By this stage of the season it makes a lot of sense to take a step back and reassess the IDP landscape. Things we thought we knew, and things we assumed in the preseason can now be more conclusively analyzed. Scoring anomalies lasting a week or two have faded and statistical trends have gradually begun to appear. If as a fantasy owner you can’t shake your preconceived ideas from late August and early September, if you can’t adapt to the fantasy-reality (that’s a confusing term!) of the second half of the season, you’re going to find it difficult to be successful in the playoffs.
This week you’ll notice there is less of an emphasis on matchups than usual as I’m re-aligning my conceptual tiers and bumping players up and down based on their scoring, consistency and upside over the first half of the season. Most notably there have been some significant downgrades for a couple of linebackers, while a veteran safety not named Charles Woodson needs to get some DB1 respect.
Pass Rushers
Let’s get this week started with a fairly big call, as I’m downgrading Chandler Jones this week. Yup, the league’s sack-leader is on my list of players to be wary of this week. Why? It’s the age-old case of facing off against an elite pass-blocking offensive tackle, namely perennial Pro Bowler, Trent Williams. Williams has yet to give up a sack this year, and having seen Jones fail to score a single point against a similarly talented left tackle in Cowboys’ Tyron Smith in Week 4, I’m giving the advantage to Williams. I’ll be knocking Jones down to a low-end DL1, perhaps lower.
While I’m ecstatic that Jason Pierre-Paul will be returning to the field in the near future, I encourage all of his fantasy owners to take a slow and cautious approach to getting him back in your lineups. We’re still not sure how his hand injury will affect his pass rush skills, when exactly he will be back on the field, and how slowly the Giants will ease him in. There are just too many questions right now that make him an exceptionally risky play. Until we have some of the necessary answers, keep JPP on your bench.
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Ross Miles is a Lead Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy. Follow him on Twitter – @RossMilesNFL
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