Joshua Abbe | December 6th, 2019
Let me start off by saying, congratulations to everyone who made the fantasy playoffs! Hard work pays off to those who do the work. I made four out of my five IDP leagues’ playoffs and the one I didn’t make, well I started building for the future already.
Though I can tell you two of the leagues, my IDP players really carried the load and that’s the fun part of IDP leagues. Finding those not necessarily top tier players like Aaron Donald or Darius Leonard who can carry you to a championship. If you didn’t make playoffs, start moving players for some rookie picks, remember, the top offensive players are going to go around rounds one and two so buying some late 2020 2nds and 3rds are great spot to get guys like Chase Young from Ohio State or Grant Delpit from LSU. Depending on where guys go, they could have immediate impacts but let’s look back at last week.
Everson Griffen was unfortunately hindered by knee issue which was apparent during Monday night’s loss to the Seahawks where he didn’t record a single tackle. Jayon Brown had a very nice game yet again with nine total tackles and five of those being solo. He also had a pass defended. He should finish the season strong and could be started the rest of the way. Jalen Thompson was on his way to a great game until he left the game with a head injury and is in concussion protocol. He had seven tackles and his future is bright as a starter for the Cardinals. If you are in a dynasty and haven’t picked him up yet, do so now. If he clears protocol, he could be in for a great rest of the season with his upcoming matchups.
Derwin James seemed to come back and knocked off some rust with an amount of four tackles against Denver on Sunday. He should be back to normal strength by championship time. He plays Oakland that week. So might be a nice play that week. Now let’s get playoff week started, shall we?
Defensive Line
Ed Oliver, Buffalo Bills
I drafted Oliver everywhere I could as he was going to break out eventually. It was a slow start for the rookie as he lost his starting spot to fellow teammate Jordan Phillips but that seemed to light a fire within as of late. Over his last three games, he managed eight tackles, three of them for loss, four sacks, and a forced fumble. That’s including his showing out game last week facing the Cowboys with a four-total tackle, two sacks, and the force fumbled performance on Thanksgiving. I’m going to start him with confidence against the run steady offense of Baltimore this week. They have generous to inside defensive linemen and Oliver has the momentum to put in another strong performance.
Linebacker
Anthony Walker, Indianapolis Colts
Walker doesn’t get much attention due to Leonard getting the spotlight, but in this case, that’s not such a bad problem. While playing alongside Leonard, Walker had a nice 12 total tackles, half-sack, and force fumble game put in last week. He’s progressing in his snap count playing over 40 snaps every game since week eight. In that time, he’s racked up 44 total tackles and brought his total for the season to 82 tackles. He’s on pace for a triple-digit tackling season. Now getting a Buccaneers team that in their last three games given up 25 total tackles per game to opposing linebackers. I’ve always been a believer that good players feed off great players and Walker is in the category. Trust him this week with a favorable matchup.
Defensive Back
Micah Hyde, Buffalo Bills
Hyde had really been playing good as of late with managing at least four tackles a game and while it doesn’t seem like big numbers, his snap counts are consistent. He’s played 60 or more snaps most of the games this season. The snap counts are there and besides weeks 10, 11, and 12 where is tackle count were below four, he’s put up seven tackles in week eight, nine tackles in week nine and his best performance last week with 10 total tackles and a forced fumble. The arrow seems to be pointing up for this week as he gets Baltimore. The last five games the Ravens have surrendered an average of 17 fantasy points per game to safeties. He’s got a nice schedule rest of the way as well, so barring injuries, he could be a fantasy helper in winning a championship this late in the game.
Sleeper
Chuck Clark, DB, Baltimore Ravens
Clark has been flying under the radar lately and I noticed his snap count on the rise since weeks seven and nine and they’ve been steady since then. He’s played 100 percent of snaps for seven straight games and had his best game of the season so far last week with seven tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. He’s being used in a hybrid linebacker/slot defender spot and his production has been good enough he seems close to earning a starting spot alongside fellow teammate Earl Thomas in the secondary. He gets a nice matchup against a Bills team that in the linebacker position given up 12 tackles in their last two games and to safeties an averaged 14 fantasy points a game in their last five games. So whichever situation Baltimore slides him in, could be a nice sneaky play this week.
Good luck to everyone in the fantasy playoffs and to those rebuilding be on the lookout for the next big thing IDP wise coming in 2020. Remember any time to reach out with your questions! Good luck and go get ‘em!
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