Week 2 is upon us. Thursday night’s game gave us some excitement with Joe Burrow versus Baker Mayfield, with Joe Mixon versus Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt being almost as compelling of a storyline. However for IDP managers, seeing Sheldon Richardson create multiple pressures, Jessie Bates and Andrew Sendejo rack up 10 total tackles, or Myles Garrett and Adrian Clayborn join the mini sack party was just as exciting. 

In deeper IDP leagues that do not treat the position as purely a novelty, deciding who to sit and who to start often becomes a challenge. With that in mind, we will take a look at a few players we should both be started and sat in IDP leagues. We will try to avoid the obvious such as starting Bobby Wagner or Josh Allen after down weeks and instead focus on players who will actually be debated for this weekend’s contests.

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Start Em

Maxx Crosby (DE – LV)
Maxx Crosby managed just two tackle assists in Week 1 in what was thought to be a plus matchup. He managed a pressure but did not get his hands on Teddy Bridgewater all contest. Week 2 pits him against one of the best in the game against the blitz in Drew Brees, but the future Hall of Famer is not mobile and is not someone who is particularly adept at avoiding pressures from a simple four-man rush. 

If not for two blown tackles, Crosby would have had a more respectable stat line in Week 1. There is no guarantee that he gets to the quarterback this week, sacks are not sticky enough to confidently project them, but he should be active against the run. He will be facing some tackle breakers so we are not expecting him to get to be clean there, but the Saints are likely going to need to lean on the run and the short pass game without Michael Thomas, two areas that Crosby should be active in. 

Jeremy Chinn (S/LB – CAR)
Jeremy Chinn looked excellent in his NFL debut. He played every snap for the Carolina Panthers and is going to quickly become someone in the DB1 conversation. He recorded seven solo tackles and one assist against Las Vegas and should have another big day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs offense without Chris Godwin and with a Mike Evans whose hamstring is bad enough that they are limiting his deep routes is going to be fun to attack for an aggressive safety like Chinn. Chinn was set loose on the quarterback on three separate occasions, and while he did not reach Derek Carr, this type of usage raises both his weekly floor and ceiling.

Chinn saw snaps all over the field in Week 1, from the box, to the line of scrimmage, to the slot, to traditional free safety. He saw the majority of his snaps in the box or at free safety, but he did see 18 snaps as a slot corner. This versatility almost ensures he remains an every-down player who is one of the more consistent players at his position. Start ’em, if you got him against the Buccaneers in Week 2.

Derrick Brown (DT – CAR)
A menace in the middle of the defensive line, Derrick Brown impressed on his NFL debut despite being held off the sack sheet. He totaled one solo tackle, one assist, one tackle for loss, and two passes defended. The Raiders were a plus matchup, but the Buccaneers may be an even better one. Tampa Bay’s line is stronger on the edges than in the middle, and Ronald Jones, LeSean McCoy, and Leonard Fournette project to present an ample amount of tackle for loss opportunities. While he is a no brainer start in say leagues that have three DT spots, he is worth considering as a DT2 or DL3. Brown is only going to get better and better. Play the matchup and plug him in. 

Yannick Ngakoue (DE – MIN)
Ngakoue hardly deserves to be in this column but is here based on being a suggested sit for Week 1. As expected, the limited time he had with his new team kept his snaps limited. He was on the field for 56 percent of the defensive snaps, recording one quarterback knockdown and zero tackles. An extra week in the system should do wonders for him, as will the ability to review some of his own game tape. Ngakoue will not have the success we all hoped for when he was set to feast across from Danielle Hunter, but Ngakoue is one of the top defensive ends in the league in his own right and is poised to get it going in Week 2. He should be in for a busy day at the office against the Indianapolis Colts running backs, and his familiarity with the Colts offensive line should help him some as far as understanding their protections. Ngakoue should see 70 plus percent of the snaps in Week 2 and should make a much larger impact for fantasy managers. 

Jerome Baker (LB – MIA)
Jerome Baker was an absolute monster in Week 1. He racked up a highly impressive 13 solos, three assists, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble against the New England Patriots, and has another plus matchup this week against the Buffalo Bills. Now the undisputed man in the middle at the linebacker position, Baker is thriving in Flores’ scheme. Yes, it was only one week, and Baker has flashed high tackle counts before, but this time it feels like consistent LB2 production is more of a new theme than an aberration. Raekwon McMillan‘s departure freed him up for an every-down role, and Baker responded by leading the NFL in tackles after one week of play. He could quickly become too productive to even qualify for this column and should be started wherever possible as an upside LB2. 

