All About the Solo: Week Ten

Eric Olinger

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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NameTacklesSoloAsstSacksYds LostSnap CountSnap %
1 Campbell, De'Vondre ATL13112006197%
2 Wagner, Bobby SEA12930080100%
3 Humber, Ramon BUF1055006990%
3 Chancellor, Kam SEA1091007189%
3 Brown, Zach WSH10550061100%
3 Marshall, Brandon DEN1073006289%
3 Poyer, Jordan BUF1073007294%
3 Hitchens, Anthony DAL1055006295%
3 Kendricks, Eric MIN10550075100%
3 Simmons, Justin DEN10641670100%
3 Kwiatkoski, Nick CHI10911123655%
3 Foster, Reuben SF10640066100%

This was an interesting week for the IDPs. Outside of Bobby Wagner, Zach Brown, Brandon Marshall and Reuben Foster, this list is filled with some outliers. You could argue Anthony Hitchens and Eric Kendricks aren’t outliers because they do pop up on this list from time to time, but we’re missing weekly mainstays such as Joe Schobert, Blake Martinez and Tyvon Branch.

Unfortunately for Branch we won’t see his name on this list or his jersey on the field the rest of this year after he tore his ACL against the Seahawks on Thursday night. It’s very unfortunate after Branch was putting together by far his best season since his early career days with the Raiders. His injury will open the door for rookie Budda Baker as he steps into one of the most fantasy friendly spots in the IDP world. If he plays well enough he could hang onto this job for good.

The other big injury news in this game was the Achilles injury suffered by Richard Sherman. The Legion of Boom could be missing their top three playmakers heading into a week 11 matchup with the Falcons as both Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are both fighting leg injuries. This defense will still be highly functional but without Sherman blanketing one half of the field it is no longer a must avoid defense, even at home.

Anthony Hitchens proved once again he is the linebacker to own in Dallas when Sean Lee misses time. He stepped in and totaled ten tackles on the day. With Sean Lee expected to possibly miss the next three games, Hitchens could carry IDP squads right into the fantasy playoffs.

Another linebacker injury which hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of the others is the one in Washington, where the Redskins have now placed Mason Foster and Will Compton on injured reserve. This will give Martrell Spaight the opportunity for extensive three down work next to Zach Brown. He could be a low key difference making waiver add for the rest of the season. He has performed well statistically when given the opportunity.

NameTacklesSoloAsstSacksYds LostSnap CountSnap %
1 Clayborn, Adrian ATL6606324267%
2 Perry, Nick GB6603154880%
3 Washington, Cornelius DET4312114859%
3 Ogbah, Emmanuel CLE330273771%
3 Blair III, Ronald SF431273045%
3 Scarlett, Brennan HOU4402114162%

Perhaps no injury has made more of an impact in IDP leagues than in Dallas and I’m not talking about Sean Lee. I’m not even talking about a defensive player. I’m talking about left tackle Tyron Smith. Without Smith in the lineup, Dak Prescott was sacked eight times against the Falcons with six of those coming from Adrian Clayborn. I’m sure you’ve heard it a hundred times by now but Clayborn’s previous season high was 7.5 sacks. I hope he sends Chaz Green a nice fruit basket or honey glazed ham for allowing him to single handedly reach whatever contract incentives he had for 2017.

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming to town this week, and the Cowboys don’t know if Smith will be ready. With the Eagles’ defensive front consisting of Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Derek Barnett, Chris Long, Fletcher Cox and Timmy Jernigan all licking their chops to bury a division rival pumping blood into the water, my guess is even in the worst case scenario, Tyron Smith gives it a go, even at less than 100%. Either way, get your Eagles in the lineup.

solo

Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.

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eric olinger
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