The NFL trade deadline has long been an anticlimactic moment on the league calendar, paling in comparison to the action of Major League Baseball's. Recent seasons, however, have become more interesting. Just as NFL coaches are learning not to punt on fourth-and-short from midfield, NFL general managers are making more calculated moves to recoup draft capital from expiring contracts or fill needs for stretch runs.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills paralleled baseball's moves for playoff pushes by trading a third-round pick to the Packers for cornerback Rasul Douglas and a fifth. The deal is remarkable in that Douglas was unemployed throughout September 2021 and was not an every-week starter and full-time player until this season, his seventh in the league. Furthermore, he would carry a $9 million cap hit on the Bills' roster in 2024.
The Bills have lost Tre'Davious White to another catastrophic injury and have simply lost 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam. Elam was rumored to be available via trade and made inactive the past two games. He was placed on IR shortly after the trade deadline passed. Douglas is likely to step in for Dane Jackson, a former late-round pick who fits best as depth.
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Douglas has become a staple for fantasy gamers in cornerback-required leagues since joining the Packers. He's twice finished among the top ten scorers at the position. He maintains fantasy utility playing for a unit that values run defense at the corners. Buffalo's frequent two-high-safety looks and zone coverages allow their cornerbacks to play closer to the line of scrimmage, facing the quarterback.
Seattle Seahawks
I feel like NFL Twitter underappreciates the value of stout IDLs in the current game. https://t.co/amhKZuLeaa
— Footballguy TRIdP (@DynastyTripp) March 12, 2023
An underappreciated storyline of free agency in Spring 2023 was the money paid to defensive tackles. The Seahawks thought they were keeping pace by signing Dre'Mont Jones to a 3-year, $51.53 million contract. Jones blossomed in Ejiro Evero's defense for the first half of the 2022 season, but he, like much of the unit, faded after Denver traded away Bradley Chubb.
Jones has been an adequate rotational piece in 2023. Seattle felt it needed another of those to contend in the NFC and thus acquired Leonard Williams from the Giants. The price, a second-round pick with a fifth coming back, was more than the Giants paid the Jets for Williams (a third and a fifth in 2019). Williams was, in each case, on an expiring contract.
The Giants' acquisition of Williams looked like a gamble at the time. The sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft blossomed in Patrick Graham's defense. He finished inside the top 20 defensive linemen by Footballguys' scoring in 2020 and 2021.
He's been slowing down since. He has just 21 combined tackles and 1.5 sacks through 8 games this season. He can be safely ignored by fantasy gamers in the far corner of the nation. The Seahawks found that competition for talent was fierce and concluded the high pick was the cost of doing business.
Leonard Williams on his conversations with Joe Schoen and how a deal came to be pic.twitter.com/7lEm9JfDbs
— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) November 1, 2023
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Chicago Bears
The Bears reached the same conclusion as the Seahawks regarding the scarcity of pass rushers. They reportedly swooped in late to outbid the Falcons for the services of defensive end Montez Sweat. For the second consecutive season, the Bears have dealt away a very early second-rounder for a veteran with a foggy long-term outlook. Following the trade, Sweat spoke to the media and identified Atlanta as a "place of interest" because he's from Georgia and in the last year of his rookie contract. It seems conversations about an Atlanta contract extension were already underway. Chicago has put itself behind the 8-ball.
General manager Ryan Poles explained the urgency to acquire a talented edge rusher following the deal. Last spring, no premium edge rushers were available in free agency. Several journeymen signed multi-year deals for $20 million or more. Chicago's DeMarcus Walker was among them.
Walker is in 2023 who he has been throughout his six seasons. His bookend, Yannick Ngakoue, has shown that he remained unsigned well into the summer for a reason. Head coach Matt Eberflus needs Sweat to play a lot and well to show his defense can work after all the recent money and early picks invested on that side of the ball.
Sweat played 69 percent of the Commanders' defensive snaps to date and collected 32 combined tackles. At 6.5 sacks through 8 games, he's on pace for a career-high. He's also tied for 9th in the league with 19 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Reference.
Walker is also playing 69 percent of his unit's snaps, easily a highwater mark in his career. He and Ngakoue should cede snaps to Sweat. Sophomore Dominique Robinson was a healthy scratch in Week 8, opening a spot in the four-man rotation for Sweat.
Sweat has recorded more tackles (32) than all but seven edge rushers in 2023. Bears defensive ends have collectively recorded just 43 tackles. Their scheme doesn't support Sweat's tackle efficiency to date. His pace of quarterback sacks is also in question. Sweat has left one of the league's best defensive lines to join one of the worst. He ranks currently twelfth at his position in fantasy points, a mild, pleasant surprise to those who drafted him in August. He'd be very hard to trust as a fantasy starter in New Orleans this week.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers avoided paying the high prices for pass rushers by pursuing enigmatic players. They began by acquiring Randy Gregory from Denver for a late-pick swap. Sophomore Drake Jackson struggled throughout the summer and recently began losing reps to Austin Bryant. Gregory fits this void as a situational edge rusher in San Francisco. He's shown burst in three weeks of limited action, but his role will be too small to realize the deep-sleeper status this site afforded him before the season started.
