IDP Buy, Sell, Hold: 2024 Linebackers

Intro this is the IDP after show all right welcome into the IDP actor show I'm your host Jeff P off in this episode my special guest Mr Green d himself Mike woer and I are going to dive into the IDP stock market and do a little buy sell and hold with everyone's favorite position the offensive lineman no just kidding it's the linebackers of course Mike how you doing not too bad well does that mean like I got to scrap all my research because like I have like Tyler lyen bomb and I've got Wyatt teller so do I have to basically just scrap all of it and just kind of fly off the seat of my pants now if if you're able to talk a little linebackers tonight I'm sure everybody would appreciate that all right well I'll certainly do my best all right well that's all we can ask that's all we can ask so if you have any money invested especially lately you know how volatile that ride can be that can the same can be said for our IDP assets literally can change on a daily basis in this episode Mike and I are going to try to help you find just the right stocks to invest in Mike how's that sound to you let's do it let's get it let's do it okay so Mike before we get started um we've covered the defensive lineman already we covered the defensive backs in Prior episodes and I asked each Eric and Jace what was their approach to IDP Assets in their Dynasty leaks I said that my Approach had kind of changed a little bit in the last few years treating them more as a redraft approach where I'm much more willing to move on from them than I was when I first started playing Dynasty and so I just wanted to get your thoughts about that and then like does that play into your roster construction at all yeah just because with um with these rookie linebackers they're not thrust into a a starting roll or a three down roll anymore it's yeah it's like I'm thinking of it for mostly from kind of a redraft or I'm going to get two or three known Commodities known guys that I can trust putting into my trust putting into a starting lineup then take some of these rookies and and you know just build for the future know okay these proba guys aren't probably gonna do anything for the first year maybe two I'm I'm good as long as I've got a a good core of young guys that can uh that I can withstand for the for the for a couple for a year or two are you with that being said Mike are you got are you the team that would never have like a junior Coulson and edrien Cooper pton Wilson on your team no I won that yeah no I I won't say that but I won't cry if those guys get drafted before I'm I'm willing to take them like I like when I've like in the past when I've done dynasties or when when I've done startups I kind of come at it like you know what I'm just gonna try to win this league now I don't care so like I'll take a CJ Mosley and is that a smart idea I don't know because you know you just never know but I I'll take a known commodity or I'll take like uh um like an Ivan Pace or I'll take a Kenneth Murray before I take a rookie um because I know they're going to get on the field and that's what I want yeah yeah we're chasing that volume for sure so y so with that with that said Mike who are some linebackers you're actively looking to try to acquire on your Dynasty rosters or in your leagues this year so who who do you got for a name for us well we're looking from from Dynasty um probably Terrell Dodson because this is like the first time he's going to have any significant snaps or a significant role so um doson is a guy that I'm I'm gonna look to acquire um I know Baker I guess you could say got the higher free agent Capital but I think Dodson I think is the better player as the younger player um he's looking like the lb1 in Seattle it looks like he's going to be the play caller um I'm still not buying in a Jerome Baker um the lb2 in Seattle scheme is probably going to have about 75% of the snaps Lineback have produced at about a 14% tackle rate but that was with Bobby Wagner and Jordan Brooks but Dodson produced a pretty similar tackle rate in a in a part-time role last season um Seattle's also a top zone defense and if you if you heard uh Macky and I on on linebackers we were talking about Zone defenses and man defenses and Zone were were a ve was a very tackle friendly defense so with Seattle running probably one of the top Zone defenses um I think dodson's going to see plenty of t tackle uh tackle opportunities he created as one of pff's uh top coverage linebackers and last season like I said recorded about a 13 and a half perent tackle rate so Mike in that little clip I heard you talk about tackle percentage a couple times what's a what's a good or an ideal Target number that we want to see from our linebackers for a tackle percentage so if you're from your lb1 you want anything basically 14 and a half or higher like your faade luon are about in that 14 to 15 range Alex Singleton has been insane he's been in an 18% range um so with your lb1 you're looking at anywhere between you want about a 14.5% tackle rate because if you're look if you're thinking about it okay 14.5 my linebacker's playing 100 S A Thousand snaps in a given season that's going to give me 145 tackles so that's kind of where that's kind of where I where I come from your lb2 you probably want to be between 133 to 14 um lb3 you're probably looking at anywhere between 12 to 12 to 13 and lb4 is and Below you're then kind of Dipping below 12% so um Jerome Baker's been around 10% over the last couple of years but was drafted as that you know as an lb2 and he just hasn't been giving you the production and same thing with Pete Werner he was in that 10 and a half range and last year I know he was drafted pretty high so but that's kind of the the range that I'm looking at it when when I'm looking at tackle rates and and um you know my lb ones so Mike when you mentioned that 14% tackle rate how many linebacker ones were there last year above that threshold number that we're kind of looking for there were 12 that were like in that had that full-time role um Jack Gibbons came in at about a 15% playing at about 55% of the snaps um Ivan Pace had about had a 14% 14.4 tackle percent uh playing at about 62% % of the snap so um those guys should see an increase in snap so yeah there was about there was 12 linebackers that were in that full-time range of of 80 to 90% or more of the snaps that were in that 14% range so it's kind of interesting when you to look at those numbers when we think about an lb1 we think of like the top producing scoring guys but really when we're looking at linebacker ones we might have to start looking at tackle percentages at with volume you know is like to as a predictor of who that next breakout candidate might be but the thing and also you do still want to look at the snaps because like CJ Mosley is also a top linebacker he played in over 1100 snaps he had a 13 and a half percent tackle rate so he still produced at a little bit of a higher volume so it's not the gospel but definitely a guide for you to to kind of want to consider good stuff sorry we went down a rabbit hole on that one but uh we'll Buy: KJ Britt bring it back here with my top um Target or acquisition guy to acquire I'm looking at KJ Brit of the Tampa Bay Bucks um he's currently kind of going off the board as like linebacker 68 right now uh going in baseball drafts with an