The NFL landscape is ever-changing thanks to players being traded, cut, signed, suspended and, unfortunately, injured. This is never more true than right before the season as teams begin to shore up their rosters. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen plenty of change — with some moves likely to affect our IDP fantasy teams, while others, not so much. I’m here to go over recent key transactions and injuries that could potentially create some fantasy sleepers in the world of IDP.
BITTEN BY THE INJURY BUG
Los Angeles Chargers get hit with a major loss (again)
We’ll start with one of the most significant injuries that happened this offseason; Derwin James will miss this season to undergo surgery for his injured meniscus. This leaves a gaping hole in the Chargers’ secondary, which will likely be a battle between 2019 second-round pick Nasir Adderley, who played only 10 defensive snaps in 2019 while dealing with injuries of his own, and Rayshawn Jenkins, who played primarily as the team’s deep safety in 2019.
One scenario for the Chargers this season would be to use Adderley as the team’s free safety, with Jenkins playing more often as a strong safety. Head coach Anthony Lynn has also spoken about the idea of moving Desmond King, who worked mostly as the team’s starting slot corner in 2019, to the strong safety role in their defense. Week 1 should tell us quite a bit about how the Chargers plan to replace James, but for now, the safe bet seems to be on Jenkins taking the strong safety job — at least early on.
The Chargers played more Cover 3 (employing one deep safety) than any other team in the NFL last year, which also calls for the other safety playing closer to the line of scrimmage and in the box, leading to more potential for fantasy production.
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