Linebacker Injury Report Week 16
Below are some injuries worth monitoring as we start Week 16. Please consider these players’ injuries when setting your lineups.
Arizona Cardinals
Mack Wilson has not been a player we could rely on in recent weeks. In Week 16, he left the game because of a concussion. His replacement was Krys Barnes who did not fare any better. Because Barnes is a part-time player, his volume and chances to give you scoring are capped, so I won’t play him anywhere.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills have a unique situation with all three of their linebackers having limited capabilities. Dorian Williams had an elbow injury, which all reports to this are minor. It looked like the team was starting to trust Matt Milano again until he suffered a major setback, a groin injury. Baylon Spector got to play and earned a 23% snap role. It needs to be mentioned that it was Williams, and not Spector, who served in LB2 role and Spector only came in after injuries occurred. So assuming that everyone would be healthy I would rank Dorian Williams ahead of Baylon Spector and would not chase him off waivers until I knew something more.
Carolina Panthers
It looks like the Carolina Panthers are taking a precautionary approach to Josey Jewell. As he is the last competent linebacker on this roster, they likely are taking it easy on him. Nine other Panthers players did not practice either, many of them for rest reasons. Jewell suffered an injury in Week 15 and was able to play, only missing a few snaps. As for the rest of this rotation it’s a mess with Shaq Thompson already on IR, Trevin Wallace, and Claudin Cherelus being sent there as well, ending all their seasons. This leaves the team thin at linebacker alongside Josey Jewell, so it would make sense to keep him healthy. I would not trust any of the subs the Panthers are putting in Week 16 as it is too risky.
Green Bay Packers
With a Quay Walker injury, this time to his ankle, we got to see Eric Wilson (67%) take over as the green dot. While having the every down role, he was not efficient. Meanwhile, Edgerrin Cooper (71%)and Isaiah McDuffie (42%) fill in the LB2 role, with Cooper logging the majority of snaps, and Walker still not practicing I would be interested in starting Cooper this week.
Indianapolis Colts
The news here is E.J. Speed has missed back-to-back practices due to a knee injury. He has appeared on the injury report multiple times this season for this same injury so it stands to reason that he might play. However, he did previously miss Week 7 vs. Miami. Owners may be expected to pivot last minute if he is not a go.
New York Giants
Bobby Okereke is sidelined again for another week, this has been going on since Week 13, due to a back injury. Like so many other players on this list, to be able to play on Sunday, Okereke will likely need to upgrade to limited by Friday. What’s interesting about his situation is we exactly know how the rotation goes when he is out. Micah McFadden will step into a full-time role and take over as the team’s LB1, since he has been given the green dot McFadden has 100% and 22 tackles in two games. With his steady production, McFadden can be a league winner in IDP-only formats. Darius Muasau also has a role when this occurs. Muasau slides into the team’s LB2 role and last week logged his first 100% snap game producing 6 tackles. He’s playable in deeper leagues.
New York Jets
Quincy Williams did not practice, waiting to see if he could go as he is nursing a hamstring injury, but it hardly matters. His numbers have been terrible of late, with just 6 tackles in the last two games. Likely, because Jamien Sherwood is a tackling sponge and not leaving any tackles for Williams. I would not play him so let’s move on.
Tennessee Titans
Kenneth Murray is out dealing with a hamstring so he did not practice. Murray generally serves as a back end for every down-linebacker. Luke Gifford is still out as well dealing with the protocols of a concussion. Seventh-round rookie James Williams stepped in and played every snap, not fourth-round rookie Cedric Gray. If this isn’t enough news the Titans entered the game without linebackers Jerome Baker and Otis Reese, who were both inactive. They seem to have little interest in the latter. Given this team’s unique situation with injuries and bizarre usage, it is expected that these two rookies may rotate in and have roles.
If that is the case, James Williams has value and is listed as DB on Sleeper platforms. We covered this on this week’s podcast you could watch it here. 39:59 (24) Week 16 IDP+ Offense Mailbag Show Offense TNF | Betting – YouTube Williams might serve as a DB2 playing option during the playoffs, but that is a lot of risk to take and jumping to conclusions at the moment.
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