All About the Solo: Week Five

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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Since his week one stinker, Mark Barron has been extremely consistent in tackle heavy leagues, far more consistent than teammate Alec Ogletree. Barron is averaging 10 tackles per game over the last four weeks with 36 solo tackles and just four assists. His high solo tackle numbers are making up for the lack of big plays. He currently has zero sacks and zero forced fumbles or fumble recoveries to go with his one interception.

Things are getting real interesting with the Tampa Bay linebackers. Kendell Beckwith has looked fantastic filling in for the injured Kwon Alexander. It’s hard to tell the difference between the two and you have to wonder if the Buccaneers drafted Beckwith anticipating Alexander walking in free agency after next season. It’s even possible the team tries to trade Alexander at some point. Both of their dynasty values are solid holds.

Vontaze Burfict is 100% back. He played like a man possessed against the Bills on Sunday with 10 solo tackles, three assists and a sack. He is locked into LB1 status for the rest of the season…or until he gets suspended again.

Blake Martinez had one of his three annual “I’m still here” games. He’s playing the lion’s share of the snaps and has actually put up some decent numbers over the last four weeks with 35 total tackles and a sack.

Tyvon Branch continues to put up elite tackle numbers for a defensive back and appears to have his sights set on the top overall player at the position. It’s quite impressive for a player who has looked like a shell of his former self as recently as last season.

NaVorro Bowman isn’t 100% back to his old self and it’s difficult to guarantee he’ll ever get there again. It may be stubbornness but I still believe he’s a solid buy low candidate but expectations should be set in LB2 territory.

There were a lot of two sack performances this week, some a bit surprising like Michael Johnson and Andre Branch, some not so surprising like Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa but the most exciting was the pair of sacks by Myles Garrett. The number one overall selection saw his first action of the season and even though he only played 19 snaps (36 percent) he showed why the Browns selected him over Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, right or wrong.

I was lucky enough to attend the 49ers-Colts game in Indianapolis this past weekend and there was a defender on each team who stood out, Jabaal Sheard for the Colts and Elvis Dumervil for the 49ers. Sheard tied for the team lead in tackles with seven total and also added 1.5 sacks. He is entering a stretch of the schedule where he can really do some damage.

Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.

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