Now that Tom Brady reminded all of us why he is truly the greatest quarterback to play in the NFL (I hate typing that), let’s focus is solely on the off-season. In January, I gave you three sleeper linebackers you should buy this off-season. I will now shift to the most volatile and difficult position to play: defensive linemen. I’ll help you target linemen who are sleepers you can acquire either pretty cheap or off your waiver wire in your IDP dynasty formats. It’s important to note that your scoring can reflect whether these are the players to target, but this scoring predominantly involves points for sacks, tackles, and tackles for loss.
Carl Lawson – Unrestricted Free Agent
Stats: 36 Tackles / 5.5 Sacks / 4 TFL / 2 FF
The good news is you can likely find Lawson cheap on your waiver wire. The bad news is he never got it going in Cincinnati. However, he is an unrestricted free agent and can sign anywhere, meaning his talent and upside–he is still only 25 years old–is possible, depending on which team signs him. Now that he is out of a situation that included one of the worst defenses in the league, scoop him up and hope he can deliver DE3 numbers. If he ends up going to a team that has another solid edge rusher or linebackers that help the middle, it will increase his tackle opportunities as well.
Projection: TBD
Breakout Confidence Level: 40%
Dre’Mont Jones – Denver Broncos
Stats: 41 Tackles / 6.5 Sacks / 7 TFL
The third-rounder out of Ohio State missed three games and still performed admirably as a spot starter for the entire year due to Jurrell Casey getting injured. Having two years left on his rookie deal, Jones is likely to continue starting for the Broncos next season as they let Casey or Shelby Harris walk. With Denver still going through their rebuild, expect even more tackle and TFL opportunities for Jones next season, which is a challenging stat to find for defensive linemen.
Projection: 54 Tackles / 9 Sacks / 13 TFL
Breakout Confidence Level: 50%
Yannick Ngakoue – Unrestricted Free Agent
Stats: 24 Tackles / 8 Sacks / 4 FF
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Still only 25 years old, Yannick Ngakoue had one of the most polarizing off-seasons, battling it out with a toxic Jaguars front office, being granted his trade request to land in Minnesota, and then being traded again to the Ravens. Having different defensive schemes to learn and no training camp, Ngakoue was thrown into the fire, having the worst output of his career yet still managing eight sacks. Even though landing spot will influence his performance some, he has shown a lot of elite traits. The only concern is his tackling and that he has been a locker room cancer this past year. You may be able to snipe him between a mid-third rounder or early fourth-rounder, making it a low-risk, high-upside deal.
Projection: TBD
Breakout Confidence Level: 65%
Be on the lookout for my next article: Defensive linemen you should sell to take advantage of your off-season. Follow me on Twitter for more information and all sports interaction @ricco_3733.
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