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Week 13 IDP Linebacker Rankings
By Tom Digliani on November 28, 2012
For many of you, this is the final week of the regular season in your fantasy leagues.
I hope this week finds you and your teams doing well as you push towards the playoffs.
Good luck!
| Rank | Player | Vs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke Kuechly | KC | Should see his fair share of tackles chasing around Charles & Co |
| 2 | James Laurinaitis | SF | Will be a key in stopping the run and eyeing Kaepernick |
| 3 | Navorro Bowman | STL | |
| 4 | Daryl Washington | NYJ | |
| 5 | DeMarcus Ware | PHI | Should bust through the make-shift line for a sack or two |
| 6 | Jerod Mayo | MIA | |
| 7 | Wesley Woodyard | TB | His production has remained steady despite the return of DJ Williams |
| 8 | Patrick Willis | STL | |
| 9 | Derrick Johnson | CAR | |
| 10 | Aldon Smith | STL | Is on another level right now and must be in lineups |
| 11 | Chad Greenway | GB | |
| 12 | Von Miller | TB | Has a sack in 8 of 11 games and at least 1 in each of his last four games |
| 13 | Bobby Wagner | CHI | |
| 14 | Colin McCarthy | HOU | He did not do much last week but has a chance to bounce back against Arian Foster and the Texans |
| 15 | London Fletcher | NYG | Still hobbled but also still producing |
| 16 | Karlos Dansby | NE | |
| 17 | Curtis Lofton | ATL | |
| 18 | Jerrell Freeman | DET | Has been the best LB on the field for the Colts all season |
| 19 | Paul Posluszny | BUF | |
| 20 | D'Qwell Jackson | OAK | Has not lived up to his top-10 potential this season but is still a solid LB2 |
| 21 | Lavonte David | DEN | |
| 22 | Vontaze Burfict | SD | |
| 23 | Lance Briggs | SEA | Should get 8-10 tackles against Lynch this week |
| 24 | Sean Weatherspoon | NO | |
| 25 | Brad Jones | MIN | Has a prime matchup against Minnesota as they try to stack the box to stop Peterson |
| 26 | Nick Barnett | JAX | |
| 27 | DeMeco Ryans | DAL | |
| 28 | Phillip Wheeler | CLE | The best fantasy LB on Oakland's squad will try to slow down Richardson this week |
| 29 | Lawrence Timmons | BAL | |
| 30 | Dannell Ellerbe | PIT | Still going strong as the replacement for Lewis |
| 31 | Russell Allen | BUF | |
| 32 | Stephen Nicholas | NO | |
| 33 | Chase Blackburn | WAS | He has been very solid when he has been healthy |
| 34 | Brandon Spikes | MIA | |
| 35 | Stephen Tulloch | IND | |
| 36 | Perry Riley | NYG | |
| 37 | David Harris | AZ | Not an ideal matchup, but AZ is running more with their mess at QB currently |
| 38 | Mason Foster | DEN | |
| 39 | Rey Maualuga | SD | |
| 40 | Brian Urlacher | SEA | |
| 41 | Kevin Burnett | NE | Should see his share of tackles in run support and may be called on to help against Hernandez too |
| 42 | AJ Hawk | MIN | |
| 43 | K.J. Wright | CHI | |
| 44 | Akeem Ayers | HOU | Houston does not allow many sacks, but Ayers will be given the green light to get some pressure |
| 45 | Michael Boley | WAS | |
| 46 | Thomas Davis | KC | |
| 47 | Zach Brown | HOU | |
| 48 | Larry Foote | BAL | |
| 49 | Takeo Spikes | CIN | Taking over for the injured Donald Butler and should perform well |
| 50 | Justin Houston | CAR | |
| 51 | Rolando McClain | CLE | |
| 52 | Jo-Lonn Dunbar | SF | |
| 53 | DJ Williams | TB | Has seen his playing time slowly rise and will keep on the upward path |
| 54 | Dan Connor | PHI | With Bruce Carter now injured along with Sean Lee, Connor is the best bet to get tackles |
| 55 | Tamba Hali | CAR |
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Kurt Turner
November 28, 2012 at 11:51 pm
Great ranks as usual Diggs!
jay
November 29, 2012 at 2:31 pm
DJ Williams didnt record a tackle last week.. im scared to use him given that my playoffs start this week.
Tom Digliani
November 29, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Jay-
Make no mistake, DJ is a risky play. I have 52 guys ranked ahead of him because he is a risky play. That said, his numbers will be dictated by what TB does offensively this week.
Against SD he had 4 tackles. 3 came with SD in the shotgun giving a passing formation look. He tallied 3 tackles versus runs and 1 against the pass and all of them were on RB Ryan Matthews.
Basically he will play during passing downs or passing formations and will be solid in run support out of those looks. He will spend a lot of time focusing on the RB.
This idea limited him against KC. KC ran 31 times and only passed 25 times. That was almost 8 pass attempts below their per game average. SD passed 40 times which was 6 attempts above their per game average.
TB averages 32 passes and 27 runs per game. The tend to run the ball 5 times per game more then they pass. KC only passes 1 time more per game then they run and SD passes about 8 times per game more then they run.
Basically he could be good for around 4 or so tackles and maybe a performance play if TB passes a bit more and utilizes Doug Martin in the passing game or running out of a passing formation.
I think TB will do this and may even have to if Denver gets out of the gates quickly.
I am not saying DJ is a great start, but if you do not have someone in the top-50 or so, he could be a decent deep starter this week.