ADP of 195 which seems super late a lot of reasons I like Brit first and foremost there's no no white anymore so like we said in the last little Spiel opportunity opportunity opportunity there's really no competition for snaps it's a little baffling to me that a guy like Sur Dennis is going just a few spots behind him at line 74 and I've heard zero Camp Buzz about Dennis at all and he was he was pretty bad last season as far as an efficiency standpoint and just a statistical standpoint he wasn't a threat at all uh Britt came in the last six games uh started the last two he had 120 snaps over the last two games 14 tackles a sack so he's Ultra productive um I know that PFF grades don't tell the whole story but you know when we look at PFF grades they're a good metric to if a guy's going to stay on the field and he had some pretty decent numbers last year he had a 79.3 overall he was actually the highest rated Tampa Bay linebacker so he's gonna see the field obviously Levante David's not going anywhere but I think they have a really solid one-two punch there with him and David uh Todd BS loves him other players on the defense love him he's like that old school linebacker trash talking so um yeah I'm I'm all in on Brit this year especially at his current ADP so Buy: Trenton Simpson all right Mike that'll bring us up to your second candidate that you're looking at acquiring on your teams who you got yeah I'm gonna try to get Trenton Simpson uh from Baltimore looking at a pretty big increase in SN volume with Patrick Queen heading over to the Rival Pittsburgh Steelers he's looking like the clear um lb2 opposite ran Smith ran Smith has talked this kid up all off season um saying yeah this this kid can play he's just totally on my side you know he's he's attached at the hip he's asking me questions wants to know this wants to know this uh and is totally trying to get better trying to really perfect and really prepare himself for the season um last season both Baltimore linebackers appeared in over 95% of the snaps um they were middle in the pack in terms of Zone versus man but were very productive tackle wise I mean Patrick Queen had I think over I mean he was around 120 130 T tackles uh Simpson has looked good in the pre season he had a really strong game against uh the Steelers in week 18 in 26 snaps he only had seven tackles and had a sack so I think what I think Baltimore said all right that's all that we need to see if we can't resign Patrick Queen I think we feel very comfortable in bringing in Trent and Simpson so um and as far as I I can tell he's again kind of a guy that um you know ADP wise in mixed leagues is you know going not a forgotten guy but I mean I've been noticing him you can get him at is like an lb4 lb5 in kind of those mid to late rounds of of an IDP mixed mixed League um and you're looking at a potential breakout season if this kid plays 900,000 snaps I know he's not going to produce a 28% tackle rate that is unsustainable but I mean if he gets to between 12 and a half 133% he is going to uh completely obliterate his ADP yeah especially where you're getting him in drafts if you're drafting him as L three or four and he's gonna have that kind of upset that's you know sign me up all day and especially you got to love a young player who is hungry to learn and attaches himself to like a a vet or a pro likee ran Smith I mean he knows obviously what he's doing so he gonna bring the kid along he's definitely the a robin to his Batman so yep for sure uh speaking of a another Buy: EJ Speed Robin to a Batman my second linebacker to be looking for right now is EJ speed of the Indianapolis Colt he's currently linebacker 37 um a little bit higher price tag than some of the other ones but definitely think someone who can return on value he has the clear lb2 in that defense uh he and Zer have a great relationship they do podcasts together so that's just shows that that team Bond and everything like that and I don't think there's anyone that's going to compete with speed barring Health that he's gonna have any competition for like Brit he was the highest rated uh linebacker in IND last season according to PFF even about Franklin he didn't play All Season I know that they were kind of dealing with with the whole like sha Leonard soap oper last year and stuff like that so he only started the last six games of the season but despite that he had 102 combined tackles and a sack and he finished last season with as a linebacker 38 and big three scoring and he's currently being drafted as linebacker 37 despite only playing like half the season you know so GNA see an increase in volume and snaps um no competition so I just really am in on speed this year as being a a good return on value so yeah like DJ speed too good and then so Mike we're obviously talking about some guys like looking at in Dynasty leagues here is Buy: De'Vondre Campbell there another linebacker that you're kind of looking at right now that maybe is not like a dynasty Target but maybe somebody Who You're maybe can get pretty cheap that you want yeah if you're looking at kind of like a redraft or you know kind of like a maybe even a throwin um test the the market on dandre Campbell um who knows how d how long Dre green law is going to be out I mean he he tours Achilles in the beginning of at the beginning of the year on the Super Bowl not an IDE never an ideal time to ter your Achilles but especially last game of the season um we're not sure when Dron is gonna be a be back he's got a a wide range of potential outcomes but um Campbell's gonna have weekly value um 49ers run are primarily a two linebacker system so that lb2 has averaged a 90% snap rate Zone heavy scheme translates to IDP friendly uh production Campbell has that track record of production um Warner and Campbell can make a a pretty sneaky uh linebacker Duo so if you can get Campbell as kind of a throwin or maybe even I I don't I doubt he would be on a waiver wire but like if you can just kind of get him as a throwin he's gonna have weekly value until uh Drake Greenlaw ends up returning yeah and and news out of San Francisco right now is like you said Mike a wide range of outcomes like he literally tore his Achilles on the very last game of the season you can't get any later in the year than when he tore it and you know as I know that science has come a long way with recovery and the whole surgery thing but that's that's still a a major injury and there's been a track record of players not being able to return from those kind of things so y i and I love Dr Green law so all right um before we move on to our cell candidates Mike is there anyone that you're like getting super late in bestas ball somebody late that you're just like finding on Waiver Wires in your leagues that you're just like kind of scooping up everywhere you go um de marvan overan uh with Dallas um totally had a had a red shirt rookie because he tore his ACL before the season even started potential rotation between Deone Clark and himself but I I don't know if if if if uh if overan gets that lb2 spot um he's in a in a pretty good production next to next to Kendricks um another is Muhammad diabate over in Cleveland he had a pretty solid preseason five tackles 67 snaps has had a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit um he's also been wearing the the dot in Jordan hicks's absence and the Browns and