IDP Start/Sit: Week 4

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By Jake

Updated: September 27th 2023

Here we are. Week 4. Some of us are celebrating our start, others about to panic. Wherever you land in there, let’s take a breath, focus in on week 4, and find some great options for your lineup to get your team heading towards that playoff birth!

Week 3 Recap

DL:

Start: Greg Rousseau (1 sack, 1 solo) 👍

Sit: Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (2 solos) 👍

LB:

Start: Alex Anzalone (4 solos, 1 assist) 👎

Sit: Nick Bolton (Injured)

DB:

Start: Dax Hill (1 sack, 6 solos, 1 assist) 👍

Sit: Kyler Dugger (5 solos, 2 assists, 1 PBU) 👎

Week 1 Starts & Sits

START: Za’Darius Smith, Cleveland Browns, DL46 (ED33)

The Cleveland Browns have one of the best defenses to kick off the 2023 season. While Myles Garrett has been on a tear, Smith has been quite productive in his own right, while it has not fully come through on the box score, yet.

He has 9 pressures and 4 QB hits on 73 pass rush snaps. While this has not netted a sack yet, this matchup in week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens. We targeted the Ravens matchup in week 1 for Will Anderson, and for the same reasons, we are doing it again. Lamar has an average time to throw of 2.82 seconds. This matchup along with Smith’s success winning his matchups up front, with a very strong 27.3% win rate in true pass rush sets. This looks like a great week for Za’Darius to notch his first sack of the season.

SIT: Rashan Gary, Green Bay Packers, DL25 (ED20)

Gary has done an amazing job coming back from a very serious injury last season and has already shown us what we saw in his limited breakout campaign last season before getting hurt. 4 sacks through his first 3 games, how could we “sit” Gary? Well, in comes the Detroit Lions on Thursday night with one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and an offense that appreciates a run/pass balance and focuses on getting the ball out of Goff’s hands (2.56 seconds for his time to throw).

These matchup concerns and a short week for the Packers’ defense could be better and make Gary a bit of a risk to play as a DL2 for me. He is already a limited participant from his own injury, but the potential downgrades across the rest of the defense (Campbell and Jaire) don’t help the overall case either. Gary has the talent to deliver for a lineup still, but I am planning for a bit of down week.

START: Alex Singleton, Denver Broncos, LB48

The “King of Tackle Efficiency” has not worn his crown this year while only logging a slightly above-average tackle efficiency of 13.33%. This week, against the Bears, the Broncos linebackers should find a nice bounce-back game as opposing linebackers have had top-10 performances against the Chicago Bears. Also, Josey Jewell is no guarantee for this matchup either experiencing a groin injury that took him out of week 3.

Singleton has a chance to take the lead role this week against a hapless offense and find a way back on top of the tackle efficiency hill… or at the very least, be a strong top 30 LB play for us in week 4 of our IDP seasons!

SIT: Tremaine Edmunds, Chicago Bears, LB20

Tremaine Edmunds has seen some heat this season from Chicago fans since his big contract this off-season and the lack of a good start from either side of the ball for the Bears. Edmunds has been very effective as a tackler, with one of the best seasons in his career, at 16.04% tackle efficiency. So why bench or fade Edmunds this week?

This comes down to the matchup and opportunity. Edmunds saw his snap count dip a bit last week and with no clear injury or understanding at this time from the coach, this is a little concerning. And for the Denver Broncos, opposing LBs have not fared as well for IDP against them. In fact, they are bottom 5 in points given up to LBs. For these reasons, I am passing on Edmunds as an LB2 this week.

START: Rudy Ford, Green Bay Packers, DB46 (S43)

Last season, Rudy Ford was an afterthought at the start of the 2022 season. But by the end, and going into 2023, Ford was the presumed starter for a solid Packers defense and has found a way to be successful for IDP in this new role.

He has notched 20 tackles on 212 defensive snaps. Along with 2 PBUs Rudy Ford has a decent start to the IDP season. His alignment and usage have been good, but not great as well. Taking 49.05% of his snaps within the sweet spot (DL, Box, Slot) alignments, he has made the most and gets a team in the Detroit Lions, that are top 10 in scoring for opposing teams’ safeties. And with Sam LaPorta off to a hot start and Goff’s tendency to target inside the numbers, Ford is in line for a much better performance than anticipated for week 4.

SIT: Tyrann Mathieu, New Orleans Saints, DB36 (S35)

Tyrann has played an ideal role with strong alignment in the sweet spot at, 57.9% of his snaps. However, he has had mediocre delivery for IDP with this usage. 12 total tackles on 202 snaps, 1 pass break-up, and only 2 pass rush opportunities. The under-performance for the first 3 weeks has me a bit concerned about his ability to deliver in this next matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs have been a bottom-half IDP scoring team for opposing safeties and looked to have been a bit exposed against the Eagles in week 3. Getting pressure on Mayfield and getting him out of the pocket has led to less success and shorter drives, which can limit our IDP upside as well.

