Crystal Ballin’ Week 11 ~ IDP

Yea….bye weeks are over. For us fantasy freaks, we are finally past the pain and irritation of trying to find replacements for perfectly healthy players sitting by the pool on Sunday, for no other good reason than to allow NFL teams one more week of play so they can stuff their already packed pockets.

So what happened this week?

It was another brutal week of injuries, although this week it was more about offense with Ronnie Brown hitting the hay for the season. But us IDP’ers took some major hits too.

The Raven’s Terrell Suggs will miss some time. Not only did he cost you last week with one solo and a defended pass, but now he’s out of commission for a couple of games with an MCL sprain.
Carolina’s Julius Peppers had a broken hand (Thanks for keeping us fans so well informed before the game). He gave you the big ole’ goose-egg for sticking him in the lineup. If you are a Peppers’ owners, can you name ANY other NFL player in fantasy that’s such a crap-shoot from week to week? Peppers is on my perpetual do-not-own list. The only thing consistent about him is his inconsistency.
Aaron Kampan (OLB Green Bay) missed last week and rook Brad Jones filled in and collected seven solos. Kampman had not sniffed seven solos all year. So for you people in big-play IDP leagues that actually count on 3-4 OLBs from week to week, this week could be all Kampman, all Jones, or a mix of both. I’d certainly shy away from either if it were me. And that’s too bad, seeing as the Packers are going to mix it up with the 49ers, who have allowed 19 sacks in 7 weeks.

Interesting development in Saints land. (I’m the blogger for the Saints as well. Yes, the 9-0 freaking Saints. Catch me at www.whodatblog.com Anyway, the Saints have their best corner, Tracy Porter probably missing one game, according to reports. So why did the Saints go out and sign Chris McAlister in such a hurry? Me thinks there may be more to the Porter story the coaching staff may not be telling us.
Marquand Manuel was the latest starter in a fantasy-friendly spot to be given his IR papers for the year. Not much to say in team terms, as the Lions “D” is pretty pathetic anyway. But Ko Simpson takes over for good at SS, and in three weeks he has put up 9-0, 7-1 and 7-1. Pretty sweet numbers.
Phily’s Sheldon Brown was doubtful early in the week, but is now more on the questionable side in the Eagles matchup against Chicago. They sure hope he can play, as their other option is Dimitri Patterson, who collected six solos last week, but is a real soft spot in pass defense. If he can’t go, upgrade the Chicago passing game.
For those of you caught by surprise with the last-second decision of Detroit’s Louis Delmas to sit last week (with a friggin’ tooth-ache??), he looks to be a safe play this time around. That is, unless he gets a last-minute hangnail or something.
Shocker in New England. Shawn Springs was benched last week, and he wasn’t even hurt. He was brought in to be the Pats best corner this year, and right now he ranks about 4th behind journeyman Jonathan Wilhite and rookie Darius Butler. Sad.

Nate Clements should return this week in San Fran, but if you are still holding onto him you might want to bone up on your depth charts a little. He has officially-unofficially been demoted behind Tarrell Brown. No reason to hang onto the aging defender any longer.

Washington’s Albert Haynesworth may miss Sunday’s game against the Boys, and that’s a shame. I really wanted to see the rematch with him and center Andre Gurode. If you recall, Haynesworth stomped on Gurode’s head and caused 30 stitches. But in bigger terms, if Haynesworth misses the game, Marion the Barbarion will run amok.
Jet’s Jim Leonhard is expected to miss this week’s game, and that’s a blow to not only the Jets, but to fantasy players. He will be replaced by Eric Smith.
Jaguars ILB/MLB will likely miss the game this Sunday with a concussion. (Isn’t that about four players suffering from concussions now?) With Adam Seward still likely out, the Jags are thin at LB, and it looks like Brian Iwuh will start at OLB and Clint Ingram could slide inside.
So how did the newbies do last week?
Landon Johnson got his first start at WLB in place of Thomas Davis, and managed a respectable 6-1. This week he faces the Dolphins, and they are allowing opposing WLBs 7.6 tackles a week.
Ali Highsmith got a rare start in place of Gerald Hayes, but only coughed up a 2-1.
Buffalo’s Bryan Scott slid down to WLB, and showed some real spunk with a 7-2.
Brandon Johnson (Cincy) filled in for Keith Rivers. 4-0. Sounds bad, but that’s about what Rivers was doing.
It’s week twelve, and the Cowboys are still waiting for OLB Anthony Spencer to register a sack, or an interception, or a big play….
Phily’s Moise Fokou filled in for Akeem Jordan. (Actually, he came in at SLB, Witherspoon slid out to WLB and SLB Gogong handled the middle. How did it work out? “Spoon” 2-1, Gogong 2-2, Fokou and whopping 7-3. Too early to tell if that was an aberration or not. Jordan may be back this week, so we may never know. One things for sure, Gogong did NOT have a good day in the middle, look for Joe Mays to fill that role, assuming Jordan’s not back this week.
The Chargers Kevin Burnett may not have started Sunday, but he sure finished. 8-1 off the bench kind of seals the deal.
For all who faithfully hung onto the Seahawks Leroy Hill waiting for him to get healthy, I feel for you. In three weeks he has managed 14-1. MLB David Hawthorne had 10-1 last week alone.
Cincinnati DE Jonathan Fanene has played well since returning from injury, In his last three full games, Fanene has 6-7-3.5.
Oakland rookie DE Matt Shaughnessy has made a solid impression with 9-0-2 in his last two games filling in for Greg Ellis. Ellis has managed just one sack since game two.

In case anybody was looking for Seattle’s Ken Lucas, you might want to look in the doghouse. Over his last two games he has come in off the bench and has managed one solo. He’s done, stick a fork in him, it’s now Josh Wilsons’ party, and Wilson has collected 11-1 and an interception the last two.
Got Williams or Mays? D.J. or Corey I mean? They face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have been very giving to opposing 3-4 ILBs this year. To the tune of 11 tackles per week, per linebacker.
If you are looking for a deep play, AND you can figure out who the heck is starting at MLB this week in place of Justin Durant, (Brian Iwuh is best bet) you could hit it big. The Bills have allowed an average of 11.0 tackles to MLBs this season. In the same vein, if you are considering a Bill LB against the Jags, it’s pretty sad. MLBs have averaged just 5.8 tackles and WLBs just 4.2. IT’s hard to sit Poslunszy, but I wouldn’t touch Bryan Scott, the converted SS. But on the positive side, the Bills have been extremely generous to SLBs, so Chris Draft is looking at 7.83 tackles. (Give or tackle a decimal)
Youza! Own you some Curtis Lofton of the Falcons? The Giants allow a whopping 12 tackles a game to MLBs, and seeing how Lofton is a cut above the rest…the math says….14. Oh yeah, start your safeties too, Coleman and DeCoud.
I know you can’t sit London Fletcher, but Dallas has been a pathetic place for opposing LBs. They average just 17 total tackles a game.
Speaking of the Cowboys and Linebackers, about the only spot worse for one is against the Packers. They allow an average of just 4.8 to MLBs and 4.6 to WLBs. Yuck. Of course, as I say that, last week the Dallas ILBs racked up tackles buy the dozens. (2 dozen)
I like James Laurinaitis in St Louis. And this week I like him even better. The Cardinals have allowed 12,10,11,11 and 11 tackles to MLBs in the last 5 games.
I always sound like a broken record, but in a tackle-based league, if you have defensive players with a pulse starting against the Patriots, get them in the lineup. Across the board, the Patriots give up a ton of tackle opportunities.
And believe it or not, the Bengals have been a great team to face with your defenders.
Hard up, and planning on using Chicago’s SLB Nick Roach? Think again, the Iggles have allowed more than two total tackles to a SLB only once this season. Officially, SLBs facing Phily average 2.0 tackles per week.
If you own a Titan or Texan LB, this would be a good week to plug them in. Both teams allow opposing LBs over 23 tackles a week.