In IDP leagues, no position is more important than linebacker—the reality is that in most leagues if you don't have a strong group of linebackers, you're done. Roasted. All over but the crying. Linebackers are usually the highest-scoring and most consistent players in fantasy. By a wide margin.
The reason for that is tackles. Linebackers who rack up big-time tackle numbers have both a high fantasy ceiling and a high floor. And while talent is, of course, a factor in which linebackers pile up gaudy numbers of stops, there's another major consideration—opportunity.
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The key to opportunity for most linebackers is simply being on the field. Snaps. It’s hard to tackle a guy from the sideline—unless you are Mike Tomlin.
That joke stays in this column for eternity. Forever.
The problem is that in this day of nickel sets as the base defense, the age of three off-ball linebackers on the field most of the time is long since over. As a matter of fact, with many NFL teams playing either more dime or three-safety looks, there are quite a few situations in which just one off-ball linebacker is on the field for a team.
Often, that lone linebacker is wearing a sticker on his helmet—the green dot that signifies that the player is wearing the helmet communicator on defense and making the defensive play calls. That player very rarely leaves the field, and while teams sometimes use a safety in that capacity, the overwhelming majority of NFL teams give that assignment to a linebacker.
With the number of every-down linebackers decreasing by the year, knowing who those green dot linebackers are is valuable information for IDP managers. In order to provide those managers with that information, once again in 2024 at Footballguys, we'll be maintaining an updated list of both who is wearing the green dot for all 32 NFL teams and who the other three-down linebackers are.
There will also be notes to keep fantasy managers apprised as to why any changes to the list happened--whether due to injury or performance, the dot can (and will) change hands.
As the preseason winds down, we have gathered enough information regarding the linebacker situations on each team to know both who will wear the helmet communicator and who will be the league’s other three-down linebackers. However, there are still some situations in flux, whether due to injury or coaching decisions. There have been a couple of surprises along the way, and there are at least a few teams where we may not have an accurate picture of who’s slotting where until Week 1—and perhaps not even then.
There’s a reason this list is updated weekly during the regular season.
Still, with the preseason coming to a close, here’s a look at the projected green dot and every-down linebackers for every NFL team.
GREEN DOT LB
| Team | Green-Dot LB | Other Three-Down LB |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Kyzir White | Mack Wilson Sr. (*) |
| Atlanta | Kaden Elliss | Nate Landman (*) |
| Baltimore | Roquan Smith | Trenton Simpson |
| Buffalo | Terrel Bernard | Dorian Williams (*) |
| Carolina | Shaq Thompson | Josey Jewell |
| Chicago | Tremaine Edmunds | T.J. Edwards |
| Cincinnati | Logan Wilson | Germaine Pratt (*) |
| Cleveland | Jordan Hicks | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah |
| Dallas | Eric Kendricks | DeMarvion Overshown (*) |
| Denver | Alex Singleton | Cody Barton (*) |
| Detroit | Jack Campbell | Alex Anzalone |
| Green Bay | Quay Walker | Isaiah McDuffie/Edgerrin Cooper (*) |
| Houston | Azeez Al-Shaair | Christian Harris (*) |
| Indianapolis | Zaire Franklin | E.J. Speed |
| Jacksonville | Foyesade Oluokiun | Devin Lloyd |
| Kansas City | Nick Bolton | Drue Tranquill (*) |
| Las Vegas | Robert Spillane | Divine Deablo |
| LA Chargers | Denzel Perryman | Daiyan Henley |
| LA Rams | Troy Reeder | Christian Rozeboom (*) |
| Miami | David Long Jr | Jordyn Brooks |
| Minnesota | Blake Cashman | Ivan Pace Jr. |
| New England | Ja'Whaun Bentley | Jahlani Tavai (*) |
| New Orleans | Demario Davis | Pete Werner |
| NY Giants | Bobby Okereke | Micah McFadden [INJ] |
| NY Jets | C.J. Mosley | Quincy Williams |
| Philadelphia | Devin White | Zack Baun (*) |
| Pittsburgh | Patrick Queen | Payton Wilson (*) |
| San Francisco | Fred Warner | Dre Greenlaw [INJ]/De'Vondre Campbell |
| Seattle | Tyrel Dodson | Jerome Baker |
| Tampa Bay | Lavonte David | K.J. Britt |
| Tennesseee | Kenneth Murray Jr. | Ernest Jones IV |
| Washington | Bobby Wagner | Frankie Luvu |
Note: Here at Footballguys, we set the benchmark for three-down linebackers at a 75 percent snap share. Linebackers listed with an asterisk (*) may not hit that benchmark on a weekly basis this season.
NOTES
Atlanta
This is one of the situations that remains a bit murky—Kaden Elliss and Nate Landman have both worn the green dot at times during the preseason. However, it’s hard to imagine Atlanta keeping a rotation going into the games that count, and the smart money has to be on Elliss emerging as Atlanta’s green dot LB. The bigger question may be what the signing of veteran Justin Simmons means—the Falcons could conceivably use safety Richie Grant as a nickel linebacker, which would cost Landman snaps.
Buffalo
The Bills were dealt one of the bigger injury blows of the preseason when veteran linebacker Matt Milano was lost to a torn biceps injury. The presumption was that second-year pro Dorian Williams would slide into Milano’s spot, but undrafted rookie Joe Andreessen impressed in the preseason, including a 12-tackle effort against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Williams will still probably be the No. 2 LB come Week 1, but his leash could be short—and if last year was any indication, Milano’s injury could mean more dime looks from the Bills.
