Seven IDP Fantasy Football Stats You Need to Know from Week 12

It is week 13 already!

I have no doubt you are not even watching the NFL this week, as you will be glued to England vs Senegal in the World Cup. If by the off-chance you are still tuning into the NFL, here’s some pointers that might help your teams out.

1. Javon Hargrave has been (arguably) the most efficient interior rusher in the NFL this season

Until fairly recently Hargrave was seen as a specialist, run-stuffing nose tackle. But now he’s a pass-rushing stud as an Eagle.

This is yet another reminder that so often players perform as they are asked to do on NFL defenses. Their actual skill sets are often broader than we give them credit for.

When players start moving teams in free agency, and you try to figure out draft prospects, remember this. Given a different system and different responsibilities, players can often surprise us with how good they are at doing things we have not seen them do before.

2. Lorenzo Carter leads all NFL edges with 84 coverage snaps this season

Just behind him is Kyle Van Noy (who started the season playing more linebacker) on 80, and Andrew Van Ginkel on 62.

The Falcons’ Carter has played 668 total defensive snaps, so he’s spent a little over 12% in coverage. And remember the Falcons are among the worst defenses in the NFL. So, it’s not exactly been a roaring success.

His 84 coverage snaps have come across 12 games. So on average he’s dropping seven snaps per game – a little under twice per quarter.

The days of edge players (regardless of your stance on 3-4 vs 4-3 defenses) being useful coverage options are gone. Any objections or worries or concerns about certain players having to cover or not depending on what team they’re joining or leaving is mostly nonsense and you should heartily ignore it.

3. Devin Lloyd has already played more than any rookie LB did in 2021…

…Except Micah Parsons.

Even after he was dropped last week, Lloyd is on 654 defensive snaps for the season.

In 2021, Nick Bolton led all rookies (except Parsons because he’s a special case) with 623, and we still have several weeks remaining. Obviously being benched for a lower-round rookie isn’t a great look, but Lloyd has already had a hugely successful rookie season. There’s every chance he remains a good, long-term IDP prospect and asset. Playing this position as a rookie is hard.

Lloyd owners may well be feeling nervous this week – for this season, as well as the longer term. It’s well worth testing their resolve to see if you can prise him away. They’re unlikely to accept a big discount on where they drafted him but getting their investment back may well seem like a good escape route for them. Give it a go.

4. Desmond King is back to playing outside corner

Since Tavierre Thomas returned from injury in week nine, King has played mostly as an outside corner again, just like he did (to very little effect) in 2021.

The following chart shows the alignment of Texans corners from week ten onwards:

It’s safe to say that with Thomas around, the Texans think King is best deployed outside. Unfortunately, he’s just… not very good at playing that role. It’s a real problem for this defense, and it squanders the abilities of an excellent IDP.

In terms of King’s value, then obviously it’s virtually zero. This is mainly just another reason why you should trust absolutely nothing about this defense until the current staff and hierarchy are well gone. We can only hope that happens sooner rather than later.

5. Budda Baker has quietly gone back to being the top-tackling safety in 2022

He’s the red dot on the following chart. Baker has been a good example of how volatile safeties are in IDP, but a few good weeks on a fairly high-volume defense has shot him back up to the top.

He only has one pick, and zero sacks for the season, so he’s not the stud he was a couple of years ago, but he’s been a very solid starter up until this point this season.

6. Right now, the Panthers have played 155 more defensive snaps than the Rams have

Yes, the Panthers have played an extra game. But they’ve been averaging about 66 snaps per game. So clearly, it’s a much bigger deal than that.

Regardless, IDP ranks and points don’t account for that. Right now Panthers players are way above their Rams equivalents because they’ve played the equivalent of two more games than them. This is the sort of thing that becomes a big deal over time.

7. Cowboys linebacker Damone Clark has managed 129 defensive snaps over the past four weeks

40 snaps a week is hardly that exciting in the IDP world but the Cowboys are firmly a single-LB team these days, and Leighton Vander Esch is hardly the picture of reliable health.

Clark is not really startable in most formats yet. He played 55th-most snaps among LBs in weeks eight, 11 and 12 combined. But LBs are hard to find and this is encouraging.

It seems clear that the coaches trust him at least a bit, and there’s a decent chance that could turn into a serious opportunity if injury strikes, or in 2023. These are the sort of stashes you should be looking for at this stage of the season.