Senior Editor and Founder John T. Georgopoulos is a 15-year veteran of the fantasy sports industry. He has written for several national fantasy magazines and has appeared on sports talk stations around the country.
John has also been a six-time finalist for various Fantasy Sports Writer Association (FSWA) awards; his Fantasy Forecast column was awarded the 2006 Best Fantasy Football In-Season Series by the FSWA.
Welcome
back to IDP Insights, the original fantasy football column dedicated
solely to the review and analysis of Individual Defensive Players (IDP). Along
with my trusted companion, Mighty Max (the SportsGrumblings.com
supercomputer), I’ll be breaking down the top IDP performances of the previous
week and then give the top strong plays for the upcoming week.
So
sit back and enjoy the security that a strong defense provides… secure in the
knowledge that Might Max and I stand ready to defend your fantasy team’s
performance.
Teams on bye this
week: Ravens, Cowboys, Bucs and Redskins.
Top Performers from last week:
DL
Terrell Suggs, Ravens (1-1-0, INT, TD):
Suggs’s interception and TD return iced the game for the Ravens, but it’s
interesting to note that until that late fourth-quarter play, Suggs had been
invisible.
Mike Montgomery,
Packers
(8-2-1): Montgomery may have some of you running for the waiver wire… save your
energy. His performance against the Titans last week was notable, but likely
not a sign of things to come.
John Abraham, Falcons (5-0-3, FF): Abraham
runs in spurts, but when he’s on, he’s on: of his 10 sacks on the year, eight have come in just three games.
Shaun Rogers, Browns (8-1-1): We talked
about Rogers on last week’s radio show. We said that when he’s
motivated, he’s a dominant force in the middle. He woke up three weeks ago and
posted back-to-back good games; however, in the Thursday night game this week
he was virtually non-existent.
Justin Tuck, Giants (5-1-2): Tuck
continues to be a dominant force on the field, made all the more impressive
when you realize that he’s no longer the “ignored” D-lineman, like he was last
season; he’s now the object of opponent’s game-planning and he’s responded
marvelously.
LB
Barrett Ruud, Bucs (11-2-1): Ruud’s had
a quiet season thus far, but it’s been no less effective than last year’s performance,
for which he was lauded by fantasy owners. While lacking any eye-opening
performances prior to last week, Ruud has been as steady as they come for his
owners.
D’Qwell Jackson,
Browns
(10-1-1): Jackson is starting to pile on the tackle numbers, and I warned you
last week to be wary of his inconsistency; In this week’s contest against the
Broncos, that inconsistency reared its ugly head once again, as he totaled
seven stops—still a respectable total, but 30% below the previous week’s total.
Bradie James, Cowboys (9-3-1, FR): Big
game from James last week, and considering the fact that the Cowboys defense
was on the field as long as it was, it’s not that big of a surprise.
James Farrior,
Steelers
(12-1-0); James Harrison, Steelers
(7-4-1): The Steelers are the #1 defense in the NFL, as well as one of the most
punishing. The majority of credit for those lofty standings should go to their
LB corps, which is playing at an outstanding level. If you were an IDP owner
who had all four of those guys on his team—Farrior, Harrison, Lamaar Woodley and Lawrence Timmons—you could start them all and do pretty well.
DB
Karl Paymah, Broncos (12-1-0, INT): Look,
let’s be honest here’ I never heard of this kid before last week, and I really
don’t think I’d have heard of him last week, except for the fact that the
Broncos’ defense stinks and half of them seem to be hurt anyway. Paymah did
have six tackles against the Browns this week, but as soon as Champ Bailey is healthy, it is
back to special teams for Mr. Paymah.
Will Allen, Dolphins (4-0-0, INT, TD): Allen
is another flash in the pan… he stayed tru to form with his four stops, but an
INT return for a touchdown gave him the juice to vault onto this week’s list.
Back to obscurity next week.
Antrel Rolle,
Cardinals (4-0-0,
INT, TD): Rolle offers slightly more upside than Will Allen, but he’s still a
reserve IDP option at best.
Jonathan Joseph,
Bengals (11-4-0):
The scrubs just keep coming this week…
Jaques Reeves, Texans (2-1-0, INT, TD):
Ditto.
Mighty
Max Says…
Mighty
Max is the Sports Grumblings supercomputer, running an
advanced, proprietary ranking system which takes several factors, both common
and unique, into consideration to identify the strong fantasy plays of the
week.
For Week Nine, here are the top strong plays
identified by Max:
