Week 14 didn't bring a lot of changes to defensive usage across the league, but there were several potentially high-impact shifts and injuries. It's a particularly good week to need help at safety, with several new names emerging as potential IDP streamers for the next few weeks.
Be sure to consult our NFL injury report and the latest fantasy football news before setting your lineups. Also checkout the Weekly Projections to see how this week's matchups shape up.
Risers
SIn a very similar pattern to what we saw last year, the Detroit secondary is losing personnel at an alarming rate. Brian Branch (Achilles) is out for the season, while Thomas Harper is in concussion protocol, and Kerby Joseph is dealing with a mysterious knee injury. That combination pushed Maddox from a reserve slot corner role to a 98 percent snap rate in Thursday's win over the Cowboys. Opportunity should continue to present itself in this situation, even if it's difficult to project exactly who may be in or out. It's also worth noting that the Lions added Damontae Kazee to the practice squad Monday, another name to monitor.
SOliver has served in a reserve role most of the season but has produced strong tackle numbers when he's gotten more playing time. That occurred once again in Week 14, as Tony Adams (groin) was sidelined. Oliver played on 64 of 65 defensive snaps and logged nine tackles, and he now has at least seven stops in every game in which he's played at least 70 percent of defensive snaps. If Adams remains out in Week 15, Oliver is a very strong streaming option.
S
Justin Reid was held out of the Saints' surprising Week 14 win over the Bucs after not practicing all week. It was unclear whether Howden or Terrell Burgess would get the majority of reps as his replacement, but the former emerged as the clear winner by logging 65 defensive snaps to only 20 for Burgess. Howden logged six stops and was even more productive in his starting opportunities in 2024. It's unclear how long Reid will be sidelined, but Howden should be a decent IDP streamer in that time.
SMurray wasn't a winner on the stat sheet, but he played 57 of a possible 70 defensive snaps in Sunday's blowout win over the Colts. The blowout nature of the contest was important context, as no Jacksonville defender played more than 66 snaps, and fellow starting safety Antonio Johnson also played 57 snaps. In other words, though Murray was credited with only two tackles, he clearly and immediately retook the starting strong safety role. The potential return of Andrew Wingard (concussion) could complicate things, but the Jaguars were regularly running three-safety looks when each of the trio was healthy.
CBIt's not often that cornerbacks get highlighted in this article, because typically they don't have enough opportunity to rack up tackles to be strong fantasy IDP assets. However, Benford changed the trajectory of Buffalo's win over the Bengals in Week 14 with a pick-six midway through the fourth quarter. After returning a fumble for a touchdown in Week 13 against the Steelers, Benford became the first Bills player to score a defensive touchdown in consecutive games (per the Bills' official X account).
LBThe Cowboys' linebacker corps was briefly a mess with four players splitting middle linebacker duties almost exactly evenly. However, Overshown has steadily seen his snap count rise. He logged a 52 percent defensive snap rate in his season debut in Week 11, and in Thursday's Week 14 loss he was up to a season-high 76 percent clip. Overshown's role should continue to grow during the fantasy playoffs.
Fallers
T.J. Edwards 
LB
Edwards has had a tough season from a health standpoint and even after returning from a four-game absence in Sunday's loss to Green Bay, he managed to play only slightly more than half of defensive snaps. Meanwhile, D'Marco Jackson played 100 percent of snaps, making him a theoretical winner. The problem is that it's difficult to project the usage of this unit moving forward, leaving little confidence in starting either to begin the fantasy playoffs.
LBDavis-Gaither had been a key contributor in the Cardinals' linebacker corps all season, tallying a career-high 85 tackles through 12 game. He was unceremoniously benched in Week 14 without explanation, as he played only one defensive snap and did not record a snap. Owen Pappoe was the beneficiary but he had played exclusively on special teams prior to Sunday's loss. It's unclear what the Cardinals are doing or if Davis-Gaither will remain benched in Week 15, but the move comes at an inopportune time for fantasy managers.