stefansky and Kevin stefansky have been extremely quiet on hicks's injury and they haven't even told anything of it there's it just it's it's just an injury it's undisclosed he's dealing with something and they're not even disclosing what he as so um I am a little bit concerned on on Hicks I've been avoiding him in drafts and um getting to the point now where I'm probably gonna end up lowering his production or his projection uh probably should have done it but now we're getting towards you know week three he's probably not GNA play again they're saying he's probably gonna be ready for week one but I I but I don't know so I'm I'm thinking um have you know diat uh kind of queued up and as kind of a you know last round flyer who could maybe get a a three down role for a couple of games um and then Trevon Wallace with Carolina I know he's been playing um alongside um I don't even remember the guy's name Cher Cher I don't know if it's cheris something chero yeah so um sha Thompson and Josey jeel have have each dealt with their fair share of injuries sha Thompson already dealing with a hamstring uh we know Josie duel can miss a handful of games throughout the course of the season so you know just kind of one of those injury Flyers that you might want to be ahead of instead of reacting to when it comes to uh picking up on Waiver Wires or drafting somebody late yeah I love those calls those are a lot of great names especially you know as we get into the season we got those aene veterans who have been dinged up in the past and already dinged up and Now's the Time of the Year when you don't you want to be the healthiest you don't want to go into the season being hurt and you know fortunately somebody like sha Thompson or Hicks already going into the season dinged up you know and that's kind of a a scary slippery slope to be riding so uh for me my linebacker that I'm kind of scooping up everywhere late just kind of passed over especially with the rookie hype of edrian Cooper is Isaiah McDuffy the Packers uh he was super solid last season when he was called upon he had a lot of games where he was stepping up for injured linebackers in front of him he's had a solid training camp um Edan Cooper's been dinged up himself already so it's tough enough for R to overtake a veteran but when you are dinged up it's going to be nearly impossible and so he's a great bye guy that if you can get right now for next to nothing so that's where I'm going with that one so all right let's move into our next category here Mike who are some players that you are feeling that they're going to drop off from last season's production but you still want to kind of maximize their Sell: Dorian Williams value so who's the player right now you're actively trying to move or sell off your rosters um I I you know what I'm going to try to take advantage of of the injury in Buffalo and I'm going to try to move Dorian Williams um maybe maybe send a a deal out to the Matt Milano owner um I think his cell High window is open uh with his injury uh with that Milano injury could there be a rotation again um I mean at this time last week we had no idea who Joe Andre was so he's certainly thrown his hat into the mix in terms of the rotation Buffalo had uh a rotation at that linebacker two spot uh throughout the season until Terrell Dodson had a few uh until about week nine he didn't have a a completely full-time role but um I believe four out of those last eight or nine games he was playing about 80% of the snaps and I know he's playing anywhere between 70 to 80% of the snap so there could be a rotation you know you've got uh you do have Dory you got andreon I don't Nicholas Morrow has been talked about as a a cap or a cut casualty Deon Jones I don't think is going to make the team I know bayen Spectre is still there so you do have a little bit of a mess there at that lb2 spot so take advantage of the of of the cell High window I think with Dorian Williams I feel like Buffalo has had a mess of linebackers going back to last preseason too because I remember these same kind of conversations like who's going to be lb2 you know Milano went down I thought it was pretty pretty early last year as well and we were kind of like questioning who was it is it going to be the rookie Dorian Williams was it going to be someone else it was just kind of that that same conversation we're having this year too so totally can get on board with that yep um this is gonna probably make me Sell: Fred Warner really unpopular but I'm gonna one of the players I'm actively looking to sell if I have them is Fred Warner San Francisco linebacker he's currently linebacker number three right now in a lot of drafts he's going off the board as 80 ADP 14.7 which is just super super high first of all I'm not a hater of Fred Warner I love his play I love how he plays the game but anytime I can tear down and add more assets I'm especially on the IDP side of my roster I'm gonna do that and and Warner right now is a great player to do that in my opinion he's being drafted right now as lb3 not a lb3 the lb3 Mike do you know how many games Warner's missed in his eight-year career I think he played all seven I'm pretty sure he played all 17 last year but I'm I'll give you a CL it rhymes with hero okay Zer okay so he's Demario Davis okay that's what I figured I know he played 17 but okay so you can't you can't get that kind of production from anywhere I mean he's always on the field he's he's there all the time one more question for how many times has he finished as the lb3 for a season in his career oh I yeah I know he has I know he hasn't done that yeah so we're drafting him at his absolute ceiling we're we're drafting him higher than he's ever finished before and I get the consistency at the position and wanting to like lock that down and and Warner is going to be very consistent he's consistently a top 12 linebacker in leagues but he's never been that high but if I can tear down to like a single ton or if I can buy an aging Wagner and add more assets to my team to help my team out somewhere else I'm definitely going to do that I don't feel there's that big of a gap between the production at the end of the season from Warner and a Singleton or Wagner at this point but someone might want to buy that name recognition so again it's not like I don't like Warner I love his play and stff like that but if I can help my team out I'm definitely going to do that uh little caveat here if you are going to sell Warner I'd probably wait till about week six because he's probably going to go nuclear without Dr Greenlaw there and so you're probably going to get more in return at that point so um right now he's my he'd be a sell candidate for me so all right I'm ducking for tomatoes flying my direction now Mike so before that happens can you go on and tell us Sell: Pete Werner your second sell candidate uh I'm G to try to sell Pete Werner um I think an extension is signifying somewhere playing time um a solidified role h plus Willie gay is there um I mean but I mean is he gonna eat into to snaps I don't know but I think Pete Warner like I said has I I think that that extension is kind of solidified okay now we got to play this guy to see what kind of Roi we can get from this guy um had a really promising rookie year but since this rookie year those PFF grades have gone down and last year um and this past year uh from what I remember I think his tackle rate was only around I think it was around 11% so it might have even been a little bit less than that I think it was it was at least between 10 and a half and 11 but those PFF grades have gone down and they don't signify production but what PFF grades can help you is identify Maybe some of those guys that could be in line to be to to losing snaps so is this going to happen to him I don't know but I'm going to sell uh on Warner and hopefully uh try to um try to sell to maybe a person who may need some linebackers yeah anytime there's question marks around players I like to try to move off of them I don't like to play the what if game going into the season you know if you got too many ifs then that's it's just putting your team in a a bad spot so um one thing I do Sell: Frankie Luvu know is Frankie louu is my next cell candidate the Washington commanders he's currently linebacker 16 off the board right now ADP of 46.3 uh anytime a player moves to a new team there's always a little bit of hype so I'd like to try to capitalize that if I can uh louu was with the Carolina Panthers last year obviously came over to the commanders this season uh this so far this preseason he's played 15 snaps he's played seven of them in run defense five of them against rushing the quarterback and three in coverage I feel like Dan Quinn is trying to make him the Micah Parsons of the Washington commanders and if you guys know anything about the tackle efficiency of that that role that Parson's played it's it's pretty poor Parson's most tackles he had in the season was 84 and that was his rookie season louu had 103 in 2002 or I'm sorry in 2022 and 122 in 2023 I don't think he's getting close to that number again playing that role in the in Dan Quinn's defense there in Washington um he's also playing long side Wagner who can diagnose plays better than anybody he's ever played with they also have Jeremy chin there who's probably going to be sliding down in the Box being that that hybrid defensive back linebacker role so um that and also this defensive line doesn't excite me keeping that second level very clean um they moved on from montz sweat last season so I just don't I'm not excited about this defensive line scaring anybody so you know louu is going way too high for me right now so yeah I I can yeah I mean I think louu is probably a better is better left for like best ball drafts um he'll be prone to those ceiling weeks um but like in redraft I don't think I've he's never really entered my radar and you know you've got jam and Davis now playing The Edge and outside of Allen and Payne I mean there's gonna be a lot of players getting outside yeah yeah I I just don't see the trying to force the round peg into a square hole kind of what they're trying to do there so you're you're you're saying that louu is mAh Parsons and he's definitely not Michael person so no that's that's laughable so do you have one more cell candidate for us before we move on Sell: Jerome Baker Mike um you know what I he's probably a little bit old so you probably I mean it's you're probably not going to be but maybe Jerome Baker um kind of has that name recognition um has had some hund tackle Seasons um he's got some free agent Capital but I don't I just don't see him as uh you know kind of worth worth holding on to anymore his tackle efficiency has been on the decline um and even though he's in in a in a tackle heavy or a tackle friendly scheme in Seattle I just don't see a high tackle floor here anymore and again Baker's got a good name um he's got a history of production but if you can I'd probably you know he's probably someone I am I'm I'm trying to you know maybe move off of um if I can interesting that you have Dodson as a buy candidate you know from the same team and stuff like that so that's playing chess not Checkers Mike playing chess not Checkers or par cheesy ory okay whatever whatever you got all right so finally we did our buys we did our sells Mike who are some players that your league makes that you have just Hold: Nakobe Dean aren't in on a guy for injuries uh new situation whatever it might have been but you're just not willing to move off of or drop who are some of those players that you just wanna you're hoping that they're your guy this year so I think um this one might be tough I think I'm still gonna try to hold on to ncoe Dean um he's had a good preseason PFF grades have been solid um I think he's earned more time with the ones and I don't know I know fangio has had this affair with Zack Bond and he's gotten the ones but I just I just don't I don't know I just don't see it so um I know fangio does not care about your draft Capital but there's just something about him and I am a little bit worried about his health and him St you know standing up to a full season but it does seem like something like a little bit you know I know this is fantastic analysis but it's that fire that's been lit under him I mean I think that second I think of that training camp practice right after the game he started with the ones I think he had an interception off of off of Jaylen Herz I think he had a good pass break up in coverage um and I think he even had a sack so every you know for those next couple of days the beat writer been saying saying these last two days for nocoe Dean have been fantastic days he's really starting to kind of pick things up and is really starting to um you know take this competition seriously so I think I think I'm I think I'm kind of flip-flopping I think I'm like all right I'm letting other people take Bond and I'll just maybe scoop up Dean at the at the late at the end and just kind of see what happens and I'm going to take the flip side of that coin a player that I have Hold: Zach Baun right now in a lot of r that I I can't move or do anything with and I can't cut is Zack Bon um he's going as a linebacker 93 right now in best ball drafts and things like that I'm just not sure that anyone can trust fangio because he's thrown a lot of people some shade this offseason you know he had that whole stuff with Bryce huff and stuff like that so um it's kind of tough especially with noobi Dean being kind of crowned as the second coming of Luke Keeley you know Dean is going to be the guy for every season he was going to be at his rookie year he was going to be at last year you know and so it's hard for managers to move on from that and I don't know if anyone trusts the preseason or the stats maybe more than I do but like looking at um where Bon has been playing he's been playing the first few snaps for every game and he comes out he's getting that starters treatment it feels like uh he was free uh free in leagues a couple weeks ago and I don't know if like managers look at things like that and say you know well you just picked him up he's not worth anything he's not going to start I'm not going to invest in that or things like that um right now if he's an lb3 or four on my team I'm pretty happy but I don't want to go into the season with him as like my lb2 that makes me a little leery just like you said mik for the reasons with like Dean might get that fire lit and he might become something and I'm stuck with you know chasing linebacker points all week or all season excuse me but so bond is one of those players I just can't move right now I'm not going to get anything for us I'm unfortunately I think