Eyes of the Guru IDP Info, Week 8

Photo: USA Today Sports

Arizona Cardinals

Budda Baker was back in action after a stint on IR with a hamstring injury. Unlike many players who see a limited role in their first game back from an extended absence, Baker went right back to his normal workload, playing every snap against the Seahawks. His production returned to normal as well with six solo stops, including one for loss.

The interesting twist with Baker's return is that instead of sliding over to the other safety spot in place of Jalen Thompson, K'Von Wallace went back to the bench and was subsequently released on Tuesday. Andre Chachere took over the spot when Thompson was lost and continued in that role in week seven. Like Baker, Chachere posted a solid six solo stops against Seattle. What is particularly intriguing about this situation is that many league host sites consider Chachere a corner. It is unclear how soon Thompson will return, but until he does, Chachere is a stream candidate, especially if you can play him as a corner.

After starting the first four games, Kei'Trel Clark had his role reduced in weeks five and six. Despite the absence of Antonio Hamilton, Clark was benched altogether in week seven with undrafted rookie Starling Thomas getting the start and Garrett Williams working as the nickel corner.

Josh Woods played 87% of the snaps at inside linebacker against Seattle but could muster just four tackles and two assists against a team that ran the ball 32 times and completed six passes to running backs and tight ends. It would be great if they would put Krys Barnes back in the lineup.

Atlanta Falcons

Kaden Ellis is in a golden situation as the Falcons' only three-down linebacker, but he has not been able to capitalize on the opportunity. Despite playing every defensive snap over the first seven games, Ellis has not recorded more than five solo stops in a game since week two and has no more than eight points in any game since week three. Meanwhile, Nate Landman has double-digit points in three of four games since replacing Troy Andersen, with a low of nine, and has outscored Ellis in all four outings despite playing less than 80% of the snaps in three of those games. Landman was 5-7 with a forced fumble and a season-high 15.75 points against the Buccaneers.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens' pass rush got a boost with the return of Jayson Oweh in week seven. Oweh wasted no time making an impact with a sack and forced fumble on just over half of the snaps. He saw 64% of the action in week one before the injury early in week two, so Oweh should see a little more opportunity going forward and is a waiver candidate this week.

Kyle Van Noy had his best game of the season, going 2-3-2 against the Lions. Van Noy is playing almost exclusively on the edge for Baltimore and could have some value going forward for managers who can start him at that position. Unfortunately, most league hosts still have him as an off-ball linebacker.

Arthur Maulet played 80% of the snaps and had a great game (7-1-1) in week seven, but there is probably nothing to see here. Maulet worked as the Ravens' third corner and could have an inconsistent role from week to week.

With six solo stops, an assist, and a tackle for loss, Kyle Hamilton reminded us that he is capable of a big game at any given time. With five or fewer points in four of seven games on the season, we must also remember how inconsistent he is.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills coaching staff has done no favors for IDP managers in handling their weakside linebacker position. In fact, they have kind of stuck it to us two weeks in a row with their wishy-washy approach. They got us in week six when we expected Tyrel Dodson to get the call, but it was Dorian Williams instead. So we scrambled to get Williams back for the week seven bye-magedon. That looked like a great move when Williams was 3-2 after the first 21 plays. Then he was benched again as Dodson came on to go 5-2 on 31 snaps the rest of the game. There is good value to be had at this position, but it looks like we will need to see who has a seat when the music stops before we can take advantage of it.

Jordan Poyer gave us a throw-back game against the Patriots, going 5-5-1 with a forced fumble and almost 18 fantasy points. That's enough to get him back on the radar, but after a poor 2022 and fewer than eight points in five of six games this year, it will take more than one good game to earn our trust.

Instead of seeing his snap count rise after two games back, Von Miller was limited to six plays versus New England. This could be a result of the quality play of A.J. Epenesa, Greg Rosseau, and Leonard Floyd, who all logged 30-32 snaps, but more likely, it was a case of swelling and/or discomfort in his surgically repaired knee. Miller did not practice on Tuesday, but so far, there has been no word of a setback.

Carolina Panthers

As the trade deadline approaches, the Panthers could be players. Wide receiver Terrance Marshall has requested a trade, and safety Jeremy Chinn is clearly not in the team's plans for the future. It would make sense for the team to move on from both players since the coaching staff has failed to figure out how to use them. Chinn may be hard to move after landing on IR this week. Brian Burns is reportedly also receiving interest, but it is unclear if the team is willing to let him escape.

Chicago Bears

As many of you may have noticed, being an “expert” doesn't make us immune to the curse. Just like everyone else who plays this game, whenever we call out guys as potential drops, they sometimes blow up the next week. Such is the case with Bears safety Jaquan Brisker, who had done almost nothing until I said last week that this might just be who he is now. Right on cue, he blew up for nine tackles, an assist, and a pass breakup. So the question is, will this be an outlier, or was it the breakout game that signals a return to his outstanding rookie production? I'm not going to guess the answer to that, but I'm looking to pick him up and sit on him this week, just in case.

It would seem that the big game by Brisker came at the expense of T.J. Edwards, who was limited to two tackles against the Raiders. Edwards was in his normal role, playing every snap, so write this one off as a fluke for now.

Kyler Gordon was injured in the opener and returned to the field on a pitch count in week six. In his second game back, Gordon's playing time went from about 60% to 75%. It's unclear if he will displace either Tyrique Stevenson or Jaylon Johnson as a starter, but if that is going to happen, this will likely be the week.

Chicago was in nickel for roughly 83% of the game in week seven. Seeing Gordon settle in as the third corner would not be a shock. He was productive in 2022, recording at least nine fantasy points in 11 of the 15 games he played. This week's matchup with the pass-happy Chargers makes Gordon a stream candidate regardless of where he lines up.

Cleveland Browns

Woo-Hoo, Anthony Walker finally played every snap in a game. He was still light in the tackle columns at 2-6, but a fumble recovery and a pass breakup were enough to boost his point total to 13. Walker remains a high-risk start, but this week's matchup with the Seahawks might be enough to roll the dice on him this week.

After seeing about 80% of the action in weeks four and six (week five was a bye) and putting up his best fantasy production of the year in week six, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was relegated to fewer than half of the snaps in week seven. His 34 plays were two more than Tony Fields, who replaced Sione Takitaki (hamstring).

Alex Wright left Sunday's game with a concussion after logging six snaps. He usually sees 15-17 plays per game, so the rest of his snaps were distributed between Za'Darius Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Not that the nine or so extra snaps made all the difference, but coincidentally, Smith had his most productive game of the year to date at 4-0-1 with a forced fumble on a 73% play-share.

Denver Broncos

Barron Browning was back in action in week seven, logging a 45% share of the playing time. His numbers were nothing to get excited about at one assist and a batted pass, but this is a situation to keep an eye on going forward. Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto have become decent options for us, largely due to their extensive playing time. With Randy Gregory and Frank Clark both gone, there was only Ronnie Perkins to share time with. With Browning back on the field, it becomes a four-man rotation again. As a result, both Bonitto and Cooper saw their fewest snaps in a game since week one.

Kareem Jackson was ejected from Sunday's game for yet another bad hit. This time, he drew the ire of the league office to the tune of a four-game suspension, pending appeal, of course. P.J. Locke took over and is in line to be the starter for the next four games.

Damarri Mathis had at least five tackles in each of Denver's first five games. That tends to happen to corners that opponents choose to target often. In week seven, Mathis was benched for performance issues, seeing all of six snaps against the Packers. Fabian Moreau moved up the depth chart for at least that game, though it is unclear if the benching is permanent.