Joplo

Bartu

An already weak defense keeps taking hits. The Falcons lost Kroy Biermann (Achilles’) for the season on Monday and now lose their stud weak-side linebacker until at least Week 11. In just 13 games last year, Weatherspoon racked up 95 tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble, one interception and four pass breakups. Both Joplo Bartu and Akeem Dent are worth looks in IDP formats.

He received a two-game ban for pleading no contest to DUI, but after filing paperwork with the league, the NFL dropped Bartu’s suspension and instead fined him $50,000. Bartu finished third on the team with 83 tackles last season.

Both Bartu and Worrilow are second-year undrafted free agents who struggled as rookies. Pro Football Focus graded Worrilow as a bottom-ten inside linebacker last season, among 55 qualifiers. Bartu showed well in run defense, but was the league’s third worst 4-3 outside linebacker in pass coverage per PFF. We’ll be sure to target Atlanta’s defense in fantasy matchups this season.

Bartu played 143 snaps for the Falcons earlier in the year before getting the ax. He started 13 games last season and will be insurance with MLB Paul Posluszny possibly out with a broken hand. Bartu is an outside linebacker.

This wasn’t a situation where one player was in the base and the other rotated in on passing downs. It was a straight up platoon, with the fourth-rounder playing 31 snaps to Bartu’s 42. Shembo saw just 13 percent of the Falcons’ defensive snaps in Week 1, so it would appear the Atlanta coaching staff’s confidence in the rookie is growing.