Two weeks to go before the NFL season begins. Training camp coming to a close and position battles and injuries shaping the landscape. There are a few changes we need to pay attention to. Here are my updated LB rankings for your IDP drafts.
Stock up
TJ Watt moves up from 11 to 8 as a lot of IDP leagues are starting to adjust their scoring systems and I think this helps Watt. Look for Watt to dominate again this season and compete for the top spot in defensive player leagues.
Christian Kirksey has stayed healthy and will key the Packers attempt at improving their porous run defense from last year. Kirksey played under Mike Pettine in Cleveland so will have no issues adjusting to the scheme. If he can avoid the injury bug he should be in the 100 tackle range and be a solid play.
Avery Williamson was off the board but with the opt-out of CJ Mosely, he moves into a borderline starting LB in 12 team leagues. With the Jets offense possibly struggling once again, there will be plenty of snaps for Williamson to pad his numbers.
Isaiah Simmons’s athleticism had him stand out at multiple positions at Clemson. In camp with the Cardinals, the focus has been on inside linebacker next to Jordan Hicks. He moved up in the rankings due to the opportunity for an increase in tackles over initial projections if he was being moved around to different positions. Simmons is a rookie of the year candidate and could be an excellent depth pick who could turn out to be a Darius Leonard rookie sensation.
Stock Down
CJ Mosely went from an LB1 to an opt-out. Moseley was coming off an injury but was supposed to lead the Jets defense with the departure of Jamaal Adams.
Mack Wilson of the Browns is expected to miss time after suffering a hyperextended knee in practice. Reports say he may be able to return “this season” but no timetable was given. He’s off the board for me.
There are some others who moved down a little but mostly due to the others moving up. Continue to monitor the news coming out of camp and especially when cuts come in a week or so.
Good luck with your IDP drafts. If you’re new to the format remember the importance of your scoring system. If you have any questions comment below or ask me on Twitter @gasdoc_spit
Ended up with the following for LB (we start 4 each week):
Jayon Brown
Jerome Baker
Shaq Thomas
Germaine Pratt
Thomas Davis, Sr
Jarrad Davis
Oluokun
We start 3 DL each week:
All the LB Edge rushers are now DL in ESPN, got:
Shaq Barrett
Preston Smith
Buckner
Davenport
Chris Jones
Vigil is still available, that’s it in your top 50. Deep league. All Tckls=1.25, Sacks=7, FF=3, FR=2, Int=5, No PD or tackles for loss…
Also, this is a keeper league so most of the top 15 were already kept…
Thoughts?
with that scoring you should be favoring sacks guys but I would start a few sure fired tackle guys for a floor unless you’re outmatched on offense that week. You know I’m a Davenport fan so hopefully he’s healthy and gets 10 sacks this year. I like your linebacker group . I’d stick with it and not go after Vigil. Pratt and Oluokon have enough upside to take a chance on them.
What spot overall in a standard draft with offensive players and only 1 slot for an IDP would you draft D Leonard? What spot would you draft the next best IDP player?
If there is only one spot for an IDP, I’d probably wait and pass on Leonard. Yes he’s the best (depending on your scoring system), but passing on a top WR or RB in about the 5th or 6th round is probably not what you want to do. I’d wait until about 5 or 6 defensive players are taken and then grab either a high tackle guy in the Jordan Hicks/Blake Martinez range or if your league is big play heavy, TJ Watt/Chandler Jones. You may get lucky in a tackle heavy scoring format and some will take Hunter/Donald early and give you a chance at one of the LBs in the 3-5 range.
in one of those start 1 IDP flex spot unless it’s VERY big play oriented drafting AAron donald or one of the DE’s of any kind is the exact way to not win your league. tackle hogs win there (and are numerous). note: UNLESS it’s a best ball and you could have AAron + solid floor LB along with him. then his weeks of say 3 sacks/ 1 (or 2) fumble/4 tackles for loss win that slot. but his no sacks 3 total tackles you don’t have to worry about.
on burns, he still doesn’t have DE in yahoo (only LB) and even keeping kerrigan (who does have LB and DE)as a backup DE to campbell/houston i’m deep now at LB (5 others, with pratt/queen/kwon A/david/r.evans
– this year i shored up my LB for long term upside youth with queen, and RB’s (dillon and vaughn)
– next year i’ll go after my DE long term weaknesses (would’ve gone j.allen JAX had those RB’s not been around in rounds 2 and 3 still) with high upside guy.
this is like the 6th year of this league and almost every year i went with a topish WR rookie in every year’s draft only had 2 hits at all so far (aj brown last year, m-will LAC a bit back). mims only added this year, can go to DE and WR next year. i also went j.allen WAS in the 1st or 2nd a few years ago too (back when i needed min number of WAS players, and clearly a good DT is just hard to find, albeit he didn’t get DT right away).
oh yeah and the CB i’m actually attempting to use the 3 waiver dropping burns on it l.ryan, not kept and i didn’t rank him as he wasn’t ranked by idp guru since not signed. his rankings aren’t for dynasty and i (along with many others) missed that. 8 or so other guys i had ranked for CB (behind b.murphy ARI who i got) are still out there too. while burns being my 3rd DE would be great he’s my only easy drop without weakening something else currently (t.will LV i thought to not keep going into draft and that might’ve been doable. could actually drop him for golden-gandy now too)
I’m not a T Will fan, but it’s dynasty and a deep league. Logan Ryan was an absolute abherration last year. Far out played his usual year and was bolstered by big plays that are usually not repeatable. He’s probably worth a shot there because I’m sure there’s not much left to pick from but don’t expect last year’s stats.
i got him with that waiver, i get that he should regress, but by IDP guru we were down in this range behind b.murphy for DB rankings (murphy 55th). l.ryan i DID miss and should’ve ranked predraft, but he’s in at 39th. guys behind murphy for CB were all over the place in FA and still are.
looks like mims and probably t-will will be IR-able at start of season, i can fill up some other slots for a while there.
either that or IDP guru didn’t rank ryan at all TILL he signed, which happened yesterday. also ryan should be playing some FS with x.mckinney’s broken foot. that’s GREAT value to find CB who actually play safety (non big play league here, tackles are the bag)
yes with him playing some safety that boosts his value. I’m updating my DB rankings today and will submit. they should be out soon.
good stuff. yeah i’m almost certain this wasn’t me missing l.ryan at 39th CB when i drafted sunday night, it was that IDP guru’s rankings are only for redraft AND he doesn’t assume anything about not signed guys. he DOES rank guys in general that might miss large chunks of season though and lowers them of course.
Hello, hope I’m not too late for a reply. I play in a league where we start 2 defensive players. 1 pt for sacks, 6pts for TDs, .5 per tackle. 2 pts for other stats…FF FR INts..etc.
Out of these 3 players which 2 would you chose?
Alexander Johnson, Landon Collins, Corey Littleton.
Thank you.
Collins and Littleton for me