Tommy Kislingbury provides his IDP risers and fallers for Week 5.
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Hi everyone. Now that we’ve reached Week 5 we’ve got a fairly solid body of work. We can start to see that some of the teams we thought would turn it around after they started 0-3 or 1-2 just aren’t any good. And conversely, some of the defenses we thought were simply lucky are actually pretty darn good.
It’s true in the IDP world as well. We’re a third of the way through the season already so players are mostly who their stats say they are. You don’t need me to show you who the top guys are. They’re right there at the top of the scoring charts. But there’s an opportunity. When injuries happen to established players who’ve been doing well it opens a door. And as always in the IDP world if you can get in first you’ve got a huge advantage. So this week I wanted to show you the players who I think are about to come good.
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Rising IDPs
Deonte Bucannon (LB – ARI)
Bucannon has been fit again for two weeks and has done pretty poorly, quite frankly. He’s looked tentative. But I like him to come back in a big way. Haason Reddick has moved outside to fill in for Markus Golden, and Bucannon simply has to be on the field. Now is a great time to try and buy low.
Vontaze Burfict (LB – CIN)
Every time I’ve mentioned Burfict for the last two weeks someone has to say “he puts in dirty hits.” And yeah. He does make some boneheaded plays. But he’s also a top-tier player and will put up big weekly stat-lines as he normally does. He’s one of the few LBs who I think are actually worth paying up for midseason.
David Irving (DT – DAL)
Irving came back from his PEDs suspension and immediately racked up 2.0 sacks. He’s playing angry and should be an excellent counterpoint to Demarcus Lawrence over the rest of the season. Pass rushers create opportunities for other pass rushers, and I like Irving to be a cheat code in DT-premium leagues.
Cordrea Tankersley (CB – MIA)
The Dolphins are a car crash. The offense is amongst the worst in the league. Another hot young coach is on the hot seat already. Jay Cutler is proving everyone right. And Byron Maxwell has been dropped after a surprisingly good 2016. Tankersley has stepped into the breach over the last two weeks and played a team-leading 132 snaps. He’s going to be targeted because for all their faults the team has a decent pass rush. Tankersley is a good bet in CB-required leagues.
Anthony Hitchens (LB – DAL)
Hitchens immediately led all Cowboys LBs in snaps with 50 in his return. Jaylon Smith only managed 33 and it’s been clear the team wants to limit his time. Hitchens isn’t a superstar, but I think he might just be the man in possession of the job given the frailties of the other options at the position.
Shaq Thompson (LB – CAR)
It may finally have happened. This week past Shaq played all 61 snaps of the game while Thomas Davis managed just 31. I’ve been skeptical of it ever happening, but it’s worth picking Thompson up if you can on the chance he’s suddenly the starter.
Brennan Scarlett (LB – HOU)
With JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus both out for the season, there is a huge opportunity here. I expect Jadaveon Clowney to play even more at DE which opens up a pass-rushing spot on one of the most creative defenses in the league. Scarlett appears to be the next man up and should be a good option in big-play leagues.
Falling IDPs
Vincent Rey (LB – CIN)
Rey has played 18 defensive snaps since Vontaze Burfict returned. That’s across two games. He’s droppable now in all formats bar huge 30-team leagues. Given the sheer number of LBs available, there’s no excuse for owning Rey in most leagues.
JJ Watt (DE – HOU)
I mentioned this above, but he’s out for the season. Normally in dynasty leagues, we’d simply shrug this off and stash him for 2018 but given he also missed almost all of 2017 this is seriously worrying for the best defensive player of the last several seasons. I’d give serious thought to letting him go even in deep leagues based on the fact he could easily never again be who he was.
Anthony Chickillo (LB – PIT)
Bud Dupree and TJ Watt are playing basically every single snap at outside linebacker for the Steelers. Chickillo had some nice stats while he was playing in the first few weeks of the season. If you can get anything at all for him at this stage you should take it.
Jonathan Casillas (LB – NYG)
Casillas played over 60 snaps three times in the first four weeks. That’s just not likely to happen all the time. I’m pretty against owning any Giants LB, but Casillas is definitely someone I’d try and move as a piece in a trade.
Taco Charlton (DE – DAL)
Taco has averaged just 22 snaps per week so far and last week played just eight snaps. Longer-term he could still pan out, but he’s not worth owning in many redraft leagues.
Thomas Davis (LB – CAR)
I talked about this above but it seems like Shaq Thompson has finally taken TD’s spot. This is a huge shame given Davis is still a top coverage linebacker but IDP is a game about acting fast and without sentimentality. If you can move him now is the time.
Morgan Burnett (S – GB)
This one hurts. Burnett has been one of my favorite IDPs but his value at this stage seems like it’s rapidly dropping. With Josh Jones starting as the $LB Burnett is spending a lot of his time playing in the slot. Needless to say, this is not a great spot for generating tackles. Now might be the time to move Burnett on name value.
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There you go. The players I think are the best targets to move for or let go this week. There’s always great moves you can make in the IDP world that will give you instant returns. Good luck pulling together some amazing trades this week.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
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