The Dolphins on Monday released LB Benardrick McKinney. The move is somewhat surprising, after Miami traded for him in the offseason. But the Texans had already traded away the other player in the deal, DE Shaq Lawson. McKinney's departure leaves Elandon Roberts as the team's #2 off-ball LB, starting alongside Jerome Baker.

The Texans are trading LB Benardrick McKinney to the Dolphins in exchange for EDGE Shaq Lawson. (ESPN's Adam Schefter reports there will also be "a swap of late-round picks." McKinney spent most of the past 6 years starting for Houston after arriving as a 2nd-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He's signed through 2023 at escalating salaries but with cuttable years. McKinney figures to step into a starting role in a LB corps that shed Kyle Van Noy recently. We still prefer Jerome Baker's IDP upside over that of McKinney, though -- assuming Baker keeps his spot. McKinney missed the final 12 games of last season with a shoulder injury. Lawson heads to the Texans after 1 disappointing year with the Dolphins, who signed him in free agency in 2020. He managed just 4 sacks across 14 games. Pro Football Focus, though, did credit Lawson with 15 QB hits, tied for 4th most among all edge players. Houston needs help after seeing no player top 5 sacks in 2020. J.J. Watt collected that team-leading total before leaving for Arizona this offseason. McKinney's departure also leaves room for Christian Kirksey to potentially start next to Zach Cunningham. Kirksey signed a 1-year deal with the Texans earlier this week. Tyrell Adams, who took over after McKinney went down, is set to hit unrestricted free agency this month.

The Texans are placing LB Benardrick McKinney on IR and expect him to miss the rest of the season, according to ESPN's Sarah Barshop. McKinney will need surgery on the shoulder injury that kept him out of Week 5. Tyrell Adams replaced him in that game, playing 89% of the defensive snaps and racking up 13 tackles against the Jaguars. He's worth a pickup in many IDP leagues ahead of a Week 6 matchup with Tennessee.

Texans LB Benardrick McKinney (shoulder) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Jaguars. We could see either Dylan Cole or Tyrell Adams in his place.

Houston LB Benardrick McKinney (shoulder) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Jaguars. He managed limited practices every day, though. We'll check his availability Sunday morning.

Texans ILB Benardrick McKinney left Sunday's win over the Titans with a concussion. He'll have a short week to pass through the league protocol, with Houston visiting the Buccaneers at 1 p.m. Saturday. Don't expect to have McKinney available for IDP use.

The Texans expect ILB Zach Cunningham to miss "at least a few weeks" with the knee injury that knocked him out of their Week 8 win over the Dolphins, according to the Houston Chronicle. Replacing Cunningham will reportedly include moving Brennan Scarlett and Peter Kalambayi in from OLB, along with using reserve ILBs Josh Keyes and Brian Peters. That glut of names means IDP folks shouldn't expect any 1 player to come anywhere close to Cunningham's fantasy production. Fellow ILB starter Benardrick McKinney could see an uptick in tackles while Cunningham's out. He sits comfortably in LB1 territory in our Week 9 IDP rankings.

Texans ILB Benardrick McKinney is active for today's game against the Browns after entering the day questionable with a hip injury. He's OK to use as you normally would in IDP lineups.

Texans LB Benardrick McKinney is questionable for Sunday's game against the Browns with a hip injury. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday before returning for a limited workout Friday. HC Bill O'Brien said earlier in the week that he expected McKinney to play. We'll see about his status come Sunday.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texans ILB Brian Cushing is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering an MCL sprain in Sunday's win over the Bears. Max Bullough stepped in for Cushing on Sunday and collected 5 solo tackles. He figures to continue in Cushing's place. But even Cushing hasn't posted big fantasy numbers when healthy recently. It's tough to care about Bullough in IDP leagues. Perhaps Benardrick McKinney -- who tied for the team lead by playing 98% of defensive snaps Sunday -- will tally a few more tackles with Cushing out. But we haven't been impressed with him as a player. The ILBs in Houston look like a group to just avoid in your IDP league.

The Texans traded up in Round 2 to draft LB Benardrick McKinney, who brings terrific size and tested great at the Scouting Combine. The problem -- at least as far as we're concerned -- is that McKinney doesn't look like that guy on tape. He's slow to the ball and doesn't appear very instinctive. Perhaps the Texas A&M scheme limited, but we're not excited about McKinney's IDP prospects. Initially, he also might need to fight Brian Cushing for 3-down duties. Don't expect McKinney to land very high in our dynasty rookie rankings.