Silver lining: #49ers DE Randy Gregory made an instant impact in his debut.
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) October 16, 2023
Gregory compiled 3 tackles, 1 sack, 2TFLs, 3 pressures, and 3 QB hits in Sunday’s loss to Cleveland 🙌🼠pic.twitter.com/eikQLBsoKs
The 49ers remarkably paid just a third-round pick for a 25-year-old defensive end who ranks 11th at the position in pass-rush win rate per ESPN Analytics and tied for 12th in pressures per Pro Football Reference. Chase Young attracts his share of doubters after being drafted second overall, ahead of Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert. Some of those doubters question his effort. Perhaps he knew he was on his way out before he took the field in Week 8.
Just charted Chase Young's snaps vs Eagles
— RefTheDistrict (@RefTheDistrict) October 30, 2023
50 snaps
2 behind the DL during Tush Push
6 times was cut blocked
5 times was chipped
36 times single blocked
1 Double team
2% double team. It's just one game. But here are some plays pic.twitter.com/rcisCjuUNP
The 49ers entered the season with Clelin Ferrell, the fourth overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft by the Raiders, as Nick Bosa's bookend. Since Kyle Shanahan took over as head coach, the 49ers have had success with reclamation projects, but Ferrell was a step too far. Chase Young certainly is not.
Fantasy gamers are down on Young. He missed the opening game with a minor injury and ranks just 44th among defensive ends in fantasy points. He has not been as active and strong in run defense as his former Washington bookend, Montez Sweat. Young has recorded half as many tackles (16) and 1.5 fewer sacks (5.0).
Young has played a large number of snaps in seven consecutive games, seemingly putting health concerns behind him. Perhaps he simply needs a change of scenery to boost his value, just as Rasul Douglas did. Young has 9-12 weeks, including playoffs, to earn his first veteran contract.
Young should succeed Ferrell in short order and play 60 percent of San Francisco's defensive snaps. He joins Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead on the 49ers' starting defensive line along with Bosa. All of these players have achieved double-digit sack totals in a season. Young is on pace to do it again this year. He should comfortably achieve the goal in 2023 and slowly re-earn the trust of fantasy gamers.
There aren't 24 safe starters at defensive end right now. Chase Young is a boom/bust DE2 the rest of the way who could re-enter the conversation as a DE1 in dynasty by next spring if he remains healthy. To be fair, Ryan Poles thinks that's a big "if."
A quick look at what DE Nick Bosa and DE Chase Young could look like together again. Get ready! 🎸 💥 #49ers #FTTB #NickBosa #ChaseYoung #NFL pic.twitter.com/hKB0U8SSNB
— 49er_Edits (@49er_edits) November 2, 2023
Denver Broncos
"Addition by subtraction" is a common cliché that rarely holds water. The Broncos' defense exemplifies it in 2023. They entered the season expecting Randy Gregory and Frank Clark to operate as their top two edge rushers. Following a historic blow-out loss to the Dolphins, the team jettisoned both.
Their new rotation features three players on rookie deals. Jonathon Cooper is a former seventh-rounder with the highest floor as an edge-setting tackler. Nik Bonitto, the 2022 second-round pick from Oklahoma, is the pure pass rusher. Baron Browning might have the highest ceiling of the three. He played inside linebacker as a rookie and was moved outside by the previous regime.
The trio hit Patrick Mahomes II 9 times and recorded 2.5 sacks in Week 8. The Broncos (and illness) forced Mahomes into one of his worst games as a pro. The defense that gave up 70 points to Miami in Week 3 has allowed just 28 points to the Chiefs in two games combined – Weeks 6 and 8.
Washington Commanders
No. Just, no.
Since people are asking...
— RefTheDistrict (@RefTheDistrict) October 31, 2023
Casey Toohill replaced Chase Young for 13 plays
2 kneel downs at the end
8 single blocks
1 cut block
1 chip + double
1 drop in coverage
Here are the 11 plays without the kneel downs pic.twitter.com/7orHOoDW6j
In Conclusion
Reading the Defense drops each Friday. Last week's edition covered new Eagles' safety Kevin Byard. This column seeks to identify not only whom to target or fade but why. Analysis at Footballguys aims to equip fantasy gamers with the confidence to acquire players for their rosters and deploy them on Sundays. Readers are welcome to contact and follow this writer @DynastyTripp on the website formerly known as Twitter.