IDP The Guru and the Godfather: Week 9

John Norton ("The Guru") and Gary Davenport ("The Godfather of IDP") are two of the most experienced and knowledgeable IDP analysts in the fantasy football industry. Every week during the 2024 season here at Footballguys, The Guru and The Godfather will come together to answer five of that week's most pressing questions.

It's Week 9 of the 2024 fantasy football season. The second half is underway. The stretch run to the IDP playoffs will be on us before you know it. Every week's matchups are becoming that much more important.

Win, and it's closer to the playoffs. Lose, and the path there narrows.

Good thing The Guru and The Godfather are all about eating W's.

That never stops being hilariously weird.

Turn it Around or Down for the Count?

Defensive linemen are notoriously streaky, but a handful of players who were ranked as DL1 haven't sniffed that sort of production this year. That's not a streak. That's stink.

Which high-end preseason DL will wash off the funk and rebound over the second half? Is there one you're just flat ready to give up on?

GURU: Plenty of guys are in the "where did they go" category. My bounce-back candidate of the group is Carl Granderson of the New Orleans Saints. If you look at his year-to-date totals, he ranks around DE20, but that's only because he came out of the gate the way we expected, with 12 combined stops, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble over the first three games. Over the last five weeks, however, Granderson ranks 50th at the edge position. I remain optimistic because Granderson's slump started when Derek Carr was injured. The Saints have not been the same team on either side of the ball since that happened. They have been playing from behind most of the time, and it simply looked and felt like the fire had gone out. I'm counting on Carr's return to provide a lift and put the defense in a better place.  

Josh Hines-Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars came out of the gate… Well, he really hasn't come out of the gate yet. He has two decent games to his credit. Take away weeks two and five, and Hines-Allen averages about four points per game. Jacksonville is struggling in all aspects and is not a good football team at the moment. I think there is a better chance that Doug Pederson will be fired before the end of the season than the Jaguars rebounding and playing well. The talent is there, but something is missing, besides Hines-Allen's production. Maybe he should change his name back.

GODFATHER: I want to know if he changed it because of that "other" Josh Allen. But the Guru is right—he's been a ghost most of the season.

I have been asked more than once about unloading Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett—I'd be much more willing to buy than sell. I am admittedly a fan of both the player and the team, but the fact is that Garrett is just too talented—even if he isn't 100 percent. What The Guru said about Granderson holds true with Garrett as well—Jameis Winston giving Cleveland a real NFL offense could be a spark for the defense. Garrett's going to go on a rip. Soon.

I'm out on Matthew Judon in Atlanta—and have been for a while. The notion that a change of scenery might coax one more big year out of the 32-year-old was nice and all. But Judon clearly isn't the player he was two seasons ago, and apparently, as soon as you arrive in Atlanta, you completely forget how to rush the quarterback. It's bizarre how terrible the team is at it.

Walking the (Defensive) Line

Let's stick with the big men and look ahead to Week 9. You know the drill—one lineman who will blow past expectations this week, and another who will just blow.

Some lines never get old. Don't get good, either. Timeless and tacky. That's the Guru and the Godfather.

GURU: Most IDP managers would be surprised if they realized that Sam Hubbard is currently the ninth ranked edge defender. He has just two sacks on the season but has a pair of turnovers and his 23 solo tackles is third most at the position. Adding to the intrigue, 75% of his production has come in the last four games. This week, Hubbard puts his hot streak up against a Raiders squad that is allowing nine tackles, almost two sacks, just short of one turnover and the fourth most fantasy points per game to the edge position.

The Seahawks are giving up fewer than seven combined tackles to edge defenders on average. They have allowed six sacks to the position overall with two of those coming in week one. Sometimes we can throw stats like this out when it comes to division rivalry games but I'm not feeling it for Byron Young or Jared Verse this week.   

GODFATHER: A good rule of thumb this year is to target any and every edge rusher playing the Cleveland Browns—the Browns have surrendered 10 more sacks than any other team in the league. Khalil Mack of the Los Angeles Chargers hasn't been able to repeat his gonzo 2023 numbers this season. But the future Hall-of-Famer is a good bet to get home against Jameis Winston in Cleveland this week.

Jayden Daniels has done a lot of things well this season—including not getting sacked a lot. In the Godfather's Default IDP Scoring, the Commanders are allowing the fifth-fewest fantasy points per game to defensive ends this season. Brian Burns is fifth in fantasy points among defensive linemen after eight weeks, but both he and Azeez Ojulari will have their work cut out for them against a Washington team that has only given up 18 sacks all season long.