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With the NFL regular season steadily approaching, this article aims to touch on IDP-relevant news and topics during training camps and preseason games. We'll look at injuries, contract situations, camp battles, rookie buzz, and other pertinent IDP topics. The plan is to have this article ready for your viewing every Thursday until the season kicks off. Thanks for tuning in; let's get to it!
IDP News: EDGE B.J. Ojulari
B.J. Ojulari suffers a torn ACL, which, unfortunately, ends his season.
The season-ending knee injury is brutal news for Ojulari, who Arizona and IDP managers alike hoped would take a step in his second season. Ojulari was pushing to bookend Zaven Collins, who just received a two-year extension, with the first unit this season. With Ojulari now lost for the year, Dennis Gardeck along with versatile first-round rookie Darius Robinson become more interesting.
Gardeck flashed as a rotational rusher last season, notching four sacks in his first four games, cooling off with just two over the remainder of the year. He’s an interesting deep-league name to keep tabs on. Robinson could be utilized inside and outside for the Cardinal front, due to his paring of size and athleticism.
IDP News: EDGE Yaya Diaby
Yaya Diaby is likely out for 4-6 weeks with a high-ankle sprain.
While the news could be worse, high-ankle sprains can linger. Diaby emerged as a pleasant surprise as a rookie last season, finding his way into the starting lineup as the year progressed, compiling 38 tackles (25 solos), 12 tackles for loss, and seven-and-a-half sacks over 515 defensive snaps. Diaby is Tampa Bay’s biggest threat off the edge, as former first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has yet to hit the mark many had hoped, and promising second-round pick Chris Braswell likely needs time as most rookies do. Diaby’s progress in recovering from his ankle injury will be one to monitor as the regular season approaches.
IDP News: EDGE Cam Sample
Cam Sample is out for the year after suffering a torn Achilles.
This is another brutal injury, as Sample is lost for the season after tearing his Achilles. Sample isn’t a high-profile IDP name by any means. However, he was an important depth player for the Bengal defensive line, playing all 17 games (2 starts) and logging 376 snaps in 2023. The IDP relevancy in this news is promising 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy is likely to see an uptick in volume. Murphy played just 305 defensive snaps as a rookie last year, but he was always going to push for more with his skill and high-end athletic traits. Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard are still the presumed starters, but Murphy is a name we could get more familiar with this season.
IDP News: LB Tyrel Dodson
Tyrel Dodson donning the green dot?
The fact that Seattle lost both Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks during free agency has been covered well this offseason. The Seahawks chose to bring in Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson on one-year deals to help fill the void at linebacker. Baker has a track record of success and IDP relevancy over his six years in the league. Dodson was mostly a reserve during his time in Buffalo until he was thrust into more action last season due to injury. Dodson ended up making 10 starts in 2023, setting career-best marks in snaps (549), tackles (74), and tackles for loss (8). While the sample size is small, Dodson’s onfield play was encouraging, as he registered an 89.5 overall defensive grade and 86.8 coverage grade, per Pro Football Focus.
Baker is currently dealing with a hamstring injury during camp, leaving him on the sidelines for the time being. As for Dodson, in a recent ESPN article profiling him, there was a reference to him working on relaying the defensive play calls. Dodson potentially getting the coveted green dot is a positive sign for his snap volume and the trust the coaching staff has in the young linebacker entering a pivotal prove-it year. Not only is Dodson intriguing with his new team and starting role, but his LB56 ADP via The IDP Show is setting up to be a value in IDP drafts.
IDP News: LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah set to see a more stable snap share this season?
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is an exciting young linebacker, coming off an impressive third season where he produced 101 tackles (72 solos) and a stellar 20 tackles for loss. However, the biggest concern for us IDP games has been Owusu-Koramoah’s fluctuating role due to the Cleveland linebacker deployment. As injury hit the linebacker unit, things seemed to stabilize for Owusu-Koramoah over the back half of last season, as he held an 85.5% snap share over his final eight games.
Sione Takitaki (567 snaps in 2023) and Anthony Walker (456 snaps in 2023) both moved on this offseason. The Browns did bring in Jordan Hicks during free agency, and he seems to be the leading candidate to make the defensive calls. However, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has recently eluded to Owusu-Koramoah’s role staying on the same trajectory it finished last season when talking to the media. Owusu-Koramoah could easily eclipse last year's numbers if he gets full-time work or even close to it.