This article is part of our IDP Analysis series.
Week 8 had the feeling of the calm before the storm. We've seen some trade movement already, but there is very likely to be more before and after Week 9. We'll highlight the changes we saw last week with the anticipation of a lot more shifting in the immediate future.
Risers
Mohamoud Diabate, LB 
Diabate has had a strong rise since entering the league as a UDFA and starting the season as a healthy scratch. Jordan Hicks (elbow) has missed three of the last four games, which has opened the door for Diabate to log 132 snaps and 20 tackles across the last three contests. Even in the game Hicks played, Diabate logged a 42 percent defensive snap rate, suggesting his role won't return to zero even with a healthy linebacker unit.
Baylon Spector, LB 
Terrel Bernard has had his season derailed by a few different injuries, and his designation for his missed Week 8 contest included a nagging pectoral injury as well as new ankle and personal issues. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him miss some additional time as a result, which opens the door for Spector. Spector logged a 100 percent snap rate in Week 8. His five tackles were underwhelming, but he could have the opportunity to produce for the next several weeks.
Ernest Jones, LB 
Jones was traded for the second time in the last two months and is back on the West Coast as a member of the Seahawks. He
Week 8 had the feeling of the calm before the storm. We've seen some trade movement already, but there is very likely to be more before and after Week 9. We'll highlight the changes we saw last week with the anticipation of a lot more shifting in the immediate future.
Risers
Mohamoud Diabate, LB
Diabate has had a strong rise since entering the league as a UDFA and starting the season as a healthy scratch. Jordan Hicks (elbow) has missed three of the last four games, which has opened the door for Diabate to log 132 snaps and 20 tackles across the last three contests. Even in the game Hicks played, Diabate logged a 42 percent defensive snap rate, suggesting his role won't return to zero even with a healthy linebacker unit.
Baylon Spector, LB
Terrel Bernard has had his season derailed by a few different injuries, and his designation for his missed Week 8 contest included a nagging pectoral injury as well as new ankle and personal issues. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him miss some additional time as a result, which opens the door for Spector. Spector logged a 100 percent snap rate in Week 8. His five tackles were underwhelming, but he could have the opportunity to produce for the next several weeks.
Ernest Jones, LB
Jones was traded for the second time in the last two months and is back on the West Coast as a member of the Seahawks. He didn't miss a beat, playing 100 percent of snaps and logging 15 tackles. He's already rostered in most IDP formats (or should be), but he deserves some recognition for his ability to immediately step in and make such a strong impact.
Trevor Nowaske, LB 
Nowaske is a deep-league option. He's seen his snap rate climb in the absence both Derrick Barnes (knee) and Aidan Hutchinson (leg), and he's managed to produce. He's played 78 defensive snaps combined across the last three games – far from a full-time role – and has a pair of sacks, an interception and eight total tackles. This is a situation to monitor, rather than add, in a majority of forms, but Nowaske is a name to be familiar with.
Jalen Mills, S 
Isaiah Oliver, CB/S
The Jets secondary is a mess, particularly at safety. Chuck Clark (ankle) landed on IR two weeks ago, with Ashtyn Davis (concussion) stepping into a more significant role. Davis has since been sidelined by a concussion and has yet to practice this week leading up to Thursday's matchup against the Texans. Similarly, Tony Adams has logged two DNPs.
The straightforward riser is Jalen Mills, who has played 95 and 100 percent of defensive snaps in the last two weeks while posting a combined 11 tackles. The trickier case is Oliver, who has played primarily as a part-time slot corner. However, with both safeties sidelined, he moved to the position that has helped him tick up his tackle rates.
Jackson's IDP relevance could be short-lived, as the beat-up Baltimore secondary pushed him into a more substantial role. With Marlon Humphrey (knee) out, Kyle Hamilton played slot corner at a significant rate. In turn, Jackson was on the field for 100 percent of defensive snaps and logged a season-high 10 tackles. While injuries were the catalyst, it is possible the Ravens change things up given the unit's overall struggles.
Bad teams often have a lot of opportunity, and that's particularly positive for IDP purposes, given the more individual nature of picking up stats. That leads us to Richardson, who was on the field for 99 percent of defensive snaps in Week 8 after playing exclusively on special teams for the prior four weeks. Jordan Fuller (hamstring) could be back relatively soon, but Richardson is worth paying attention to for the time being.
Fallers
Devin Lloyd, LB 
The Jacksonville linebacker corps was an interesting situation to monitor with Foyesade Oluokun returning from IR. We projected that Ventrell Miller would lose a substantial portion of his role as a result, but he remained on the field for 59 percent of defensive snaps. Instead, Devin Lloyd dipped from a near 100 percent snap rate to just 53 percent. It's unclear what exactly led to the decision, but the outcome wasn't positive for Lloyd.
Julian Okwara, LB 
Okwara was supposed to step into a significant role with Dennis Gardeck (knee) going down, but, instead, he played a rotational role among the linebacker corps and logged one tackle. After being a riser in Week 7, he immediately falls off the IDP radar.