Carolina
There was some question over the summer about whether long-time Panther Shaq Thompson or free-agent acquisition Josey Jewell would wear the green dot in Ejiro Evero’s defense in 2024. All indications are that it will be Thompson, who has played for the team his entire nine-year career in Carolina. That may cost Jewell some snaps during the season, but he’s still the preferable IDP option—he’s long been a more productive fantasy asset than Thompson on a per-snap basis.
Cleveland
It remains likely that once he returns to action, veteran free agent acquisition Jordan Hicks will wear the helmet communicator in Cleveland. But it’s time to be genuinely concerned about the 32-year-old. Hicks has now missed a big chunk of training camp and the entire preseason with an undisclosed injury, and the 10th-year veteran has a fairly lengthy injury history. There’s still hope Hicks is ready for Week 1, but Mohamoud Diabate could wind up facing the Dallas Cowboys alongside Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in Week 1.
Dallas
There’s no question that veteran Eric Kendricks will open the regular season as the team’s top linebacker and defensive signal-caller. The question is, who will be the starter opposite him? After losing his rookie season to an ACL tear, DeMarvion Overshown has been the talk of Cowboys camp for the second straight year, with head coach Mike McCarthy telling reporters he “jumps off the tape.” It’s not certain, but Overshown seems to be the leading candidate for the Cowboys’ LB2 this year. There’s some IDP sleeper appeal here.
Detroit
I’ll confess I didn’t think that Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn would actually pull the trigger, but after a consistently impressive second training camp, there’s a new sheriff in the Motor City. Jack Campbell will call the defensive plays in 2024. It’s not a major fantasy hit to the linebacker IDP pundits who love to hate in Alex Anzalone—the Lions use a lot of two-LB sets. But it does make Campbell the more valuable IDP option—and he’s somewhat flying under the radar in some drafts.
Green Bay
When the Packers used a pair of Day 2 picks on off-ball linebackers, the presumption was that one (Likely second-rounder Edgerrin Cooper) would start alongside green-dot linebacker Quay Walker. However, someone forgot to tell super-sub Isaiah McDuffie—not only did Cooper miss time with a groin injury, but when he was on the practice field, he has generally been outplayed by McDuffie. This isn’t to say that Cooper won’t usurp McDuffie at some point—but it doesn’t look like it will be Week 1.
LA Chargers
So much for my “Junior Colson as the top rookie fantasy linebacker” proclamations—at least at the outset of the 2024 season. Colson may have fallen into an ideal situation, but he also missed a big chunk of camp and the preseason, and it’s hard to win a job from the sidelines. Veteran Denzel Perryman and youngster Daiyan Henley will open the season as the team’s top-two linebackers, but how long that remains the case will depend on Colson’s recovers and Henley’s level of play once it matters.
LA Rams
That the Rams traded their No. 1 off-ball linebacker and leading tackler from 2023 just before the season is surprising. That they did so for the equivalent of a bag of Takis and a sixer of PBR is stunning. Now, the linebacker situation in La-La Land is—who knows? Head coach Sean McVay indicated that veteran Troy Reeder will make the play-calls to open the season, but undrafted rookie Omar Speights generated a lot of buzz in the preseason and could wind up starting at some point as well. It’s also possible that safety Kamren Curl, who has some experience wearing the green dot while in Washington, could take over play-calling duties if Speights starts. Until we have some clarity, it’s a situation best avoided by IDP managers altogether.
Minnesota
Someone in the Twin Cities has some explaining to do. After Ivan Pace Jr. told the NFL Network that he would be Minnesota’s green dot LB in 2024 (No, really—he did), it was free-agent acquisition Blake Cashman who wore the communicator and played every snap with the first-team defense in the preseason opener. Cashman has been sidelined since with a finger injury requiring surgery. But he’s expected to be ready for the opener, and at this point, we have to go with the information we have.
NY Giants
The injury bug hit the Giants’ linebacker corps in the preseason, with Micah McFadden being carted off the field against the Houston Texans with what has been called a groin injury. The good news is that there’s hope that McFadden will be available for the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. But if the third-year pro can’t go, it will be interesting to see if Isaiah Simmons, who has seen some subpackage snaps at linebacker in the preseason, gets more playing time at that position.
Philadelphia
One of the bigger IDP surprises of the 2024 offseason occurred in Philadelphia, where Zack Baun supplanted Nakobe Dean as the second starter opposite defensive signal-caller Devin White. But Dean hasn’t taken the demotion lying down. It comes with caveats, of course (in the preseason, it always does), but Dean has been one of Philadelphia’s best defenders in exhibition games. Baun doesn’t appear to be in danger of losing his job (at least not yet), but he could lose snaps—and Baun’s margin for error just got slimmer.
Tennessee
With the arrival of Ernest Jones in Nashville, the IDP value off the off-ball linebackers has gotten the snowglobe treatment. Jones should remain a high-end LB2 with the potential to crack the top 12, although he could start a bit slow as he acclimates to a new team. Once Jones is familiar with Tennessee’s scheme, he will likely supplant Kenneth Murray as the defensive signal-caller—the Titans have said they want Murray to be able to roam around and wreak havoc. His value takes a hit, but Tennessee played a lot of two-LB sets in the preseason, so it’s not a major one. On the other hand, Jack Gibbens is relegated to the fantasy scrap heap.
Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can’t make him call it X) at @IDPSharks.
