The Man Who Would Be King . . . of IDP

Every once in a while in IDP leagues, a player literally comes out of nowhere and can almost single-handedly win a title for some lucky fantasy owner.  This season, that player comes out of the Great Northwest and he’s becoming a legend overnight and I love the kid . . . in a platonic fantasy football owner-player sort of way, of course. His name is David Hawthorne and if he’s on your fantasy IDP roster, you should be grinning from ear-to-ear. If the second-year player from TCU isn’t on your team, do whatever it take to acquire him since he can literally win you a title.

Hyperbole? Perhaps but consider these numbers in the four starts he’s made this season:

Week 3 (against Chicago): 15 solos, 1 assist, 1 interception, 1 pass defended

Week 8 (against Dallas): 5 solos, 3 assists, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass defended

Week 9 (against Detroit): 8 solos, 1 assist, 2 interceptions, 3 passes defended

Week 10 (against Arizona): 10 solos, 1 assist

My dear readers, those are numbers that only the great Patrick Willis can register on a weekly basis. In fact, throughout the past 10 weeks in my oldest tackle-heavy IDP league, Willis has averaged an astronomical 20.133 points per start. Hawthorne, in comparison, has averaged 26.225 points per start. He’s that good.

Who is Hawthorne? He’s a training camp legend who’s been rumored to show incredible skills in the Seattle Seahawks’ training camp and has flashed his enormous potential in preseason. However, Hawthorne’s natural position is middle linebacker and the Seahawks already had their defensive leader at that position in Lofa Tatupu. In addition, the Seahawks had a very talented player at the weakside linebacker position in Leroy Hill who received the franchise tag during the offseason. Finally, the team couldn’t pass up the opportunity to draft the best linebacker coming out of college in Aaron Curry to replace the aging Julian Peterson on the strongside. There was simply no place to put Hawthorne.

The former Horned Frog kept impressing the coaching staff in training camp and in practice during the season. As I’ve always written, IDP stardom is as much about opportunity as it is about talent. Tatupu’s history of injury was bound to catch up to him sooner than later . . . and it did. Hawthorne eventually received his chance. In Week 3, against my beloved hometown Bears, Hawthorne had one of the best games I’ve ever seen an IDP play. Tatupu came back from his hamstring injury early to start again in Week 4. Personally, I think Tatupu watched Hawthorne’s impersonation of Patrick Willis and came back earlier than he should’ve in case Hawthorne started putting up numbers like that on a weekly basis.

Tatupu didn’t last, of course. A torn pectoral muscle in Week 6 sidelined Tatupu for good. Hawthorne came back to the starting lineup and he’s been IDP’s best fantasy force since Week 8. He’s been so good that the Seattle front office has stated that the team is considering going to a 3-4 alignment next season to put Hawthorne and Tatupu on the field together and make certain that Hawthorne is assured of playing time. That’s the first time in all of my years of following IDP that I’ve read of a team changing its entire defensive philosophy to accomodate one player. It tells me all I need to know about whether the team considers Hawthorne a legitimate football talent.

I’m a believer. If you’re in a redraft league, trade for him at whatever cost since he can put you over the top. Think of it this way: What would you pay to get Willis on your roster right now in a redraft league? If you’re in a keeper/dynasty format, Hawthorne can still help win the big one for you this season but he could be a gem for years to come. He’s only 24 and he’s going to be “The Man” long-term somewhere if not in Seattle.

Tags: aaron curry, David Hawthorne, leroy hill, lofa tatupu, Patrick Wilis, Seattle Seahawks