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How is it possible that we are already heading into Week 9? Time flies when you’re decimated by injuries I guess. Only 4 teams on bye this week: Detroit, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Washington. Even though this isn’t a bye-maggedon, you’ll still be without some IDP stars like Bobby Wagner, Jamal Adams, Chase Young, Devin White, and Shaq Barrett. My job is to help you find some waiver wire replacements, so let’s get to it!

*To qualify for this article, player must be under 50% rostered on Fantrax. 

Defensive Line/EDGE

Randy Gregory, Dallas Cowboys

Randy Gregory has had an up and down career, to say the least. After facing multiple suspensions over the years for substance abuse violations, it certainly appears the Gregory has turned a corner in his life, and both he and the Cowboys defense are reaping the rewards on the field. The month of October was especially productive for Gregory, perhaps marking the best stretch of his career thus far.

Over his past 4 games, Gregory has accounted for 5 sacks, tie for third in the league during that span. If you are playing in a big-play scoring league, where sacks are weighted heavily, Gregory is a must add. He does take a hit, however, in tackle-heavy scoring. He has only managed 8 combined tackles all season long, though he has managed 3 tackles for loss. In other words, he is almost completely reliant on big plays. As a bye week fill-in, he’s absolutely worth a play this week against a Denver Broncos offensive line that has allowed the third-most sacks in the league this year. Gregory is only 29% rostered in Fantrax leagues. 

Linebacker

Ernest Jones, Los Angeles Rams

If you’ve been reading my articles very long, you’ll know that I was a big proponent of Kenny Young, and I went as far as to name him my biggest winner of the pre-season. He had won the dime linebacker role to become the sole three-down linebacker for the Rams. On October 25, however, Young was traded to the Denver Broncos in a cap-clearing move which helped them land Von Miller at the deadline. 

With Young gone, someone had to take over the vacated role in the defense. The man was rookie 3rd rounder Ernest Jones. In his first game without Young, Jones led Rams’ linebackers with 89% of snaps played, and he put up an absolutely stuffed the stat sheet. The former Gamecock posted 9 combined tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and half a sack. The fact that he was plugged right into that type of role immediately after Young’s departure is a great sign of things to come. I view Jones as a plug and play option not only in week 9, but for the remainder of the season. He’s currently 26% rostered, so get him now before your league mates catch on.

Baron Browning, Denver Broncos

Instead of highlighting a defensive back this week, I wanted to focus on the other half of the Kenny Young trade, and how that played out in week 8. Injuries have hit the Broncos’ linebacker room harder than any group any the league, aside from possibly the Baltimore running backs. Denver has lost both starters (Josey Jewell and Alexander Johnson) for the season due to torn pectoral muscles, and then lost Micah Kiser to IR shortly after signing him from the Rams practice squad. This led them to make the move for Young, but it was uncertain if it was more for depth/warm body, or whether they planned for him to have a major role in the defense. 

Week 8 provided some clarity there, as Young played in 56% of snaps. I’m not sure whether it speaks more to Young impressing in his first week of practice or Fangio and company just being over the Justin Strnad experiment, but the latter was relegated to 20% of snaps after player 100% just one week prior. He can be safely dropped in any leagues you were hanging on to him. As for Young, his role may grow as he learns the scheme, but at this point he’s not useful for IDP either. 

Wait, so there are no IDP-relevant linebackers in Denver?? Well of course there is, didn’t you read the header for this section? Like Ernest Jones, Baron Browning is another 3rd round rookie who stepped into his first start in week 8. Browning has battled various injuries dating back to minicamp, and finally got a chance to step on the field at full strength at a time when the Broncos needed him most. He led Denver’s LB in snaps, playing 97%. This is a dramatic increase in usage, as he’d played in only 4 total snaps on defense prior to Week 8. Where Strnad had struggled to produce for IDP, even with his opportunities, Browning was more successful in his starting debut, with 8 combined tackles and 1 TFL (the most tackles for Strnad in a single game was 7 in Week 2). Browning looked athletic and decisive on Sunday, and I look forward to seeing him continue to progress.

 

Thanks for checking in, and as always you can find me on Twitter @CantALoupe_FF. Good luck in Week 9!