As always, make sure you’ve checked out Jeff Ratcliffe’s latest pieces if you want to stay on top of your IDP game. The work on tackles per opportunity (tPOP) helps identify the most favorable stat crews when it comes to awarding tackles, while the IDP Matchup Chart lets us key in on some of the best matchups on a positional basis. There is a reason PFF Fantasy is the home to the most accurate IDP rankers for the last four seasons according to FantasyPros, and data such as Jeff puts out is a large reason why.
Stop by the IDP section of the site and get the latest articles from both myself and Jeff, including the IDP Playoffs Strength of Schedule piece from last week.
With that being said, let’s dive into some start/sit advice for this week.
Pass Rushers
The Browns have been the most favorable matchup for pass rushers over the course of the season, while Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril have been two of the most disruptive defensive ends. Our signature statistic – pass rush productivity – ranks Avril and Bennett second and third against fellow 4-3 ends (behind Ziggy Ansah) and I’m expecting big games from both. If forced to pick one, I’d slightly prefer Bennett, who has two sacks, five hits and 14 hurries for 26.9 fantasy points over the last month compared to Avril’s four sacks, five hits and nine hurries for 24.1 points. Both are borderline DL1s this week.
Khalil Mack has nine sacks in the last three weeks, and the plus matchups keep rolling in. If you’re on a host site allowing Mack to be started as a defensive lineman, you have to consider him a top-five guy for the rest of the season, behind JJ Watt, but in the same conversation as Chandler Jones, Muhammad Wilkerson, Carlos Dunlap and Ziggy Ansah. In leagues where he is designated as a linebacker, you’ll be very hard pushed to bench Mack this week unless you start only one LB, or two and you have two ‘certain’ LB1s. Don’t sleep on Mario Edwards either who appeals to me in the same way Calais Campbell has done for the last three-odd years, as he has a high tackle floor with tackle for loss potential, and a chance of a sack here and there.
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Ross Miles is a Lead Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy. Follow him on Twitter – @RossMilesNFL
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