Fantasy Football: Week 8 IDP rankings and tiers

• A late IDP breakout star in the Steel City: Myles Jack is on pace for a career year, but could his role limit his outlook going forward?
• Pass-rush showdown in Motown: Two of the top up-and-coming edge defenders in the league face off in Detroit with positive matchups for both sides.
• A full-time role doesn’t always mean fantasy gold: Jerome Baker has played well over 90% of his team’s defensive snaps this season, but his production has been a disappointment — and there is a reason for it.

Estimated Reading Time: 12 mins

The fantasy football season has reached the point in the year where fantasy managers can start to feel whether their teams are ready to make a push and compete for a championship or if it’s time to start shooting for the moon with lineup decisions to turn this season around. Either way, locking into the happenings and rankings every week is a surefire way to minimize the room for error and make that push to the playoffs.

Check the PFF.com rankings page for any updates closer to game time.

JUMP TO A POSITION:

LB | ED | DI | S | CB

LINEBACKERS

Myles Jack (LB14) has been an efficient IDP this season. If not for him playing less than 85% of the team’s defensive snaps in back-to-back weeks because Pittsburgh deploys situation-specific linebackers, he’d be ranked even higher. With Jack coming off the field on the majority of crucial downs, there’s just slightly less opportunity for a shot at a big play or more tackles — but he has still made the most of his time early on. Jack currently ranks fifth among linebackers in making first contact with the ball carrier and sixth in tackle efficiency. The Eagles are the most run-heavy offense in the league, averaging 37.5 rushing attempts per game, which is an excellent matchup for opposing linebackers, putting Jack in line for another efficient week.

Patrick Queen (LB30) has strung together a series of strong IDP performances, but there’s still cause for concern as far as sustaining that production. Queen currently ranks 64th in tackle efficiency among linebackers who have played at least 100 defensive snaps, which is in large part due to his blitz-heavy role, leading all linebackers in pass-rush attempts (56). This has allowed him to recoup some fantasy value on the back of three and a half sacks this season, but this is far from the most stable stat to bank on each week. This week's he's up against Tom Brady, who owns the fastest time to throw in the league (2.25 seconds). That will it more difficult for Queen to get home in Week 8.

Jerome Baker (LB55) is the only full-time linebacker who sits well below all the other full-time linebackers in the rankings, which is in large part due to the Miami defense. Like Patrick Queen, Baker spends a good deal of his snaps rushing the passer as a blitzer, but he also plays in one of the most man-heavy defensive coverage schemes in the league. Both of those factors significantly hamper linebacker tackling efficiency and are a massive reason why Baker ranks 82nd among 85 qualifying linebackers in tackle efficiency (5.9%) so far this season.

EDGE DEFENDERS