The season has kicked off with a flying start. Unfortunately, some injuries have come injuries as well. The League Winners will bring a weekly edition of fantasy football IDP pickups to target! We’ll gather a few under the radar names to plug into your fantasy football lineups. This piece will highlight some key injuries to players and potential names that could replace for plug-and-play value. With that said, let’s get started!
Key Injuries
Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco 49ers – Greenlaw suffered a groin injury in the week one over the Lions. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks after surgery. A big blow to the 49ers defense as Greenlaw has accumulated over 170 tackles the last two years.
Anthony Walker, Cleveland Browns – Walker has been placed on injured reserve after injuring his hamstring in the week one loss to the Chiefs. Walker had a combined 216 tackles the last two seasons and had a big day last Sunday with 10 tackles while playing in 95 percent of the snaps. Hopefully, he will miss only three to four weeks and nothing longer.
Jamien Sherwood, New York Jets – Drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, Sherwood is a player the Jets have high hopes for. Unfortunately, this will need to take a back seat now as Sherwood suffered an ankle injury that will him out a couple weeks.
Kwon Alexander New Orleans Saints – Alexander has been placed on injured reserve after sustaining an elbow injury in week one against the Packers. He will be out atleast three weeks at the minimum if not more.
IDP Pickups
Azeez Al-Shaair, San Francisco 49ers – After playing 78 percent of the snaps last Sunday, Al-Shaair will now command the WILL linebacker spot left open by the injury to Greenlaw. Al-Shaair had a solid day last week with seven total tackles and two tackles for loss. He allowed just two completions on four targets for a measly five yards. Tremendous volume with Greenlaw’s injury, grab Al-Shaair in your leagues a solid plug going forward.
B.J. Goodson, New York Jets – The Jets picked up Goodson earlier this week to provide depth and veteran experience to the Jets linebacker group. Goodson had a solid 2020 campaign with 91 tackles, two forced fumbles and two INTs. Now that he is on the Jets, expect him to make an immediate impact playing next to C.J. Mosley. Goodson will see a lot of playing time as the Jets don’t have much depth behind him. Goodson is a good solid plug and play option.
Alex Anzalone, Detroit Lions – The thought all off-season was that Jamie Collins would be the lead linebacker for the Lions. However, according to week one this certainly isn’t the case. Anzalone played 100 percent of the snaps in that game. What we are looking for is volume with playing time. Collins only played in 67 percent of the snaps with five tackles. This leads me to believe that the Lions are higher on the younger Anzalone. If in need of a deeper IDP stash in fantasy football, look at Anzalone as the volume will be there.
Zack Baun, New Orleans Saints – The second year player out of Wisconsin will have the opportunity to shine. Kwon Alexander is on IR, and fellow WILL linebacker Pete Werner is also out for week two. He posted five tackles last week, but with added volume, Baun has the opportunity to make an impact. If you are in a pinch, Baun is a decent week two fill-in.
