2024 IDP Week 1 Preview! | PFF Fantasy Podcast

Intro welcome everyone to the PFF fantasy podcast IDP Edition I'm John Macker and I'm here to tell you that we finally made it it's week one start sit time baby we're helping you get your lineup set making sure you don't fall into the traps that could be unideal player usage we're diving into some potentially good or bad matchups as well we got an absolute legend in the house to help me and of course to help you and make sure you come away with a W in week one and kick your season off on the right foot so let's get [Music] [Music] it all right folks it's that wonderful time of year where all of our fantasy teams are currently undefeated and we want to keep that streak going so helping you get your lineup set for week one I am very honored to welcome a legendary IDP and football writer um from Bleacher Report football guys the athletic Fantasy Sharks and so many more but most importantly is that despite all of his many writing obligations he's been very generous enough with his time that he's willing to come on here week one to talk some IDP with me the Godfather of IDP himself Gary Davenport Gary how are you good sir oh after that music and it's week one I'm ready to run through a wall hit something absolutely this is uh this is definitely the uh the peak of uh excitement season right where you know we haven't had football in you know however many months it's been now and preseason football's been there but you know it doesn't quite count right like we could finally set our fantasy lineups we got some excitement going you know again like I said we're all undefeated right now so that this is where everybody's optimistic everybody's too tuned in and uh hopefully we can get them right for for week one here and get those lineups set so really appreciate you coming on here I'm excited to do this oh it's my pleasure and like you said it's a great time of year I mean I'll be angry come Monday because for some reason dating back to when I started playing fantasy football a very long time ago week one has not been kind to me ever so in a few days I'll be wondering where it all went wrong but right now you know hope is alive so hope is definitely alive for now right and yeah the the regular season does have a tendency to uh to remind us of the uh the frustration and and you know everything that else that comes with fantasy football but um I'm I'm sure you're not the only one that you know week one can be a struggle right until we actually you know see some of the usage and things like that it's difficult to kind of get a grasp on what is going on the offseason especially with a lot of these teams at the preseason and stuff not really showing us their hand exactly and how they're going to deploy their players so until we actually see it on the field it can be a tricky one so hopefully we're going to help people um sort that out this week and typically you know how we kind of do these these weekly preview shows or at least how we did them last year in season um was kind of go game by game look at matchups as well as like utilization of those key players you know who require analysis for starting lineups um but heading into week one it's always a little different right since we don't have true matchup data or utilization for every single team so we're going to rely on the information that we do have from the off season or preseason and look at some of the kind of safe starts for our lineups and we'll have some matchup stuff in there as well um and and talk about some of the players who we're maybe completely avoiding or at least waiting until we know that they're safe by kind of holding them out of our week one week one lineups because often times it's just not worth the risk uh the first week of the year to risk some players with bigger question marks in our lineup so kind of who were the say for better bets heading into week one that will be a lot of the focus for us this week and hopefully you guys find it helpful but if you're looking for more I'll include the link to my week one rankings in the episode description and you can always feel free to drop starts questions in the the YouTube comments and I'll be happy to get to those as soon as possible um and all I ask is you like And subscribe I greatly appreciate that um all right before we get started though I do want to give a quick shout out to our friends at DraftKings NFL week one is here and a new season means to get in on the action at draftking Sportsbook an official Sports batting partner of the NFL fans have spoken we want to bet on touchdowns DraftKings heard us and is delivering um draftking Sportsbook is the number one place to bet touchdowns uh ready to place your first bet try betting on something simple like picking a player to score a touchdown or hit their over on tackle props if you're interested in that kind of thing uh for the IDP crowd new DraftKings customers can bet $5 to get $250 in bonus bets instantly plus one month of NFL Plus premium on us download the draftking Sportsbook app and use code PFF that's code PFF for new customers to get $250 in bonus bets when you bet only five bucks and get one month of NFL Plus premium on us offer and September 19th only on DraftKings the crown is yours gambling problem call- 1800 Gambler in New York call 8778 heny or text heny in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 888 78977 77 or visit ccpg dorg please play responsibly on behalf of booill C1 Resort Kansas 21 plus age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction voida New Hampshire Oregon and Ontario bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance for additional terms and responsible gaming resources to DK n.co fball NFL Plus premium offer available only to new and former NFL plus subscribers additional NFL Plus premium terms at nfl.com terms all right Mr Davenport the people are hungry for that NFL action and ready to set those lineups um so let's give them some start set decisions to ponder heading into the first game of the DL starts season let's start with the defensive lineman who is your first IDP DL to highlight as a start this week oh I now John greenard is probably going to be weekly starter for most manager most weeks I mean he was probably drafted as either a lowend DL one or a highl highend dl2 but you have to love him this week I love Andrew van GLE this week which one of the weirdest stats from last season was that Andrew vanle had a higher pressure rate than TJ wat which is just it makes my head hurt a little bit but that's okay because and the simple fact is they're going up against the New York Giants team that gave up 85 sacks last year now are the Giants hopeful that the def their offensive line will be better this year than last yeah because if they give up 85 sacks again they won't have to worry about benching Daniel Jones he'll die but it's still 85 sacks is 85 that's five sacks a game every game so I would not surprise me a bit to see greenard and Van GLE get home this week yeah I I I mean I love that call like you said the Giants offensive line was was swiss cheese last year they did bring in like Germaine alumor Greg van Ren as well as John runan but they're still far from like the best unit in the league right we have them ranked I think as like the 28th best offensive line uh this year so really only a minor improvement from last year if any um plus Daniel Jones like you said like at quarterback was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league in allowing pressures to turn into sacks he had a 31.6% pressure to sack conversion rate which was second um in the NFL behind only uh his teammate Danny uh Tommy DeVito I called him Danny DeVito um so Jonathan greenard and yeah AVG um both get a lot of opportunities here this week I I I love this call there's certain guys like where yeah you might you're probably starting them but there's points where you have like really tough decisions or you know you want to move them into that top tier kind of thing and I I think this makes sense for for both of these guys really um okay I've got a similar one here where again I'm maybe looking at somebody that's likely going to be a starter for you anyways but one where again I'm pushing him into that higher range um for this week anyways and it's a Montes sweat of the Chicago Bears where again going up against a offensive line and a quarterback situation that isn't likely to be amazing again this year like last year so Montes sweat um specifically going up against right tackle Nicholas petite frier uh Fier played 66 pass blocking snaps last season that was it um and it was a disaster uh he allowed 11 pressures and three sacks on those plays he earned a 27.8 pass blocking grade on the year so uh not good um not to say that he can't improve this season but it's it's just not encouraging enough that it'll be able to stop Montes sweat who was actually quite good last season um delivered a career year in terms of pass brush pass rush production um should get plenty of snaps all season long so he's one of my top plays this week I believe I have him as like Edge eight right now um you look at will Levis as well was also below average in terms of pressure to sack conversion rate at 21.5% last season um so you know I expect improvement from will Levis this year but you know those tends those types of numbers at least kind of tend to stick a little bit better year to year and could be something for for Montes SWAT to take advantage of this week so that's one of my favorite kind of first matchups of the year to to kind of uh look at this week oh I absolutely hope you're right because I have a lot of sharers of montz sweat just one of those guys that I just you know I'd throw a couple linebackers on my roster then I'm like okay it's time to start looking at the edge refers and sweat was there like you said he was great last year had that career year not only did he have a career year but he switched teams mid season and did not miss a beat and the difference he made in that Bears defense you know the pre- sweat Bears and the post sweat bears were two entirely different defenses yeah it it was really impressive especially considering that like the defensive line that he went to from Washington where he had Jonathan Allen Chase young donon Payne to what Chicago had last year and he was still like you said as effective as he was if not slightly better too I think it was really impressive by sweat so I found found that really encouraging for him as well um heading into this year I think it could be another nice year for montz SWAT um all right you got another uh set of pass rushers here uh to in a matchup to take advantage of who do you like out of New Orleans yeah another another double dip attacking a terrible team again Carl Granderson is a guy who is going to be a starter for both if he's not in most starting lineup he will be here in three or four weeks when people become hit to Carl Anderson and the fact that he can give you 102 sack upside and he had 78 total tackles last year which is a lot for rusher but I chase young has impressed in Camp I know that uh Demario Davis had talked him up big time mentioned him as a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate which I don't know if I'm gonna go that far but maybe he does you know maybe we see that he quietly last year tied his career high in sack seven and a half which is the same he had when were on workie of the year so you know maybe he's finally rounding back into shape after that injury that you know took essentially two seasons away from him but they're playing and I know the panther the Carolina Panthers spent a lot of money on the interior of the offensive line and I know that you know of course they're hopeful that Bryce young takes a major step forward because if he doesn't picking him over CJ strout is just going to look that much worse but again we're talking about a team that I think allowed 65 sacks last year and I don't see them being that much better that it's not still the kind of pass rush matchup you want to attack yeah I think that makes perfect sense I I would definitely be in on this young on young crime um this week here with Chase young going up against Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers and um I I'm feeling pretty encouraged about Chase young as well like I thought last year like his pass rush numbers were were actually pretty solid like and and then even going to a new team here in New Orleans like the Saints actually did show us kind of what they might do with their pass rushers this preseason where they allowed all three of those guys Cameron Jordan Carl Granderson Chase young to all get on the field and play like what could be IDP relevance snaps across an entire uh week's worth of games so I'm with you I would definitely be looking at Granderson or young um probably before Cam Jordan Jordan would be third on that list not that Jordan's bad but Granderson and young both have and and ability still to their advantage here but young specifically I think deserved probably more sacks than he ended up with last year just based on his play which I I think has allowed him to kind of fly under the radar a bit this off season but I I like his chances this week against Bryce young um and the Panthers so uh hopefully gets off to a nice start and and we start to see a little bit more of that you know second overall pick that he was uh from 2020 I think it was now yeah 2020 yeah um all right so let's stick in the same game here for one of my picks and I went with Jevan Clowney um of the Carolina Panthers so he's going up against Trevor Penning uh this week um I I another guy that I think I like the opportunity for clowney uh in this game and and really for the season I mean specifically again against Trevor Penning who will be forced into a starting role with Ryan Ram out Penning is a 2022 first round pick but has limited experience as a starter played a career-high 245 pass blocking snaps last season which resulted in 19 pressures and four sacks allowed which is a pretty high rate um and Clowney stands out along that Carolina defensive line as a guy that is gonna play a ton this season next to Derrick Brown right like they also just released cbon Chason who not like he was going to be a starter or anything but it's just another player out of that edge rotation there where Clowney could soak up even more volume um I do wonder you know could this be the year that Clowney finally gets double digit sacks he's come so close uh multiple times he's had nine or nine and a half including nine and a half last year but never 10 uh or more than that so um I I thought you know his season last year was pretty good posted a career-high 81.2 pass rush grade a career-high 71 pressures um that and then tied his career high in sacks and he did that on just 653 snaps which was not a career high for him so I'm thinking that the snaps could potentially increase if he's healthy this season and starts you know with a nice matchup this week against Trevor Penning and the Saints so I'm feeling um pretty good about Jevan Clowny heading into the year can't argue that and it bothers me sometimes when because people were AEL Clowny a bust and I don't know that he's been a black I mean yes he was the first overall pick everyone went crazy over that video where he knocked the Michigan players head off but I he's had a really good career I mean yeah and you know what we're GNA Mark we're gonna book it he gets his 10 sacks this year he cracks it Clowny gets it done let's go all right yeah I'm I'm definitely gonna try to find that prop bet now and see if we can hit a jadean Clowny 10 or more sacks on the season now you he might be able to get some juice for 10s I think so I think you can definitely find it I'm going to check it out after um all right let's go with another one your picks um who do you got uh out of Tampa Bay you know I don't know if this is just an excuse for me to say y y as many times that I can't it's a guy that I've Loved All Summer Long showed a lot of potential last year as a rookie now you know with sha Barrett's gone he's gonna slide into a full-time role and again we're talking about a team in the commanders that allowed I believe 65 sacks last year they do have a new quarterback in Jaden Daniels yes Jaden Daniels is very mobile quarterback but young quarterbacks tend to hold the ball too long and mobile young quarterbacks tend to really hold the ball too long so I mean it wouldn't surprise me if Jane Daniels goes out this season and you know puts up some wild rushing stats and helps fantasy managers on the off offensive side of the ball while simultaneously being sacked 60-some times would not surpris me one bit diabi is the best pass rusher the Buccaneers have with you know all due respect to Joe try on and I just I think he's going to hit double digit sacks this year probably crack 50 tackles and wind up being a solid dl2 that people could get cheap in drafts over the summer yeah I I think he's gonna play a ton this season they they really don't have much of a choice right and he's young enough and and he showed some potential last year like you said and I I think like all of Washington's offensive tackles are injured at the moment as well which kind of helps his case like or Bang up somehow but um yeah you mentioned you know Jaden Daniels too like having that longer time to throw I I I thought it was really interesting from the preseason like he had one of the quickest times to throw in the preseason which I think was just by Design right I think that was the coaching staff just making sure that he got the ball out quickly and didn't take any unnecessary hits right and basically eliminated the scrambling and the rushing from his game for that you know the The Limited snaps that he played there it was like 1.91 seconds um time to throw which which is insanely fast for for a quarterback um especially a rushing one but I don't think that that's something that's going to carry over into the regular season because you just don't take that you know that scrambling and and rushing ability out of his game so he's going to want to hold the ball a little bit longer and and definitely going to be a tendency that we see from a lot of rookies but especially like you said um those rushan quarterbacks as well so I like the call here as well um last one for me I went with Demarcus Lawrence we talked about Dem Demus Lawrence last week um Adam was on the show we were talking about Darkhorse edges to to greatly outperform their expectations and Adam loved Demarcus Lawrence and I really like Demarcus Lawrence for for this week as well um and another one of those guys that's kind of flown under the radar a little bit while still playing at like a really high level um you know if he's gonna have that kind of one final big year then I I think it starts here in week one against the Browns so there there's two things about this matchup that I like quite a bit uh one is that the Browns are still going to run the ball Affair a bit um and Demarcus Lawrence was an excellent run Defender last season and was able to deliver strong tackle numbers because of that I expect that to kind of hold up this season and and into this week as well and the other part of it is that he gets a decent matchup against a browns offensive line that I think is very good but they were banged up like crazy last year I think there's some question marks about how these guys are going to do coming off injury like jedric Wills um he's another one of those former first round picks at offensive tackle who's had his struggles a little bit and dealt with injuries I I think he can be better this season but this is a tough match to do that in week one against the Cowboys in my opinion who you know even without Dan Quinn still boast a pretty fearsome pass rush with with between Demarcus Lawrence and and Micah Parsons obviously so yeah jedric Wills struggled a bit well in the lineup last year he allowed 29 pressures three sacks just a 60.1 pass blocking grade deshun Watson as well also has a tendency to allow pressures to turn into sacks at a higher rate than most quarterbacks at 20.8% um and deshun Watson had the third longest time to throw in the league last season at 3.13 seconds so you know potentially deeper league play here for sure but you know talking about some of the sits in a second who will hear for you know um guys that are probably drafted higher than Demarcus Lawrence who I might not feel as comfortable with starting I I think Demarcus Lawrence could be somebody that makes it into starting lineups this week how about that it's every time you say DeShawn Watson as a Browns fan I just want to kind of head he's it's it's gonna be a big year for him I mean he's gota he's got to stay healthy right that's first and foremost like I'm just wondering what the over under is on what's the first week that famous jamus is out there starting for oh man that would be uh yeah that would be pretty devastating hey we went through Joe Flaco's courts last year so and flacko is good yeah damis can't be any worse I'm a Browns I've given up all hope it's hopeing being a Browns fan just don't go together very well so yeah set expectations low yeah abandon it Embrace that everything will go horribly wrong and just you know enjoy the ride fair enough yeah I I think that's a good way to look at it it's h you you don't want to get hurt anymore right it's I I think that's definitely fair so many times yeah it's crazy um all right let's look at let's look at DL sits some of our sits here on the defensive line and Gary I love that you are starting us off with a with a spicy pick here who is your first sit uh on the defensive line out of Detroit I don't know that you really can sit Aiden Hutchinson or the def Lions I mean obviously he's a fantastic player was drafted as a top 10 defensive lineman unless you've got crazy depth you're probably not going to S him but you're also probably not going to get a great stat line I mean luckily he's such a good Edge Setter and run Defender that he's probably not going to Goose EG you you know you'll get a couple solos and an assist or something in the Box Score because you don't want in week one you don't want to look at the box score and see that you got the dreaded donut nobody likes the IDP donut but Matthew Stafford just doesn't get sacked and I don't know I don't know that I expect that to change this week I that's one of the games I'm really looking forward to I think that Sunday night game is GNA be exciting yeah I I think a lot of points are going to get scored I think the ball is gonna be thrown all over the field I think there's going to be wide receivers and running backs racking up fantasy points but I don't know that I see either team racking up a lot of sacks yeah I think that's a fair way to look at it and you're right about Stafford too like he does a pretty good job at avoiding sacks and it's not like the offensive line is bad either in Los Angeles I know they're not you know quite what they were with with Whitworth and everything but they're like a good enough um pass blocking unit that I I I don't think they're you know a major concern either and Hutchinson like I love Hutchinson obviously for for this season he's one of my my highest ranked players you know coming into the year but I I I can definitely see it there there's going to be those weeks where he just doesn't perform and and against the Rams and and like you just laid out I think that's definitely possible um so yeah this is uh yeah like you said probably not a lot of people you know benching him but maybe for like those lineups where we're playing in like the uh like the Brew haha for example where you could only start one player per week um you know for for or one player per year I can't remember how I'm describing it terribly but you could start a player once per season that's that's the way to say it U yeah you may be not putting Aiden Hutchinson in a lineup there for example but uh yeah that's uh that's um that's a good call so uh let's go on to one of my picks here so this is one where uh I don't have this the the slide for but anyways this is one where I I think I'm kind of split on Bryce Huff of the Philadelphia Eagles for week one um I guess for this season but not necessarily for week one he he's still um G to be a sit for me in week one but I think his season could be one where uh he has like these kind of wide range of results right and and may end up closer to the either the low or the high end of that because I see him as kind of this boom bus type player like a really good pass rusher for sure we've seen that from him in a limited sample size but almost no impact on early downs and against the run like so his floor is is zero essentially right like you said that he has that zero floor potential um the Eagles coaching staff as well Vic fangio specifically talked about how he need to improve on those rundowns to get used there so I don't think that you know that's in the cards for him for early in his Eagles career so again it just cuts away a lot of his potential production floor um so it really just comes down to pass rush potential for him this week going up against a Packers team that doesn't have David baktiar any anymore but there's still another solid offensive line and Jordan love who was top five at avoiding sacks last season last season as far as pressure to sack adversion right so I'm just somewhat skeptical I guess about playing the playing time for Bryce Hoff as well as the matchup where I just don't know if I'm risking him in a lineup in week one because I know he was he was a player that a lot of people were excited about but I saw him go high in a in a lot of drafts so he's a sit for me at least for week one agreed I mean I like Huff for the season and I agree that he's a guy who I think you're going to have to deal with some ups and downs but no not this week not against Green Bay yeah um how about uh we we talked about a lot of Highly drafted Edge rushers here uh this week but you got another one here uh Gary out of Jacksonville what do you think about Trayvon Walker going against the Dolphins I could say this essentially the same thing about trayon Walker I just said about Bryce Huff I like him for the season I expect he's going to take you know another step forward after what we saw last year where he cracked double digit sacks and posted a career high in tackles although the tackle numbers weren't they were okay they weren't anything to jump up and down about it's just a again it's a matter of matchup to attack of is just not a quarterback that gets sacked a ton I think because the last couple times he got sacked he wound up in the hospital and he's just decided he doesn't want to do that anymore so he gets rid of the ball but I it's just not a guy that I see I can't see Walker this week as more than probably a lowend dl2 highend dl3 and you know whereas Hutchinson is so ferocious in all facets of the game that he's probably gonna get you you know that three or four tackles Walker is the kind of guy where in a bad matchup you can be looking at it afterward you're like like oh great I got an assist that's awesome thank you for that half a point yeah that's that's the thing with Trayvon wer right like there's volume at least for him where he's he's probably going to play a lot of snaps but there's not not necessarily somebody to rely on in in a bad matchup like this against Miami like you said Tu Tung OFA he had the fastest time to throw in the League last year and I think a lot of that has to do with like you said just you know taking those hits and getting injured so keeping himself safe so you know the other thing with Walker like as much as I like the volume there for him for like season long you know I think he could still be good like he wasn't nearly as good as like his pass rush production would indicate right like 58.1 pass rush grade that was actually lower than his rookie year uh which was 59.0 I think like he's still young enough that he's going to develop and improve right he has that athletic ability that we knew we kind of had to wait on to match up to his pass rush ability so I'm I'm not expecting I guess immediate results here um but I I think that it will come with time and and potentially across the entire season but yeah I I'm with you in that week one probably not the time to to bank on him um all right another guy that was kind of somewhat of an over performer last year as well I I got Byron young of the Los Angeles Rams on my list here as a potential sit so I I think it is fair to probably expect some regression uh for Byron young after you know a pretty strong rookie season where he had seven sacks like to me looking at this matchup against Detroit I think that likely comes almost immediately you know that regression as far as I'm concerned here with this matchup so he's going up against um Taylor Decker uh and some pen Su as well so this is the I think the best offensive line in the NFL I think a lot of people have them ranked that way I I know I would I know PFF has them ranked that way um so again just a really tough matchup no lot no Aaron Donald again this season so that is a big part of that defensive line that Drew a lot of attention to open things up for these pass rushers um in in years past and I I think is something that Byron young specifically is going to have to deal with a little bit but then also you know Jared Goff again who was top five at not allowing pressures to turn into sacks last year he got the ball out really quickly so um I I think this is a situation where again I'm I like Byron young I I think again another volume heavy play but I don't trust them as much this week it's another run heavy offense as well um Detroit so just limited opportunities for young to get those kind of big plays like saaks he's going to be on benches for me at least where where I can afford to bench him um okay how about another guy that you put on your your sit list here Gary um New Atlanta Falcon Matthew judon judon I mean I hope we see the Matt judon from two years ago again in 2024 and maybe we will I mean obviously the Atlanta Falcons hope that they will yeah but I mean you can't be surprised that they went and pulled the trigger on the deal for judon there wasn't a team in the NFL that more desperately needed somebody anybody on the edge than Atlanta I just I don't love the match up against Pittsburgh I know Pittsburgh's offensive line is not great it hasn't been for many many years but Russell Wilson's another one of those quarterbacks that just doesn't give up a lot of s so yeah I I would say judon for me would probably be he was getting drafted a little higher than I would have took him this year I probably had him around DL 20 and a lot of times I've seen him go DL 15 DL 16 it's and again it's it's not so much of I don't like him this year I just don't like him this week right and if I had viable options i' would probably seriously consider putting in di Obi over judon this week and that might be a classic week one overthink but that's me I mean I think it's fair though right like it's always hard for these players coming off like season ending injuries like to immediately step back into them their former self right and we don't know exactly what judah's going to look like especially going to a new team so is he going to step right in be that Workhorse for a team um a team that probably wants to protect him for the you know I don't want to say longterm I I mean he's almost 32 years old but you know at least for a few years if they're going to give him like a potential contract extension right so I don't know that he's somebody necessarily that they're going to run out there immediately for this huge number of snaps either so I I I'm with you I think judon could just be like a a wait and see type option for for week one um okay last defensive line sit for me uh I went with Malcolm Co of the Las Vegas Raiders uh going up against rashan Slater and the Los Angeles Chargers so uh Malcolm CZ is is one of those guys again that was drafted relatively high this year uh likely ahead of of like a Demarcus Lawrence for example but draws a really tough matchup uh this week against ran Slater and the Chargers Slater earned a top five pass blocking grade last season at 84.7 and the other thing we know about the Chargers is that they're likely to be a run heavy offense under uh Jim Harbaugh and um and Company there so you know you combine that with the matchup against ran Slater it it just really limits the sack potential for for Co now C was good last year um as a pass rusher so he could definitely overcome the matchup it it only takes one sacks for him you know for him to hit right and he was a decent tackler so that helps his potential foror but in those kind of big play scoring leagues he he might be someone that I I'd consider passing on this week at least for um one of the better options uh you know maybe one of our starts that we mentioned earlier for sure um all right let's go to the linebackers LB starts now I know people want to hear about linebackers so let's go into your first uh linebacker start sit here Gary um you got some starts here for the Dallas Cowboys who do you like yeah I like both Eric Kendricks and Damon Clark this week against Cleveland Browns and is the Browns have essentially for most of the Kevin's fantasy era they've been a team that gives up a lot of fantasy points linebacker it didn't change last year when Nick chub went down in week two and they went to Jerome Ford as their lead back I don't see any reason why it was change now the qu the the big question for me in Dallas is how many weeks do I have to wait for deor and overon because I won him on the field yeah so the quicker dmon Clark kind of gets pushed to the side the happier I personally will be given how many shares of overshown I have sashed on benches but I think both of those linebackers this week should be quality starts yeah the Browns were the Browns were a really nice matchup for for linebackers last year as well and uh people you know people were kind of afraid of the the Dallas linebackers in drafts this year I noticed they they really fell down a lot of draft boards I I noticed but I think you know the important thing to remember here is this is a completely different defense than it was last year under Dan Quinn you know Mike Zimmer coming in where last time we saw him run a defense he did run two full time linebackers and it was a lot more IDP friendly so to speak um for those linebackers like Eric Kendricks who was in that defense what than it was you know last year with guys like you know Leighton vanderash and and Damon Clark and all playing like 70% you know just not not enough to be you know consistent IDP um fixtures but I I think that could definitely change that this year and Eric Hendrick's obviously going to lead the way and um whether it's Damon Clark or dear de marvan overon um who finishes the year we'll have to see but um yeah there's definitely a lot of potential here going up against a nice run heavy offense like the Browns um all right so for me one of my linebacker starts this week my linebacker starts are are fairly simple rationale really I I'm looking for full-time guys and Denzel pman of the Los Angeles Chargers is set to be a full-time guy um at least for now right he he wore the Green Dot in the preseason for the Chargers he's set for that kind of full-time role um I'm really just kind of trying to play him now while I can um before he gets injured right because he's been dealing with the injuries quite a bit like um our you know brewhaha League where we could only start one player per season um he'll be in my lineup in week one uh because I don't know if I'll get another chance to to put him in there and feel comfortable about it but I he's somebody that I like where if he does stay healthy this year I think there's a lot of tackle potential there for him um but again fulltime players are the guys that I'm looking for the especially the safe bets for full-time um full fulltime snaps in week one while we see the usage shake out in at a lot lot of other different teams but Denzel Perman is is one of the safer bets for me because he wore that Green Dot and looks to be set to be wearing a or be in a full-time role in week one um you got another great option here as well Gary who is your start in Indianapolis oh EJ speed well obviously zra Franklin is a start you roll him out it don't matter what the matchup is if you're considering sitting Z Franklin I need to see the rest of your linebackers because you must be loaded it's just it's a good solid matchup against the Texans team I think they're given the struggles that the Colts had against the run last year I think Houston will probably roll out Joe Mixon quite a bit this week and you know speed and Franklin are essentially full-time you know they have two linebackers on the field essentially all time so speed was a popular guy during draft season I mean so much so that I don't know I might have a share or two because he was being honestly overdrafted a little but that doesn't mean I didn't like him and that that certainly doesn't mean that he won't have a big week one which I believe he will yeah I'm with you another one of those guys just a nice great safe option for full-time snaps um here in week one and yeah last time he played the Texans he did have a double- digit tackle game um to end the year last year so that was that was nice to see different team but you know it's still uh it's still encouraging to to a point um another one of those full-time guys that I'm I'm betting on this week uh for nice safe snaps and and somebody that I'm I'll be plugging into lineups quite a bit uh is Tyrell Dodson of the Seattle Seahawks going up against the Denver Broncos um Jerome Baker's missed a lot of time this offseason so I thought at a point Jerome Baker was going to be you know the the lone full-time linebacker in this defense but it does appear that Tyrell dodson's going to be the guy that's going to be wearing the green dot calling the plays in the middle of the defense which locks him into to a full-time role essentially so um he's somebody that I feel pretty comfortable in uh starting this week and and against Denver as well Shawn Payton we know likes to run the ball uh as well quite a bit so could be a nice matchup here for Tyrell Dodson to to soak up some tackles and he would definitely be somebody that I'll be putting in my lineups over pretty much all the guys that we have as our sits uh coming up here in a little bit I have more than a few dos shares although as the summer weree on those DOD shares seem to become more expensive for some reason yeah yeah it makes me angry sometimes when we all start talking about a guy I'm like be quiet yeah yeah you're driving up the price yeah it's uh especially as we get like closer to September those prices Yeah just they they seem to find their way to level out and and yeah Dodson is absolutely one of those guys that uh that that people have come around on here closer to the start of the season um you got another another uh another potential Green Dot player here um for week one actually I don't have the proper card for him but um who do you like in Miami you know it makes me a little nervous to trust David long again because I did it last year going into the season and then the whole Andrew van GLE as an off ball linebacker thing happened and long snaps just evaporated he played like week one I think it was I think he played like 12% of the snaps and everyone was like what happened I don't know but then van G moved out to the edge and long move kick back out there and he actually wound up having a halfway decent season like you said he's wearing the helmet communicator for the Dolphins I think the Jaguars are going to try to run the ball as much as they can this week if only I personally would be trying to keep Miami's offense off the field because I don't think Jacksonville's secondary can hang with that passing attack and I don't want to have to match scores with the dolphins so I would be running at him with Travis etn and that in turn should equate to a nice game for David Long who I this year he's gonna he's gonna stay gonna stay on the field because we need you on the field Dave you're not much good to be standing next to the defensive coordinator on the sideline while I'm try looking up who Andrew van GLE is right yeah that was definitely a weird start to last season and and some of it had to do with Jaylen Phillips right like cuz he was in and out of the lineup and they were replacing Phillips with Van GLE and if Phillips was in the lineup they'd put van GLE at off ball it was a complete disaster to try to figure out and luckily again new defensive coordinator this year for for Miami um I think it's Anthony Weaver is his name and Jaylen Phillips is is in there but Jayla films Jaya films is not gonna affect David long um this year the way that it was last year with Andrew van gingle in the mix as well um Phillips by the way also supposed to be on a pitch count for week one just to to throw that out there as it comes to my head so not somebody that I'd be starting um in week one either wasn't it fangio in Miami last year last year was fangio yeah yeah so he's just going from City to City screwing up our Lineback yeah yeah what he does now that's what he does yeah that's awesome he hates on to Philly and he's like hey guys guess what day before the season de White dead yeah yeah that's another one right so yeah for anybody that's listening that didn't see that news Devon white um is out for Friday's game uh against Green Bay ncoe Dean is slated at to start so I feel comfortable starting ncoe Dean as well feels like it'll be a full-time role there um but yeah Devon white uh I mean that that stock price just keeps tumbling more and more and more so um yeah make sure you get those lineups set properly there um all right last uh linebacker start for me is another one similar I guess to to ncoe Dean as well where he's you know filling in as for a potential injury but has a chance here to to to be a starter for a little bit uh Henry too too of the Houston Texans going against the Indianapolis Colts so Christian Harris is on injured reserve at least for the first few uh four games I believe it is but could be longer but uh hanky tutos as we were calling him last year should be full-time um in in demo Ryan's defense this was typically a two linebacker defense last year it was a zon heavy defense as well so that was really friendly for our linebacker tackle efficiency and then going against the Colts who are going to be a run heavy team potentially with Jonathan Taylor with Anthony Richardson um and again like you said potentially the same kind of mindset here that Jacksonville might have against Miami where you want to keep that Houston Texans offense off the field so um I I think there's definitely some room for guys like aiz Al Sher and Henry tooto to uh to to Feast this week for for the tackle potential and somebody that wasn't drafted in in a lot of leagues um but somebody that we could pick up off of the Waiver Wires and potentially start over some of these guys that we're we're looking to avoid this week oh there are not words for how much I like his eel Sher this year I thought I loveed him last year and then he went to LB sits Houston and got reunited with Deo and I'm just I'm over the moon yeah so exting he's my ba nice yeah he's your ba yeah we we literally talked about him last week he was my my Dark Horse pick to be lb1 this year um to to to surpass foyer Luan who's been lb1 for three seasons now yeah it's definitely possible so um feeling pretty good about him as well um let's get into the the linebacker sits here Gary and start things off in Cincinnati where you have Logan Wilson versus the New England Patriots what don't you like about this guy Logan Wilson is an excellent NFL linebacker he's a decent IDP option this week he gets the worst matchup just ever I just New England's offense is awful it stinks they've got I mean they have raand Stevenson and yeah that's about it I unless you want to try and talk yourself in Antonio Ditson being good which okay whatever and they have a couple young wide receiver yeah yeah yeah there's gonna be an awful lot of three and outs I just don't see the tackle opportunities being there I just if he can get eight total tackles this week I think you got to call that a win if you're Logan Wilson man yeah I I think that makes sense I'm with you like I'm not as excited about Logan Wilson really for for the season as a whole like like you said he's been a good NFL player like he's had some you know big plays and stuff but his biggest asset really has just been playing time and being healthy um for the most part like as far as tackle efficiency goes um he's been well below average you know for people watching on the YouTube there you see his player card 20 minus 20.7 tackles versus expected which was a six percentile Mark and you know for the most part um that that tends to stick and you you'll see in his previous years as well he's right around expected he's not like some super producer like like a Foy luon or anything like that but you know he could still be startable it's just a matter of you know when you're comparing them to to a lot of the other options we we want guys that potentially have more um tackling ability to them as well um all right so next one this has been kind of one of the bigger shakeups here from this off season um but somebody that I'm definitely avoiding this week it's Ernest Jones of the Tennessee Titans uh huge question Mark after getting traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Tennessee Titans his status you know was as a locked in IDP starter that very much is in question right now right he he may not even be a full-time starter on his new team just yet um especially being new to the team I I think that absolutely could allow for a period of time where he's just being eased into a larger role um considering this being a new defense for him to learn and and you know you got establish starters on there like Kenneth Murray um who I have ragged higher than him this week um Jack Gibbons is also on the team um there's already been talk about um Ernest Jones being on a pitch count this week which I I think makes perfect sense considering the situation um but that you know means Jack Gibbons is also not in starting consideration for me this week it's really only Kenneth Murray that I think in Tennessee is is worth the start and you know looking at the Rams it's a Barren mess at their linebacker core I I think Troy reader is going to be the Green Dot and and be the guy that I'm I'm comfortable starting that's the one that I've had to put into a couple lineups in in really deep leagues and I'm going to roll with it but um for Tennessee for Ernest Jones he he is somebody that I'm absolutely benching uh this weekend and just waiting to see what the usage is and waiting for him just to get into a full-time role really before I'm comfortable starting him get the Eagles on the phone trade for Deon white Rams free Devin white I don't care if he's good I just want him to have a threat I know he's better than Troy reader I mean I'm I don't know how good de white is but he's better than Troy reader I've seen enough a Troy reader to know that I know it's it's it's crazy um what they they didn't even really trade Jones they gave him away they're like gave him away for nothing yeah literally nothing it it's uh yeah really really surprising I I don't know why they wouldn't just hold him for the rest of the year and you know leave him as a potential for you know a competing team but interesting decision um by the Rams I I don't know what happened there but they obviously hate him um so Gary I'll I'll let you cover couple cover a couple more uh matchup based picks here um then I I'll just cover like some general situations that I'm avoiding until we get more clarity so you know it wouldn't really matter who they're playing necessarily I'm these like guys that I wouldn't be putting in week one uh lineups if I can afford it but let's look at some um matchup guys first here that that you have on the list uh starting with lante David yeah I'm not about this a matchup play I just I don't know what to make of that Washington offense yet and I it wasn't a good match last year I don't know that I trust their ground game it's going to be interesting to see what David's role looks like playing with KJ Britt as opposed to Deon white although I think it's going to be pretty similar to what it has been which unfortunately means more coverage more roaming around more as opposed to where Brit I thought was a good value this year because I expect him to you know Todd BS is going to attack with one of his linebackers and I think that linebacker more often than not is going to be Brit I mean I love Levante David I wore his jersey to the King Classic buckus division draft this year Hall of Famer absolutely but I just don't love him this week and I could say the same thing I don't know that I have ever loved Germaine Edmonds he's a guy I mean he's made a lot of money and he certainly would seem to have the tools to be you know this Elite top five type guy but it's just never really come together for him at least from a production stand point and I I don't don't trust Tennessee's offense I don't trust the ground I don't trust the Tony par tyj Spears Duo to be the kind of fantasy asset for linebackers that say Derk Henley smashing through the defensive lineer running in a linebacker was so and we've consistently seen TJ Edwards outproduce Edmonds I mean I'm starting Edward Edwards is a guy that you again you'd have to be loaded at linebacker to consider s but I have a couple edwiin shares and I'm seriously considering because I don't know that he finishes inside the top 25 this week and I know that that's how he was drafted yeah no I'm I'm with you I think it's entirely possible that you have more starters that are you know better plays than than traine Edmonds he just like you said he just hasn't really been that effective as an IDP um through the year just really kind of bland production across the board so not somebody that I'm necessarily overly excited about other than you know the potential for playing time that is that is really just it for for traine Edmonds um so as for me as far as my sits go um I'm looking at like situations where I'm not fully trusting the linebacker situations and Atlanta is one of those situations right now um where we really received no Clarity from during the preseason um with again the the coaching staff coming over from the Rams the Rams have a history of not playing their starters in the preseason and that seemed to you know transfer to Atlanta as well um we don't have like obvious full-time options on the roster in Atlanta either like Kaden Ellis probably the safest option for me but I have him as like lb 38 this week um just because I don't fully trust it there's been a lot of talk about rotation this this off season with this group and you know they got Troy Anderson in there Nate landman fighting for that lb2 spot like this would definitely be a situation to kind of wait on for me before I'm trusting anyone in IDP starting lineups just because of that potential for rotation and and guys not being full-time players and not knowing exactly how it's going to shake out so week one is not a week where I'm going to trust the Atlanta linebackers um the other one and this one pains me to say because I love him Ivan Pace Jr of the Minnesota Vikings I have him as lb 54 this week he he finished the season strong last year he looked to be heading into a breakout season in year two but after that first preseason game where it was Blake Cashman um wearing the green dot as the lone full-time linebacker there's to me plenty of reason to kind of temper expectations for Pace this season barring a Cashman injury who to be fair he is currently questionable for week one um but Pace isn't likely to be a full-time starter if Blake cashman's healthy right and you know you consider Brian flores's tendency to rely on three safeties last season and the likelihood to do so again this season considering all the Personnel is is returning in that regard um so until we see the usage across a full game for me Ivan Pace should be benched in most IDP lineups this week assuming Blake Cashman plays right and I know you know we didn't see that typical one linebacker deployment in the preseason but at the same time we didn't see all three safeties in the game either Harrison Smith sat out in the pre season so when that when Brian Flores has all his options there I imagine that there is going to be a on linebacker system I could be wrong but I'm not willing to risk it week one I love that the first preseason game came literally days after Ivan Pace went on NFL Network and said oh yeah I'm wearing the dot yeah so everyone's like well he's wearing the dot or not yeah it literally came yeah a day after I finally was like you know what I'll give in I I have had Blake Cashman ranked ahead of him all off season I'm gonna give in he said he's wearing the dot I trust him he was one of my guys coming out of the draft that that year when he was a rookie and I moved him up it was like lb1 19 or something something like that and literally less than 24 hours later I had to move him all the way back down again because I was like damn it he screwed me over so liar yeah yeah it was uh it was painful um so some of the other ones uh just quickly that I'm kind of looking at here uh uh Jeremiah wuor MOA Frankie louu um so J in Cleveland Frankie louu in Washington so JK if Jordan Hicks plays I I just worry about him playing full-time snaps I don't think he'll be a full-time player in in a and heavy defense and specifically this week going up against potential pass heavy offense in Dallas as well um if Jordan Hicks is out I I feel a little bit better about J but we know that Jim Schwarz and Kevin stefansky for that defense it's been a very heavy rotation at the linebacker position um and then for Frankie louu what it is for me really I worry about his usage it just seems to you know like Dan Quinn is looking to Blitz him a ton and line them up on the defensive line which we know is terrible for tackle efficiency so outside of like best ball in big play leagues um Frankie louu is someone that I'm kind of sitting week one to see how that usage shakes out and how much I'm willing to trust them going forward but am I reading the J thing wrong Gary you're a Browns fan how how comfortable are you with JK heading into the year because I I am at least worried especially if like you said Jordan Hicks is healthy which Hicks was you know had an undisclosed injury for a big chunk of training camp from the pre-season and Hicks does have an injury history yeah but I don't jk just contines breaking my heart because I've loved him since he was coming out in Notre Dame I was like in the right situation this kid could be a star and it just seems like either he's hurt or the scheme fit isn't great or and what are you gonna it's I Love Frankie louu is one of my favorite players in the NFL and his going to Washington was okay for about what 45 minutes until Bobby Wagner sign and then it was like yeah all right and then they don't their Edge rushers or Doran AR strong and no one so yeah they're going to turn him into a glorified Edge rusher and murder his IDP value yeah yeah that's that's definitely the fear there for sure um and then one more uh linebacker sit that I want to I mentioned very quickly I've talked about it a few times but Trenton Simpson of the Baltimore Ravens I'm not necessarily like as worried about this one but there's enough concern there that he's not like one of my favorite plays this week um one of the things that the Ravens showed us this preseason was that Malik Harrison got kind of that preferential starter treatment in that he started the game and left with the rest of the starters while Simpson kind of stayed in with the backups um there was no ran Smith in there uh so Harrison also wore the Green Dot now part of that could be that Simpson is is just not going to wear it in season so why bother in the preseason type of thing but it's also at least another sign to kind of pay attention to um the other part of it is that there's no guarantees that um it's going to be a full-time role for Trenton s Simpson if he is the lb2 next to bran Smith right just because Patrick Queen was full-time last year doesn't mean that the coaching staff necessarily views Simpson as being capable as that same type of player especially considering you know a significant lack of experience um in the NFL right so they also brought in Eddie Jackson this year who who is a safety so different positions but he's a starting quality safety who joins two very good other safeties in Marcus uh Williams and Kyle Hamilton so the Ravens have been a team to use more dime Personnel previously especially when Patrick Queen was kind of developing and and getting experience in the NFL so I wouldn't be surprised if they went back to that this year especially against Mahomes and the Chiefs when you want to be able to defend the pass more than the run and and more DBS makes more sense than more linebackers so um we'll at least find out quickly uh Thursday Night Football obviously for those listening um that'll be tonight um but you know we could put Simpson in games maybe later if we find that the usage is safe but why risk it week one is kind of my point point right I we want to see how this shakes out I I I I I would just rather wait on Trenton Simpson one week yeah I and I don't know I wouldn't necessarily overreact to week one because again like you said they are playing the Chiefs yeah and I but I do also agree with you that that once the Eddie Jackson signing happened I was like oh that's not good for Tren Simpson's value I I I'm speculating but I think we're going to see a lot more three safety looks out of the Ravens this year yeah absolutely like it it there yeah I I'm with you 100% yeah um all right let's get into um the defensive backs we'll we'll do these guns pretty quickly they're they're relatively uh easy to kind of to figure out here so Gary we'll start with um your one of your top starts here for defensive back who do you like uh in Chicago oh Kevin bar I I can't quit Kevin B I can't help it I don't know I DB starts just can't I just can't and he kep he keeps falling and drafts I mean I got him in some ridiculous spots this year you know I just I closed my eyes and I imagine will'll leave us throwing an interception at Kevin Berard in week one and that's pretty much all it takes for me and I'm like okay roll him out there okay and revenge game too right former Tennessee Titan going up against absolutely right so yeah Kevin ber has been known to intercept a pass occasionally he has been known to do that yeah so I'm with you Kevin byard kind of another guy that's kind of flown under the radar but was really good last season um play again another guy played on two different teams and and was able ble to maintain you know a really strong um production throughout um both of those stretches so like Kevin by um I also have Donovan Wilson of the Dallas Cowboys is one of my starts so again different defense than last year with no Dan Quinn um but I think that helps Donovan Wilson because he should at least be 100% snap player um this year he was only in for I think 77% of snaps last year was around like 80 something in 2022 so uh I really like his chances to at least be a full-time player this year he's another guy that kind of um flew under the radar this off season but I think that's somebody that I feel pretty comfortable with and a really nice tackler um at the safety position so going against the Browns um I like Donovan Wilson this week um who's your next safety up on the the board here oops I don't have a do I have a card for oh there it is yeah PJ Lock's a guy that was available cheaply in IDP draft so I think is going to have a really nice season playing as the box safety in Denver I expect given the struggles that the deor Broncos had last year stopping to run and that they can't that we're going to see a lot of Kenneth Walker from the Seahawks on Sunday I don't have great Alex Singleton Alex Singleton racks up stats like they're going out of style but he's also the kind of guy who tends to tackle people five or six yards downfield it's the anzelone effect right so I think there's gonna I just not only do I like lock this week I think PJ lock is GNA see he was way he's he's the kind of guy that's the reason why I wait on defensive back year because I can load up at linebacker and load up at defensive lineman and sure enough I'll come back in round 23 and a PJ lock will be there and I'll grab him and if he pans out I'm a genius if he doesn't I don't care it was a 2 round pick right I'll throw to the waiver wire and grab Von Bell or whoever right right yeah that's the thing right like the Denver safeties are are interesting one so I guess I'll ask who who do you like more I guess rest of season so there's PJ lock and Brandon Jones uh in Denver do you have a favorite of those two is it lock I actually like lock better and I know I'm in the minority on that no that's it's honestly it's a defense where I think it could go either way I I think it's not like a you know very obvious defense one way the other for one guy to get more box snaps than the other like I think it's going to be pretty close and it's a situation that Lo can definitely outperform Brandon Jones I I don't think that's out of the question at all um I also put Julian Blackman in here of the Indianapolis Colts as one of my starts again I think a nice safe option at defensive back and what I like about him is that he doesn't appear that he's going to lose that box heavy role from last season in Gus Bradley's defense which was rumored throughout the offseason as there were you know they were trying different players out there and Julian Blackman was playing deep for a little bit but the preseason at least showed us that Julian Blackman should be uh the favorite to come down Clos to the line of scrimmage and and be inside inside that more tackle head tackle friendly um area of the field there so I like Julian Blackman quite a bit um next player on our list was Jaylen Petri I think I put him on here so I'm sorry to do back Tob backs um I'll just kind of quickly roll through that's fine um so Jaylen Petri I put on here as well so for anybody that didn't listen to like the preseason Recaps or anything like we know that you know Jaylen PR Petri didn't have a great year last year especially compared to his rookie season right but a lot of that had to do with the scheme change him playing more deep and and things like that and he played deep in in his rookie year as well but the defense changed specifically and and that regression was naturally going to be expected for him but he's definitely somebody that after the preseason I I'm a lot more sold on for this year to kind of bounce back a Le not to the you know 130s something tackles area that he was as a rookie I don't think he'll ever do that again but at least have a better year than he was last year and somebody that I feel pretty comfortable with like he is expected to play more in the slot this season which will help his tackle efficiency he did that in the preseason um and the team released his primary competition for that slot roll with Desmond king um being released and I think he's picked up by the Chargers so no concerned about him coming back either so I feel pretty good about Jaylen Petri um this season yeah I think he rebounds this year too I think people just got his rookie year I mean he racked up such Gody numbers that people got carried away and he was never going back those numbers up last year there was no way yeah it was literally the easiest regression call of all time but people were still drafting him as the first safety off the board well ahead of everybody else which was just crazy um one more uh start at the uh the safety position who do you like um from the Seattle Seahawks ran Jenkins I know that everyone was crazy about Julian L Yep this summer but I honestly it would not surprise me at all to see rayan Jenkins wind up with more fantasy points than Julian Love by the end of the season because I think we're going to see ran Jenkins closer to the line of scrimmage more often I'm not saying we're gonna have you know one guy's going to be the box safety all the time and one guy's going to be the Deep safety all the time because really no one does that any but I do think love is more likely to play a majority of those deep safety snaps whereas Jenkins is going to be cheating up toward the line of scrimmage you know Terrell Dodson and Jerome Baker I wouldn't exact called the Seattle linebacker situation settled which should mean more tackle opportunities for those safeties and you know it's got a good match up this week against deor Broncos I was quite happy because Julian love in most drafts was going top 10 top 12 BB I would I'm perfectly content to wait until DB 2025 and grab Jenkins yeah I I couldn't agree more I love uh raan Jenkins his potential to like you said Play Down closer the line of scrimmage and yeah Julian getting all the love um pun intended there but I I do like uh ran Jenkins quite a bit um all right we got one more group here to go through it's going to be our defensive back sits um we'll go with your your first guy on the list here Gary um you have Von Bell of the Cincinnati Bengals I'm just staying away from the entire Bengals DB sits secondary this week because the New England offense do they have a passing game I mean how many forward passes are they going to complete five four it's like that game in bu in Buffalo where it was all windy and no one could throw except there won't be any weather because the Patriots are just that bad I understand why they're not starting Drake May why throw the kid out there to get murdered yeah I feel bad for jacobe brassette because they're like oh that's okay for you to go get enjoy yourself but no I'm not with the exception of maybe like Trey Hendrickson and maybe Sam hubard in a deeper IDP League I want no part of the Bengals idps week what where are the tackle opportunities going to come from tackling the punter yeah it's a it's a fair way to look at it for sure I mean I I as much as I want to see Drake May on the field like I don't want to see Drake May on the field right away because like you said it's not a great situation for a rookie and yeah this uh I think the Bengals are going to start off hot they they typically start off slow but I think with everybody healthy we'll see what happens with J Mar Chase but um I I I think the Bengals could steamroll them this week so I like that call um you got another one here um that people might be you know upset about but Antoine Winfield Jr um you got down the gauntlet yeah I I don't love the match up against Washington now granted their passing game will probably be better this year than last although Sam how I mean he racked up passing yards last year it's not like for yard I just Winfield is a guy I expect he's another one of those guys I expect we're going to see regression this year I expect we're going to see fairly significant regression because he had never put up a season close to what he did last year until last year and his big play numbers from last year are just not sustainable six sacks and half a dozen Force fumbles are not sustainable for a safety it's just not gonna happen so I have and I love Antoine Winfield Jr as a player I mean I love Antoine Winfield senior I live in Columbus Ohio I can remember when he played in Ohio state but I just I think there going to be a lot of people who may made Winfield the first defensive back drafted over the summer who are going to be very disappointed they're going to be looking at December when he's hovered around you know 85 tackles and the big play numbers are down wondering what went wrong nothing really went wrong it's just that last year was more exception than rule y yep I couldn't agree more I again we see the turnover at safety happen every single season um and you see the numbers on there like they were excellent last year but it's so unstable for defensive back production that we we just can't Bank on it year to year like there's I I think literally one player who continues to be you know at least for the last three years has been consistently among the top scorers it's been Derwin James that's been pretty much it everybody else is in and out of their you know like a rotating door so um I I could definitely see that being the case here with with Antoine Winfield as well as good of an NFL safety as he is um uh you got one more uh sit here for us this week um out of Carolina who do who do you not like I'm not loving the match up for Jordan Fuller I actually like Fuller this year for the season I like the role for in Carolina Carolina's another team where the off ball linebackers don't exactly blow you away Josie juwel will probably be productive right up until he gets hurt right and sha Thompson is sha Thompson sha Thompson's like a poor man's trinee Edmund yeah it's a good you know the talent there but the numbers just never quite seem to be but just this week that Panther Saints game is probably going to be one of the most unwatchable games of week one so if you have red zone or Sunday Ticket you happen to live in the New Orleans or Car Charlotte area just do yourself a favor and change the channel yeah you can thank me later yeah as excited as we are for week one and there's a lot of great games um yeah it's not not the best one on the list that's for sure um so for me what I did I I just really kind of lumped a few guys together here and really it wasn't necessarily about matchup but again just situations that I'm looking to avoid this week in case people um weren't necessarily paying fully attention to the offseason and you know don't want to C C get caught off guard here in week one um if Fatu mifan who was starting with him um in Detroit had a great end of the season last year he was amazing you know he had all these interceptions and and things like that and he was a great IDP for the the IDP playoffs doesn't look like he's going to be a starter um in week one he he seemed to have lost that starting role to uh Kirby Joseph and because the lions are moving Brian Branch to the safety position while still trying to figure out who their nickel corner is going to be so uh it looks like aatu mifan was going to be the odd man out so just make sure that we're not keeping him in lineups this week um the other one is Jamal Adams uh at out of Tennessee so Jamal Adams again obviously a player that's had IDP relevance in the past and people you know are constantly looking for more from him because he's done it in the past but doesn't look like he's going to be a starter either more of a subpackage player it seems like is is going to be the option I think quandre Diggs and ammani hooker are going to be the starters in Tennessee at safety which leaves Jamal Adams really only coming on in certain situations which is not really IDP relevant so just something to keep an eye on there um and the last one Darnell Savage in Jacksonville not somebody that a lot of people people are putting in starting lineups but somebody that people are aware of know that he signed in Jacksonville seems like an obvious choice to be the starter based on you know early depth charts and stuff like that so people might have picked him up in those deeper leagues and maybe rolling him out he looks like he's going to be playing a part-time role um most likely behind Andre Cisco and Antonio Johnson who is a seconde player um for Jacksonville so Darnell Savage is definitely somebody that I'm not looking to to start either despite probably being a decent matchup against Miami I don't think there's enough snaps there for for Savage to um to make an impact for IDP lineups this week so um yeah that's kind of my my list there um but that's it Gary we are primed and ready now for for week one um thanks to your help and and a big thank you to everyone obviously who tuned in uh as well hopefully that was informative for you all but again let me know in the YouTube comments don't forget to like And subscribe do you prefer the start sit format or do you like the game by game version of last year so that we can cover as many idps as possible I know you know there's not nearly as much IDP information as out there as there is the offensive side though we are definitely getting a lot more IDP stuff out there which you love to see so um I'm happy to make sure we we give you guys what you're looking for let me know if if you would like the game by game stuff going forward but I think for week one it makes sense to do the start sit um but again I'll include the link to our rankings page in the episode description so um feel free to drop start set questions in the YouTube comments don't forget to like And subscribe um I appreciate you you all and also a huge thank you to Mr Gary Davenport I I can't thank you enough for for previewing the first week of the NFL season with me I know you are um busy so it it really means a lot that you are spending time with me on week one Eve and and you know before you go please let everybody know where uh they could find all of your work this year because I know it's at multiple different places oh football guys bleach report the athletic your best best probably just follow me on Twitter at IDP sharks and I tend to shamelessly self-promote myself there as much as humidly possible so and it's absolutely my pleasure I I look forward to doing at least one of these your with your job so do I Gary I I it means a lot that uh you're coming on here and uh I always enjoy getting your Insight and and talking to you and and following your work as well throughout the season I everywhere that you do it so I I thank you for for making yourself available and for putting so much information out into the world I I find it very helpful for for me and and for everyone so thank you again um and then as for me uh week one IDP rankings will be up on the site by the time you're listening to this um and every week uh also New this year Monday morning on the YouTube channel I'll be recapping all the key IDP happenings um from Sunday's game as well as like early waiver buyer targets to Target so um make sure you're subscribe there turn on the notifications so you don't miss it um and uh we'll have the massive IDP fantasy report in article form on the website Tuesday morning looking at every sing single IDP from every single game their usage my thoughts waiver targets all in one article so please make sure you check that out on pff.com as well uh also next week helping me preview week two Bobby Reynolds of the IDP show will be on with me and I'm very much looking forward to that as well so until next time peace out [Music]