One of the most frustrating things in IDP leagues is seeing your stud linebacker fly all over the field on game days only to see the home score keeper dilute his performance by divvying up his tackles as assists. On the flip side, if your league doesn’t score solos and assists too differently, you’ll have a better idea of which teams hand out assists like candy. Not everyone knows this, but the NFL does not recognize a tackle as an official statistic. Tackles are scored by the home team’s official score keeper and those are the stats you see on the news and websites. The league made an effort to standardize what is and isn’t a solo tackle back in 2007 when they sent a video to all NFL teams, but it is still the discretion of the home score keeper. Even after this effort there is a still a large discrepancy from team to team and week-to-week. I will be tracking this throughout the season to give you a better idea of what to expect when choosing your IDPs each week.
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I try not to get too carried away by week one statistics, offensively or defensively. We don’t always see the best football being played on the season’s opening weekend as teams often have to knock the preseason rust off. Having said that, there are a few names on this list which were expected and a couple of names that really surprised me. We’ll start with the good. We knew the Chicago Bears defense was going to produce an elite inside linebacker (or two) and both Jerrell Freeman and Danny Trevathan found their way onto the top ten tacklers for week one. I have zero doubt in my mind both of these players will be mainstays on this list throughout the season. Kwon Alexander had the most impressive (albeit not shockingly) performance of the week. Not only did he rack up 15 solo tackles and two assists but he put a cherry on top with a sack of Matt Ryan. It’s possible I have him ranked too low in my rankings. Alec Ogletree seems to have transitioned quite smoothly into his new role as the Rams MIKE linebacker. Will Compton was a player I was buying and suggesting this offseason and while he might not be the most talented player on the field, he’s going to have a ridiculous amount of tackle opportunities as Washington struggles to run the ball.
On the flip side, two names popped up on this list that caught me off guard – Sio Moore and Craig Robertson. We knew the job next to D’Qwell Jackson was up for grabs in Indy and it appears, for now, Moore has seized it. He played 72% (47 of 65) of the team’s defensive snaps in week one. This is the same Sio Moore we all saw plenty of sleeper potential in while he was in Oakland. As much as I want to believe it’s different this time and no matter how badly I want to love him again, I’ve been hurt. Ah, forget it! Time heals all wounds and this unit is hot trash. The Colts defense is going to be on the field a lot and Moore should rack up plenty of tackles as long as he can hold off promising rookie Antonio Morrison. The real head scratcher on this list is Craig Robertson, though. The most talented linebacker on the Saints is second year player Stephone Anthony and we knew he would lose snaps to James Laurinaitis (whom they signed in the offseason), but this is ridiculous. With Dannell Ellerbe out in week one, Robertson stepped in and played 100% of the team’s 73 defensive snaps while Anthony played just 13 snaps. Ridiculous. Don’t go chasing these numbers from Robertson. He’ll head back to the bench where he belongs soon enough.
Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.
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- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Seven - October 24, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Six - October 16, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Five - October 10, 2018
Yes, how in the world is Kwon only ranked as the #32 LB?! At least you have him higher than the average (24th). You guys are loco.
