Each week we’ll be taking a look at the upcoming NFL games and giving you our take on which IDPs have the most favorable matchups and who you should be considering starting in your fantasy football teams.
Let’s get started for Week 3!
Leonard Williams (Defensive Line)-New York Giants
Tough day at the office for Jalen Mayfield on Sunday, but that’ll happen when you’re playing #50 pic.twitter.com/zMcfGT9Vve
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) September 21, 2021
Giants’ fans, as well as fantasy managers, are waiting for the 2020 IDP version of Leonard Williams to show himself. Coming off of a season in which he ranked 4th in the NFL with 11.5 sacks, Williams is still looking to break the seal in 2021.
The Giants will welcome the Falcons to MetLife Stadium, and by the time the game is over, Matt Ryan might need MetLife for the abuse he is going to take. The Falcons have allowed the 6th most pressures on the season, the 3rd most QB hits, and the 3rd most sacks. If you want to go a bit deeper, LG Jalen Mayfield has allowed his fair share of defenders to get to his QB.
This is where Leonard Williams comes into the picture.
Williams, despite playing plenty of snaps on the end, has played the majority at DRT. In case you are wondering, that is lining up over the left guard, the aforementioned Jalen Mayfield. Look for Williams to add to his team-leading 8 pressures and 6 hurries with at least 1.5 sacks and a handful of tackles.
Cole Holcomb (Linebacker)-Washington Football Team
Cole Holcomb is a very underrated IDP LB, probably because he is surrounded by goliaths and he gets lost in the shuffle. I am here to tell you that this week could be the LB1/LB2 week that Holcomb managers have been waiting for! He currently has played every snap on defense and leads the team in tackles. It is this weeks’ matchup tho, that has me anticipating a double-digit tackle week with the upside for some passes defended.
The Football Team has been playing a zone-coverage scheme on nearly 70% of their plays. The Bills, and Josh Allen, have been underwhelming on the season as a result of the defenses they have seen shutting down the intermediate to deep routes. As a result of this game plan, Cole Holcomb enters the picture. Holcomb has the 3rd most snaps among linebackers at slot corner and will be tasked with covering Beasley quite often. Get Holcomb into your lineup if you don’t already and just count the tackles with me!
Mike Hilton (Defensive Back)-Cincinnatti Bengals
#Bengals CB Mike Hilton:
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) September 23, 2021
🔸82.6 passer rating allowed from slot since 2017
🔸3rd best among CBs, min. 100 targets#Steelers WR Juju Smith-Schuster:
🔹2,473 receiving yards from slot since 2017
🔹3rd among all WRs
Who wins this matchup on Sunday? pic.twitter.com/eMWulEd6UA
You don’t often hear the “Revenge Game Narrative” for a slot cornerback. I am not entirely sure that Hilton sees it this way, but for dramatic effect, let’s go with it!
Mike Hilton gets to face his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in a game that is bound to feature a lot of looks in his direction. The former Steeler has made a name for himself in Cincy in just the first two games. He has 9 tackles and 2 TFL, and will be looking to add some serious numbers to those totals after this week!
The Steelers will be without Diontae Johnson this week, among the myriad of others on both sides of the ball. All of these injuries are leading to this perfect storm for Hilton to have a monster game!
- Big Ben is banged up and will be looking for short to intermediate throws
- JuJu will be the person he is going to look to as his line collapses
- Hilton is 6th in slot coverage snaps/JuJu sees 70% of his targets in the slot
- Hilton leads all CB in QB pressures, and the Steelers O-line is soft
Thank you for reading! Let’s play some football!