Eyes of the Guru IDP Info, Week 17

It has been a long, grueling season, but if you are reading this, chances are, your hard work and diligence brought you to the cusp of a championship. Here we go for one last ride as we try to put an exclamation point at the end of this season's story.

Arizona Cardinals

Anyone who finds themselves in need of a stream play at linebacker this week might want to see if Krys Barnes is an option. With Josh Woods landing on IR last week, Barnes stepped into the lead role at middle linebacker. He was on the field for all but one defensive snap, putting up a solid 6-3 against the Bears. The Eagles have gone from being a top-shelf matchup for linebackers early in the year to a below-average one over the last several weeks, but the thing we have seen with Barnes over his entire career, when he gets on the field, he makes tackles, regardless of the matchup.

There is some speculation that Owen Pappoe could become a factor for the Cardinals next year. His first significant playing time of the season came in week 16 when Pappoe played about half of the defensive snaps. His numbers were not exciting but at least we - and the Cardinals - are getting a look over the last few games.

Atlanta Falcons

Richie Grant was benched in week 15 when he saw just a handful of snaps. He had a bigger role against the Colts, but not as big as his stat line of 4-1-1 with a forced fumble would suggest. DeMarcco Hellams (5-2) got the start at strong safety and was on the field for 68 of 71 plays, while Grant logged just 27. Maybe the Falcons should limit Grant to less than 40% of the snaps every week.

Baltimore Ravens

Kyle Hamilton was a game-winner for at least two managers in the last contest of week 16. That would be the two managers that played him against me. He was light enough on the tackle totals at 3-2, but the two interceptions were game-changers for his team and a lot of IDP managers. He may have helped you through to the finals, but don't count on him for this week. Hamilton left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury and was ruled out unusually quickly.

Buffalo Bills

Terrel Bernard gave us a scare with a non-contact injury early in the game. Those are often bad news, but he was able to return in the second half. Keep an eye on his status later in the week. The Patriots are a middle-of-the-road matchup for linebackers on the season but have allowed the most points to the position since week ten, by a wide margin. Bernard piled up fantasy points when these teams met in week seven, to the tune of 9-2 and a fumble recovery.

The Patriots are an average matchup for safeties, but if you are in a pinch, Taylor Rapp is 13-4 in the last two games as an injury replacement for Micah Hyde.

Carolina Panthers

Frankie Luvu has been streaky this year. In weeks one through five, he reached double-digit points once. He followed that with at least eleven points in five straight, then back to single-digits for four before a big game versus the Packers last week at 6-4-1 and a forced fumble. If the pattern holds, he should give us a solid outing this week against a Jaguars squad that has allowed the second most points to linebackers on the season.

Cincinnati Bengals

In last week's column, I speculated that Josh Tupou would get the biggest spike in playing time with the loss of D.J. Reader Jr. Tupou is more of a one-technique type which fits the position, but it was Zach Carter who saw the big increase in snaps, logging 73% against the Steelers.

Cleveland Browns

D'Anthony Bell turned in the best statistical outing among Cleveland safeties at 6-0 with a forced fumble and a pair of pass breakups. The other good news is that Bell had a bigger share of playing time in his second start. After sharing the job fairly equally with Duron Harmon in week 15, Cleveland went to a three-man rotation at safety with both Bell and Ronnie Hickman seeing a little over 70% of the action while Harmon was around 50%. The Jets have been a so-so matchup for safeties since week ten.

Dallas Cowboys

You probably didn't get to the championship round by depending on Donovan Wilson, but he could be a solid option for week 17. The outstanding matchup with Miami led to a season-best of 8-4 last week, making it three in a row with double-digit points for Wilson. The Lions are not as great a matchup, but they are a good one, allowing the tenth most points to safeties since week ten.

Denver Broncos

Kareem Jackson was reinstated in time to play in Sunday's game, but Coach Payton called his status with the team into question. P.J. Locke made another start at the safety position and never came off the field. Shortly after the game, the team announced that Jackson had been waived. That is great news for Locke's dynasty prospects, but this week's matchup with the Chargers is a good reason to sit him for the finals. Los Angeles has allowed the seventh fewest points to safeties since week ten.