For this week, I am out on Mathieu and I would be wary for the remainder of the season as well.

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Week 4 Street FA Report

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By Nick Andrews

Updated: September 26th 2023

Each week we will recommend a group of players that are owned in less than 75% of RSO leagues that should be rostered. Depending on roster and league sizes not all of these players may be available. For that, we will offer one (1) player that is owned in <25% of leagues as our Sleeper add.

Add of the Week

Joshua Palmer, WR, LAC (Owned 64%)

Week 3: 4/Rec 66 yards, 1 TD

When the WR2 for a team that averages over 300 passing yards per game goes down for the season, his replacement easily becomes the AotW player. Joshua Palmer has easily out-snapped the rookie Quentin Johnston through three (3) weeks and until Johnston shows that he will be on the field more, Palmer should be the immediate fill-in for the Mike Williams role. The Chargers also do not appear to be in many low scoring/overwhelmingly favorited types of games so the passing attack should continue to be heavily involved most weeks. Palmer is a Plug-n-play WR4 until Johnston shows otherwise.

Suggested Bid: $5,000,000

RB Add

Trey Sermon, RB, IND (Owned 32%)

Week 3: 5 Car/17 yards, 1 Rec/4 yards

Will Jonathan Taylor be traded between now and the deadline? 50/50. Will Zach Moss be the bell-cow if Taylor is traded? After Week 2 some might have said yes but now, maybe not so fast. Trey Sermon was picked up off the street and played 1/5th of snaps, which does not sound like a lot but for a player to have when Moss carried the ball 30 times, but he likely knew nothing of the playbook and received six (6) touches immediately. Is Sermon a major threat to Moss, probably not, is he the next handcuff to grab a week or two (2) early off the waiver, probably.

Suggested Bid: $1,000,000

WR Add

Darius Slayton, WR, NYG (Owned 36%)

Week 3: 3 Rec/32 yards

The Giants are not a good offense but their current WR1 is available in two thirds of leagues which is surprising. Darius Slayton has played the highest snap count and seen the highest target share of any Giants wide receiver, Darren Waller has three (3) more targets as their TE1. We are only a few weeks away from the bye-week season so it is best to look ahead to any weeks that your lineups may be down a few receivers and start considering bench depth now.

Suggested Bid: $1,000,000

TE Add

Taysom Hill, TE?, NOS (Owned 42%)

Week 3: 4 Car/12 yards, 1 Rec/9 yards

If there was ever going to be a week where you started Taysom Hill in your tight end slot it would be the week that Saints’ starting quarterback is likely to be out. Hill is also the Saints’ leading rusher through three (3) weeks which means plenty of snaps for Hill to play all over the field with the additional under center opportunities. Some may call it a scam but like the “tush-push” if the NFL says it is legal, it is legal.

Suggested Bid: $1,000,000

Sleeper Add (<25%)

Brandon Johnson, WR, DEN (Owned 17%)

Week 3: 2 Rec/12 yards

The Broncos season could be over before it started and if they start planning ahead for the offseason, likely one of Courtland Sutton or Jerry Jeudy are not in their future. The coaching staff seems to be not ready to turn Marvin Mims into their primary third option for whatever reason at this time and instead has been leaning on second-year receiver Brandon Johnson. The Broncos are never going to be leaning on their running game and so passing opportunities will always be available week in and week out. If either/or of the primary options for Russell Wilson are traded before the deadline the target share can only go up for a player like Johnson.

Suggested Bid: $500,000

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IDP Start/Sit: Week 3

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By Jake

Updated: September 20th 2023

IDP Start/Sit: Week 3

We have been looking good on our start decisions, but the sits/fades have not worked out, yet. But as we get more information from what teams are doing and how they want to do it, we will make even better-informed decisions. And let’s start making some of those decisions for week 3.

Week 2 Recap

DL:

Start: Khalil Mack (4 solos, 1 assist, 1 sack) 👍

Sit: Quinnen Williams (6 solos) 👎

LB:

Start: Azeez Al-Shaair (5 solos, 5 assists) 👍

Sit: De’Vondre Campbell (9 solos, 4 assists) 👎

DB:

Start: Jevon Holland (8 solos, 2 assists, 1 PBU) 👍

Sit: Marcus Maye (6 solos, 1 assist) 👎

Week 3 Starts & Sits

START: Gregory Rousseau, Buffalo Bills, DL36 (Edge 26)

Gregory Rousseau is one of those “in-between” players for me. He has the talent, but doesn’t get high-end snap counts, and in doing so, he ends up making the big plays at time that get us excited about his upside but the snap percentages near 60% limited his ability to have a more consistent floor. This week though, he has such a favorable matchup against the Washington Commanders, that I am happy to fire up Rousseau as a strong DL option.

