Week 5 is upon us. The Buccaneers against the Bears on Thursday Night Football was a defensive battle. There was of course some bad to go along with the good. Khalil Mack got to Tom Brady twice, while Shaquil Barrett created constant pressures in his own right. Antoine Winfield made a name for himself on prime time, while Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan both contributed at least solo tackles.
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 Myles Garrett and instead focus on players who will actually be debated for this weekend’s contests.
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Start em
Chase Winovich (DE – NE)
Chase Winovich is now up to 2.5 sacks on the season and has wrapped up the quarterback in three straight weeks (0.5 sacks in Week 2). He is already up to 13 pressures on the season. This is a number that really shows the growth both in his game and his role, as he had just 19 pressures in 16 games last season. With Green Bay and Detroit on bye, and it looking increasingly likely that Tennessee and Buffalo may have to be postponed, Winovich has DE2 upside against the Denver Broncos. If Drew Lock does not return under center, Winovich could creep into the DE1 periphery.
Chase Young (DE – WAS)
What kind of column feels the need to tell fantasy managers to start Chase Young? Let me explain. Young was rostered in over 35 percent of Yahoo leagues in Week 2 but has dropped to 17 percent after his Week 3 inactive. His rostered numbers are low enough for him to make him a waiver wire suggestion for Week 5, so yes, there is a portion of the IDP fantasy manager base that appears to need to be reminded that Young should not be available in any competitive leagues to begin with.
Once he is rostered fantasy managers will need to decide whether to start him in a week where he was limited in practice. He may be on a pitch count as Washington looks to play it safe with the franchise defensive end. However, even on limited snaps against the Rams, Young will still be a top tier IDP option. He will not be able to be counted as a DL1, but Young is locked in as a DL2 option. He is a Myles Garrett level talent that needs to be started in all competitive leagues with two or more DL or DE spots. Don’t overthink this one.
Josey Jewell (LB – DEN)
Jewell exploded on Thursday Night Football eight solo tackles, two assists, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, one pass defended, and two QB hits. It was a coming out party for the inside linebacker who has been quietly bullying his way into the LB2 conversation. He still plays in a 3-4, but there is no denying his consistency, as he has recorded five or more solo tackles in three of four weeks. With or without Cam Newton, an inside linebacker with Jewell’s type of sack upside is always going to be worth a start. However, if Brian Hoyer or Jarrett Stidham get tapped on Monday, Jewell could provide another LB1 level performance for those with the foresight to stick him in their lineups.
Foyesade Oluokun (LB – ATL)
Foyesade had an excellent Week 4 against the Cowboys with five solo tackles and three assists. However, the bigger storyline was that he saw 97 percent of the snaps and should continue to be in the nickel package going forward. He is more of a downhill linebacker than De’Vondre Campbell was for the Falcons but is quickly becoming an IDP force.
If he is active, fantasy managers will want to find a way to get Oluokun in their lineups for a plus matchup against a Carolina Panthers team relinquishing the 12th most fantasy points to the linebacker position. He is battling an oblique injury, but if he is active he will be a hard to ignore LB3 with LB2 upside. He has been consistent enough to deploy as an LB2, but if he is your LB2 we need to have another discussion altogether. Oluokun should be started in all competitive leagues.
Bradley McDougald (S – NYJ)
McDougald recorded a rock solid five solo tackles in Week 4 against the Broncos. He has been a consistent IDP contributor this season. In fact, he has been more consistent than his much more ballyhooed teammate Marcus Maye. McDougald looks like a must-start in competitive leagues for Week 5, as the New York Jets will be taking on an Arizona Cardinals team surrendering the fourth most fantasy points to the safety position. McDougald is a DB2 option for Week 5 and needs to be brought off benches and into lineups.
Donovan Wilson (S – DAL)
Wilson exploded for six solo tackles, four assists, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit in Week 4. He replaced an ineffective Darian Thompson early in the game, and the 2019 sixth round pick may have permanently supplanted him with his impressive performance. There is no guarantee that Wilson even gets the start in Week 5, but if he does, it makes Wilson a must start. The lack of talent at cornerback outside of rookie Trevon Diggs will ensure that Wilson stays active for the Cowboys. Heck, let’s be honest, the state of the Cowboys entire defense outside of Aldon Smith and Jaylon Smith means Wilson should be getting all the work he can handle.