I'm just going to have to ride out and see you know if I'm going to look smart or I'm GNA look really dumb but we'll see where that goes who do you have as a another linebacker you have rostered right now that you're just can't move from so I know I mentioned one name but I'm gonna I'm gonna go in a different direction so one you mentioned Luke Keeley I drafted Luke Keeley as a rookie in 2012 and after about two or three seasons I just loved him loved his play and I was like all right this is just one guy that's just gonna die on my roster I even had trouble cutting him after he retired I'm like I just I maybe he'll come back I don't know but he was he was my ride or die sometimes there are those guys you know we talk okay I've got this guy you know he's an elite producer it's time to move him like you know what you got an elite producer sometimes just hold on to them and just enjoy the production why you know why try to try to move that you know what I think the one guy that that I've Hold: TJ Edwards identified here is is kind of that guy uh he's on one of my keeper leagues I've kept him for the last couple years and it's TJ Edwards He's just an underrated linebacker he's Ultra productive he's an elite producer um termaine Edmonds I know is next next to him but he just has that me he just has that mentality almost like he knows where the play is going and he's gonna get to the ball and he's gonna make the tackle so TJ Edwards on my roster right now is going to die on my roster so he's going to be one of those Guy where I'm just going to ride out his production if it starts tailing off then you know what we'll ride or die we'll drive off the cliff together he's not that old right he's only in his like seventh or eightth season so you got you got some time it's not got yeah we got a yeah you got a got a few years of him but he's not Bobby Wagner yet so no no and even you know what Bobby Wagner is another one of those guys that is gonna die if I have him he's just gonna die on my roster I thought that's where you were going when you were setting that up no I no but I did no TJ Edwards he's kind of in of entering the prime but he's you know he he could be one of those guys you know I'm going to sell high on him right now I'm like no why just enjoy the 140 150 tackles that he's gonna give you every season Y the Bears have definitely been trying to improve that defensive line that's the one hiccup I have with Edwards if they can improve that defensive line a little bit more and I know they've been trying they tried to get on on the Matthew judan deal you know they signed uh Taylor today right um yeah Daryl Taylor yeah so they're definitely trying to improve that defensive line so you know if they can improve that a little bit I think that's going to make edwards's job a thousand times easier so love that call yep uh my guy this year Hold: Jonas Griffith he's I've been flag planting you know Jonas Griffith for the Denver Broncos he's basically free everywhere right now uh the Broncos have tried to make him the guy for a while they traded from San Francisco to get him they want him to be the thing I don't know if the new coaching staff wants him to be that guy but he's just kind of always there fortunately he's always injury plagued and he's already again dinged up this season uh he only has Cody Barton in front of him which in my all high City's probably not the tallest mountain to probably overcome um maybe it's just me being thickheaded and stubborn but I want him to be the guy I want him to be the thing so you know I think it's probably more with my heart than my head that I'm picking Jonas Griffith here but you know he's he's got some good tape he had some good run in the preseason you know like I said Barton's not not the leadest of linebackers in front of him so no he's not great yeah so all right well now that we've covered that part of our buy sells and hold what we're going to do now is we're going to cover some of the players heading into those categories that we have in this upcoming season we're GNA head over to the IDP show.com website we're going to bring up the current IDP ADP and dive into some players and offer you our takes on who we would buy sell and hold based on their current data and this is all being pulled from the the 2024 IDP baseball drafts um all of this data is available with numerous articles and rankings live roster evaluations trade tools on the website um so be sure to stop on over to the website and check it out for this exercise Mike we're going to pretend that we are rostering all three of these players and we're going to do what we can do for our teams with our roster management and construction BSH: Foye Oluokun, Roquan Smith, Fred Warner so um we're going to dive right into the very top we're going to go linebacker one two and three right now and we're just going to do a little Buy sell hold so we have foan l 1 ADP of 8.7 roquan Smith lb2 is ADP is 10.4 and Fred Warner lb3 ADP 14.7 so of those three Mike who you buying who you selling who you holding uh I'm I'm buying uh Alon um two straight years of elite tackle production 100 solos um has been the tackle leader I what he's been the lb1 overall scorer now for two straight Seasons so it's like all right why I'm just going to continue riding that wave so I am buying uh f okan um and he's just been an elite linebacker since coming from coming over from Atlanta I'm buying the same for all those reasons there's no reason to doubt that he's going to be it the only hesitation I I heard that he kind of moved positions he you know I heard that Devon Lloyd's playing more of the mic now I don't know if that's going to really impact his production um but past production two seasons I signed me up there's no reason not to so who are you selling of that Trio um I'm probably selling Fred Warner um out of these three um he's never had 160 or 170 plus tackle season he's always been around that 125 130 Mark so um I will probably be selling Fred Warner and and I love Fred Warner as a football player yeah and and I already shared my thoughts on this exactly the same I'm selling them for the same reasons um it's foolish for you to buy a player at their absolute ceiling when he's not been able to produce at that ceiling yet you know we we're buying Alon because he's been the lb1 two seasons he has a track record that Warner doesn't have a track record of being the lb three even and we're buying them there so that's an easy sell for me and then obviously you're you're holding ran Smith what's the reason there um you know just like every like all the other Elite line all of these other Elite linebackers like um you know like a Bobby Wagner a TJ Edwards or you know it's just Elite production he's a guy you know he's like that um you know he's a he's your um he's your slow cooker you pop in uh you pop in a roast set it forget it eight hours later you've got 160 tackles so you just set it forget get it he's uh he's just that easy guy you can set in your lineup and and basically you don't even have to worry I think somewhere there's an analogy about Mom's meatloaf and I think that that ran Smith is that Mom's meatloaf kind of guy so I I love the idea of holding him here especially with no more Queen I think he's gonna eat even more than last season he he's probably the biggest threat I think to aluan not being the lb W this year so makes me happy