 solo) and a sack.

I have both projected for 90+% playing time this week, with Smith out again. You’ll find Buchanan a good bit higher in the Week 6 LB rankings, though. I remain skeptical of Simpson.

Both got a Week 5 boost from the Ravens D staying on the field for 70 plays (compared with 43 for the Houston D in that game). And a weak Texans O-line didn’t hurt either.

E.J. Speed Takes Over (Kinda)

Speaking of Houston, the Texans D has voluntarily shifted LB playing time over the past two weeks. That began with starter Henry To’oTo’o getting his snap share halved in Week 4, as he lost the rest to E.J. Speed.

Last Sunday’s game then found Speed taking over the starting role. But To’oTo’o also remained involved. Speed played 65% of the snaps, with To’oTo’o in for 58%.

The Lamar Jackson-less matchup played into that work split some. No. 1 LB Azeez Al-Shaair played just 88% of snaps in a lopsided victory that found no Houston defender playing 100%.

We’ll see what the LB alignment looks like after the Week 6 bye. Neither speed nor To’oTo’o would be usable by the Week 5 split.

The Problem with Demetrius Knight

If you just look at his weekly tackle totals, you might not realize the big issue with Bengals rookie LB Demetrius Knight.

The second-round pick has seen fluctuating playing time through the first five weeks. Check out these unpredictable snap shares:

• 76%
• 58%
• 62%
• 88%
• 58%

Last week marked the first time this season that Cincinnati left Knight out of the starting lineup. Oren Burks got the nod, though he played just 21% of the snaps for the game.

Knight entered the mix before the end of the first quarter. But he also shared time with fellow rookie Barrett Carter.

The 53% snap share for Carter marked a season high, and his third straight week of an increase in total defensive snaps.

Carter notably graded out as Cincinnati’s second-best run defender for that game against Detroit. That has been Knight’s worst area thus far, and this week brings a run-heavy Packers offense.

Don’t be surprised if we get more Carter again. All that means for IDP lineups right now is that you should avoid playing Knight. We’ll see how the situation develops.

Cam Taylor-Britt Demoted

Elsewhere in the Cincinnati defense, CB Cam Taylor-Britt can’t be happy with the way this season has started.

First, he got benched early in the Week 4 Monday night loss to Denver. He said that got him angry and vowed to rebound. Bengals DC Al Golden reportedly said ahead of the Week 5 clash with Detroit that he would “need” Taylor-Britt.

That might’ve been true, but Cincinnati played the corner for just 35.5% of the snaps while allowing 37 points. The team’s “unofficial” depth chart now lists the former starter as backup to Josh Newton, with DJ Turner II at the other outside spot and Dax Hill at nickel.

Playing-Time Downturn for Cardinals LB

Arizona’s Akeem Davis-Gaither posted a season-low 5 tackles in last Sunday’s loss to Tennessee, and I can tell you a key reason: He played his second-fewest snaps of the season.

Check out Davis-Gaither’s snap shares by week:

• 37.3%
• 62.4%
• 80.0%
• 78.8%
• 55.2%

The problem appears to be his play in coverage. ADG’s working on the second-worst PFF coverage grade of his career for the season, and that grade has declined each week. His yards allowed per reception have also increased each of the past three games, which could signal that offenses are targeting the LB.

At the least, the wavering snap shares make Davis-Gaither difficult to trust in fantasy lineups.

Week 6 Outlook Includes Some Wrinkles

This week’s matchup with the Colts looks bad for ADG’s chances. TE Tyler Warren ranks second on the team in targets, drawing 61% of his looks in the short (0-9 yard) range. WR Josh Downs ranks third and has seen 81% of his targets in that range.

If LB Mack Wilson is active -- an ankle injury has him questionable -- then don’t be surprised if we get a limited Davis-Gaither role again.

If Wilson sits, we might get a busy Davis-Gaither. His lost snaps last week appeared to go primarily to S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, rather than any other LB. Indy probably wouldn’t want to go even heavier with the extra-safety alignments against the Colts, with Jonathan Taylor likely headed for a large workload.

