As is always the case, there is a ton of fallout from Week 1. Several situations to watch appear to be resolved (at least in the short term) and there were also some surprising playing time decisions we saw on the defensive side of the ball. We'll break it all down in our IDP risers and fallers for Week 1.
Risers
There have been doubts and concerns about Campbell since draft night, when he surprisingly slipped to the end round due to a shoulder injury. It was then unclear whether he would be ready for Week 1, but he practiced throughout training camp and then went on to play 56 of 61 defensive snaps against the Cowboys on Thursday. Campbell may only be a short-term winner with Nakobe Dean (knee) returning at some point this season, but Campbell was already making splash plays with a forced fumble and key pass breakup in coverage.
White went from a top-five pick in the NFL draft to an afterthought by the end of his first contract, but perhaps he's in line for the Pete Carroll bump. White played all 71 defensive snaps Sunday against the Patriots. That was certainly aided by the early departure of Elandon Roberts (elbow), but the deployment of Roberts, White and Germaine Pratt to start the game illustrated that White would have had a significant role regardless of injuries. White delivered a team-best 11 tackles and is one of the best waiver wire adds at linebacker
As is always the case, there is a ton of fallout from Week 1. Several situations to watch appear to be resolved (at least in the short term) and there were also some surprising playing time decisions we saw on the defensive side of the ball. We'll break it all down in our IDP risers and fallers for Week 1.
Risers
There have been doubts and concerns about Campbell since draft night, when he surprisingly slipped to the end round due to a shoulder injury. It was then unclear whether he would be ready for Week 1, but he practiced throughout training camp and then went on to play 56 of 61 defensive snaps against the Cowboys on Thursday. Campbell may only be a short-term winner with Nakobe Dean (knee) returning at some point this season, but Campbell was already making splash plays with a forced fumble and key pass breakup in coverage.
White went from a top-five pick in the NFL draft to an afterthought by the end of his first contract, but perhaps he's in line for the Pete Carroll bump. White played all 71 defensive snaps Sunday against the Patriots. That was certainly aided by the early departure of Elandon Roberts (elbow), but the deployment of Roberts, White and Germaine Pratt to start the game illustrated that White would have had a significant role regardless of injuries. White delivered a team-best 11 tackles and is one of the best waiver wire adds at linebacker this week for IDP fantasy.
Reports were mixed between Cameron McGrone and Bachie serving as the second inside linebacker. The duo ended up splitting snaps exactly evenly (22 each), with Bachie playing primarily in coverage. In a more normal game script, McGrone could still come out ahead, so this situation remains uncertain. For now, Bachie ended up getting the better production in Week 1, so he's a tentative winner, but this remains a playing time situation to watch, and it may simply turn out to be too much of a time split for a true winner to emerge.
Both safety positions were important to watch this weekend in New England. Jaylinn Hawkins looked to have a role secured, which came to fruition. However, after Jabrill Peppers was released, there were significant questions about the second safety spot, with Marte Mapu looking like a favorite. Instead, Woodson, a fourth-round rookie, was coach Mike Vrabel's choice. Woodson immediately becomes an option on the IDP waiver wire, as he used his 100 percent defensive snap rate to rack up seven tackles and two tackles for loss.
Wingard has been primarily a special teams contributor during his career, so it was fair to be skeptical of reports that he won the starting strong safety job out of camp. The numbers make clear that was truly the case, however, as he played 63 out of a possible 64 defensive snaps against the Panthers. He also finished second on the team with eight tackles.
Bullard was a quick flip from a loser to a winner. The Packers' depth chart and reports coming out of camp unanimously stated that Evan Williams was going to serve as the team's starting free safety. However, Rob Demovksy tweeted early in Green Bay's matchup against the Lions that Bullard was the starting safety in the Packers' base defense before shifting to slot corner when the team went to nickel. As is the case for most teams, Green Bay spent most of its time in nickel, so 41 of Bullard's 59 snaps came in the slot. That's good news for most of the prominent secondary options in Green Bay, as Williams still played 56 defensive snaps and made a nice interception in addition to Bullard's nine tackles.
Fallers
The 49ers are relying on a lot of rookies on their defensive unit, and it was pretty clear that Marques Sigle had worked his way into a rotation at safety this preseason. What we saw in Week 1 was no rotation, however, as Sigle played all 52 defensive snaps and tied for second on the team with six stops. Meanwhile, Jason Pinnock also logged all 52 defensive snaps as the second safety, relegating Brown entirely to special teams duties.
Davis and Wingard were two of the less believable starting safeties on initial team depth charts, and their roles went opposite directions on game day. As noted, Wingard played a ton of snaps and was productive. On the other end of things, Davis was clearly playing behind Ifeatu Melifonwu, with their respective defensive snap counts being 11 and 50. The Dolphins' secondary was predictably a disaster in Week 1, but Davis still couldn't crack the starting lineup.
Simpson, a third-round pick by the Ravens in 2023, was expected to replace Patrick Queen after Queen departed to the Steelers last offseason. Simpson was benched to close the 2024 season, but he still looked to be in line for significant snaps entering 2025 due to a lack of additions Baltimore made heading into the new campaign. Instead, he was narrowly out-snapped in Week 1 by Teddye Buchanan, a fifth-round rookie. As an added insult, Chris Collinsworth specifically mentioned on the Sunday Night Football broadcast that the Ravens wanted to find ways to rely less on Simpson, a note he almost assuredly got from someone within the organization.
Questions surrounding Harris typically have been regarding his ability to stay on the field, not his role or ability as a player. That appears to have changed, as no new injuries have been reported, and Harris was cleared of a calf injury during training camp. Even so, he was on the field for only five defensive snaps six special teams snaps. Henry To'oTo'o and Azeez Al-Shaair look to be locked into the primary inside linebackers to the detriment of Harris.
