Fantasy: Sophomore Spotlight – Daryl Washington

This week's Sophomore Spotlight takes a look at Arizona Cardinals' middle linebacker, Daryl Washington, after he won the public vote on who to be covered next with 28.6% of the vote, narrowly beating out Sean Weatherspoon (21.4%).

Only a one year starter for the TCU Horned Frogs, Washington posted 109 tackles and 11.5 for a loss in 2009 before declaring himself eligible for the NFL draft. Thought to be slightly undersized for the pro game, his speed, coverage ability and interior pass-rush skills saw him drafted by the Arizona Cardinals 47^th overall. Landing in the Cardinals 3-4 system looked to be a good fit, but Ken Wisenhunt’s propensity for not starting rookies made Washington a suspect fantasy option as a rookie.

Worries that Washington wouldn’t see enough of the field to be fantasy relevant were not realized when starting ILB Gerald Hayes was placed on the PUP list in early September with a back injury. However, Hayes return in week 9 saw Washington demoted to a back-up role, meaning he only saw the field for 24 snaps over the next five weeks. So why is Washington being regarded as an IDP sleeper heading into the 2011 season?

Although Hayes resumed his starting role on his return, his poor play in those five games (-3.5) saw Washington reinstated in to the line-up against the Broncos in week 14. Playing 72.6% of snaps in the final four games of the year Washington graded +6.8, prompting the Cardinals to release Hayes and install him as the fulltime starter entering the new season. With reports from Cardinals camp indicating Washington is taking nickel snaps with the first team, his value for 2011 has taken a significant boost, along with his playing time.

When given the opportunity Washington showed his ability to hold the middle of the field. He was our 18^th best ILB (+12.1) last year and recorded 70 total tackles (+6.3 against the run) in his 11 starts, which projects to 102 over 16 games. Even more impressive was Washington’s tackle frequency (snaps/solo tackles) of 12.9%, higher than IDP studs Patrick Willis (10.0%), Jerod Mayo (10.3%) and Lawrence Timmons (9.8%), highlighting his potential for even higher tackle numbers.

Having been touted for his coverage ability, Washington struggled to defend the pass before his demotion. He allowed 21 of 24 passes to be completed, including five games of 100% completion rates and 167 yards (124 YAC). A dramatic change came though once he replaced Hayes after week 14 as he allowed just 9 yards on four passes (36.4%). It will be interesting to see if opposing quarterbacks will test him early in 2011 as it will increase his opportunity to make plays.

We’re expecting over a 100% increase in snaps for Washington this year which makes him an excellent sleeper candidate, especially in leagues with casual players who aren’t scouring training camp reports. Our projection model ranks him as a low-end LB2, but he has the potential to rank even higher.

A player with significant upside, Washington is drawing comparisons to Lawrence Timmons due to his blitzing ability and a former Pittsburgh coordinator as his head coach. Even though he only charted 1 sack and 5 total quarterback disruptions, he only blitzed on 34 plays, suggesting if given the opportunity he could pad his scoring with several sacks. He’s our #6 linebacker in dynasty leagues and should be locked into an every-down role for the foreseeable future in Arizona.

Questions and comments are always welcome via Twitter – @PFF_RossMiles. For the previous articles in the Sophomore Spotlight series see: Eric Berry, Joe Haden, Rolando McClain, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh.