IDP Breakdown - Week 9 Edition

New Orleans @ Carolina

Home Stats Crew: High volume total tackles; Assist-heavy

The Saints will be down a linebacker in Week 9, as David Hawthorne has been sidelined with a hand injury. Look for Ramon Humber to get the start in his place. Hawthorne had been playing every-down, but it’s a stretch to expect Humber to simply jump into this role. Curtis Lofton is the only Saints linebacker you want any piece of on Thursday night. With the attrition at linebacker and six teams on bye, Lofton makes for a strong LB1 play. … Cameron Jordan put up two sacks on seven QB pressures in Week 8. You have to like that if you own him, and you’re keeping Jordan in your lineup this week as a DL1. … We finally got a strong tackle performance out of Kenny Vaccaro. The second-year man posted his first double-digit tackle tally of the season with 10 against the Packers. With Hawthorne out, Vaccaro could again see a slight boost in tackle production this week.

Thomas Davis managed to top double-digit tackles last week, but it was a relatively quiet day for Luke Kuechly. Fortunately for his IDP owners, Kuechly was able to record some late-game tackles to finish with seven (four solo) and a pass defensed. Don’t be too worried about Kuechly. Seattle is a terrible matchup for linebackers, and better days are ahead, including a strong matchup this week against a Saints team that gives up the third-most tackles per game to opposing linebackers. … Unfortunately for Charles Johnson owners, the Saints aren’t a good matchup for defensive ends. In fact, they’ve only yielded one sack to the position on the season. You likely don’t have the luxury of sitting Johnson this week, but temper your expectations.

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Jeff Ratcliffe is the Assistant Managing Editor and resident IDP maven of PFF Fantasy.  

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