Welcome to the IDP Guys’ weekly game preview and start/sit articles! Our team has broken down each game and the IDP outlooks for the most relevant IDP players to help you make those tough lineup decisions. May the fantasy gods be forever in your favor!
*Please check back frequently for written updates as our writers and editors are all on different schedules. Updates will occur all day throughout the day on Thursday and Friday*
This year we are bringing you a new format to help you with those pesky start/sit decisions. In addition to listing players, we hope these categories are more useful to you than a traditional start or sit classification. Here are our definitions for our four categories.
- Start Your Studs: These players should always be in your lineup or have SMASH matchups this week. Even your most shallow IDP leagues should include these players in their starting lineups.
- Solid Starting Options: These players may vary from week to week and are very matchup-dependent. They are likely weekly starters in 12+ team leagues starting at least two players at each IDP position.
- Hail Mary: These players have big question marks surrounding their roles, usage, and murky playing time projections. Lean towards benching them unless you are in very deep leagues (16+32 teams and/or 11+ IDP starters). If they see the field consistently, they have the potential to move up a category as Solid Starting Options but until then, they will likely be big-play-dependent with low tackle floors. Your classic boom/bust options.
- No Thank You: Clear sits for the week due to matchups, playing time trends, injuries, etc.
*Most CB and DT recommendations are meant for CB and/or DT-required leagues. If in DB or DL-only leagues, generally move down one category level.
Of course, your league sizes and scoring settings are going to be different from person to person and league to league. If you need further clarification or suggestions on who to start over another player in a similar tier, we have two additional solutions for you!
Our expert weekly positional rankings can be found here for subscribers.
There are so many games with players resting for the playoffs. The teams we know of so far are the Chiefs, Rams, 49ers, Browns, and Ravens. Many of their top IDPs are listed as Hail Mary options this week as we don’t know how much (if at all) they will play or who exactly would be their replacements for many.
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
By Randy Johnson (@OldMan_FF)
This game is for the AFC East and the #2 Seed on the AFC side of the 2023/24 NFL Playoffs. Both offenses can score a lot of points in a short amount of time. Which defense will show up and more importantly, which IDPs are ready to shine under the Sunday Night Football lights?
Start Your Studs
Terrel Bernard has a tough matchup against the #8 ranked Dolphins in scoring allowed to opposing LBs. Bernard posted his third-worst performance against the Dolphins, but that was back in Week 4. He has posted two 18-point performances against other top-10 teams. Last week was his second game of two sacks and his second-best scoring performance of the year against the Cowboys.
Taron Johnson is a must-start in any league, not just CB-required leagues, this week. The Dolphins are a very favorable matchup for opposing CBs and Johnson is one of the best scoring CBs in the NFL. The combination is too good to sit him this week. He has 20+ points scored in three of his last four games.
Solid Starting Options
The Dolphins are the best matchup in the NFL to opposing safeties. Jordan Poyer and Taylor Rapp will make nice starts this week. Both are solid and both will tackle. Poyer had 10 tackles in last week’s game and Rapp had nine tackles in his last game.
Zach Sieler has been on a tear in his last 6 games with 23 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception for a TD. Start him and ride this wave of production.
Andrew Van Ginkel has stepped up at times. Bradley Chubb is done for the year with an ACL tear, so the floor is open for Van Ginkel to shine. He produced his third-best game of the year against the Bills back in Week 4. He also had a 30-point performance just a week ago against the Cowboys.
Like the Dolphins, the Bills’ weakness is against the DBs when allowing opposing players to score points. Jevon Holland just returned from his knee injury and had a quiet game. He should be much more productive against the Bills. All three of the Dolphins CBs have been quiet lately, but, someone will cover Stefon Diggs and that should be Jalen Ramsey. Ramset should score nicely this week.
Hail Mary
Rasul Douglas could see a lot of action and his experience could lead to a lot of points. In your CB-required leagues, Douglas needs to be on your radar as he can score 30 points, which he has done twice this year. The balls will be in the air and Douglas should get one himself.
Christian Wilkins can dominate a game. Unfortunately, when he plays top 10 teams against opposing DTs, he goes silent. In six games against the top 12 teams, he has five single-digit scoring games. The Bills are #8.
Deshon Elliott has been up and down all year. He gets a nice matchup against the Bills and should have a nice day. Elliott just posted his second-best game of the year against the Ravens with 10 tackles.
No Thanks
Stay away from the Bills’ defensive line. The Dolphins are the worst team in the NFL for opposing DE/Edge and DTs.
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
By Randy Johnson (@OldMan_FF)
The winner is in the NFL Playoffs, possibly the AFC South Champion if the Jaguars lose to the Titans.
Start Your Studs
Derek Stingley has been playing lights out since he returned from his hamstring injury. He’s been back 7 games and has 5 interceptions and 12 passes defended. He needs to be in your lineup, even if it is not CB required. The Colts are a good matchup for opposing CBs.
The Texans only have 10 teams worse than them in points allowed to opposing DTs. DeForest Buckner doesn’t need a weak offense to show out, so get him in your lineup against this offense.
When it comes to perfect matchups, this would fall in that category. Zaire Franklin leads the NFL in tackles and the Texans are the third-worst team in points allowed to opposing LBs. Yes, please!
Solid Starting Options
The Colts allow the 20th most points to DE/Edge and the Texans are coming off of a six-sack game. It’s not just one player either. Will Anderson Jr. recorded two of them after missing the previous 2 games. Jerry Hughes and Sheldon Rankin each recorded a sack. And the newest Texan, Derek Barnett, recorded 1.5 sacks. Any of these guys would be fine starting this week.
The only LB out of the Texan bunch to consider playing would be Christian Harris. The Colts are not a great matchup for opposing LBs, but Harris is on a seven-game streak of double-digit scoring.
E.J. Speed has stepped into the Colt’s lineup and stepped up to IDP performer. In his last 3 games, he has double-digit tackles and 20+ points in each. With the great matchup, Speed should not be on any benches this week.
Kenny Moore is an above-average CB going against a below-average team in points allowed to CBs. He missed last week’s game but should be ready to roll in this critical game.
Hail Mary
Jalen Pitre plays all the snaps but is going up against the 8th-best team in allowed points to opposing Safeties. He has scored anywhere from 9-15 points against Top 5 opponents this year. The possibility exists that he will be a difference-maker.
Grover Stewart is done with his six-game suspension and has played four games since. He is the other DT and delivers tackles in bunches sometimes. 16 tackles with 3 of them being for a loss in these 4 games is a nice number for your DT in those DT-required leagues.
No Thanks
The Texans are a tough matchup for opposing safeties. Be wary of playing Nick Cross. He is playing for the injured Julian Blackmon and just doesn’t deliver what he should.
The Colts are solid against opposing LBs and Blake Cashman hasn’t done much since Week 11. Leave him on your bench along with Denzel Perryman in this game.
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