Detroit Lions

There are some options this week for anyone in need of help at safety. Not the least of which is Ifeatu Melifonwu. It took until late in his third season for the former third-round pick to get his shot - and it has only been two games - but he has sure been impressive. The Cowboys are not a particularly strong matchup for safeties, but neither were the Broncos in week 15 when Melifonwu went 6-3-1 with a forced fumble and two passes defended. The Vikings are a great matchup for the position, so for an encore, Melifonwu was 5-0-2 with an interception and 2 pass breakups last week. If you need someone with big upside for the championship round, he could be your guy. For those eliminated from their dynasty league, this is a guy to add for the future.

It was a slow Sunday for Lions linebackers, but it's worth mentioning that Jack Campbell logged an 85% play share. If Derick Barnes is out again this week, Campbell should be much more productive against Dallas.

Josh Paschal left Sunday's game with a hand injury. His week 17 is in question.

Green Bay Packers

Darnell Savage was out again, but this time, Rudy Ford was not getting the call. Instead, rookie seventh-round pick Anthony Johnson made the start. He played every snap, finishing 6-2 on the day. It is hard to say how the coaching staff graded his play, but if he gets a second start, Johnson could be a pleasant surprise this week against a Vikings offense that has allowed the third most points to safeties since week ten. This matchup makes Jonathan Owens a must-start.

Houston Texans

Jonathan Greenard made it three snaps before leaving with an ankle injury. With Will Anderson already on the shelf, the Texans' edge rotation was Derek Barnett (2-1 PD 2TFL), Jerry Hughes (3-2-1), and Myjai Sanders (4-1). None of those guys jump out as someone we would love to have in our lineup this week, but the Titans have given up the most points to edge defenders by a wide margin over the last seven weeks.

In somewhat of a shocker, Jalen Pitre was benched after 19 snaps in favor of Adrian Amos. Maybe this was a shot across the bow for Pitre, and he will be back in the lineup this week. On the other hand, the team claimed Kareem Jackson off waivers, which is not a good sign for Pitre.

Indianapolis Colts

Julian Blackmon suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter of Sunday's game. Instead of splitting time as they had in the previous three games, Nick Cross moved to strong safety with Rodney Thomas playing free. His numbers were not great at 4-1, but with Blackmon now on IR, Cross is set for a full-time role in the final two games. The Raiders are not a strong matchup for safeties so Cross is not a strong starting candidate this week, but he could be the future of the position for the Colts so the audition is something to keep an eye on.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Andre Cisco missed week 15 with a groin injury. He was back in the lineup last week but played only about half of the snaps. The question is, was his reduced playing time a lingering effect of the injury, or are the Jaguars taking a look at rookie Antonio Johnson? He and Cisco split time virtually evenly. All we can say for sure at this point is to avoid Cisco this week unless we somehow get a favorable answer before game time.

Kansas City Chiefs

L'Jarius Sneed recorded just three tackles against the Raiders. Some might be due to him being banged up in the game. Sneed only missed a few snaps, though. The bigger reason is that the Raiders all but refused to throw the ball to Davante Adams, or anyone else for that matter. Las Vegas completed 9 passes for 62 yards, with Adams catching 1 for 4 yards. Sneed should bounce back nicely this week versus the Bengals, who are going to throw plenty.

Las Vegas Raiders

Last week, I called out a dynasty alert on Malcolm Koonce. He responded with the best game of his career, going 5-1-3 against the Chiefs. That makes Koonce 21-4-7 over the last 7 games.

Los Angeles Rams

It took a while to get a good look at what the Rams are doing with Quentin Lake and John Johnson III. Johnson is playing the strong safety position and working every snap while Lake has settled into the nickel/slot role and is seeing about 75% of the action. The Giants are a below-average matchup for defensive backs in general, but this situation could roll over to next year if they can re-sign Johnson. Lake is working in the same role that has made IDP stars out of Troy Hill, L'Jarius Snead, Jalen Ramsey, and a few others in recent years. Lake is signed through 2025 and is a dynasty target whether they bring Johnson back or not. Johnson and Lake were the Rams' top two tacklers in week 16.

Minnesota Vikings

There was no easing Jordan Hicks back into action, and it doesn't matter how well Ivan Pace Jr Jr. played. Hicks was on the field for every snap, going 6-3 with a pass breakup, while Pace was limited to 30 of a possible 79. At least Pace bailed out anyone who didn't get the memo, recovering a fumble with his three solo stops.

