Fantasy Football 2011: Week 9 IDP Guide

Week 1 all the way to Week 7 were good times here at IDP Guide, but Week 8 was arguably the worst. We did hit on quite a few guys in all three positions, but two of the three "Start of the Week" guys were duds. At least Pat Chung exploded. Well.. Let's get down to business.

Linebackers on the Rise

London Fletcher- Forget Joey Galloway, London Fletcher is the new Ageless Wonder. The 36-year-old linebacker racked up 19 tackles and added a pass deflection in the ugly loss to Buffalo. The Skins offense is going to be horrible for the rest of the season, so Fletch should have more big games than Fletch had sequels. The first Fletch is hilarious by the way. Fletcher should flirt with LB1 status for the rest of the year.

Derrick Johnson- A couple weeks ago I said to get ready for a Derrick Johnson outburst and he is rolling right now after winning Week 8 Defensive Player of the Week. He has a nice schedule and that slow start should be a thing of the past. He's probably going to be in the top 10 for the rest of the season.

Lawrence Timmons- Stay with me here. Timmons has been absolutely trash and he should have been let loose when the news came down he was moving to the outside. He's been dreadful. This week it's a little different as James Farrior and James Harrison are both expected to miss Week 9 against the Ravens. Let's hope Dick LeBeau will shift him to the inside. If you are going to start Timmons, then keep your eyes peeled for news. I'll certainly have you covered on Twitter. He's currently ranked at 25 in hopes that he gives it a go.

Defensive Backs on the Rise

Jason McCourty- I have never been a proponent of starting corners at defensive back, but McCourty has been outstanding this year. He's still a guy would try to sell high though.

Darian Stewart- Stewart's value just became a giant peach compared to Craig Dahl being the size of James. Oh yes. That was a Roald Dahl reference. Stewart got all the headlines for his pick-six play on Drew Brees and he had a nice game to go with it. The Rams are vulnerable in stopping the run which means Stewart would have to make some tackles at the second level now that he won't be playing the pass-happy Saints. He has enormous upside and any owner that isn't sure about their current DB might consider making the switch.

Bernard Pollard- The guy that messed up Tom Brady's (this T-shirt idea still amuses me) has been playing much better with five tackles in his last three games each. He is far from the beast he once was in Houston or Kansas City, but he is at least on the radar in deeper formats.

Start of the Week

Antrel Rolle- Rolle should be a busy man against Tom Brady.  He's expected to have his hands full with sticking the likes of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. What's more, the Giants are ranked 28th in rushing defense, so compound that with how they will likely be in a lot of nickel packages and it should bode well for Rolle to make some tackles at the second level in the running game.

Defensive Linemen on the Rise

Chris Long- Long looked like his papa on Sunday with one of the most dominating performances of the season of any lineman. He brought Brees down three times in the backfield on Sunday and could not be blocked. A lot people forget about how great Coach Spags can be at putting pressure on the QB and Long might become a stud in no time.

Pack a Sack Lunch at U of P- The Cardinals and Rams have two of the worst offensive lines in football and there are four lineman in this game that are ranked in the top 13 in these rankings. A lot of Rams love this week.

Aaron Maybin- Maybin has a great motor lately and there's a good chance he gets to show what he can do against the team that cut him. By the way, how come nobody says things like, "that guy has a bad motor"?

Start of the Week

Andre Carter- Another gentleman that has been mentioned multiple times in IDP Guide, he is rolling with three very good games in a row including back-to-back five-tackle, two-sack games. The Giants are going to have to spread them out and not have much protection off the edge to keep Carter at bay.

Note: I completely whiffed on Michael Johnson last week since I went out on a limb a bit. This week I'm going with the more proven guy. He really should be owned in all leagues, too.

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