IDP Analysis: Week 11 Review

It was another eventful week across the IDP landscape. The positive side of things is that we saw most playing time shifts happen naturally, without injury occurring. There were still a few big injuries, however, highlighted by Alex Anzalone (forearm) in Detroit and perhaps Roquan Smith (hamstring) in Baltimore. Let's jump into those stories and more.

Risers

Kamren Kinchens, LB
Omar Speights, LB

The Rams have reshuffled their defensive alignment on several occasions this season, so this week's winners won't translate to Week 12 and beyond. However, we saw Quentin Lake shift back to primarily working in the slot, as opposed to the box or free safety. In turn, Kinchens logged a season-high 41 defensive snaps. He responded with eight tackles, a pick and a forced fumble. Despite the disclaimer at the start of this section, it is worth noting that Kinchens has seen his snap count rise in every game since Week 7.

Speights was a player who got buzz during training camp but didn't immediately see that translate to snaps to begin the regular season. That was primarily due to the strong play of Troy Reeder (hamstring) and Christian Rozeboom, but with Reeder out, Speights has seen his snap count and production tick up.

Jerome Baker, LB

We had to be patient to see how the linebacker situation would play out in Tennessee, but we got our answer in unfortunate circumstances in Week 11 when Jack Gibbens (ankle) went down with a season-ending injury. Even prior to that, Baker had forced a rotation at the position. Now, it should be solely his for the rest of the season.

Malik Harrison, LB

This is more speculative than the first several risers, as Harrison served as the replacement for Roquan Smith (hamstring) during the fourth quarter in  Week 11. The Ravens haven't provided any more detail (as of Tuesday night) regarding Smith's injury, though both the fact that it's a hamstring issue and that he was ruled out quickly from Sunday's game suggest a more extended absence is in store. Harrison will benefit and be a must-add option in IDP leagues that reward tackles. 

Malcolm Rodriguez, LB

Rodriguez has served as a rotational linebacker primarily in a depth role for Detroit this season. With Alex Anzalone (forearm), Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck) and Derrick Barnes (knee) all sidelined, we should project Rodriguez's role to increase. Anzalone only played about half of Sunday's Week 11 blowout before suffering his injury, and Rodriguez logged a season-best 89 percent of defensive snaps. He's not likely to work as a one-to-one replacement for Anzalone, but his IDP value will nevertheless increase.

Anthony Walker, LB

Walker made an appearance in the Week 9 edition of this column, though it's worth revisiting the Miami linebacker situation. David Long fell out of favor to the benefit of Walker, but Walker's role was again in question after Miami claimed Tyrel Dodson off waivers. This situation could progress over time, but Dodson was limited to only special teams action in his Week 11 debut with the Dolphins, leaving Walker the more valuable defensive role.

Tyrice Knight, LB

We highlighted Knight just last week due to Dodson's departure, though it wasn't 100 percent clear that he would take over the full-time role. He played 82 percent of defensive snaps against the 49ers and racked up an impressive 10 tackles. Knight is a must-add option.

Devin White , LB

Houston is another linebacker corps that has had variations in role regularly throughout the season. We saw a whole different look in Week 11, though, as Henry To'oTo'o played a season-low 26 defensive snaps (31 percent) while White's snap rate jumped to 54 percent. This is perhaps a watch-list situation more than anything, but the deployment was both notable and strange.

Nick Herbig, LB

Unlike most of the other linebackers listed to this point, Herbig is more of a splash-play option as opposed to a steady tackler. He made only two stops in Week 11 while playing 81 percent of defensive snaps in Alex Highsmith's absence, though he forced a fumble and had a multisack performance earlier in the season. Most importantly, it was clear that he was ahead of Preston Smith on the depth chart.

Fallers

Tyrel Dodson, LB

We already covered Dodson's fall after he was surprisingly let go by Seattle. It wouldn't be a surprise to see his role increase after a few weeks in Miami, but for the time being he has gone from one of the most valuable IDP options to not startable.

Vonn Bell, S

The Bengals' safety position utilized three players for two positions with a combination of Vonn Bell, Jordan Battle and Geno Stone. For the first half of the season it was clear that Bell and Stone were the primary options, though Battle has forced himself into the rotation with Bell. That's hurt Bell's numbers the last three weeks while giving Battle sporadic production, leaving both Bell and fantasy managers the primary fallers (or losers) in this scenario.