Week 6: IDP Starters
LB Antonio Pierce, ---
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The countdown continues… It may only be a matter of my morbid fascination, but Pierce owners should soon be getting concerned with his failure to record a sack, interception or forced fumble so far this season. Pierce is still tackling at a high rate, but hasn't shown the jump in fantasy value that many of us expected to see from him this year.
LB Barrett Ruud, ---
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Only once in the last five weeks has he failed to record at least 11 total tackles. With a run-heavy team like Tennessee coming to town, the smart money is on Ruud easily achieving 11+ yet again. Of course, any Barrett Ruud advice is redundant right now. When your IDP is leading the league in tackles after 5 weeks, you keep him anchored to your starting lineup.
LB DeMeco Ryans, ---
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Ryans is on track for a fine second season, though he's far off the surreal tackling pace he established as a rookie. Like Ray Lewis in Baltimore, Ryans' tackling suffers due to the great play of the defensive tackles in front of him. If Amobi Okoye ever goes down with an injury, expect Ryans' numbers to skyrocket (and expect the Texans to be victimized by the run).
LB Jason Taylor, ---
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Taylor finally broke out of his funk with a two-sack performance against the Texans. Hopefully, owners weren't as fed up with his lackluster play as I was and took advantage of this breakout. He has a great opportunity to keep things rolling against rookie left tackle Joe Thomas who has never faced anyone with Taylor's otherworldly abilities.
LB Zach Thomas, ---
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There, see? He was healthy enough to play last week and put up his typically excellent IDP numbers. No need to fall back on Channing Crowder (who must have caught whatever was ailing Thomas, because he was held out of the game). Let's all just put that concussion nonsense behind us and move forward with open hearts to embrace another season filled with tackles, sunshine, and delight.
LB Brian Urlacher, ---
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Urlacher continues to roll. Consistently great, there's no reason to expect anything less than a solid performance from him against a hard-running Minnesota team that features an inexperienced pivot. Count on lots of tackles and a good chance at either an interception or a sack for this heart-and-soul of the Bears defense.
LB Will Witherspoon, ---
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Witherspoon had an outstanding game (in a losing effort) last week against Arizona, recording 14 total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. He has been a loan bright spot on a Rams team that is simply disintegrating right now. Another big tackle game should be in the works for Witherspoon against the Ravens' ball control offense.
