Week 8 in the National Football League was a statement week. 1st rounders of the 2011 Draft finally proved their worth with a season high 3 of them cracking the prestigious Fab Five (the top 5 IDP rookies of the week). One of them is a top 5 draft pick who wouldn't even have been on the Fab Twenty all season if there were such a thing. The weekend also featured a huge performance from a rookie cornerback in his one on one versus a 1st round wide receiver. Let's take a look at which other rookies made an IDP impact.
| Team | Player | Snaps | PFF Rating | Tackles | Assists | Rush-PR-Hit | Other |
| Arizona Cardinals | CB Patrick Peterson | 85/89 | -0.6 | 2 PD, PR TD | |||
| Arizona Cardinals | NT David Carter | 9/89 | 0.7 | 2 | 5-0-0 | 1 PD | |
| Arizona Cardinals | OLB Sam Acho | 54/89 | -1.1 | 5 | 1 | 26-0-0 | 1 Sack, FF |
| Baltimore Ravens | DT Pernell McPhee | 14/64 | -1 | 12-0-0 | |||
| Baltimore Ravens | CB Jimmy Smith | 3/64 | 0.5 | ||||
| Buffalo Bills | DT Marcell Dareus | 34/57 | 5.7 | 2 | 2 | 25-3-0 | 2.5 Sacks |
| Buffalo Bills | LB Kelvin Sheppard | 16/57 | 0.1 | 1 | 2-0-0 | ||
| Buffalo Bills | S Da'Norris Searcy | 10/57 | 0.1 | 1 | |||
| Carolina Panthers | DT Sione Fua | 26/66 | -1.2 | 13-0-0 | |||
| Carolina Panthers | DT Terrell McClain | 41/66 | -0.8 | 1 | 1 | 26-1-0 | 1 Sack |
| Cleveland Browns | DE Jabaal Sheard | 66/67 | -2.2 | 3 | 1 | 27-3-0 | |
| Cleveland Browns | DT Phil Taylor | 55/67 | -1.2 | 1 | 20-0-0 | 1 Sack | |
| Denver Broncos | SLB Von Miller | 64/64 | 0.4 | 3 | 30-1-1 | 2 TFL | |
| Denver Broncos | FS Quinton Carter | 39/64 | 0.6 | 3 | |||
| Denver Broncos | FS Rahim Moore | 28/64 | 0.8 | 2 | |||
| Denver Broncos | CB Chris Harris Jr. | 46/64 | -2 | 9 | 3-0-0 | ||
| Detroit Lions | SLB Doug Hogue | 13/79 | -0.3 | ||||
| Houston Texans | DE J.J. Watt | 58/64 | 1.7 | 4 | 34-2-0 | ||
| Houston Texans | OLB Brooks Reed | 62/64 | 3 | 2 | 24-3-0 | 1 Sack | |
| Indianapolis Colts | FS Joe Lefeged | 30/69 | 1.8 | 2 | 2 | 1-0-0 | |
| Indianapolis Colts | CB Chris Rucker | 3/69 | 0 | ||||
| Jacksonville Jaguars | FS Chris Prosinski | 15/74 | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | DE Allen Bailey | 21/81 | -0.8 | 1 | 17-0-0 | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | OLB Justin Houston | 41/81 | 0 | 2 | 19-0-0 | ||
| Miami Dolphins | CB Jimmy Wilson | 74/74 | 1.9 | 3 | 3-0-1 | 1 PD | |
| Minnesota Vikings | DT Christian Ballard | 8/66 | -0.3 | 4-0-0 | |||
| New Orleans Saints | DE Cam Jordan | 47/79 | -0.4 | 3 | 21-0-0 | ||
| New Orleans Saints | SS Isa Abdul-Quddus | 1/79 | -0.1 | ||||
| New York Giants | MLB Greg Jones | 34/56 | -0.6 | 4 | 1 | 1-0-0 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | WLB Brian Rolle | 33/52 | 0.4 | 1 | 1 | 2-0-0 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | DE Cameron Heyward | 6/58 | 0.2 | 5-1-0 | |||
| Pittsburgh Steelers | CB Cortez Allen | 19/58 | -1.6 | 2 | |||
| St. Louis Rams | DE Robert Quinn | 40/72 | 1.5 | 2 | 33-2-2 | 1 Sack, BL Kick | |
| San Diego Chargers | DE Corey Liuget | 41/74 | 0.7 | 2 | 16-0-0 | ||
| San Diego Chargers | CB Marcus Gilchrist | 71/74 | -2.3 | 5 | |||
| San Francisco 49ers | OLB Aldon Smith | 31/63 | 1.3 | 1 | 21-1-0 | 1 Sack | |
| San Francisco 49ers | CB Chris Culliver | 38/63 | 1.8 | 5 | 1 PD | ||
| San Francisco 49ers | DE Demarcus Dobbs | 6/63 | -0.3 | 5-0-0 | |||
| Seattle Seahawks | SLB K.J. Wright | 48/69 | 0.1 | 4 | 1 TFL | ||
| Seattle Seahawks | CB Richard Sherman | 55/69 | 1.6 | 4 | 1 | 1 INT, 3 PD | |
| Seattle Seahawks | WLB Malcolm Smith | 2/69 | 0 | ||||
| Tennessee Titans | DT Jurrell Casey | 41/82 | 3.2 | 4 | 1 | 26-1-0 | |
| Tennessee Titans | SLB Akeem Ayers | 11/82 | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1-0-0 | |
| Tennessee Titans | DT Karl Klug | 44/82 | 4.9 | 1 | 1 | 31-3-1 | 1 Sack |
| Washington Redskins | OLB Ryan Kerrigan | 67/67 | 0.1 | 5 | 27-1-0 | 2 TFL | |
| Washington Redskins | NT Chris Neild | 9/67 | -0.2 | 4-0-0 |
Fab Five (Top 5 IDP Rookie Performances of the Week)
1. Arizona Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson: 2 pass deflections, punt return TD; There is some good news and some bad news here. The bad news is that Patrick Peterson is not playing like a rookie anymore. After allowing 20 receptions on 26 targets in the first 4 weeks of the season, Peterson has 6 out of 16 passes his direction to be caught. What this means is less targets and thus less tackles after defenses find out that they can't throw at him anymore. What it could also mean is that he could be comfortable and start getting some interceptions. In what would have been a rather disappointing week with 0 tackles, Peterson redeemed himself with a big punt return touchdown.
2. St. Louis Rams DE Robert Quinn: 2 tackles, 1 sack, blocked kick; In the upset shocker of the season, Robert Quinn was the wrecking machine. With 2 tackles, 2 QB pressures, 2 QB hits, and 1 QB sack, he certainly made his presence felt on defense. To make things even better, Quinn came up with a big special teams play with a blocked field goal. The rust may finally be coming off who the former Tar Heel who missed all of last season due to suspension.
3. Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman: 4 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 interception, 3 pass deflections; When you can back up your play like Sherman, you can yap all you want. Sherman did exactly that in shutting down Bengals rookie WR A.J. Green and then going on to call him “overrated.” The 6'3 rookie Sherman has the size to match up with any #1 receiver out there, and with his highest snap percentage of the year Sherman is putting himself squarely on the IDP map.
4. Arizona Cardinals OLB Sam Acho: 5 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack, forced fumble; The second rookie from Arizona to make this week's Fab Five, you have to love Sam Acho taking advantage of finally getting some playing time. With a previous season high of 31% of the team's snaps, Acho was in on 61% of the defensive snaps versus Baltimore. Even though he graded -1.1 overall, Acho made impact plays and showed that he can be counted on.
5. Buffalo Bills DT Marcell Dareus: 2 solo tackles, 2 assists, 2.5 sacks; The sleeping fantasy giant has awaken. Dareus, the number 3 overall pick in the draft was becoming a forgotten man on the Buffalo Bills defensive line, but after a move to the Nose Tackle position this week, Dareus piled up 2.5 sacks and showed just the ability to finish that make him a top 3 draft pick. Last week Marcell Dareus was football good with a +5.1 rating, this week he was IDP and football great with a +5.7 mark.
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