Every week, our own Jeff Ratcliffe, Ross Miles, and Mike Woellert give you their rankings for each of the three IDP positions. In this column, I take a look at their ranks and discuss my thoughts on where they agree and disagree.
Defensive Linemen
As usual, the top five features some very familiar names with Jason Pierre-Paul, Jared Allen, J.J. Watt, Julius Peppers, and Trent Cole, respectively. Cameron Wake is still without a sack this season, however, he still occupies a top ten spot, coming in at No. 10. Owners of Wake should remain patient. He is PFF's highest graded 4-3 DE thus far this season, and his stats will begin to show that soon enough.
Trent Cole (5) may be ranked ahead of his counterpart, Jason Babin (8), but Babin has actually been more productive this year, recording more tackles and sacks than Cole thus far. Regardless, both remain strong DE1 options on a weekly basis. Another intriguing duo of defensive ends comes from St. Louis. Chris Long, the No. 6 ranked DE this week, doesn't look significantly better than Robert Quinn, 14, on paper. The two have identical tackle and sack numbers, however, Long has 21 total QB pressures to Quinn's 6. Case solved.
Michael Bennett of Tampa Bay has been in the good graces of PFF for some time now, as he is really a complete DE. This showed last week, as he manhandled Dallas's offensive linemen and harassed Tony Romo consistently. Bennett comes into Week 4 as the No. 33 ranked DE, despite having the third highest QB pressure frequency among 4-3 DE's this season. With his ability to play the run in addition to rushing the QB effectively, I like Bennett's chances of out-performing his rank this week.
After watching Aaron Rodgers get sacked eight times in the first half against Seattle Last week, I have no choice but to like the fantasy value of opposing pass rushers. Bryan Bulaga struggled mightily, and although the Saints' pass rush isn't the most imposing, their DE's stocks rise a bit with this match up. Bulaga will have the pleasure of blocking Cameron Jordan, PFF's highest graded 4-3 DE against the run, and Junior Galette, coming off a two sack performance against the Chiefs last week. Jordan holds a rank of 23 this week, while Galette isn't ranked. As the better pass rusher, I like Galette's chances to do well this week, though he is seldom owned in fantasy leagues due to his situational role. If you're in a deep league he could be worth a start, though Jordan should get his fair share of tackles and sack opportunities as well.
Linebackers
To no one's surprise, Navorrow Bowman, James Laurinaitis, D'Qwell Jackson, Sean Lee, and Patrick Willis compile the top five linebackers this week. With the rest of the top ten pretty much predictable, I'll examine some lower ranked linebackers that I predict strong weeks for instead.
My first prediction for a big week is Akeem Ayers of Tennessee, who comes in as the No. 27 ranked linebacker for Week 4. Last week, Ayers posted impressive 10 solo tackles and a sack against the Lions. This week Ayers faces the Texans, who run the ball quite a bit, if you weren't aware. This match up will provide ample tackling opportunities for Ayers, who is average a little more than 8 solo tackles per game.
Chad Greenway, the 14th ranked linebacker this week, is another player who enters this week poised for a big performance. Greenway is coming off an impressive performance that included nine solo tackles and two sacks. A big reason why I am so high on Greenway this week, however, is that fellow linebacker Erin Henderson will not be playing again. This obviously results in more opportunities for tackles, so expect Greenway to reel in the tackles.
I'm also a fan of DeMeco Ryans this week, who comes into Week 4 ranked 18th. With Ahmad Bradshaw back at practice and Andre Brown coming of a career performance, I expect the Giants to try and pound the ball throughout the game. Ryans is a stout run defender, so I see lots of tackles coming his way this week.
To change the pace a little bit, a pair of pass rushing linebackers that I like a lot this week is DeMarcus Ware (ranked 24) and Clay Matthews (ranked 34). Yeah I know, these guys are big name linebackers who are expected to perform. But given their rankings this week, expectations might not be as high as you might think. Ware goes up against a Bears' offensive line that has clearly struggled to protect Cutler. Even against the best blockers Ware will perform well, so he should be all over Cutler. Matthews too has a favorable match up this week. While the interior of the Saints' line has performed well, the same cannot be said about their tackles. The Saints are obviously expected to pass the ball often in this game, so Matthews will have plenty of chances to get after Drew Brees. With seven sacks already this year, Matthews is in top form. I expect him to give Jermon Bushrod, who has been struggling, a very hard time this game.
Defensive Backs
Tyvon Branch, Roman Harper, Eric Berry, Kam Chancellor, and Charles Woodson make up the top five defensive backs for Week 4. For the third straight week, I disagree with Roman Harpers' rank, but we'll get to that in a moment.
I like Michael Griffin this week as an over-achiever, in a fantasy sense at least. He holds a Week 4 rank of 25, averaging just over seven solo tackles per game. He faces a Houston team that loves to run the ball, so I like him for pretty much the same reasons I like Akeem Ayers. Arian Foster and Ben Tate will probably get to the second level of the Titans' defense quite a bit, giving Griffin more opportunities to make plays.
T.J. Ward, the No. 7 ranked defensive back this week, is in a great situation for a big game. Baltimore is likely to run the ball a lot throughout the course of the game. With D'Qwell Jackson not being his usual tackle-hogging self, Ward will have more opportunities as a result. He will get his tackles regardless of the opponent, I just like this match up a bit more than usual.
Now It's time for me to blab about Roman Harper, again. Harper is ranked second this week, while his fellow safety, Malcolm Jenkins, is ranked 35th. Going by 2011, this would make perfect sense, as Harper was near the line of scrimmage often, allowing him to make plays. This season, however, is a different story. Jenkins has 19 tackles to Harper's 14. Furthermore, Harper has yet to produce a sack, managing just one QB pressure on 10 pass rushes (compared to two pressures on five pass rushes for Jenkins). Harper does have one pass defended to Jenkins' zero, but neither of the two have recorded an interception yet. Despite their rankings, I see them both as DB2 options this week.
Comments and questions are welcomed by my twitter account: @PFF_BrianG
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