IDP Watch: Week 9

Steve Wyremski

IDP leagues can be won with some preemptive in-season pickups or trading for players who are on the rise, but whom the masses have not picked up on. Each week, we’ll detail a handful of IDP players or trends essential for dynasty players to be aware of.

Often, things like quarterback hurries, quarterback knockdowns, or snap counts don’t appear in the box scores. These are huge indicators of potential value changes that may be forthcoming as they show a particular player is getting after the quarterback and a string of sacks may be on the horizon or a linebacker may be coming off of the field more than originally expected.

Here are some players to keep an eye on based on week nine performances:

Matt Elam, FS, BAL

Coming into 2013 and out of the NFL draft, many expected Elam to start in the Ravens’ strong safety spot vacated by Bernard Pollard’s. It’s been James Ihedigbo who’s assumed that role, though. That’s pushed Elam to free safety, which has really limited his tackle production thus far. He’s only averaging three tackles a game, which is killing IDP owners who drafted him as one of the top rookie IDP options. He’s still a great strong safety fit, so patience is going to be important with Elam. It just doesn’t look like he’ll have much use in 2013 given the free safety time.

Casey Hayward, CB, GB

Hayward was a top rookie corner option in 2012, but he missed the first six games of 2013 with a hamstring injury. Returning to action in week eight and nine, he’s played roughly 50 percent of the team’s snaps as the Packers’ slot corner. Hayward is a playmaker with excellent ball skills making him a nice big play option at cornerback. Tramon Williams and Sam Shields are the starting corners right now, but given Hayward’s phenomenal play out of the slot in 2012 he should again return to IDP relevance and become a reliable corner option. He’ll still see ample snaps in the majority of match ups. The struggle for Hayward will be the injury to Aaron Rodgers, which should prove to slow down the pace of opposing offenses as compared to when Rodgers is under center. That said, without Rodgers in week nine against the Bears, he was still viable with five tackles (led the team) and two assists. He’s a worthy consideration in corner required leagues.

Khaseem Greene, WLB, CHI

With Lance Briggs out for a few weeks due to injury, Greene is taking his spot in the lineup. However, he’s not mirroring Briggs’ role as Greene is not playing every down. Against the Packers, Greene only played 24 snaps, but he was extremely active with four tackles in that limited time. This efficiency shows that he’s a perfect long-term stash player given his explosiveness and ability to defend the run. He’s one of my favorite long-term linebacker options who is currently undervalued.

Bruce Carter, ILB, DAL

We continue to highlight Carter on a weekly basis. Another negative for Carter he didn’t start and played less snaps than fellow weakside linebacker, Ernie Sims. The silver lining is that Carter outplayed Sims on the field and in the box score. Maybe his second benching of the season served to motivate Carter. We can only hope and wait. He’s currently unreliable.

Manti T’eo, ILB, SD

Since week five, Te’o has played roughly 70 percent of the team’s snaps. This past week, he saw his most significant playing time as a pro on 78 percent of team’s snaps. This volume of snaps is partially a result of Donald Butler missing time with an injury, but Te’o is at least getting an opportunity. He’s not playing as poorly as many expected, but he hasn’t made much of an impact given the increased time, either. He did finish week nine with four tackles and five assists, which was his best performance of the year, but the Chargers also faced an above average number of tackle opportunities against the Redskins. Continue to keep an eye on Te’o because he’s seeing the snaps, but the impact of Butler returning down the line and the fact that Te’o hasn’t been terribly productive in the box score should cause pause. He’s not someone I’m interested in owning in dynasty leagues right now. In fact, Andrew Gachkar has been more productive than Te’o in recent weeks.

weatherspoonSean Weatherspoon, WLB, ATL

Weatherspoon appears to be healthy following a foot injury that put him on short-term injured reserve earlier this season. He returned to practice earlier this week and looks like he’ll return to the lineup a week from Sunday against the Buccaneers. The natural inclination for a player who’s been injured for a significant period of time is to undervalue him. That’s exactly what’s happening across IDP leagues right now and because of that, he’s a worthy buy target. He’s one of the better weakside linebacker options and still quite young. There’s no reason to believe that he won’t be productive for a number of years to come.

Pat Angerer, ILB, IND

Over the last two weeks, Angerer’s snap count has increased substantially. Against the Broncos and the Texans, he played over 89 percent of the Colts’ snaps. Last week, he finished with seven tackles and four assists and has now made a meaningful impact two weeks in a row. In particular, he played well in run support against the Texans suggesting that he may now finally be healthy after his 2012 foot injury presenting an interesting opportunity for IDP owners to acquire this young linebacker. He’s been a top linebacker before and he looks to be returning to form.

Da’Norris Searcy, FS/SS, BUF

Jairus Byrd returned to the Bills’ safety rotation in week six and slowly worked his way back into the starting lineup at free safety. Over the last two weeks, Byrd has started at free safety and Aaron Williams slid back into the strong safety starting spot. That’s resulted in a big cut to Searcy’s snaps, as well as his production. After being a favorite sleeper all off-season (including of mine) and a strong start to 2013 due to his big play performances, Searcy now safely belongs on the IDP bench until something changes. It doesn’t appear that Searcy is one of defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s guys. A decision will need to be made by the Bills on Byrd this offseason, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bring in another option at safety and leave Searcy out of the mix.

Shea McClellin, DE, CHI

Over the last four weeks, McClellin has started each game at defensive end for the Bears. In those starts, he’s amassed three quarterback hits, eight hurries, three sacks (all last week), ten tackles, and six assists. In those games, he’s also played anywhere from 73 percent to 96 percent of the team’s snaps. There’s now a complete three man rotation at defensive end among Julius Peppers, Corey Wooten, and McClellin. McClellin’s week nine breakout is a great sign for IDP owners given his struggles to date in both run support and passing situations. However, while this is a phenomenal performance for the young end, keep an eye on him to see whether he builds of this or returns to his struggling ways. McClellin may still be a bit undersized to play the 4-3 defensive end position and (long-term) a better fit at 3-4 outside linebacker, but Monday’s production is encouraging.

Deep Dynasty Looks:

Shiloh Keo, FS, HOU

DJ Swearinger got most of the attention last week, but it’s been Keo who performed well in the Texans’ secondary on 77 percent of the team’s snaps. In that time, he put up six tackles to lead the team for the week. His production on limited snaps in weeks six and seven earned him increased reps last week and expect that to continue.

Jeff Heath, SS, DAL

Quietly, Heath started last two weeks for the Cowboys and played almost 100% of the team’s snaps. There was some buzz this preseason that Heath may be an undrafted free agent gem. Given injuries in the Cowboys’ secondary, he’s seeing significant time and getting his chance. Keep an eye out for him.

Follow Steve on Twitter at @SteveWyremski.