The IDP Fantasy start and sits you need to set your lineups and succeed on Sunday!

This is my weekly start sit article where I go through each matchup and list out the guys I’ve gotten a read on throughout the week and whether or not I am personally starting or sitting them this week. This article used to be filled with all the reasons why I made the each decision on each guy but in the interest of covering every matchup I’ve axed the details and have just gone with the bare bones here.

Just for the record for each of these matchups I am using information like snap percentages for each player (how much playing time they get), the tendencies of the team they are going up against, how I think the game will play out and their past stats and production to make these decisions.

So needless to say there’s a lot of thought and time that goes into this each week and just because it’s only the final start or sit decision that makes it to this article, have faith my fellow IDP disciples, for I have spent many an hour and poured over many a statistic in my weekly endeavor that is this article.

Since this is dropping Saturday morning keep an eye on my Twitter feed weekly for my start sit information for the Thursday night game. If a player isn’t mentioned it just means I don’t have a solid read on them either way and I’d rather not pull something out of my butt and look ridiculous later for it. Let’s get into it!

Tier one start = Solid gold IDP points. These guys are the most consistent producers and are in the best situations to put up lots of points this week.

Tier two start = Play these guys only in deeper leagues, they should produce but it’s not a sure thing. You should get some points out of them but don’t expect a huge day. If you have a better option I would take it.

Sits = Don’t play them, or I wouldn’t play them, this week anyways. Whether it’s due to matchup or % of snaps played or some other factor the odds aren’t in these guys favor to do well this week.

Cincinnati @ Atlanta

Bengals: 

Tier one starts: Nick Vigil (LB) Geno Atkins (DT) Carlos Dunlap (DE) Shawn Williams (S) Preston Brown (LB) *if healthy* Darqueze Dennard (CB) Dre Kirkpatrick (CB)

Tier two starts: Jessie Bates (S) Hardy Nickerson (LB) *if Preston Brown doesn’t play*

Sits: Carl Lawson (DE) Jordan Evans (LB)

Falcons:

Tier one starts: Duke Riley (LB) DaMontae Kazee (S) Grady Jarett (DT) Brian Poole (CB)

Tier two starts: DeVondre Campbell (LB)

Sits: Foye Oluokon (LB) Vic Beasley (DE)

Tampa Bay @ Chicago

Bucs:

Tier one starts: Kwon Alexander (LB) LaVonte David (LB) Gerald McCoy (DT) Jason Pierre Paul (DE)

Tier two starts: Vinny Curry (DE) Justin Evans (S) Brent Grimes (CB)

Sits: Jordan Whitehead (S)

Bears:

Tier one starts: Khalil Mack (DE,LB) Roquan Smith (LB) Kyle Fuller (CB)

Tier two starts: Akiem Hicks (DE) Danny Trevethan (LB) Bears safeties (Amos & Jackson) Prince Amukamara (CB)

Sits: Nick Kwiatkoski (LB)

Detroit @ Dallas

Lions: 

Tier one starts: Jarrad Davis (LB)

Tier two starts: Ezekiel Ansah (DE) *if healthy* Lions safeties (Diggs & Quinn) Darius Slay (CB)

Sits: The entire rest of this team, and frankly I’m none too confident with any of the guys listed above. I would stay far far away from this entire team’s IDP players.

Cowboys: 

Tier one starts: DeMarcus Lawrence (DE) Chidobe Awuzie (CB) Jaylon Smith (LB) Leighton Vander Esch (LB)

Tier two starts: Byron Jones (CB,S) Taco Charlton (DE)

Sits: Randy Gregory (DE) Sean Lee (LB) *injured & out*

Buffalo @ Green Bay

Bills:

Tier one starts: Tremaine Edmunds (LB) Jordan Poyer (S) Matt Milano (LB)

Tier two starts: Jerry Hughes (DE) Kyle Williams (DT) Lorenzo Alexander (LB) Tra’Davious White (CB)

Sits: Micah Hyde *snap % inconsistent, production inconsistent, better options out there*

Packers:

Tier one starts: Blake Martinez (LB) Ha Ha Clinton Dix (S)

Tier two starts: Kenny Clark (DT) Kentrell Brice (S) *if Josh Jones is healthy I might look elsewhere* Clay Matthews (LB,EDGE)

Sits: Packers cornerbacks *rookie quarterback shouldn’t complete a ton of passes, I would look somewhere else for CB help this week, stream if you have to* Nick Perry (LB)

Philadelphia @ Tennessee 

Eagles:

Tier one starts: Jordan Hicks (LB) Fletcher Cox (DT)

Tier two starts: Nigel Bradham (LB) Derek Barnett (DE) Micheal Bennett (DE) Malcolm Jenkins (S)

Sits: Eagles cornerbacks *Mariota can’t feel his hand and Blaine Gabbert can’t throw the ball either, not gonna be a lot of work for Eagles CB this week*

Titans:

Tier one starts: Wesley Woodyard (LB) Jurell Casey (DT) Kevin Byard (S)

Tier two starts: Kenny Vaccarro (S) Malcolm Butler (CB) Adoree Jackson (CB) *if healthy*

Sits: Rashaan Evans (LB)

Houston @ Indianapolis

Texans:

Tier one starts: JJ Watt (DE) JaDaveon Clowney (DE) *if healthy* DJ Reader (DT) Tyrann Mathieu (S)

Tier two starts: Zach Cunningham (LB) Bernardrick McKinney (LB) Kareem Jackson (S)

Sits: Whitney Mercilus (LB)

Colts:

Tier one starts: Darius Leonard (LB) Anthony Walker (LB) Clayton Geathers (S) Margus Hunt (DT,DE)

Tier two starts: Jabaal Sheard (DE) Malik Hooker (S)

Sits: Skai Moore (LB)

Miami @ New England

Dolphins:

Tier one starts: Kiko Alonso (LB) Reshad Jones (S) Mincah Fitzpatrick (S) * only if Reshad Jones doesn’t play, tier twosit otherwise*

Tier two starts: Xavien Howard (CB) Cameron Wake (DE) Davon Godchaux (DT)

Sits: Raekwon McMillan (LB) Jerome Baker (LB)

Patriots:

Tier one starts: Trey Flowers (DE) *if healthy* Stephon Gilmore (CB)

Tier two starts: Devon McCourty (S) Kyle Van Noy (LB)

Sits: The entire rest of that team. They’re extremely inconsistent with snap counts and production from week to week.

New York Jets @ Jacksonville

Jets: 

Tier one starts: Jamal Adams (S) Avery Williamson (LB) Doug Middleton (S) *if Marcus Maye doesn’t play*

Tier two starts: Leonard Williams (DE) Darron Lee (LB)

Sits: Buyer beware with Williamson, he’s had bad weeks two out of three this year but seemed to get it on track last week so hopefully he’s turning the corner.

Jaguars:

Tier one starts: Telvin Smith (LB) Myles Jack (LB) Calais Campbell (DE)

Tier two starts: Yannick Ngakoue (DE) Barry Church (S) Jalen Ramsey (CB) AJ Buoye (CB)

Sits: *the Jags corners are a coin flip this week going against rookie Sam Darnold. He could throw some picks for easy points but completing a lot of passes probably won’t happen so I wouldn’t count on tackle production being high for them. Tread carefully, maybe stream a corner going against the Chiefs or another team that passes a lot*

Cleveland @ Oakland

Browns:

Tier one starts: Myles Garrett (DE) Larry Ogunjobi (DT) Joe Schobert (LB) Christian Kirksey (LB) Denzel Ward (CB)

Tier two starts: Cleveland safeties (Peppers & Randall)

Sits: James Burgess (LB) *will only play if Kirksey is declared out again*

Raiders:

Tier one starts: Tahir Whitehead (LB)

Tier two starts: Bruce Irvin (DE) Derrick Johnson (LB) Raiders safeties (Gilchrist & Joseph)

Sits: All other Raiders, and those few above don’t exactly inspire confidence either. Whitehead would be the only one I would really trust weekly.

