The byes are here, have… a lot of fear? If you are fearing this spooky season, dive in and let’s try to find some sneaky IDPs to start, and tricky IDPs to sit!
We are already into the second month of the season! Even if you have struggled out of the gate, the season is FAR from over. We have a good amount of data to help really diagnose good and poor matchups. With more data comes another twist… the dreaded bye weeks. Each week for the next 2+ months you will most likely be down one (if not more) starter. The hope for this article is to find players with good usage and matchups to help bridge the gap(s). We will also caution against bad matchups and limited usage players who may be more flashes than reliable starters! As we enter spooky season, don’t be scared off by the challenges, but let’s rise above together!
Disclaimers! In this series, we will not name the stars like Myles Garrett and Roquan Smith (unless something causes one to be a sit). I will also do my best to avoid an absurdly deep cut former prospect that I love (if you follow the RoD PoD, you know I can tend to do this!) In this series I will be basing picks off of a balanced scoring system (like the IDP+ Invitational, which also boosts DTs and CBs to even their production out), to cover as many bases as possible! Please also note that mentions of previous finishes/points allowed comes from the IDP+ data suite. If you have a more complex league scoring system, these suggestions may serve as a baseline. For a more degenerate breakdown, jump into Discord and chat with our stellar team! Now that the intro is done, let’s introduce the week # start-sit options!
Start: DT Calais Campbell, Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
Last week we attacked the New England front for DTs and are running it back. Maliek Collins (start of the week) and Kevin Givens were DT 7 and 2, respectively on the week. Miami will not score as much as San Francisco, forcing more pass attempts, but the Patriot iOL has been poor. New England has allowed 50+ points to DT rooms in 3 consecutive weeks, with 9 total DT sacks. Campbell has had a two-thirds snap share but has been an elite pass rusher. His 18.3% pass rush win rate (PRWR) and 10.0 PRP (a metric normalizing pressures/sacks with rush volume) are 3rd and 4th amongst 132 DTs with 25+ rush snaps. Campbell is DT6 this season and has a top-2 matchup.
Last week: Maliek Collins, San Francisco 49ers vs New England Patriots. Finished with 25 points (IDPI scoring). 1.5 sacks, 1 FR, 2 solo and 1 assisted tackle. DT7 overall.
Sit: DT Gervon Dexter, Chicago Bears vs Carolina Panthers
Thank you all for taking the time and trust to read my start-sit article! I am honored and excited to go through this exercise each week and hope that I am able to help y’all win some matchups. I will not be perfect, but promise to give this my best each week and give well-thought and backed information. Feel free to reach out to chat with me about this (or anything else!) in Discord or on X, where you can find me @JoeLow63. Please also check out my podcast, Ride or Dynasty (@RideorDynasty on X) with myself, Jameson Hutchison (@Jamesonrulez) and host JJ Wenner (@JJWenner) LIVE on X each Thursday at 6EST/4MT and in your podcast feeds Friday mornings!