Washington has allowed one of the highest pressure rates at 29% so for this season, and teams have been able to take advantage of that as well, registering a just as impressive, 24% sack conversion rate. Rousseau has been able to produce in the pressure department this season as well, with 6 pressures on 33 pass-rush attempts for a very good, 18.18% pressure rate. This matchup looks like a great one for Rousseau to register his first sack of the season (and maybe more?).

SIT: Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, DL35 (Edge 25)

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was a player I thought had some great “buy-low” value this off-season due to the path to the volume he seemingly had for the Buccaneers for the 2023 season. JTS is in a similar situation he is receiving only 50-60% of the snaps like Rousseau, but he does not have the consistent performances to justify his value.

He is coming off arguably the best game of his career against the Bears, but I would take that with a grain of salt for the time being, as that was a favorable matchup.

Now he gets the Philadelphia Eagles who have one of the lowest numbers in the league for both pressure rate (21%) and sack conversion (6%). The Eagles also showed us their willingness to lean heavily into what is working for them, and if they can establish a successful run game again, pass-rush opportunities could be very hard to come by for JTS and the Bucs.

START: Alex Anzalone, Detroit Lions, LB35

I might get kicked out of The IDP Show space for even suggesting this, but Anzalone seems in line for some great stats this coming Sunday. The Detroit Lions take on the Atlanta Falcons who have been very efficient moving the ball on the ground so far. They are middle of the back after 2 weeks in plays ran but they are 4th in total run plays this season. And their week 1 matchup, plays ran were skewed lower thanks to multiple turnovers in their opponents’ territory for a short field.

Detroit’s defense has not been anything special yet and is likely to allow Atlanta to pile up a good handful of plays again. If we take a look at the 2 primary LBs from those first matchups and what they did combined:

Week 1 – Panthers had 10 combined LB tackles on 51 snaps and Derrick Brown had an outlier 8 tackle game

Week 2 – Packers had 32 combined LB tackles on 82 snaps

The answer likely lies somewhere in the middle, but the game script, Anzalone’s usage, and Arthur Smith’s extreme penchant to run the ball, set nicely for the Detroit LBs and Alex Anzalone.

SIT: Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs, LB10

Nick Bolton is a guy you likely spent high capital getting on your roster and might not be viable to sit him, but at least manage your expectations for this week.

The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Chicago Bears and the Bears have not been good on either side of the ball up to this point. This doesn’t bode well for the IDP opportunities and Nick Bolton. First, the low number of plays ran for the Bears since they cannot sustain drives as they are just averaging 60 plays per game so far this year. Then, you pair that with Nick Bolton’s usage of 96% in week 1 and then 79% in week 2! He was not coming off the field last year, and now all of a sudden we are seeing this, it makes me nervous about Bolton’s upside.

Additionally, the Chiefs’ offense should not struggle to move the ball against the Bears’ defense meaning even less time for the Bears to have the ball and run plays for Nick Bolton and the other Chiefs’ IDPs.

You can still start Bolton due to his ability to make plays around the ball and be efficient, but if you can pivot away this week or construct your lineup with a lower floor in mind, I highly recommend it.

START: Dax Hill, Cincinnati Bengals, DB52 (S47)

Dax Hill has had a nice start to this season for the Bengals. However, the Bengals haven’t had the best start to their season. And it has showed with their inability to keep opponents off the field. Hill has already played 99% of the snaps for a total of 147 snaps. Even with the volume, Hill has showed strong efficiency with 10.8% tackle efficiency. He has added an INT and a PBU as well. His sweet spot alignment of 40.8% is not elite, but it is enough to help give his floor in place for IDP production.

Now, enter the Los Angeles Rams who have surprised us with their performances this year and have gotten back some of that magic we saw during their title run in 2021 season. And in doing so, they are leading the NFL in plays ran with 156. This aligns with the Bengals performance this year and I expect more of the same for both the Rams’ offense and the Bengals defense. Even without the the strong efficiency, there is enough volume that Dax Hill should outplay DB52 by quite a bit this week.

SIT: Kyle Dugger, New England Patriots, DB12 (S12)

Kyle Dugger is one of my favorite IDP DBs this season, but you can only do so much in the DB role for IDP. And the opportunity for Dugger this week looks bleak facing off against the New York Jets. They have averaged just under 50 plays a game the first two weeks with Zach Wilson leading the offense. Even if Dugger is getting 100% of the snaps, 49 is not a great opportunity. Pair that with the offensive line of the Jets that is allowing plenty of pressures and sacks already, the chance the ball even gets close to Dugger is not looking great.

The Patriots defense also showed the willingness to play Dugger primarily deep, although, this was likely to help counter the deep routes of Tyreek Hill more than a desire to consistently play him there. He has played 61% either in the box, at DL, or in the slot, but even that ideal usage, might not be enough to see Dugger deliver a top 12 performance this week.

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