IDP options who are better in fantasy than real life

In the IDP landscape there is often a disconnect between having above-average (or even average) NFL skills and posting high-level fantasy numbers. While IDP owners don’t care where the points come from, it’s interesting to take a look at players that struggle on the field but consistently finish with good fantasy totals.

Here are a few players who continually grade out poorly for their actual play but bring surprisingly high fantasy value.

Kiko Alonso, LB, Miami Dolphins

After bursting onto the IDP scene with 159 total tackles for the Buffalo Bills in 2013, Alonso has suffered through multiple injuries including a torn ACL that cost him all of 2014 and five games in 2015. When on the field Alonso has put up nice fantasy totals, finishing in the top 10 in 2013 and the top 20 last season. He’s also bounced around quite a bit for a player entering just his fifth season. In 2015, he was traded from Buffalo to Philadelphia and then prior to last season the Eagles shipped Alonso to the Dolphins.

Lining up at middle linebacker Alonso, led the Dolphins in tackles last season but the defense struggled finishing 30th overall against the run. Despite posting triple-digit tackles Alonso graded out poorly against the run for the third time in his career. There have been reports that recently signed Lawrence Timmons will take over in the middle pushing Alonso to the weakside role. One of Alonso’s weaknesses is that he struggles to get off blocks, so a move to weakside linebacker would increase his fantasy value, as he’ll be freed up to chase down the ball carrier.