We Might Have Just Gotten a Flippening in Carolina

LB Christian Rozeboom still leads LB Trevin Wallace in playing time for the season, but that changed in Week 5.

DC Ejiro Evero shifted green-dot (defensive play-calling) duties to Wallace, who played every snap for the first time this season. That followed a season-high 94% snap share for him in Week 4.

Rozeboom, meanwhile, went from 100% snap shares the first four weeks to just 69% against the Dolphins. And the altered lineup held Miami to just 248 total yards, including only 19 on the ground.

That was the second-lowest yardage total for the Dolphins this season and lowest rushing output by a wide margin.

Expect that to be enough to keep Wallace as the lead guy going forward. Frankly -- as I’ve mentioned here before -- I was surprised Carolina didn’t start that way. Rozeboom has always been a limited player.

Of course, Wallace managed just 4 tackles in that game. So he still needs to prove he’s worth any IDP attention.

Raiders LB Gets Elevated Opportunity

Roberts got a big playing-time boost in Week 5 with LB Germaine Pratt’s surprise deactivation. Roberts had topped out at 67% playing time through the first four weeks but jumped to 94% at Indy.

The Raiders have since released Pratt, which should secure Roberts in that No. 2 LB role. And they should have little reason to remove him from the field against a Tennessee offense that’s been terrible at throwing the ball.

The biggest limitation for Roberts’ scoring potential this week might be a Titans matchup that has lacked opportunities for LBs. But there’s room for Roberts to become a solid tackle collector the rest of the way.

This Chargers Defender Might be Droppable

LB Denzel Perryman returned to practice this week from the ankle injury that knocked him out just eight snaps into the season opener. He’s questionable for Sunday’s game at Miami but finished the week with a pair of full practices.

Perryman’s certainly not playable in IDP lineups this week, but his return could turn Troy Dye back into a reserve.

We haven’t gotten a full game this season with both guys involved, but Dye played just 54% of the snaps in Week 1. And he didn’t reach a 33% snap share last year in any game that involved Perryman.

I wouldn’t got dropping Dye yet. Besides not knowing whether Perryman will play this week, we also don’t know whether Dye has done enough to alter the defensive plan. We should start to get those answers this week (or next if Perryman’s inactive vs. Miami; I expect he’ll play).

Veteran LB Returns for Eagles

Philadelphia has its own developing situation at LB, where Nakobe Dean made his return from injury for the Thursday night loss to the Giants.

Dean had been working back from a torn left patellar tendon he suffered in the playoff win over Green Bay. But the Eagles basically moved on from him three months after that by drafting LB Jihaad Campbell late in Round 1.

Campbell did see a slight downturn in snaps Thursday night (90% after four straight games of 95% or more), but Dean didn’t play a defensive snap. He got on the field for just six special-teams reps.

I wouldn’t bet on Dean cutting into Campbell’s playing time, but there might be room for them to co-exist in the defense some.

Campbell has spent about 21% of his snaps on the edge so far, according to PFF. And an Eagles team with just 9 sacks through six games might need more of him in that role.

Campbell and Zack Baun each rank among the top 4 Eagles in pass-rush win rate, joined by Edge Josh Uche (who plays limited snaps) and CB Cooper DeJean (who has three total pass rushes for the season).

Fantasy takeaway for the moment: Campbell remains usable. We’ll see what happens with Dean.

49ers Get Young Safety Back

S Malik Mustapha took a big step this week in his return from the ACL tear he suffered in last season’s finale. The 49ers opened his 21-day practice window, and Mustapha put in full workouts all week.

He’s still officially questionable for the game and likely wouldn’t play a big role even if active. But Mustapha quickly climbed from Round 4 pick to full-time starter (Week 4) last season.

Mustapha’s return could be bad news for either Marques Sigle or Jason Pinnock. Each guy has played every defensive snap through five games, but neither looks invulnerable in his role.

We’ll see where this goes.

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Week 6 IDP Waiver Wire: Get Jihaad Campbell Before Thursday Night

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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.