IDPs You’re Sleeping On: AFC East

Alexander Onushco Posted On February 8, 2016

easley

Ah, the off-season. It’s finally that time of year again, where draft picks are worth their weight in gold and dynasty owners spend their nights dreaming about the untapped “potential” of their end-of-roster fliers.

This is also a time when many IDP owners treat their defense like an on-again, off-again girlfriend: neglecting it in favor of sexier skill position players on offense. I’m here to try and put an end to the neglect, because those owners who focus solely on offense during the off-season will wake up one day in early September with guilt in their hearts and wondering what happened to their defense.

Fortunately, it can be relatively easy to find cheap IDPs in the off-season who turn into difference-making fantasy assets. Just ask those owners who acquired defensive tackle Kawann Short or linebacker Malcolm Smith early last year. With any luck, some of the players identified in this series can find similar success on your team in 2016 and beyond.

Also, I’m new around here, and as those closest to me can attest, have a fragile self-esteem. So please play nice in the comments. I’ve seen how some of you act in the forum. Savages.

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Ty Powell, LB BUF

In most IDP leagues, linebackers are the cornerstone of a solid defense – particularly those that play on the inside or weakside. As such, you will see many of them throughout this series, beginning with Ty Powell of the Buffalo Bills.

Powell’s path to playing time has, to this point, been obstructed due to injury and limited opportunities. The Bills rolled out a starting trio of Manny Lawson (SLB), Preston Brown (MLB) and Nigel Bradham (WLB) last season, but throughout much of the off-season, it was Powell’s name being bandied about by head coach Rex Ryan. He was attracting the attention of coaches for all the right reasons – right up until he tore his ACL in mid-August. Prior to that point, however, Powell looked like a favorite for back-up duties at worst, with the possibility for an increased role as the season progressed.

This off-season, the two obstacles blocking Powell’s path to IDP relevance should be gone: he will be nearly a full year removed from his ACL injury and, more importantly, he will have a prime opportunity for significant playing time. Current weakside linebacker Bradham is an unrestricted free agent and is unlikely to return to the team, given he is likely to price himself out of the cash-strapped Bills’ price range.

With Bradham’s likely departure, Powell should get first crack at trying to replace his role in the starting lineup. He certainly has the athleticism for the position: he was a defensive back early on in his college career and ran a 4.64 forty at the combine in 2013. If given the opportunity to assume Bradham’s 745 snaps from last year, there is no reason to believe Powell can’t manage 80-90 tackles with a handful of sacks and turnovers.

Calvin Pryor, S NYJ

Calvin Pryor’s first two seasons in the NFL have been plagued by inconsistent play and injuries, but his two interceptions, one forced fumble and six defended passes last year prove that he can be a difference maker. Known more as a hard-hitting safety, people may be surprised to know that he actually finished the 2015 season with a +6.3 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, good for ninth best among all safeties.

His spot on this sleeper list, however, has little to do with his past production and more to do with his future. Rumors have swirled about how the Jets may be looking to use a safety/linebacker hybrid next year, similar to Deone Bucannon of the Arizona Cardinals and Mark Barron of the Los Angeles Rams. This rumor makes sense on multiple accounts, greatest of which is the fact that the Jets do not have any linebackers adept in coverage. Couple that with the fact that Pryor is of similar size (albeit slightly smaller) and skillset compared to Bucannon and Barron, and this seems like a match made in IDP heaven.

If Pryor were to convert to a hybrid role (and assuming full health), it would be reasonable to expect him to place closer to 900 snaps on defense in an every-down role. Considering the Jets don’t have any true three-down linebackers, Pryor would have more opportunities for tackles and turnovers in his new role.

Dominique Easley, DT NEP

While it’s true that defensive tackles share the bottom rung of the IDP ladder with cornerbacks, they do still have their place in most leagues, particularly those which differentiate between defensive ends and defensive tackles.

Easley shares a common theme with the two other players on this list: his path to fantasy relevance has been blocked by playing time and injuries. His effectiveness while on the field, however, has never been in question. In fact, he was arguably the Patriots’ most effective defensive tackle:

patriots dt

Despite playing the second-least snaps of New England’s top five defensive tackles, Easley still managed 17 more quarterback disruptions than the next closest player. That next closest player, by the way, is Akiem Hicks – an unrestricted free agent unlikely to return to the team given the current sorry state of their salary cap (only three other teams have less cap space).

It would be easy to assume that Easley, the team’s best defensive tackle, would assume the majority of Hicks’ 311 snaps from last year while also eating into the playing time of less-effective players like Branch and Siliga. Should that happen, the third-year pro would be looking at close to 600 snaps, which puts him in excellent position to stuff the stat sheet. 50 tackles and 7-10 sacks would be well within his reach.

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