After returning from the IR, he has been slowly eased back into regular snaps. It was Week 9 when he finally saw his snaps turn into fantasy points. Davenport got his 1st sack since Week 1 and added a FF for good measure. The Saints will get the Titans in Week 10, which have been stingy to opposing Edge rushers, but his schedule after that gets juicy. Eagles, Bills, Cowboys, and Jets. All of which have injuries across the O-Line!
Dawuane Smoot-Jacksonville Jaguars
Dawuane Smoot dusted the center here. He hasn't gotten many reps between the tackles this year but sheesh pic.twitter.com/x9wtQWHBYE
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) November 3, 2021
Josh Allen (the other one) might get all the publicity from Week 9's shocking upset over Josh Allen (yes, that one) and the Buffalo Bills, but Dawuane Smoot deserves a lot of credit as well! Smoot absolutely owned the offensive line to the tune of 7 pressures, 3 tackles, 1 sack, and a forced fumble. Smoot and Jags get a tough divisional matchup with the Colts in Week 10. Look for Smoot to do his best to take advantage of Matt Pryor at RT, who appears to be in line for the start after starting RT, Braden Smith left the game with an apparent elbow injury.
Jonathon Cooper-Denver Broncos
Jonathon Cooper gets the first sack of his NFL career! pic.twitter.com/6kXfS9TyTo
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) November 7, 2021
Sometimes all it takes is for your team to trade away a perennial Hall of Fame linebacker to get your shot! Of course, as much as the Broncos fans hate to see Von Miller go, it does give Jonathon Cooper an opportunity to show his worth. In reality, he has had the past couple of weeks with Miller injured, but now it appears he has the rest of the season as the starting OLB.
Over the past 3 games in Miller's absence, Cooper has a 15% pressure rate, 11 tackles, and 2 sacks. Denver will travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles but will be on a BYE the following week. If you have the roster space to hold, then Cooper makes a lot of sense. Kansas City and Detroit in Weeks 13-14 are worth waiting for.
Leighton Vander Esch-Dallas Cowboys
#FFIDP Leighton Vander Esch woke up Week 9 and chose violence...reacted to play and aggressively shook off the block and made the tackle... pic.twitter.com/mkzUTSo89k
— Mike Woellert (@Mike_Woellert) November 8, 2021
An opportunity has been knocking on a couple of different doors, but has LVE finally answered? While it's hard to say entirely considering the flow of the Week 9 game vs the Broncos, it does appear that the knocking has gotten loud enough for us to maybe pay attention. Not only has Keanu Neal seen his playing time dwindle before our eyes, but the loss of Jabril Cox has increased the snap share of LVE to be on the rise. With a 65% snap share in Week 9, LVE delivered a team-high 11 tackles and 21 fantasy points.
While the matchup in Week 10 vs the Falcons may not be my most ideal situation, Weeks 11-13 feature some ideal matchups in KC, LV, and NO.
Brandon Stephens-Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh on Brandon Stephens, who's expected to replace injured S DeShon Elliott: "He's going to be very prepared and he has to be."
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) November 9, 2021
Harbaugh added that Jimmy Smith, Geno Stone and Anthony Levine will help fill the void as well.
"It will be a group effort," Harbaugh said.
With the unfortunate news that DeShon Elliott is out for the season, it would appear that Brandon Stephens will get the first crack at significant snaps. While I do believe that Smith, Stone, and Levine could fill in some snaps, I fully expect Stephens to play the majority and have an impact over the next month. In just 19 snaps in Week 19, Stephens had 3 tackles. If we go back to week 5 vs IND, Stephens played in 100% of the snaps and had double-digit tackles and 16 fantasy points.
Stephens looks to have some nice divisional matchups against some run-heavy teams, which gives me hope that Stephens could give us DB2 upside going forward!
Thank You for reading, and as always, I welcome any comments or questions. You can reach me @natemarcum.
