IDP advice: 3-down linebackers around the league entering Week 11

No matter the position in fantasy football, playing time is one of the biggest drivers of success. In IDP leagues, a lot of linebackers shuffle on and off the field, but a precious few are full-time, three-down linebackers, and those players have the most opportunities for fantasy success.

Each week in this space, we’ll take a look at the linebacker situations around the league to identify the key playing time considerations and shifting jobs for IDP fantasy players to take advantage of. Check out the chart at the bottom for the full breakdown. First, a few notes on some standout situations.

Los Angeles Chargers — Denzel Perryman did not play due to an injury, which bumped up Drue Tranquill to an every-down role in Week 10.

Chicago Bears — Danny Trevathan left the game with an injury after 17 snaps and allowed Nick Kwiatkoski to step in and play 78% of snaps.

Cleveland Browns — Adarius Taylor played every snap in Base defense in Week 9, but Base was used much less against the Bills this week, and it’s worth noting his small role was taken over by Sione Takitaki.

Baltimore Ravens — Josh Bynes saw a small jump in snaps from 37% to 60%.

Tennessee Titans — Jayon Brown did not play because of injury so the Titans used Wesley Woodyard a bit more, going up to 76% of snaps from 56%.

Atlanta Falcons — Before their bye week, De’Vondre Campbell saw the field on 94% of snaps, but his usage was scaled back to about 70% against the Saints. This left an opportunity for Foyesade Oluokun to play 44% of snaps, which is the most playing time he has seen since Week 1.

Los Angeles Rams — Clay Matthews returned after missing several weeks and played 78% of snaps. Samson Ebukam saw the field on 42% of snaps down from 75% as a result of Matthews returning, almost exclusively in Base packages. Troy Reeder went back to his small role and only played 9 snaps, all in Base defense.

Pittsburgh Steelers — The workload for Devin Bush took a major hit in Week 10. He only saw the field 45% of snaps down from 94% in Week 9.

Dallas Cowboys — Leighton Vander Esch returned to the field after missing some time and played nearly every single defensive snap. Joe Thomas returned to his small role playing only 14 snaps while Sean Lee went from an almost every down role to exclusively Base defense on 60% of snaps.

Cincinnati Bengals — Preston Brown was released by the team after playing only 16 snaps against the Ravens. Rookie Germaine Pratt saw a nice increase from 25% of snaps to 50%. The Bengals also used very little Base defense in Week 10, but Jordan Evans was on the field for each of those snaps.

Check below for the breakdown for each team.

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