Happy Halloween! Don’t be scared by your matchups this weekend, but enjoy some treats from your lineup! Let’s unmask some of the best plays of the spookiest week of the year. It’s Week 9 IDP Start of Sit time!
It is difficult to differentiate tricks from treats, especially tonight! Things can get spooky as your rosters are facing injury, byes, and overall attrition. However, there are many treats scattered around the league with some great matchups! Let’s get into the back half of the year on the right note!
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 come 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 the Discord and chat with our stellar team! Now that the intro is done, let’s introduce the week 9 start-sit options!
Start: DT Nnamdi Madubuike, Baltimore Ravens vs Denver Broncos
Madubuike has been struggling massively as of late, being the DT75 over the past 3 weeks. The Broncos may be the team to get Madubuike back on track, after giving up two top-5 DTs last week. They have been a middle-of-the-road matchup thus far, but gave up 14.5 more points than anyone else last week. His pass rush metrics are not up to 2023’s levels but have been improving despite a lack of statistical success. After a big performance in week 8, this is as good a time as any for the superstar to get back on track!
Last week: B.J. Hill, Cincinnati Bengals vs Philadelphia Eagles. Finished with 15 points (IDPI scoring). 4 solo and 2 assisted tackles. DT19 on the week.
Sit: DT Tershawn Wharton, Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (MNF)
Wharton is coming off the best game of his career, finishing as a DT1 against the Raiders. He has 2.5 sacks on the year (2 in his last 3 games), and the metrics back up good production. Wharton has taken over the Robin role to Chris Jones’ Batman, with no lower than a 63% snap share this year. This is not the matchup to test the hot streak, however, as the Buccaneers have been great against DTs. The Bucs are the 2nd worst matchup of the year, and 3rd worst over the past 3 weeks. Wharton is a sneaky add in multi-DT leagues, as Chris Jones will have extra attention. He is not, however, a weekly start when facing a poor matchup.
Last week: Calais Campbell, Miami Dolphins vs Arizona Cardinals. Finished with 19.75 points. 3 solo and 2 assisted tackles, 1 PBU, 1 FF. Big plays got him to DT13 on the week.
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! See more great article at IDP+!
