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.
Ray Lewis may be slowing down a bit, but he can still bring the pain.
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: None.
Top Performers from last week:
DL
Julius Peppers,
Panthers
(7-0-3, 2 FF): Peppers finally had a nice performance… don’t be fooled by the
name recognition, Peppers’ production has definitely tapered off this season.
Ryan Denny, Bills (8-3-0): Denney took
advantage of the absence of Aaron
Schobel last week to put up some decent IDP points, but he’s been too much
of a non-factor all season for me to recommend going forward.
Ty Warren, Patriots (5-2-1): It looks as
if Warren’s 2006 season was his high-water mark, and that he’s unlikely to
match that output again. While he’s a handful on the field, clogging up the
line, his fantasy production has been mediocre at best.
Trent Cole, Eagles (6-0-1): Cole is
another defensive end who must be disappointed with his performance. After
notching 12.5 sacks last season, Cole has just four through nine games this
season. And his tackle totals have been mediocre at best.
Johnny Jolly, Packers (5-2-1): Johnny
Jolly sounds like the name of someone who should be hosting a kids’ show; either
that or star in some sort of adult film. In any case, Jolly isn’t someone who
should be on your IDP radar.
LB
Ray Lewis, Ravens (5-3-0, 2 INT):
Lewis isn’t the monster he once was; oh sure, he can still deliver a big hit,
but last time I checked, IDP leagues don’t give you points for that. In terms
of his fantasy production, Lewis will get you a few tackles and the occasional
INT, but he’s also far less consistent than he used to be.
Stewart Bradley,
Eagles (13-1-0):
Sometimes, perception is everything: on the season, Bradley’s numbers are
pretty similar to Lewis’. Yet most of us see Bradley as a rising star, while
Lewis is the grizzled veteran on his way out.
Jon Beason, Panthers (11-4-0): Beason
continues to put up the tackle numbers, although anything more than a sack or
two this season would be gravy.
Karlos Dansby, Cardinals (7-3-0, INT): Dansby
is having a solid year, putting
up solid tackle numbers and being on pace to
post his first career 100-tackle season.
James Harrison,
Steelers
(9-3-1): As big a breakout season as Harrison had last year (his first as a
full-time starter), he’s on pace to easily surpass those numbers this year.
Like I said last week, you could start any of those Steelers’ LBs and expect a
great performance.
DB
Jon McGraw, Chiefs (9-2-0, FF, INT); Bernard Polalrd, Chiefs (9-1-0, INT):
The Chiefs defense ranks last against the run, which means that all their DBs
have plenty of chances to rack up tackles. Being the safeties last week, it’s
not surprising that they had 21 stops between the two of them; what is surprising is that they each managed
to snag a pick.
Jordan Babineaux, Seahawks (3-0-0, INT, TD): It’s
not that Babineaux’s numbers are bad on the year, it’s that he’s horribly
inconsistent: he’s got 36 stops on the year, but 28 of them have come in just
four games. Feast or famine here…
Nick Collins, Packers (1-1-0, INT, TD):
Ordinarily, this type of stat line would evoke some sort of one-liner from me
about it being better to be lucky than good. In this case,Collins happens to be
a good player who was having an abnormally poor game when he all of a sudden
found himself in the right place at the right time. Got all that? Good.
Erik Coleman, Falcons (6-3-0, FF, INT): Coleman
has better overall numbers than Babineaux, but he has the same issue:
consistency. In a deep league, however, you may put up with it because Coleman’s
downside is still better than that of someone like Babineaux.
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 11, here are the top strong plays
identified by Max:
