- What to make of Rashaan Evans’ great IDP season: Taking a look at what has allowed Evans to be such a productive IDP this season.
- Making the case for Comeback Player of the Year: Za’Darius Smith has been elite after missing almost all of 2021 and is deserving of a top spot in the ranks.
- Cornerback expectations vs. reality: Evaluating what makes a cornerback a successful IDP and why spending high draft capital on them continues to be a common mistake among IDP gamers.
Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
The home stretch is upon us and fantasy managers probably have a much better idea of whether or not their teams are contenders for the playoffs this season. Whether fantasy teams are looking to contend, or at least upset those that are, diving into the ranks and doing important research is surely to help the cause.
Check the PFF.com rankings page for any updates closer to game time.
JUMP TO A POSITION:
LB | ED | DI | S | CB
LINEBACKERS
| RANK | TIER | NAME | TEAM | OPP | NOTES |
| 1 | 1A | Zaire Franklin | IND | PHI | |
| 2 | 1A | T.J. Edwards | PHI | @ IND | |
| 3 | 1A | C.J. Mosley | NYJ | @ NE | |
| 4 | 1A | Micah Parsons | DAL | @ MIN | |
| 5 | 1B | Rashaan Evans | ATL | CHI | |
| 6 | 1B | Nick Bolton | KC | @ LAC | SNF |
| 7 | 1B | Eric Kendricks | MIN | DAL | |
| 8 | 1B | Roquan Smith | BLT | CAR | |
| 9 | 1C | Bobby Wagner | LAR | @ NO | |
| 10 | 1C | Dre Greenlaw | SF | @ ARZ | MNF |
| 11 | 1C | Josey Jewell | DEN | LV | |
| 12 | 1C | Bobby Okereke | IND | PHI | |
| 13 | 2A | Cole Holcomb | WAS | @ HST | Q |
| 14 | 2A | Shaq Thompson | CAR | @ BLT | |
| 15 | 2A | David Long | TEN | @ GB | TNF |
| 16 | 2A | Demario Davis | NO | LAR | |
| 17 | 2B | Mykal Walker | ATL | CHI | |
| 18 | 2B | Fred Warner | SF | @ ARZ | MNF |
| 19 | 2B | Drue Tranquill | LAC | KC | SNF |
| 20 | 2B | De’Vondre Campbell | GB | TEN | Q/TNF |
| 21 | 2C | Tremaine Edmunds | BUF | CLV | Q |
| 22 | 2C | Myles Jack | PIT | CIN | |
| 23 | 2C | Zaven Collins | ARZ | SF | MNF |
| 24 | 2C | Logan Wilson | CIN | @ PIT | |
| 25 | 3A | Christian Harris | HST | WAS | |
| 26 | 3A | Jordan Hicks | MIN | DAL | |
| 27 | 3A | Isaiah Simmons | ARZ | SF | MNF |
| 28 | 3A | Denzel Perryman | LV | @ DEN | Q/WW |
| 29 | 3B | Matt Milano | BUF | CLV | |
| 30 | 3B | Frankie Luvu | CAR | @ BLT | |
| 31 | 3B | Jamin Davis | WAS | @ HST | |
| 32 | 3B | Christian Kirksey | HST | WAS | |
| 33 | 3C | Jack Sanborn | CHI | @ ATL | |
| 34 | 3C | Quay Walker | GB | TEN | TNF |
| 35 | 3C | Jayon Brown | LV | @ DEN | WW |
| 36 | 3C | Nicholas Morrow | CHI | @ ATL | |
| 37 | 4A | Patrick Queen | BLT | CAR | |
| 38 | 4A | Sione Takitaki | CLV | @ BUF | WW |
| 39 | 4A | Ernest Jones | LAR | @ NO | |
| 40 | 4A | Kaden Elliss | NO | LAR | |
| 41 | 4B | Willie Gay Jr. | KC | @ LAC | SNF |
| 42 | 4B | Germaine Pratt | CIN | @ PIT | |
| 43 | 4B | Quincy Williams | NYJ | @ NE | |
| 44 | 4B | Alex Singleton | DEN | LV | |
| 45 | 4C | Alex Anzalone | DET | @ NYG | |
| 46 | 4C | Leighton Vander Esch | DAL | @ MIN | |
| 47 | 4C | Kyzir White | PHI | @ IND | |
| 48 | 4C | Deion Jones | CLV | @ BUF | |
| 49 | 5A | Ja’Whaun Bentley | NE | NYJ | |
| 50 | 5A | Jaylon Smith | NYG | DET | |
| 51 | 5A | Derrick Barnes | DET | @ NYG | |
| 52 | 5A | Dylan Cole | TEN | @ GB | TNF |
| 53 | 5B | Azeez Al-Shaair | SF | @ ARZ | MNF |
| 54 | 5B | Kenneth Murray | LAC | KC | SNF |
| 55 | 5B | Devin Bush | PIT | CIN | |
| 56 | 5B | Damone Clark | DAL | @ MIN | |
| 57 | 5C | Cory Littleton | CAR | @ BLT | |
| 58 | 5C | Luke Masterson | LV | @ DEN | |
| 59 | 5C | Jonas Griffith | DEN | LV | |
| 60 | 5C | Kwon Alexander | NYJ | @ NE |
Rashaan Evans (LB5) now ranks among the top-five linebackers in total tackles (94) thanks to ideal playing time and usage in the Falcons defense. Atlanta is among the top-12 teams in the league in zone coverage rates (69.6%). And they play a lot of Cover-2 (18.9%), which was the most efficient tackling scheme for linebackers the past three seasons and currently yields the second-highest average tackle rate (15.52%) for linebackers. Evans’ availability has certainly been one of his greatest assets, playing the second-most defensive snaps (672) among linebackers, but doing so in a tackle-friendly defense has pushed him into a top option on the season.
Zaven Collins (LB23), similarly to Rashaan Evans, also plays in a zone-heavy defense and hardly leaves the field, averaging 97% of defensive snaps . Despite playing the eighth-most snaps at his position, he’s been a bit more boom/bust than most every-down linebackers because he hasn’t quite put together the tackle efficiency to keep his production consistent week to week. Collins currently owns a 9.65% tackle efficiency, which is well below average for his position (13.2%), in large part due to spending about 22% of his pass down snaps blitzing.
He has now rushed the passer more than any other player at his position this season (88). And while he has managed a game with two sacks, he just hasn’t been efficient enough in that area of his game to make those sacrificed snaps worth it so far. Without hitting a single double-digit tackle game this season, Collins’ overall playing time with some big-play upside is the only thing keeping him in the top-24 at his position this week.
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