that we agree on that one we won't agree on all of these so let's move on to some lb tws with some lb1 upside we have J he's currently BSH: JOK, Robert Spillane, Devin Lloyd lb9 Robert Spain is lb23 and Devin Lloyd is lb24 so of those three Mike who are you buying um I'm I'm buying Robert Spain um last year his first year as as a full-time linebacker um as a three as really a as yeah as a three down full-time all of it um he was pretty much relegated to kind of a a dime linebacker in Pittsburgh but came over to the Raiders and um immediately took on a leadership role wore the dot is continuing to wear the dot this season immediately immediate production 140 tackles so um it doesn't look like he's giving that role up anytime soon still relatively young if I'm not mistaken he's about 26 um so right entering the prime of his career with uh you know with tackle production that's what he did within his first year I'm certainly uh very intrigued in what he's gonna do uh the remainder of his career if he's gonna stay in Vegas or if he's you know is gonna take advantage of a production and you know sign a bigger contract somewhere but um I was I was very impressed at Spain's first season as a as a three down linebacker and we talked about coaches who love their players Antonio Pierce loves Spain like you know they they they obviously didn't do anything in free agency they didn't do anything in the draft and so Spain is really really their guy he Antonio Pierce went to Spain and said you're gonna be we're gonna build this defense around you and you're gonna do it and he and he rose to the challenge so yeah I really like the Raiders defense what they're doing I think they're they're really rallying around Pierce there uh my buy though is GNA be Devon Lloyd uh couple reasons one he's the cheapest of these he's the lowest the ADP I do like his new role that he's going to be playing more of the mic uh he really started to score well as the season progressed last year I know he got uh benched for Chad Muma for a couple games but after that benching he came back and just kind of really scored really well I don't think he's a threat to um negate anything aluan can do but I just like the the cost here with Lloyd and I think that he's gonna um really exceed in that kind of new role in Jacksonville and then um so Mike then who would be your cell of these three my cell is Devon Lloyd um I'm going to take advantage of the the position change um because in my opinion it doesn't mean anything um I think for me Mike Will Sam is it doesn't it doesn't really mean anything anymore as it did when I started playing these two guy the two line there's usually two linebackers on the field anywhere they're interchanging left and right one may play a little bit closer to line of scrimmage but for the most part their role really isn't changing for the most part so if someone wants to think if I so if someone wants to think oh Mike linebacker that's gonna be 160 tackles 43 Mike I'm gonna take advantage of of some of that terminology that is still ingrained in people's heads I'm like all right I'm gonna sell this guy if he thinks he's gonna get 160 170 tackles and out produce forade luone Don you want to give me a first round pick second round pick for Davon Lloyd done let's do it smash accept so that's where I'm coming up from from Devon Lloyd that's why uh why I'm selling gonna be a productive linebacker pretty Sol gonna be probably a solid lb2 I mean you can pretty much P I think you can pencil him for 120 130 tackles but I I just he he's the the mic roll it's like I said I just think it's one of those terms that is kind of slowly going you know going away you know because I even think Mike oh he's going to call call the plays like no no no never mind no so I'm trying to trying to stop myself from like getting too over caught and too overhyped about you know getting caught up into that change so not to go down a rabbit hole again but do you feel that sometimes we get wrapped up in like depth charts and you know like looking at like sites that have rosters you know like they're running a 43 and these are the linebacker positions do you feel sometimes like as a IDP manager that myself included we get wrapped up in like what those depth charts look like and maybe make decisions based on that when you know like you gave the example like there is no real true Sam Mike and will anymore same can be said with the safety position you know like there's not a strong and a free safety really anymore they're they're a safety so I don't know yeah I I I do think so um because when you look at it um most defense has ran a 425 um and I think a 335 was I think maybe even the next popular so those defenses don't really you know mean too much anymore and you know on on mre's podcast one of the things that I started off I think the new I think the new 4334 is Zone man I think that's really what I I think that's almost becoming kind of that Trend like if like the Zone schemes are producing tackle tackle friendly tackle friendly production so that's kind of what I've been what I've been noticing um over the you know over the last couple of years and I think some of those stats you know are kind of are are bearing it out right now yeah and I know we've referenced the podcast the podcast that you did with Macker last week but if you haven't checked that out go over to PFF and and do yourself a favor and check that out it's it's well worth the two hours sorry hour and 59 minutes worth of listening pleasure that you uh you and John put together it's really a good listen so um all right get back to here so you are buying Spain you are selling Deon Lloyd that means obviously you're holding J I'm holding J um I am I'm ass making the assumption that there's going to be an increase in snaps and an increase in usage so um he only played 71% of the snaps last season but was still pretty productive in with with those snaps um but uh I might be one of those guys I'm in Cleveland so drinking the Kool-Aid he got the extend so I'm like okay that's putting him into a um uh you know kind of into that uh you know we drafted this guy he's one of their guys as a draft pick they think they nailed the draft pick um when you look at his numbers I think he also provides a little bit of upside with some of those Splash plays he's going to get some of those tfls he's going to get a sack or two force a fumble so I'm he's a guy that yeah I'm gonna hold and hope that he plays you know 85 to 90% of the snaps yeah and he's a player that I'm GNA look at selling just because of that new contract and the buzz around him he's got the higher ADP of all of them I feel like he's never lived up to the hype of what he has you know he's he's been a a 70 80% snap guy I believe you know he's he's hasn't been that like true true 100% player they've brought in Jordan Hicks to try to be the guy you know and stuff like that so I just feel like there's a lot of I question marks on him or like things holding him back um that would obviously leave Spain as my hold I don't think you're going to get anything what he's valued at very undervalued player um so I'm just gonna I'm just gonna write it out and have lb1 on my on my roster there so all right then I'm gonna sign off and you as a j hater I am out of here no I promise I won't say anything else bad about anybody in Cleveland I love drewy I don't oh okay is he is he even from Cleveland or yeah I think yeah I'm pretty sure yeah pretty sure all right all right so moving on to our next three you're still with me Mike okay this is okay still there good blink twice if you're still there all right uh next up we have some linebacker 3es who are looking at pit and home run with BSH: Trenton Simpson, Eric Kendricks, Ivan Pace Jr. this is where we win our leagues we have Trenton Simpson is lb 32 Kevin Eric Hendricks is linebacker 33 and Ivan Pace Jr is linebacker 34 so of those Trio Mike who you buying um buying Trent and Simpson um again buying the uh potential increase in Stamps usage in the defense um and that uh and then hopefully that tackle production young guy you obviously a young guy you might have to pay a little bit more um but if you're kind of take you know if you can take advantage of somebody who may not know a whole lot about Trent and Simpson you know maybe you can kind of uh you know squeeze a little bit of something maybe get a get you know get a little bit of something uh for him but uh but yeah I'm trying to buy Trent Simpson for sure yeah I'm buying the hype that one game last year at the end of the season was all I needed to see and Baltimore has a history of being able to support two top linebackers there so um he's not going into a situation like Pittsburg where we haven't really seen multiple linebackers being able to be supported but Baltimore has definitely been able to do that so I just think Simpson's going to be that Queen replacement and hopefully looking at similar production uh who are you selling of this group grp um probably selling Kendricks um a little bit older um but reuniting with reuniting with Mike Zimmer um Dallas is a is a is a heavy zone so I they are a very tackle friendly scheme so I'm gonna try to use those couple of things as my advantage and I'm going to try to sell Kendricks um the re the reuniting with Mike Zimmer he was productive with him in Minnesota um still a productive linebacker um was dinged up a little bit but he's entering I think his age 32 33 season um if I can kind of take advantage or if I can sell anything and try to take advantage of that name and his tackle production um that's what I'm gonna try to do try to you know get a get a little bit what I can out of Kendricks yeah I'm totally on board with this too uh age Health those declining metrics have all been kind of War early warning signs to S Kendricks he was kind of let go from Minnesota because of like the pass coverage grade was kind of really starting to slip he went to the Chargers for a few seasons and so yeah I'm looking to I'm looking to cash out on my Kendrick shares if I have any that means obviously we're holding Ivan Pace what's the what's the rationale there um I know with Blake Cashman brought in um some confu not confusion but there's been some questions on who's going to be calling the plays um did Ivan Pace lie to us or did he Spill the Beans when maybe he wasn't supposed to and maybe he's getting punished for it I don't know but um I'm hoping we get some sort of clarification on who's going to call the plays tomorrow um or whenever Minnesota plays their week three game I'm I'm assuming it's tomorrow but uh but hopefully we get some clarification on who's going to call the plays here in in Minnesota so um I hav't Pac the undrafted free agent undiz but he can play football if you watched any if you w watched any of his any of the games that he was in last season you can tell he's always had seems to being in good position to make plays and and he is a football player so um I'm going to hold pace and see how things shake out um I know Flores has kind of been a single linebacker coach um Pace did play 13 of those 14 snaps in that first weekend game so I'm hoping G to get in that 90% range and you know kind of go from there yeah I'm totally on board here too and I don't think the price tag is so unrealistic that you have to like have a 100% linebacker here you're getting him at the very end of linebacker 3 territory so that's an easy easy hold for me too so uh next up we have some super deep sleepers somebody who is BSH: Jahlani Tavai, Mack Wilson, Jack Gibbens you're going to take it the last few rounds of your draft maybe that lb6 spot on your roster hoping for some bi-week help there so we have galani Tay is linebacker 69 Mack Wilson is linebacker 71 and Jack Gibbons is linebacker 73 of these three are is who is the buy candidate for you uh my Buy candid is Jack Gibbons um it looks like T Tennessee um could be a two- linebacker system Kenneth Murray has not really set the world on fire um as a first round pick um has been kind of an inefficient tackler comes in with high expectations I think from IDP because he's going to be that aiz Al Shyer um but I am in no way projecting Kenneth Murray to have 160 tackles um Jack giids is is a is a solid player um I think he had 95 tackles in in 500 snaps so he's an ultra efficient tackler I think Gibbons is in line to have potentially a full-time role um it looked like Tennessee was a was kind of that nickel two linebacker system in the preseason and if that holds um Jack Gibbons looks like he could have an 85 to 90% snap rate um and with that I mean you're with that snap rate and if he' m Mains that 12 133% tackle rate um you could be looking at at 120 tackles um this season and as an lb 73 with that ADP that just crushes it and puts you in a really good position any concern with Cedric gray there slipping into this season I'm not okay this season I'm not I am buying ma Wilson hype this year um I know that in New England he never really was what they wanted him to be but he goes into Arizona as probably the healthiest player on that Arizona Cardinals defense right now it seems like there must be something in the water that Turf that just destroys defensive players there um I think that this is is a smash spot for him to play really well against or with Kaiser white and so he's going to be my my I'll be six I'll be seven on my roster and he's just gonna smash his ADP so I'm gonna buy him uh my cell candidate is gonna be galani Tay I I really never want to start this guy on my team so I'm gonna just do myself a favor and void that for my team he's just kind of I don't know vanilla ice cream he's just he's just kind of boring he's not going to do anything super flashy or big for my team so I'm just gonna move off from that so Mike who is your cell um my cell is Mac Wilson um I'm GNA buy I'm going to sell the hype um he's never been a guy he's always kind of been a Jag uh he was in Cleveland obviously if Cleveland didn't find him worthwhile then I I don't know I mean he he played pretty well in New England um it's taking advantage of the snaps but I'm gonna sell on on MC Wilson's hype and then obviously that for me galani Tavi is a hold um Jawan Bentley not much of a tackle floor um especially when it comes to his solos and assists he's always been a one to one guy so 50 solos 50 assists 55 solos 55 assists jalani taii um little younger a little quicker um I mean he had a had a very quiet Hunter tackle season last season so um if Bentley either gets hurt or you know falls out of favor with gerod mayo he's just gonna slide right in as that uh as a play caller I know he played called the plays during the preseason with Bentley out um so I'm just gonna hold on to VI and just kind of see what I can get out of it and if he produces this year then I'm probably G to you know then you got your a nice sell High candidate yeah yeah and then that would leave obviously Gibbons for me as my hold I don't think anyone's going to give you a lot for him compared to what his production's going to be I would rather keep that production and you know like you said hopefully he hits and then the investment on what I need to give up for Gibbons right now is next to nothing so I'm going to keep that Buy Low hopefully he has a great season I can turn around and sell for much higher later our last category mic is players who have yet to play an NFL snap we have our rookies we have Junior Coulson his linebacker 42 edrian Cooper is BSH: Junior Colson, Edgerrin Cooper, Payton Wilson linebacker 50 and pton Wilson is way down at lb67 at the moment so of those three rookies who you buying I'm buying pton Wilson um I don't know I something tells me he could get um a start um or start playing significant snaps this season uh maybe mid-season I mean Alon Roberts has been a pretty decent run stopper but coverage has always been his uh his liability um you know Roberts is just kind of a guy um decent player good to have on your team but um I think pton Wilson is gonna be contributing sooner rather than later and Wilson just seems like a tackle machine and um I think I I want to get in on that um you know while I can yeah for me my buy right now I'm I'm buying the hype with Junior Coulson I just think that connection with the draft capital is Old Coach there's really not a lot to overcome in LA right now I know that Dean Henley is a favorite of a lot of player or people right now analyst but I just think with the draft Capital they've invested in him the connection with harau I just think it's going to be hard not for him to see significant snaps sooner than later I know he's been dinged up a little bit here this preseason but they're not going anywhere this season I think they're going to get him on the field see what they've got in them so that's gonna he's gonna be my buy who is your sell then of those three Junior Coulson should we could do other favors ands um I'm I'm selling on the hype and I'm selling on the situation um I'm selling on these intangibles that people are are willing to buy I seen him on the field um he had uh you know I think he had append an append ectomy so had a you know I know it's minor but it's still the surgery has kind of missed some Camp so I'll take advantage of someone who wants to buy these intangibles and hasn't seen anything on the field so I will sell Junior Coulson okay and then well we could probably just do a swap because my cell would be Payton Wilson the the knees scare me um Pittsburgh scares me just because it hasn't been a place that we haven't seen two linebackers be fantasy relevant Pittsburgh's been kind of a a tough place for linebackers in general like we have to go back several seasons before we find a lb2 let alone an lb1 finisher at the lb spot so now if I've already got Queen there it's going to be really hard splitting snaps like you said with maybe with Al Landon Roberts he's not going to go away it's going to be really hard for pton Wilson to become F fantasy relevant and so if I can sell off the preseason hype then I'm going to do that um for the for those reasons so well we agree on one in this group Adrian Cooper is your hold why is he your hold um again really talented linebacker I I've seen you know he's very quick very Speedy um and you know Isaiah McDuffy has really done a pretty good job so far in holding him off how long is it going to last um I don't have the contract information off hand but I mean I'm sure McDuffy does not is not going to cost a lot for them to move off of whether they release him or whether they just don't resign him to another contract but um I think Cooper is going to be a solid offall linebacker next to Quay Walker um I would probably assume next year but we don't know but Cooper is the guy is a guy that I'm gonna hold yeah I I agree with you I just we haven't seen him really practice a lot this preseason so he's not going to be be able to overtake McDuffy I think it's just a matter of time before that happens and somewhere Kyle belli is smiling right now so we made him happy so that's all that matters all right Mike that'll wrap this one up before we before we head out any final words of wisdom or takeaways from this pod or anything you want to impart on us viewers about linebackers this season no as always you know just also just get your guys um we're just spewing not non but you know we're we're throwing some paper towels at a wall hoping it sticks but uh I've always been a proponent of get your guys so if there's guys that you're gonna pound the table for go ahead and and trust your gut so a lot of times your gut's not going to steer you wrong but um you know we're we're doing our best here these are you know once they hit the football field all bets are off but uh but you know it's it's obviously fun game to watch um and uh and the linebacker position is definitely one of my favorites to to watch and and see how um these guys are playing and seeing how these guys are utilized but uh yeah I'm again a big proponent get your guys and have fun playing footb and have fun playing IDP football well we appreciate all the work that you do you know every every game we're getting screenshots of guys with green stickers on their helmets and stuff like that so it's that's not a it's not an easy task So speaking of all the good work what are you working on right now and uh what can we expect from you this off or during our season I guess now within 14 days away yeah just kind of wrapping up projections um you know I know these next weekend these next few weekends are are big draft weekends so uh might do one final kind of projection sweep this weekend uh my week one rankings are actually done um so we're I'm just getting uh waiting on word from the men upstairs I'm waiting for top men to give us the the green light to go ahead and get those published and uh you know update in the The Green Dot article to see if there's anything uh of note this weekend and you know thank you again everybody for for reading the article and you know really all I'm doing is telling you who's wearing a green who's wearing a green sticker on their helmet you know I'm not doing any I'm not lifechanging not life changing work but Artic I'm just telling you who's wearing a sticker on their helmet but no it it's it's always one of my favorite articles to write and my uh I've really enjoyed doing it so thank you everybody for reading it so kind see happens over the course of the weekend well we thank you for doing that so that's going to do it for this episode of the IDP after show Mike and I would love to hear your thoughts on how we broke down the position we'd also love to hear some of your favorite buys and sells at the linebacker position as well or if you have some offensive linemen you'd like to drop in to you'd like to hear that as well so uh you can be sure to drop those nuggets Down Below in the comment section also be sure to tackle those like subscribe and notification buttons so you never miss an episode of the IDP show or the IDP after show for Mike and myself we say thank you for tuning in and we'll catch up with you next time this was the IDP after show