IDP Start/Sit: Week 2
Your offensive side of the ball probably felt a little rough in week 1. But IDP as a whole looked great, and the choices from last week’s article weren’t too bad either. The process checked out for us at DL. LB looked OK, would have liked to see a bit more opportunity for Elliss in pass-rush. The Cowboy’s defense as a unit looked great, but with some big plays and a bad Giants offense, Kearse never did a whole lot. On to week 2!
Week 1 Recap
DL:
Start: Will Anderson Jr (4 solos, 2 assist, TFL, sack, 2 QB hits. 19.1 pts) 👍
Sit: Aidan Hutchinson (3 solos, assist, 3 QB hits. 10.5 pts) 👍
LB:
Start: Kaden Elliss (6 solos, 3 assists. 9.8 pts) 👎
Sit: Jamin Davis (4 solos, 2 assists, TFL. 9.5 pts) 👍
DB:
Start: Jayron Kearse (2 solos, 5 assists. 6.3 pts) 👎
Sit: Jeremy Chinn (3 solos, 4 assists. 6.8 pts) 👍
Week 1 Starts & Sits
START: Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers, DL38 (Edge28)
Khalil Mack against the Titans is shaping up to be a very plus matchup overall. The Titans offensive live was a mess in week 1 with the third worst pressure rate allowed at 29%. The Titans also threw the ball 62.7% of the time last week despite being in a fairly neutral game script. If those things continue and Mack shows us more of what he did in week 1, a sack+ type of game is definitely in the cards. He generated 6 pressures on 35 pass-rush snaps for a whopping 17.1% pass-rush pressure rate. He did not convert any into a sack and his tackles were limited, but I am excited for a potential big game for him this week.
SIT: Quinnen Williams, New York Jets, DL19 (DT2)
“Blasphemy!”… I know. You might not have a better option than Quinnen and I am not saying you can’t start him. But definitely temper expectations this week, in my opinion. The Cowboys just faced a very strong front in the Giants and the Cowboys seemed to have a plan to get the ball out quickly with Dak at a league-low of 2.11 seconds in his time to throw. Pair that with a game script that is very much in question with the Jets offense and its identity without Aaron Rodgers.
I love Quinnen and his one of the top DL’s in the game today and will likely make a handful of plays, but I would reduce expectations, or if you are fortunate enough to have depth at the position, consider others in a better overall situation this week.
START: Azeez Al-Shaair, Tennessee Titans, LB23
On the other side of the Chargers and Titans matchup, Al-Shaair looks like a great play at LB with a Chargers offense that was efficient and able to run a whopping 76 plays last week but more amazingly, had 40 rush attempts. Kellen Moore seems to have a game plan to run the ball so far and Azeez should be able to do a lot of the work in the middle of that defense making plays. His initial performance of 5 total tackles should be an easy top with the upside of 9-10 tackles, assuming league average tackle efficiency of 12%.
I like Azeez as a high-end LB2 with the strong tackle floor and likely, positive game script for the Chargers offense.
SIT: De’Vondre Campbell, Green Bay Packers, LB16
Campbell and the Packers take on the Falcons in week 2 and what appears to be another year of the Arthur Smith “run the ball at all costs” show. The Falcons ran an impressively low 48 plays in their victory in week 1, some of this was due to short fields, and some of it, is just due to the nature of their gameplan.
Campbell did not play 100% of the snaps either, he was closer to 80%. And 80% of 50 snaps at 12% tackle efficiency, is not a great floor. Even if you boost the floor a bit because of a focus on RB targets, it still leaves us wanting more. So without more certainty around snap counts and a less-than-ideal matchup, I am fading Campbell this week.
START: Jevon Holland, Miami Dolphins, DB39 (S38)
Jevon Holland already had a great start in week 1 with 13 total tackles. A lot of this has to do with his strong alignment usage with 22 box snaps and 18 slot snaps; that’s 50% of his snaps in ideal alignment. He did this with a strong PFF performance too, 77+ across the board, and peaking at 86.4 for his overall grade. Now he takes a great week 1 performance into New England. With Bill O’ Brien as the new OC, the Patriots showed they aren’t afraid to air it out and against a strong offense in Miami, it is likely we see the Patriots throwing it a lot again. Holland has a good base with his alignment and this matchup looks like it will be a favorable one for the Dolphins secondary.
SIT: Marcus Maye, New Orleans Saints, DB28 (S27)
Marcus Maye generally plays the “deep safety” role and he played 69.8% of his snaps in that role in week 1 against the Titans. Now he takes on the Panthers and a rookie QB with limited weapons and that showed in how the passing attack looked in week 1. Bryce Young only attempted 2 passes beyond 20 yards and 8 passes beyond 10 yards. This means 28 of his attempts were less than yards downfield. The alignment and the matchup are not a favorable one, for a tackle floor or for the opportunity to make splash plays. Maye is not a great play for this week.
