Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Dee Ford was thought to be too thin and too small when he came out of college to be a hyper-effective pass-rusher in the NFL. The Chiefs had faith, though, and stashed him for a while. With injuries to their outside linebacking group this year, he’s gotten a chance to play 80 percent of their snaps, and is excelling at it. Ford’s quarterback hit rate is fifth-best among all linebackers, his sack rate is second-highest, he has 8.0 stuffs, and his tackle rate is surprisingly strong to boot, ranking 18th among the 38 3-4 outside linebackers. Investing in the project paid off.

It can pay off for you too this week, as Ford faces the Carolina Panthers, who are allowing the ninth-highest sack rate to opposing defenses. While the Panthers don’t pass a ton (eighth-lowest pass-to-run play call ratio), they will throw enough for Ford to make an impact. Plus, running back Jonathan Stewart has been stuffed on 11.4 percent of his attempts, the 16th-highest rate among runners.

Ford is available in 95.5% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 3.38 tackles, 1.13 sacks, 0.14 passes defended, and a total score of 7.03 fantasy points in Week 10.