This article is part of our IDP Analysis series.
The NFL has seen its share of opt-out and injury-related turbulence early in its mid-pandemic training camp expedition, and the IDP player pool is no exception. This article will compile some of the developments from the past week that might hold repercussions for IDP projections.
Jets Linebackers
Jets inside linebacker C.J. Mosley chose to opt out of the 2020 season, postponing his third game as a Jet to the 2021 season after his 2019 season was ended by a groin injury suffered in Week 1, which shut him down following a comeback attempt in Week 7. Considering the five-year, $85 million investment the Jets made in Mosley before last season, his absence has a profound effect on the plans of the Jets defense.
Following Mosley's injury last year, the Jets initially replaced him with then-rookie fifth-round pick Blake Cashman until Cashman's season ended due to a fracture and torn labrum in his shoulder after Week 8. James Burgess was the replacement after that point. These two played next to Neville Hewitt, who began the season as the starting inside linebacker next to Mosley.
Hewitt, Cashman and Burgess are all back for 2020, though their exact depth chart order is probably undetermined for now. It's all complicated further by the signing of free agent linebacker Patrick Onwuasor from Baltimore to a one-year, fully-guaranteed $2 million deal. Given his starter distinction last year, we can probably consider Hewitt the favorite from the initially listed three, but Cashman has a lot
The NFL has seen its share of opt-out and injury-related turbulence early in its mid-pandemic training camp expedition, and the IDP player pool is no exception. This article will compile some of the developments from the past week that might hold repercussions for IDP projections.
Jets Linebackers
Jets inside linebacker C.J. Mosley chose to opt out of the 2020 season, postponing his third game as a Jet to the 2021 season after his 2019 season was ended by a groin injury suffered in Week 1, which shut him down following a comeback attempt in Week 7. Considering the five-year, $85 million investment the Jets made in Mosley before last season, his absence has a profound effect on the plans of the Jets defense.
Following Mosley's injury last year, the Jets initially replaced him with then-rookie fifth-round pick Blake Cashman until Cashman's season ended due to a fracture and torn labrum in his shoulder after Week 8. James Burgess was the replacement after that point. These two played next to Neville Hewitt, who began the season as the starting inside linebacker next to Mosley.
Hewitt, Cashman and Burgess are all back for 2020, though their exact depth chart order is probably undetermined for now. It's all complicated further by the signing of free agent linebacker Patrick Onwuasor from Baltimore to a one-year, fully-guaranteed $2 million deal. Given his starter distinction last year, we can probably consider Hewitt the favorite from the initially listed three, but Cashman has a lot of athleticism (4.5 40, 37.5-inch vertical, 124-inch broad jup at 6-1, 237) and was very productive in college at Minnesota. Still, Cashman's shoulder injury from last year sounds like a brutal one, and an injury-awareness bias could work against him in a competition with Hewitt. If so, then we might consider Onwuasor and Hewitt the favorites of this group.
It's also possible that both Hewitt and Onwuasor start at inside linebacker for the Jets this year, but that would probably take the Jets cutting Avery Williamson (knee), who missed last year with a torn ACL and remains on the team's PUP list. Despite beginning camp on the PUP list, Williamson is expected to be healthy in advance of Week 1. Signed to a three-year, $22.5 million deal prior to the 2018 season, Williamson was originally supposed to be the starter next to Mosley all along. Whether he takes up a starting spot in 2020 might depend on whether the Jets choose to pursue the $6.5 million in cap space they'd clear if they cut Williamson. If they keep him on the roster at his $8.5 million cap figure, they'll probably need to give him a starting role to justify his price. Generally speaking, it looks like the starting inside linebackers for the Jets will either be Williamson and Hewitt, Williamson and Onwuasor, or Hewitt and Onwuasor. Burgess nonetheless played 672 snaps in 10 games last year and can't be written off, and Cashman's encouraging prospect profile should keep him involved if his shoulder cooperates.
New Orleans Linebackers
Kiko Alonso (knee) was added to the Saints' PUP list, which isn't too surprising given that he tore his ACL in January. Alonso has had some trouble staying healthy throughout his career, which also featured a torn ACL prior to the 2014 season, so the Saints aren't taking their linebacker depth for granted behind the great Demario Davis.
Perhaps with Alonso's uncertain status in mind, the Saints signed Nigel Bradham to a one-year contract Thursday, giving them a veteran recent starter to compete for snaps with the likes of Alex Anzalone, Zack Baun and Craig Robertson. Anzalone is a former third-round pick from the 2017 draft and probably has a fair amount of talent, but he seems to have developed a chronic condition in his right shoulder, which dislocated twice in his college career and landed him on IR twice in three NFL seasons. Baun was New Orleans' 2020 third-round selection and was widely expected to go earlier in the NFL draft, but his reps to this point have been as an edge-specific linebacker rather than the generalized skill set required for a three-down role next to Davis. A rotation of some kind between Bradham, Anzalone and Baun is within possibility. Robertson has starting experience but has mostly been reduced to a special teams specialist at this point.
Kawann Short, DT, CAR
Short suffered a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery in October, but he reportedly has almost regained full range of motion in that shoulder. Although the decline of the Carolina defense has turned the spotlight away from Short and his abilities, it's worth recalling that he's an All-Pro type defensive tackle when in full form. His box score of 43 tackles and three sacks from 2018 might seem modest, but it's actually a high level of production for the mere 584 snaps he played. If he stays healthy over a full season, Short could log a snap count well into the 700s on a Carolina defense that should spend a lot of time on the field. Short showed the ability to produce in the 50-tackle, eight-sack range on that sort of workload in the past, making him a sleeper for DL2 utility in IDP leagues.
