Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire for Week 8

Stephen Tulloch, Linebacker

The Detroit Lions’ middle linebacker, Stephen Tulloch, has had quite a rough last year. After tearing his ACL in Week 3 of 2014, he was limited in the preseason. Once he got going, however, he has torn up the league. Coming into 2014, he’d had five consecutive seasons of 110 or more tackles; he’s on pace for 130 again this year. That said, he’s only played 69.8% of the Lions’ defensive snaps, as they are keeping him from overworking his surgically repaired knee. He’s getting the production we want on limited snaps, but I would certainly feel more comfortable if he was present more often. Opportunity breeds success in fantasy football.

He should have plenty of opportunities on limited snaps this week against a reeling Kansas City Chiefs. Without Jamaal Charles or Jeremy Maclin, the Chiefs have gone into “protect mode” and last week ran the ball a whopping 29 times. Tulloch isn’t often on blitz duty, so even though the Chiefs are allowing the third-highest sack percentage, his outlook isn’t affected much by that. We are interested in the fact that linebackers have six stuffs against the Chiefs over the last three weeks. That could allow some additional upside.

Tulloch is available in 85.2% of ESPN IDP leagues. We project him for around 6.5 tackles, a good chance for a pass defensed, and a total score of 7.25 balanced fantasy points in Week 8.