The Vikings lost D.J. Wonnum to a torn quad that will end his season. Wonnum had quietly been having a great year, working opposite Danielle Hunter. The job now falls to Patrick Jones II, who made an impact against the Lions, going 5-1-1 with a batted pass. Jones had been working as the third wheel in a three-man rotation. With Jones moving up a rung, look for undrafted rookie Andre Carter II to fill the open spot for the last two games. How Carter went undrafted is puzzling because the young man has a ton of upside.

New England Patriots

It seems like there are a lot of situations this week where players are getting opportunities for significantly bigger roles or have been stepping up big in recent weeks but are facing average or below matchups. Add Christian Barmore to that list. He is on a serious roll after going 5-3-3 and forcing a fumble against Denver. That gives Barmore 5.5 sacks since the team's week-11 bye, with at least a half in four of five games. Unfortunately, the Bills are a poor matchup for linemen.

New York Giants

Rookie Deonte Banks left the week 16 game with a bum shoulder. If he plays this week, Banks could be a great option for us. The Rams don't turn the ball over much so corners don't make many splash plays against them, but they do make a lot of tackles. Since week eleven, the corner position has averaged 19 combined stops and half a turnover per week versus the Rams. Just last week, Paulson Adebo went 9-1 with a pass breakup against them.

Philadelphia Eagles

Josh Morrow (abdominal) joined Zach Cunningham (knee) on the sideline against the Giants. That left Shaquille Leonard as their number-one linebacker just three weeks after joining the team. Both on the field and in the box scores, Leonard looked much better than in his final days with the Colts. At 5-2-1, he led the team in both tackles and fantasy points. Morrow was questionable after being limited in practice last week, so he might be back in action versus Arizona. The Cardinals are a solid matchup for linebackers, so we could find a quality contributor in one of these guys.

Pittsburgh Steelers

It looked like the Steelers might need to have tryouts before the game to fill their injury-riddled safety positions. Instead, they shifted Patrick Peterson to free safety and elevated Eric Rowe from the taxi squad to play strong. That probably doesn't provide any IDP impact, but the loss of Elandon Roberts with a torn pectoral certainly does. The injury put Myles Jack back in the lead role to finish up versus the Bengals and likely as the starter this week against Seattle. The Seahawks are a poor matchup for linebackers in general, but at least Jack should play nearly full-time.

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle gives us another possible option at linebacker. Jordyn Brooks needed help to hobble off with an ankle injury and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. On Tuesday, Coach Carroll announced that Brooks is expected to miss some time. That means Devin Bush will join Bobby Wagner in the starting lineup, probably to finish the regular season. Bush put up decent totals of 5-1 on 40 snaps and should be fairly productive versus the Steelers.

San Francisco 49ers

It seems that every week, we see players with odd stat lines. Many could be used to make a video for the league offices, emphasizing why they need to standardize how stat crews award defensive numbers. Dre Greenlaw ended up with 2 tackles and 10 assists against the Ravens. Anyone paying attention to that game, especially if they had Greenlaw in their lineup, can tell you the 2-10 was far from an accurate count.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Devin White was back in action. After the comments of his head coach last week, it was unclear what role White would have. Not only did he play 95% of the snaps, but White also reminded us of how good he could be. He finished the game with modest tackle totals at 2-2-0.5 with a pick and an additional pass breakup, but the stats don't tell the story of how much he impacted the game. Chances are, White will be wearing a different uniform next year anyway - and his matchup this week is terrible - but there is hope for the dynasty community.

Washington Commanders

Injuries might have the Commanders shuffling their secondary this week. Percy Butler left with a wrist, and Benjamin St-Juste is in concussion protocol. Terrell Burgess would be the next man up at safety, with Emmanuel Forbes likely to get the call at corner if St-Juste is not cleared.

He may not have a future as a starter for the Commanders, but the first defender we should be looking to pick up for this week is linebacker Khaleke Hudson. In his two starts since the injury to Jamin Davis, Hudson is 18-10 with a pair of pass breakups. Unlike most of the guys we might be able to pick up this week, Hudson actually has a pretty good matchup against San Francisco.

That does it for the 2023 season of the Eyes of the Guru. Best of luck to everyone playing for a title this week. It's been a long, fun, frustrating, exciting season as usual. Enjoy the win this week, and be sure to come back for year 31 of the EOTG. Preseason team reports start rolling out in mid-June. In the meantime, keep in mind that it's never too early to start working on next year's championship.

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