IDP advice: 3-down linebackers around the league entering Week 9

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.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jason Pierre-Paul was activated and played 70% of snaps while Shaquil Barrett had his playing time reduced from 77% of snaps to about 58%. The Bucs also used a lot fewer subpackages against the Titans, but it’s worth noting that Devin White wasn’t on the field nearly as much when they were being used.

Tennessee Titans — Jayon Brown returned to the field after dealing with an injury and played almost every single snap while Wesley Woodyard returned to his much smaller role.

Arizona Cardinals — Haason Reddick was only on the field in subpackages against the Saints. His usage went from 90% to about 46%. There was a clear split with Joe Walker, who took 54% of snaps exclusively in base packages. Cassius Marsh suffered a concussion during the game after a few snaps.

Indianapolis Colts — Bobby Okereke played about 52% of snaps, exclusively in base packages.

Jacksonville Jaguars — Quincy Williams did not play because of an injury and his role was filled by Austin Calitro. Leon Jacobs also did not play, which left Joe Giles-Harris to take his place in a very limited base package role.

New York Jets — C.J. Mosley did not play, which left James Burgess an opportunity to see the field for the first time this year since preseason. He played all but three defensive snaps.

New York Giants — Just a minor usage swap since last week. David Mayo saw about 62% of snaps, up from 45%, and Oshane Ximines saw 45%, down from 55%. This is a situation worth monitoring since the Giants have had so many injuries and role changes over the last several weeks.

Oakland Raiders — Justin Phillips did not play and ended up getting waived by the Raiders. They barely used any base against the Texans, but when they did they had Kyle Wilber on the field.

Buffalo Bills — Matt Milano returned to his every-down role after missing last week with an injury. Lorenzo Alexander played almost every snap in Week 7 against Miami but was limited to only 42% of snaps in Week 8 against Philadelphia, mostly in base packages.

Los Angeles Chargers — Melvin Ingram III returned to the field after missing a few weeks with an injury. Uchenna Nwosu saw the field a lot less upon Ingram’s return going from 60% in Week 7 to 20% in Week 8.

Minnesota Vikings — Ben Gedeon played every base package snap in his first game back since Week 5.

Kansas City Chiefs — Damien Wilson saw a lot more playing this week, going from 49% of snaps to 82%. Ben Niemann didn’t get as much action against the Packers after seeing only 19% of snaps down from 50%. Reggie Ragland saw a small boost in his snaps and almost hit the 50% mark up from 37%, mostly in base packages.

Pittsburgh Steelers — Mark Barron got back on the field for the first time since Week 5 and played 66% of snaps mostly in subpackages. Vince Williams still saw the field about the same amount but was used more in base packages.

Miami Dolphins — Sam Eguavoen saw a huge boost in snaps from 27% to 78%. Raekwon McMillan played almost exclusively in base packages against the Steelers, but his snap percentages did not take too much of a hit going 72% to 64%.

Check below for the breakdown for each team.

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