Alright Folks, It’s time for the latest installment of THREE & OUT. A weekly column featuring some of the finer points of the week in IDP, one of the bigger stories of the weekend, a nice pick up for your IDP league, a must-start match-up, and a player that needs to be on your bench this upcoming week.
• Say good-bye to Shaun Rogers for the season folks. The massive DT is out for the year w/ a broken ankle or torn achilles. The bottom line is that the lowest ranked run defense in the league just got a whole lot worse.
• Who’s leading the league in sacks? That’s right, Elvis Dumervil has 14 sacks but it’s not looking like he’ll be breaking any records with the way the Broncos have been using him.
• Sure Drew Brees is off the chain but so is Will Smith aka – “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. With 10 sacks on the year, he’s had a bit of a renaissance and it’s really good to see him being mentioned among the likes of Trent Cole, Jared Allen, and Jame Harrison again.
• Is there anything more consistent in the world of IDP these days than starting David Hawthorne of the Seattle Seahawks? I know we’ve talked about him plenty but this is a LB you could set your watch to.
• The Jets Darrelle Revis is awesome. End of story…. but seriously, the guy shut down Steve Smith for less than 10 yards and intercepted two passes, taking one to the house. If there’s a better corner in the league, then don’t tell Revis about. He might shut him down to.
Alright enough of that, it’s time to find you some waiver players in the latest edition of “3 & Out”. . .
LB James Anderson – Carolina Panthers
OK, I’ll be the first to admit that picking up Dan Connor was a “swing and a miss” but now realizing my flaws and learning the truth, its’ become obvious that James Anderson is the pick here. He’s taking over on the weak-side and he’s got the inside track to a lot of tackle opportunities. We all know that Jon Beason is going to be taking up a lot of tackles but Carolina’s still not stopping anybody on 3rd downs and there’s PLENTY of tackles to go around. The proof is already in the pudding w/ Anderson’s 10 total tackles last week but if he’s still out there on your waivers, then scoop him up and enjoy.
LB Chase Blackburn – New York Giants
With Antonio Pierce now on injured reserve with a bulging disk, Chase Blackburn has now found himself in the fabled cat-bird seat. The club has paid some lip service to Jonathan Goff lately, saying that he’s got a shot to be the starting MLB of the future but I doubt the Giants go that way in the last five games of the year. Point being, Blackburn is here to stay in the middle of another struggling defense that can’t get off the field like it used to in the past. Blackburn’s numbers last week against the Broncos were solid but I’m expecting an even better performance this week against a Cowboys team that loves to run the ball. If he’s out there, he can definitely help your fantasy team going forward.
S Mike Adams (CLE) vs San Diego Chargers
Normally I would be so high on a safety but this is the Browns all around worst rushing defense in the league that just lost their best run stuffer for the year. This is going to result in every single play making it to the next level and with the lack of talent left standing at the linebacker position, the secondary is sure to be very busy. Enter Mike Adams, who’s replacing Brodney Pool(concussion) at free safety. The guy is a decent tackler but with the uptick in playing time, the Chargers tenancy to run the ball, and the likely-hood that the defense will be on the field all day, I’ve gotta think that Adams could be a nice one-week filler if you’re in need of a spot fill in after suffering an Eric Weddle injury?
LB Stephen Tulloch (TEN) @ Indianapolis Colts
Sure, he got 11 total tackles the last time the Titans played the Colts but I think you can all agree that was a very different Titans team that Indianapolis matched up against. With their new-found offensive chemistry under Vince Young’s leadership, the Titans area team to be reckoned with and their defense is no longer on the field all day long with no way to stop opposing receivers from converting 3rd downs. Stephen Tulloch has been a great story this year and I can respect that but I think this is the week to avoid him if you’ve got a better option with the Colts being notoriously stingy on giving up pts to LBs.
Thanks a ton for reading and please bang out some feedback and comments below. You can also e-mail our staff questions or comments to show@idpreport.com
