IDP Analysis: Donald the Destroyer

RISING

Kemal Ishmael, S, ATL

William Moore (foot) was unable to practice all week, making it appear as if the often-injured strong safety will give up his starting spot against the Steelers on Sunday. If Moore is out, it makes Ishmael an instant DB1 consideration. He's third on the depth chart behind Moore and Dwight Lowery, but Ishmael was a great IDP option when Moore sat out with a shoulder injury. Ishmael has 76 tackles and four interceptions on the year, with all of the interceptions and 64 of the tackles occurring in a span of nine weeks. That production would project to roughly 114 tackles and seven interceptions over 16 games.

Aaron Donald, DT, STL

Donald was always expected to be a beast for the Rams when they took him 13th overall in the 2014 draft, but it's hard to believe just how good he already is. He has a sack in five straight games, and seven of the last nine games, and a whopping 16 of his 37 tackles on the year are for a loss. Aside from J.J. Watt, he's already the most disruptive interior lineman in the league. He's done all this while playing just 554 snaps. If you project his production over 700 snaps – a reasonable figure for a three-down player like Donald – he'd be on pace for about 47 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss, and nine sacks.

Vincent Rey, OLB, CIN

Rey has spent most of his career as an under-appreciated backup and special teams player, but he has found himself emerging as the Bengals' lead linebacker lately now that Vontaze Burfict (knee) is out for the rest of the year. Up to 767 defensive snaps in 2014, Rey currently has 97 tackles, which would project to roughly 126 tackles if he were to play 1,000 snaps. Rey has been particularly productive in the last month or so, posting 54 tackles in the last five games. He's a high-level LB2 with Burfict out.

Gerald Hodges, OLB, MIN

Anthony Barr (knee) is going to miss his second straight game this week as the Vikings take on the Lions, meaning Minnesota will have to turn back to Hodges as its second linebacker alongside Chad Greenway, and presumably ahead of third linebacker Jasper Brinkley. Playing just 73 percent of Minnesota's defensive snaps against the Jets on Sunday, Hodges finished with a superb IDP line of nine tackles (six solo) and an interception returned for a touchdown. He's worth at least LB3 consideration this week.

Telvin Smith, OLB, JAC

I realize I've already beaten this drum a bunch of times, but Smith's greatness still isn't properly recognized. He played 90 percent of Jacksonville's defensive snaps against the Giants on Sunday, finishing with five tackles (two for a loss) and a pass defensed. Although he's only at 54.4 percent of Jacksonville's defensive snaps on the year, Smith is up to 68 tackles (eight for a loss), two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. If you take Smith's production and project it over 1,000 snaps – a common figure for three-down linebackers at the end of a season – Smith would project for roughly 137 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, four sacks and two interceptions.

FALLING

Kenny Vaccaro, S, NO

There's still plenty of time for Vaccaro to turn his career around, but the 2014 season hasn't been kind to him. He was generally promising as a rookie after the Saints took him with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft, and a primary reason why the Saints had one of the league's most surprisingly good defenses, but he's been a liability in 2014 and, more importantly as far as this column is concerned, a non-factor as an IDP. Heading into his 14th game, Vaccaro has just 66 tackles, one sacks and two interceptions.

William Moore, S, ATL

Moore is highly questionable for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh due to a foot injury he suffered against Green Bay on Sunday. While Moore is a big, athletic safety with a long history of playmaking, he unfortunately has a similarly long history of durability issues. He missed all of this week's practices, and the Green Bay game was just his second game back from a shoulder injury that kept him out from Weeks 5 through 12. He's played 16 games twice in his six-year career, playing 12 or fewer games four times.

Vontaze Burfict, OLB, CIN

Burfict underwent an unspecified knee surgery Oct. 29, a surgery described as a 'scope' at the time, but the surgery ended his season, indicating it was either a more significant surgery than a scope. It was a horribly injury-plagued third season for Burfict, who also missed much of the first month with concussion issues. He should be fine for 2015, but he finished 2014 with just 29 tackles after posting 171 in 2013, and 127 in 2012.

Charles Johnson, DE, CAR

It's hard to tell why, but Johnson just hasn't been that good as an IDP this year. Despite posting six sacks in his last nine games, Johnson has just 33 tackles and six sacks with three games left, and inconsistency has been a big problem. Johnson leads the Panthers defensive linemen with 75.4 percent of the defensive snaps played, yet he has five games with just a tackle or less, and 23 of his tackles came from four games, leaving him with just 10 for the other nine games. Perhaps the loss of Greg Hardy has allowed offenses to focus more on Johnson.