IDP Report Card: Week 12

Mo Brewington Posted On December 4, 2016

Many owners struggle to differentiate between IDP prospects once the well known targets are off the board. They get caught in the trap of checking the waiver wire for the past week’s top scorers and wind up adding a player whose performance in the previous game was an outlier, not a sign of sustainable future success. The result of this “dart-throwing” approach is often disappointment with the new player’s performance and even worse, losing games for our fantasy teams.

DLF’s IDP Report Card will aid owners who wish to see beyond the box score and focus on trends rather than events. Understanding when to avoid a pickup because the player’s perceived value is based more on circumstance than skill will help you improve your scoring efficiency and stack up wins. So, with a special thanks to Dan Meylor, proprietor of DLF’s Rookie Report Card, here is the IDP version.

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Player Evaluation #1

Darron Lee, LB NYJ

Playing time limitations and injuries have kept Darron Lee from having the breakout rookie season many expected. In Week 12, Lee finally stayed on the field for 100% of the Jets defensive snaps and the results were encouraging. Against the rival Patriots, Lee posted five solo tackles and six assist, in his best statistical game to date.

Lee worked as the Jets’ weak inside linebacker for much of the day. There was nothing earth-shattering about the way New York utilized the rookie. They played a lot of zone underneath, with Lee and fellow inside linebacker, David Harris, taking on the backs and receivers who crossed the short middle of the field. Lee can handle these responsibilities, as well as get out to the boundaries to stop ball carriers in the flats. Almost all of his tackles came in this capacity, rather than against the run.

Lee did, however, earn the coveted dime-linebacker role over the veteran Harris, and made the defensive play-calls in these situations. Expect this to remain Lee’s calling card, as a three down linebacker, who can be trusted on critical passing downs.

In run defense, Lee does a better job of sifting through traffic to make stops on runs off the edges. His speed and fluidity allow him to “move through the junk” better than on runs up the gut. The inside runs posed more of a challenge for Lee, who isn’t built to take on blockers, particularly those who outweigh him by 80 or more pounds, on average. When he’s not getting blocked out of running plays, he’s usually overrunning or over-reacting to them.

Some of this will improve with time, but with a front three as talented as the one playing in front of Lee, you’d like to see him flash the ability to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. In fairness, he was going up against the Patriots, who ran the ball just 17 times, and threw it on 50 plays. It will be interesting to Lee perform against a more balanced offense, and see how the 6’1”, 230 pounder holds up against a barrage of gut runs.

Lee’s future should see him maintain his standing as a starter for the Jets, in the middle. Head Coach Todd Bowles isn’t likely to leave in the next year or two, allowing Lee a bit of continuity in his current system. If the need arose, Lee would have no problem transitioning to a 4-3, with his speed and fluidity making him a nice fit for a WILL linebacker role. However, he’ll need to show a bit more physicality if he’s to truly excel in the middle of either base scheme.

His 32-years-old counterpart, David Harris, will be entering his tenth season as a pro in 2017. His $6.5 million cap hit next season has no guaranteed money attached to it, making Harris a potential casualty if New York needs to create additional cap space. Lee will eventually find himself as the team’s top linebacker, whether it’s next year, or further down the road. Having already showed his ability in a three-down role, he should be a solid producer for years to come. He has a ways to go, however, before we as IDP owners can project him among the league’s elite at the position.

Player Evaluation

Darron Lee Instructor’s Notes

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Player Evaluation #2

Kiko Alonso, LB MIA

It’s been a rough ride for Kiko Alonso since his incredible rookie season in 2013. The 159 total tackles Alonso posted for the Bills that season earned him the Defensive Rookie Of The Year Award from the Pro Football Writers of America, though he was passed over for the Associated Press’ version of the award, in favor of the Jets Sheldon Richardson.

In either event, Alonso was poised for an encore performance in 2014, until a season ending injury, which occurred away from the Jets’ team facility, forced him to spend the entire season on the Non Football Injury List. The NFI designation meant that the 2014 season spent in rehab would not count toward his years of service, pushing his eventual chance at a free agent payday one year further into the future. Upon returning to the team in 2015, Kiko was traded in a deal that would stun the football world, as his former college coach, Chip Kelly, summoned his former linebacker to Philly in exchange for the Eagles’ star running back, Lesean McCoy.

Landing in Philly, as “The guy we gave up Shady for,” was about as impossible a task as you could ask a player to perform. Kiko never showed the ability that win him D.R.O.Y, and the fans tired of his constant bouts with nagging injuries. When the off-season rolled around, Alonso was again dealt, this time to Miami. The Dolphins offered Alonso a fresh start and he has capitalized on the opportunity, returning to his status as a top ten IDP linebacker.

In Week 12, Alonso posted four tackles, seven assists, and made his second interception of the season, while helping the Dolphins hold on the defeat his old coach Chip’s new team, the 49ers. Alonso sits at 99 total tackles for the year, and has done well to resurrect the image of a player who didn’t look like he enjoyed playing football, which was earned during his time in Philly, in 2015. But has he actually become a dominant defender? That is a completely different question.

Have a look back at Alonso’s Week 12 performance, or any performance this season. While the statistics look impressive, Kiko Alonso has not. He remains a player who finds way to throw himself on piles started by the efforts of his teammates. Alonso is an undersized linebacker who plays with a high level of intelligence, but comes up short on grit and playmaking ability.

The name Paul Worrilow is still fresh enough in the minds of IDP owners for comparisons to Kiko Alonso to hold weight in the minds of IDP owners. Worrilow was a much more intense player than Kiko, who also found his way to the football on the strength of his speed, athleticism, and want to. It’s difficult to knock Alonso while he’s compiling tackling stats each week, but necessary to do so, because he is not actually making plays. Kiko Alonso ranks eighth in assisted tackles, and just 33rd in solo tackles, highlighting the fact that he is not actually making the plays that will ensure victory for his team, and endear him to Dolphins’ coaching staff.

By default, someone will always make tackles, even on the worst defensive football teams. This can be achieved by running to the football, and jumping on ball carriers, even if the defender is the second or third player to the ball. Playmakers impact games. They stop ball carriers short of their goal, before they reach the first down marker, or the goal line. Playmakers become integral components in their team’s defensive plans for years to come. While the guys who dive on piles are revealed by the tape, and replaced by better players. This is what happened to Worrilow, a top 12 IDP linebacker in 2014, who wound up an LB3 in 2015, until finally replaced in the Falcons’ lineup this season.

Kiko Alonso, for all of his ability to find the football, often several yards beyond the line of scrimmage, is not a difference maker. Therefore, it’s unlikely he will have a prominent role in the Dolphins’ defense beyond the next season or two. This leaves IDP owners with a decision

Should you ride the wave, and milk Kiko’s playing time advantage for all it’s worth now, or sell high, and parlay Alonso’s short-term production into a future asset? The answer remains an individual one, to be determined by each IDP owner’s own depth and circumstances. If your team would struggle to generate production at linebacker without Alonso in your lineup, then by all means, ride that wave for as long as he can hold down a starting job. But for those with solid depth at linebacker on their IDP rosters, you should absolutely sell high on Kiko while the “gettin is good”.

Player Evaluation

Kiko Alonso Instructor’s Notes

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