It’s just one of those seasons it seems, as the NFL saw another spate of injuries on both sides of the ball in Week 6. Not only did the likes of Victor Cruz and Stevan Ridley suffer a season ending injuries, but LB1 Jerod Mayo did as well. The injuries didn’t end there; add in another fractured leg for Danny Trevathan, turf toe for Bobby Wagner, and an undisclosed toe injury for Patrick Willis, causing further tremors to run through an IDP landscape that is already missing the likes of Sean Lee, Kiko Alonso and Derrick Johnson. This week I’ll take an extra close look at some linebackers who can bail out some struggling fantasy rosters.
Defensive Lineman
Jerry Hughes gets a mention for the second straight week after another solid performance against the Patriots. Hughes has 12 total tackles (four for a loss), three sacks and a forced fumble over the past two games and lands a good matchup with Vikings LT Matt Kalil in Week 7. Kalil has allowed seven sacks this year and given up pressure on 10.3 percent of pass plays, so keep playing the hot hand of Hughes. It doesn’t hurt of course that the Bills stat crew is the most generous when awarding tackles too. Hughes is a DL2 when playing at home.
If you’re looking for a slightly deeper play, the Cowboys pass-rush doesn’t feature an out and out stud, but it will face a Giants team that gave up eight sacks against the Eagles in Week 6. Dallas is using a fair bit of rotation between George Selvie (one sack, one hit, five hurries), Jeremy Mincey (zero sacks, two hits, 15 hurries) and Tyrone Crawford (zero sacks, five hits, 13 hurries) and will be hoping that the trio can harass Eli Manning as much as Connor Barwin and co did last week. It was RT Justin Pugh who was deemed most at fault, credited by our game graders as having allowed four sacks last week (six on the season), so I’d be targeting Crawford (57 snaps as LDE) and Selvie (68 snaps as LDE) of the three Cowboys D-Lineman.
Already have a subscription? Log In
Need more specific advice, start/sit help or expert opinions on trades? Let us know on Facebook by joining the conversation
DOMINATE FANTASY FOOTBALL & BETTING WITH AI-POWERED DATA & TOOLS TRUSTED BY ALL 32
Ross Miles is a Lead Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy. Follow him on Twitter – @RossMilesNFL