Taking a look at the NFL Week 7 from a IDP perspective; notes on what our writer @Orangeman3142 saw this weekend.

This is a continuation of our weekly article series that breaks down what we saw this week in IDP fantasy football. What happened and why, what we got right and what we got wrong and more importantly how to move forward and get better next week. We look at possible waivers and trends, snap counts and issues that affect production for your IDP team. Part four will cover the last three games of week seven.

Make sure you caught parts one through three and keep an eye out for my start or sit article dropping Saturday morning, my average has been hovering around 70% correct for starts or sits this year and at around 150 or so takes in total each week that ain't bad at all I reckon. Sorry, red dead redemption 2 comes out tomorrow I'm just getting my mind right. Now let's get into these last three matchups like a cowboy shooting up a saloon over a bad hand in poker!

Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins

Cowboys: After a quiet couple of weeks I was banging on the walls yelling that DeMarcus Lawrence (DE) was due for a monster game and boy did he deliver this week. Lawrence finished with 7 combined tackles and 3 TFL on 85% of snaps and remains a weekly must start for weeks just like this one.

We saw the return of a, at least at the moment, healthy Sean Lee (LB) this week and he came in second for Cowboys IDP production this week with 6 combined tackles playing 63% of snaps this week. That's not the kind of playing time he normally gets so they're either easing him back in slowly or will keep him on a snap count in hopes of keeping him healthy, we'll find out which soon enough.

Next atop the box score this week was Jaylon Smith (LB) who recorded 6 combined tackles and 1 TFL playing 97% of snaps. He remains as reliable and productive as ever and is the safest of the three Cowboys linebackers to play every week. Expect him to produce in the top of tier two range with Lee back in the mix which isn't as productive as he was when Lee was out. However his reliability is a great asset, he won't let you down with a clunker anytime soon.

Leighton Vander Esch (LB) (mein shizor) was the loser with Lee returning, playing only 35% of snaps and only putting up 4 combined tackles this week. He was productive with Lee in the lineup earlier this season but his snaps were around this level and he was defying the odds putting up those stats with this little playing time, this was bound to happen with the reduction in playing time. I would hang on to him though, odds are good Lee will get hurt again and Vander Esch (mein shizor) will be back to being extremely valuable.

Defensive tackle David Irving (DT) had a nice game with 2 solo tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL on 57% of snaps this week and could be a nice option for defensive tackle help if you need it, his playing time should only increase as he gets comfortable back in the lineup.

Byron Jones (CB, S) and Chidobe Awuzie (CB) are the IDP relevant members of the Cowboys secondary I track and both had down games this week. Jones had 4 combined tackles on 100% of snaps while Awuzie had 3 solo tackles and 1 PD playing only 37% of snaps this week.

Awuzie has been banged up and the Redskins ran quite a bit so this was probably an outlier game for him, he's been great all season I'm going to hang onto him and play him in ideal matchups against teams with an effective passing offense. Jone's will be fine too he's got the playing time and the talent it was just a bad game.

Both safeties, Jeff Heath (S) and Xavier Woods (S) had "meh" games with Heath recording 4 combined tackles and 1 TFL on 100% of snaps while Woods had just 2 solo tackles playing 100% of snaps. They've both been pretty disappointing all year I wouldn't play them unless I was out of options and I'm a ridiculous Cowboys fan.

Redskins: If you told me that it would take until week seven to see Zach Brown (LB) at the top of the box score for the Skins I would've said you were crazier than a shit house rat. Welcome to 2018, it's week seven and Zach Brown had his first good game, smh.

Brown recorded 9 combined tackles and 1 TFL playing only 53% of snaps this week. It was an ideal matchup against a Dallas team that can only complete short passes and run the ball a crap load so as nice as this week was for Brown I suspect it's a flash in the pan which is a huge disappointment. If you have the room and he's on waivers you can add him and hope his snap counts increase and his production goes up and stabilizes but at this point I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Mason Foster (LB) has been the linebacker to own on the Redskins this season, he also had 9 combined tackles but played 100% of snaps. Brown can't keep producing like the game he just had on 53% of snaps, it will catch up with him. Foster however has the playing time and the stats all year to back it up, I'm playing him as a solid tier two linebacker weekly.

Josh Norman (CB) was next with 5 solo tackles on 100% of snaps, he's a decent corner to stream against teams that can pass effectively (which isn't the Cowboys so I'm amazed he did well this week).

Ryan Kerrigan (LB, EDGE) had a great year last year as an edge rush linebacker with double digit sacks. This year he's been off to a slow start but had 5 combined tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL and 1 PD on 76% of snaps this week. If you have a specific EDGE or OLB slot he's not a bad option but as a regular linebacker he's super inconsistent and incredibly unreliable.

DJ Swearinger (S) had an off game with 4 combined tackles playing 100% of snaps but has been pretty good overall this year, he's not a bad option for a second safety or a short term guy.

Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs

Bengals: The two Cincy safeties had monster games this week, everyone else not so much. Shawn Williams (S) recorded 13 combined tackles, 1 PD and 1 INT on 100% of snaps this week. He started the year off hot but has cooled down significantly while the other safety Jessie Bates (S) has been the guy to own. Bates had 12 combined tackles on 100% of snaps and has been awesome all year, he's a weekly must start.

With Nick Vigil (LB) injured and out this week most of us in the IDP community thought that either Vontaze Burfict (LB) or Preston Brown (LB) would pick up the slack. Yeah...nope. Burfict had 2 solo tackles and 1 TFL on 63% of snaps while brown had 5 combined tackles playing 83% of snaps this week.

It was the other linebacker, the one no ones heard of, Jordan Evans (LB) who led the Cincy linebackers corps with 6 combined tackles on 77% of snaps. This whole situation is a mess but I think Burfict will be playable week to week, he got dinged and came out during this game so that's why his snap percentage took a dive. Brown should be a nice option but hasn't proved he can produce with or without Vigil in the lineup so I'm abandoning ship on him.

Carlos Dunlap (DE) had a nice game with 2 combined tackles and 1 sack on 79% of snaps this week and is a weekly auto start having a great year. Geno Atkins (DT) had a down week with 1 tackle assist playing 70% of snaps but will be fine it's part of the position, there will be huge weeks to come.

Darqueze Dennard (CB) was injured and out this week and Dre Kirkpatrick (CB) had 4 combined tackles playing 100% of snaps, this was an ideal matchup so I was expecting more then that but it's serviceable for IDP corner. Both corners are decent options against teams that can pass effectively.

Chiefs: The Bengals got smashed on offense in this game, they barely ran any plays and lost the time of possession battle badly 33 minutes to 27. This is apparent in the Chiefs IDP production this week, the lead tackler had only 6 combined tackles so this game was pretty much a wash for any Chiefs IDP. Kendall Fuller (CB) had 3 solo tackles and 1 PD playing 96% of snaps and remains a great IDP corner even with the slightly down week for him.

Anthony Hitchens (LB) only had 3 solo tackles on 65% of snaps but remains their best IDP linebacker by far, he'll be more productive against teams that can actually hang around with the Chiefs offensively, Cincy was done running the ball pretty early on in this one and that hurt Hitchens overall production. Chris Jones (DE) had 3 solo tackles, 1 sack and 2 TFL on 65% of snaps and is still a nice spot start or short term guy for defensive end help.

New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons

Giants: It was no surprise to see Landon Collins (S) at the top of the box score for the Giants this week. He's been on fire after a slow start to the season and had 8 combined tackles on 100% of snaps this week. He's a weekly must start and the best overall IDP safety in my opinion.

The other start producer for the Giants, Alec Ogletree (LB), had an off week with only 4 combined tackles playing 100% of snaps this week. He'll be fine everyone has a down game every now and then, he's been pretty good this season.

Janoris Jenkins (CB) had 5 solo tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD on 94% of snaps this week and has been a great IDP corner all season, keep playing him and especially against teams that can pass the ball well.

Damon Harrison (DT) has been traded to the Lions which isn't ideal as far as I'm concerned. Matt Patricia gets cute with that defense I wouldn't be surprised if they used him in some weird fashion and his production for the rest of the season suffers for it, we'll see I guess. He had 3 combined tackles this week on 46% of snaps and has been in a bit of a slump lately so who knows, maybe it will be a good thing.

Olivier Vernon (DE, LB) came back to earth this week with only 2 solo tackles playing 98% of snaps, he's still a good option for a spot start or a short term guy at defensive end, I would never play him as a linebacker.

Falcons: It was the sometimes good corner Desmond Trufant (CB) who led the way for the Falcons this week with 8 combined tackles on 98% of snaps, he's a decent option to stream at corner. The big story though was Foye Oluokun (LB) who had 6 combined tackles playing 59% of snaps this week, his playing time has slowly been growing and his production has been good the last couple weeks, he seems to be the guy who's going to soak up most of the missing production from the Deion Jones (LB) injury.

Safety DaMontae Kazee (S) continues to be very productive in relief of the injured Keanu Neal (S) and had 5 combined tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD on 97% of snaps this week. He's been great since he took over for Neal and remains an upper tier two guy who is really close to being a weekly must start.

Grady Jarrett (DT) and Takkarist McKinley (DE) both had huge games this week, it was nice to see Jarrett back in action after being injured and out the last couple weeks. Grady had 5 combined tackles, 2 sacks and 2 TFL on 77% of snaps and is back to being an end of tier one defensive tackle now that he's healthy again. McKinley recorded 4 combined tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL playing 67% of snaps and remains a flash in the pan very occasional producer best used for spot starts.

Make sure you read all four parts of this series this week to get all the snap counts, production trends and waiver suggestions from week seven. Keep an eye out for my start or sit article dropping Saturday. My bad habit of going too far into detail means this article is in multiple parts instead of one novel. If you have any questions or need some advice feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@OrangeMan3142) or use the "Contact Us" box on our website (idpguys.org) to reach us.

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