• IDP Sleepers: Week 7 Edition

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    Week 6 was yet another week that potentially did some damage to your IDP lineups. Week 7 provides some enticing streaming options, especially with a number of teams on a BYE.


    We have a great lineup of Week 7 IDP sleepers for you. Week 6 provided a plethora of injuries that will potentially be leaving holes in your lineups. The linebacker position especially took a hit. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is now on IR. A.J. Johnson has also landed on injured reserve. Ja’Whaun Bentley, Patrick Queen, Jaylon Smith, and Anthony Hitchens all left their respective contests last Sunday with injuries.

    There were some significant injuries at the other positions too. Darrell Taylor, defensive end for Seattle, left on a stretcher in a scary sight, though was later moving all of his extremities. Darnell Savage for the Packers and Jonathan Jones for the Patriots also left early. All players listed above carry a questionable designation at best. 

    Injuries were not the only thing that opened my eyes last week. We saw some shifts in playing time upon some depth charts across the league. One thing I mentioned in the last article was that to be a good sleeper, one of the main variables is a new role or uptick in playing time. We will hit on a couple of those here as we break down some great Week 7 IDP Sleepers.

    Defensive Line

    Terrell Lewis, Los Angeles Rams, Edge

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    Terrell Lewis was drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, though injuries prevented him from seeing any significant playing time. 2020 started the same way as he averaged only 31% of the team’s defensive snaps. He has caught fire over the last three games and his playing time shows. 

    Over the last three games, Lewis has seen a snap share of 62%. During a Week 6 win, he led all edge defenders for the Rams in snaps at 68%. During the span of the last three games, Lewis has accumulated 9 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 QB hits. 

    Lewis gets a solid matchup for Week 7, squaring off with the Detroit Lions. The Lions are in the bottom half of the NFL giving up 15 sacks, the 12th most in the NFL. The Rams offense should not have any issues dropping points on the Lions’ defense. This should lead to plenty of pass rush opportunities for Lewis, with the Lions being forced into a pass-heavy game script.

    Michael Danna, Kansas City Chiefs

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    Michael Danna seems to have finally reached his full potential and is enjoying a great 2021 season. With Frank Clark missing multiple games, and Chris Jones rotating between defensive tackle and defensive end, Danna has been able to make the most of extended opportunities. He has played every game this season and has averaged 62.83% of the team's defensive snaps.

    Danna showed potential his rookie season though has blossomed in his second year. Through six games he has already set career highs in sacks (3) and QB hits (7). The Cheifs are moving Chris Jones back to full-time defensive tackle. This means that Danna will likely see more snaps with Jones vacating the edge.

    For Week 7 the Chiefs are facing off with the Titans. With Chris Jones manning the middle, he will collapse the pocket more and force more plays outside which will benefit Danna. The Titans have also given up the second-most sacks in the league with 20. Danna should see more volume in a great matchup.

    Linebacker

    Akeem Davis-Gaither, Cincinnati Bengals

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    The article this week speaks a lot of players into seizing roles from their horribly inefficient counterparts. This is another one of those cases. I have to give props to my man Mike Woellert of 4 for 4 Football for clueing me in on Davis-Gaither last week. Dating back to last season, Akeem Davis-Gaither was seeing some decent snap volume.

    He seemed to have lost that volume to Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt to start the season though. Luckily for him, Pratt has proved to be the same player he was last year, an inefficient tackler and terrible in coverage. Davis-Gaither out-snapped Pratt in Week 6 56%-35%. He averaged a tackle every seven snaps he was on the field as well.

    Davis-Gaither takes on the Ravens in Week 7 who have given up the 8th most points to fantasy linebackers. They will need his mobility to keep up with the legs of Lamar Jackson and company.

    Defensive Back

    Brandon Jones, Miami Dolphins, Safety

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    Brandon Jones has been an enigma since the start of his career. He always showed mouth-watering potential in limited playing time, but could never lock down a full-time role. Even to start the 2021 season, he only averaged 31% of the team’s snaps over his first four games. 

    Though that is incredibly low, Jones was still able to put up two huge games. In Week 2 he racked up 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. The very next game he added another 6 tackles, two for a loss, and two sacks. The very next game, he played two snaps...it was infuriating. Since his Week 4 disappearing act, Jones has started both Weeks 5 and 6.

    Over those two games, he has played 73.5% of the team’s snaps. Jones has added 9 tackles with one going for a loss over those two starts. For the 2021 season, Jones has played incredibly efficiently. He has averaged 24.6 points per 100 snaps (minimum of 20 snaps) so far for 2021 which ranks him 4th best in the entire NFL. 

    Jones has the same tackle per snap percentage as IDP studs Budda Baker and Jessie Bates III. Eric Rowe is now out of the picture, having seen just 21% of snaps in Week 6. It should be Jones and rookie Jevon Holland moving forward. The young safety duo will be active chasing around Cordarelle Patterson all day, making Jones one of my favorite Week 7 IDP Sleepers.

    Sean Chandler, Carolina Panthers, Safety

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    Sean Chandler has quietly seen a massive volume of snaps in the Panthers' secondary since Justin Burris went down. This is not necessarily a good thing as it probably means that he has not been overly efficient with his volume. Even still, he has 30 tackles through six games and has been getting better as the season moves on.

    Over the last two games, Chandler has seen 98% of the team's snaps. He has also been able to rack up 23 tackles over the last three games. Chandler really showed off some playmaking in his Week 6 performance where he managed 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Chandler and Jeremy Chinn dominate the Panthers' secondary in snaps and that should not change.

    The Panthers' best linebacker, Shaq Thompson has been dealing with a nagging injury which has him questionable once again. This leaves Jermaine Carter as the team's top linebacker. Though he was very good in Week 6, he has been wildly inefficient throughout his career. With a depleted linebacker group, the Panthers' safeties could see another great week.

    Week 7 IDP Sleepers Summary

    Terrell Lewis, Michael Danna, Akeem Davis-Gaither, and Brandon Jones have all seemed to grab ahold of a higher snap share on their respective teams through impressive play so far in the 2021 season. Sean Chandler fell into a high-volume role when the Panthers lost Justin Burris. I am willing to fire all three of these players up with confidence, good luck on Week 7 my friends.


    Thank you for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @JoeyTheToothIDP, and check out all of my IDP, Devy, and Offensive work on my IDP Guys author page. Stay up to date with the latest breaking news in fantasy football with The IDPGuys!

    Joseph Haggan

    I am the proud father to an amazing young girl and husband to an unbelievable wife. Senior writer for IDPGuys, as well as projections creator and co-founder of our elite IDP Scoring Tool.
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