Wilson was a clear upgrade on Thompson, and with a shakeup needed in the Cowboys defensive unit, Wilson being permanently ascended to the starting role at free safety is the expectation here. In Week 5 Wilson will get the New York Giants. While they may not provide as many second level tackle opportunities against the run as they would have with Saquon Barkley, the state of the backfield means Wilson should be given plenty of opportunities against the run when in the box. He should be active against the pass as the Giants project to be forced to air it out in an attempt to keep up with the Cowboys explosive offense. Start Wilson as a DB2 option for Week 5.
Sit em
Jordan Fuller (S – LAR)
Jordan Fuller may have been Wally Pip’d. Well, to be fair, he may have done it to Taylor Rapp first, so perhaps the sophomore safety is just returning the favor. Fuller has logged two straight full practices, but it may not matter as Rapp may have stolen the job Fuller won out of training camp when Rapp was dealing with an injury of his own. What is certain is that Rapp is the better IDP asset and that the Rams have the luxury of having two starting caliber safeties to decide between.
Hopefully, there is some clarity here before game time, but if one player or the other is not announced as the starter, both Rapp and Fuller should be benched until the snap count battle crystalizes. This has the potential to become a maddening situation because both players are capable of being meaningful IDP contributors in a full time role. If they are forced to split snaps, it could be even worse as we could have two unusable assets instead of just one.
Deionte Thompson (S – ARI)
Deionte Thompson was excellent in his audition in Week 4 but is expected to go back to the bench with Budda Baker set to play in Week 5, and Chris Banjo returning to practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s session. As mentioned in our waiver wire piece this week, Thompson is more talented than Banjo in a vacuum but needs to become as, or more effective on an NFL field to permanently supplant him as the starter. It should only be a matter of time, but until that happens, keep the talented sophomore on benches along with his teammate Isaiah Simmons.
Micah Kiser (LB – LAR)
One of the hottest new names in IDP, Micah Kiser has been limited by groin and pectoral injuries and has missed two straight practices. This is highly concerning and may result in Kiser being ruled out altogether later today. However, the suggestion here is to sit the potential LB1 even if he is active. Groin injuries are bad enough for defensive players as it limits their range and forces them to play through pain. Adding a pectoral injury to the mix is not a good combination. He should be inserted back into lineups as early as Week 6 providing he is able to log at least two limited practice sessions. It is painful to suggest sitting someone with the upside of Kiser, but it may be the sharp move for Week 5.
Ben Niemann (LB – KC)
It appears that, barring injury, Brad Niemann’s time as an IDP contributor may be coming to an end. We knew it was only a matter of time before the Chiefs started giving prized rookie Willie Gay Jr. defensive snaps, and now that he has passed Niemann in snaps, the latter belongs on benches. If you are in a bye week roster crunch Niemann is even someone to consider dropping outright. He managed just 27 percent of the snaps last week with Willie Gay seeing 33 percent. Gay is going to continue to see his role expanded at the expense of Niemann, and is expected to eventually cut into Damien Wilson‘s snaps as well.
Quinton Jefferson (DL – BUF)
Jefferson should be left on fantasy benches even if you picked him up this past week as cover. He was excellent in Week 4 thanks to a strip-sack that he recovered himself giving him a DL1 level performance. However, Jefferson actually saw a season low in snaps in Week 4, dropping from the 60 percent or more of the snaps he saw during the first three weeks to 46 percent against the Bills.
We need to see more consistency before deploying him with just two teams scheduled to be on bye. In the heavier byes, especially in leagues that he qualifies for DT in, he will be worth consideration. And then of course we have the fact that he plays for a Buffalo Bills team that has seen their game against the Tennessee Titans moved to Tuesday. Jefferson may not even have a Week 5 contest. Look elsewhere this week.
Trey Hendrickson (DE – NO)
Trey Hendrickson found his way onto more than a few fantasy rosters after his four solo tackle, one sack, one tackle for loss, two QB hit performance in Week 1. He made good on his expanded role by recording a sack in three of his four contests this season. He has been held down under 60 percent of the snaps in each week despite his impressive play thanks to the Saints giving extended looks to Carl Granderson. So why is he in the sit column instead of the start column?
Hendrickson has been limited in practice this week with a groin injury. If the injury results in a reduction of snaps and limits his effectiveness when actually on the field, it would almost be reason enough to pivot off Hendrickson just for that. However, Marcus Davenport is back at practice, and barring any setbacks he is set to make his season debut after missing the first four weeks with a toe injury. New Orleans would do well to get creative enough to keep Jordan, Davenport, and Hendrickson out there at times, but the return of a more talented starter is no count going to send Hendrickson back to the bench. This could all become moot if the Saints decide to rule Davenport out for one more week, but as of now, Hendrickson managers will want to start preparing contingency plans.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyContext.