Seattle @ Arizona

Seahawks:

Tier one starts: Bobby Wagner (LB) Bradley McDougald (S) Frank Clark (DE) Earl Thomas (S)

Tier two starts: Mychal Kendricks (LB) *if KJ Wright doesn’t play* KJ Wright (LB) *if he plays* Shaq Griffin (CB)

Sits: NA

Cardinals:

Tier one starts: Josh Bynes (LB) Budda Baker (S) Chandler Jones (DE)

Tier two starts: Antoine Bethea (S) Patrick Peterson (CB) Robert Nkemdiche (DT)

Sits: Hasaan Redick (LB) Tre Boston (S)

New Orleans @ New York Giants

Saints: 

Tier one starts: Cameron Jordan (DE) DeMario Davis (LB) Sheldon Rankins (DT)

Tier two starts: Marcus Williams (S) Vonn Bell (S) Marshon Lattimore (CB)

Sits: Kurt Coleman (S) Marcus Davenport (DE)

Giants:

Tier one starts: Damon Harrison (DT) Alec Ogletree (LB) Landon Collins (S)

Tier two starts: Janoris Jenkins (CB) Olivier Vernon (DE,LB) *if he plays*

Sits: BJ Goodson (LB) Riley Curtis (S)

San Francisco @ LA Chargers

49ers: 

Tier one starts: Fred Warner (LB) Ruben Foster (LB) DeForest Buckner (DT) Jaquiski Tartt (S) *if he plays*

Tier two starts: Antone Exum (S) *if Tartt doesn’t play*

Sits: Malcolm Smith (LB) Solomon Thomas (DE) Adrian Colbert (S) Richard Sherman (CB) *injured*

Chargers:

Tier one starts: Melvin Ingram (DE) Derwin James (S)

Tier two starts: Denzel Perryman (LB) Kyzir White (LB,S) Demond King (CB)

Sits: All other Chargers IDP. Joey Bosa (DE) *injured and out*

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh

Ravens: 

Tier one starts: CJ Mosley (LB) *if healthy* Tony Jefferson (S) Kenny Young (LB) *if CJ Mosley doesn’t play*

Tier two starts: Terrel Suggs (LB,EDGE) Eric Weddle (S) Patrick Onwuasor (LB)

Sits: Micheal Pierce (DT) Matt Judon (LB)

Steelers:

Tier one starts: Sean Davis (S) *barely, I wouldn’t start him*

Tier two starts: Cameron Heyward (DT) Stephon Tuitt (DE) Vince Williams (LB) Jon Bostic (LB) TJ Watt (LB) *also barely, he’s sack dependent for a decent score, if he doesn’t get one you’re screwed*

Sits: Terrel Edmunds (S) Morgan Burnett (S)

Kansas City @ Denver

Chiefs:

Tier one starts: Anthony Hitchens (LB) Kendall Fuller (CB)

Tier two starts: Reggie Ragland (LB) Ron Parker (S) Justin Houston (LBEDGE)

Sits: All other Chiefs IDP

Broncos:

Tier one starts: Justin Simmons (S) Von Miller (LB,EDGE) *Von Miller is sack dependent for production, if he doesn’t get one you’re not going to enjoy it, tread carefully*

Tier two starts: Todd Davis (LB) Josey Jewell (LB) *Jewell is somewhere between a sit and a roll of the dice for me this week, tread carefully*

Sits: Brandon Marshall (LB) *injuryplaying timeproduction*

Good luck in all your matchups this week and feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@orangeman3142) or use the “contact us” box on the idp guys website ( idpguys.org ) and we’ll get back to you ASAP. If you need any help finding waivers or need a more complete breakdown of everything hit up my week three reaction and waivers articles (parts 1-4) and that will give you the full picture of every teams IDP performance last week as well as possible waiver wire targets for week four.

Find that and all things IDP @ idpguys.org

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