Sit Em

Isaiah Simmons (LB – ARI)
What a disappointment. If someone would have told me Isaiah Simmons would play just 29 percent of the snaps in Week 1, I would have said it was because he got injured. He didn’t. He managed just three solo tackles and proved to be a liability against the pass, allowing receptions on both of his targets against in coverage. His role should expand, possibly as soon as this week, but when a team is playing Jordan Hicks, De’Vondre Campbell, and Haason Reddick ahead of Simmons at inside linebacker, you fade until further notice.

Javon Kinlaw (DT – SF)
Javon Kinlaw disappointed by playing just 49 percent of the snaps in Week 1. While it is true that he is more advanced as a pass rusher than he is as a run stopper, the fact that he was not used more in a loss to Kyler Murray and company is highly concerning. He was only able to muster one tackle and one pressure in his limited action. Kinlaw has a tremendous matchup this week against the New York Jets, but unless you play in a three DT league, and most of us do not, Kinlaw should be left on fantasy benches. It almost hurt to write that because I am such a fan of his immense talent, but fantasy football redraft leagues are about the here and now, and what a player can do for our team, this week. Keep him benched until further notice.

Willie Gay Jr. (LB – KC)
Talented rookie linebacker Willie Gay Jr. belongs on fantasy benches for the time being. If you did not watch the game or dig deep into the boxscore, you may think that he had one tackle and should see an expanded role in Week 2. However, the truth is that he made his lone tackle on special teams, where he played exclusively. He saw zero defensive snaps and does not appear to be in the Chiefs immediate plans. 

He is too talented to keep off the field all year, but the lack of a preseason surely did the rookie in as far as early-season playing time. The Chiefs are not averse to playing rookies early as fellow rookie L’Jarius Snead logged the third-most defensive snaps on the team at 93 percent. Gay Jr. played behind both Ben Niemann (led linebackers with 61 percent of the snaps), Anthony Hitchens (44 percent), and Damien Wilson (34 percent). 

While some sites have Gay erroneously listed as the starter, the Chiefs actual website has Wilson as a base nickel starter beside Hitchens. Now is not the time to drop him, as he is arguably already one of the two most talented on his team at his position, but we are going to have to wait until he masters the playbook enough that the Chiefs are comfortable with giving him at least 50 percent of the snaps. 

Tremaine Edmunds (LB – BUF)
Sitting Tremaine Edmunds may sound like sacrilege to some, but for one week only, that is the suggestion. Edmunds was off to a decent start in Week 1 but got knocked from the game with a pectoral injury. He had two solos, and one assist before he left the game but was disappointing relative to expectations even before the injury. He managed to play 64 percent of the snaps in Week 1, so three total tackles should still be considered a down outing, especially when one takes the often overly friendly Bills stat counters into account. Edmunds has a plus matchup this week against the Dolphins but being limited in practice all week, he should be left on fantasy benches. It will of course be tough to sit a player you may have drafted as your LB1, but if you are looking for options check out our waiver wire article here to see if any of the names remain on your wire. If you are still having trouble with a streaming option, feel free to reach out directly prior to Sunday morning.

K’Lavon Chaisson (DE/LB – JAX)
K’Lavon Chaisson needs the Jacksonville Jaguars staff to get out of the way and let him eat. Chaisson played just 62 percent of the snaps in Week 1, as the Jaguars maddeningly rotated both him and Allen out of the game repeatedly. Questionable coaching to be sure, but it also means that Chaisson is going to be hard to trust. He managed just one solo and one assist, managing zero pressures despite two blitzes. There is not much to say here for Chaisson because it is pretty cut and dry. Keep him benched until he starts to get going. 

Nasir Adderley (S – LAC)
Nasir Adderley was projected to step into a major role for the Los Angeles Chargers following the injury to Derwin James. He is listed as the starter at free safety on the team’s website, but he did not play starters snaps in-game. Adderley played just 40 percent of the snaps in Week 1, with zero production. The Chargers instead chose to use Desmond King ahead of him. King has the tackling ability to make a good safety, so this is not completely out of nowhere but is massively disappointing for fantasy managers who were expecting big things from the sophomore safety. 

King played 60 percent of the snaps, even lining up at free safety on six of them. He saw most of his work as a box safety, a role the Chargers may value him in. There was a concern prior to the injury regarding how the Chargers would get two slot corners on the field at the same time in Chris Harris Jr and King, but it appears James’ injury helped to solve that conundrum. Adderley is most definitely a hold for the time being, but there is no way we can trust him in lineups until he starts to either produce at a semi-consistent level or until he passes King in snaps.

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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyContext.