IDP Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Week 11 - Streamers, Fades, Matchups for Defensive Players

Peer pressure is a severe problem for many fantasy football managers and analysts. No matter how many times I tell myself and others to trust your gut, it's next to impossible not to be swayed by the opinions of people you trust or those who evaluate players full-time. As I've documented, it happened to me when I let others convince me I was too low on Jerry Jeudy.

Of course, how much you should trust your gut has a lot to do with how reliable that gut is and how much you've put into it. Did you break down film for hundreds of hours on the NFL Draft, or did you simply look at some stat sheets and call it good? While all of us miss evaluations, do you have a lot of good calls under your belt that others didn't?

Jared Verse is the perfect example of this problem. To open the 2024 NFL Draft process, Verse was comfortably rated as my top defender. Despite loving how he demolished LSU, I eventually let other opinions weigh too much on my Verse evaluation. As a result, I waffled on Verse all spring until I finally decided to go with my gut and put him back at the top of my list.

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Casual IDP Streamers and Fades

Stream: DeMarvion Overshown, LB, Dallas Cowboys

The reason to fade Overshown used to be his playing time. Despite the Texas alum putting together good film, he failed to see more than 58% of the defensive snaps in the first two weeks of the season. That early usage made it hard to trust Overshown on a week-to-week basis.

Since Week 4, Overshown's playing time concerns are a thing of the past. He's seen 86% or more of the defensive snaps in five of his past six games. The only time he saw fewer was last week when an injury in a blowout limited his snaps … but not his production.

While there are concerns over whether Overshown will play this week, early reports indicate his injury is not serious. He is currently the 46th-most-rostered LB in fantasy, but he’s totaled at least seven tackles in five of his past seven contests. He’s also proved to have sack potential.

DeMarvion Overshown is one of one

(via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/A1eNbloJjm

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) November 10, 2024

If healthy, he’s a strong start against the Texans.

Stream: Deommodore Lenoir, DB, San Francisco 49ers

Lenoir is a repeat streamer from last week, but for good reason. The newly minted and paid defensive back continues to produce regular fantasy stats every week, despite being just the 29th-most-rostered and 36th-most-started DB in Week 10.

This week, Lenoir has a matchup with the pass-heavy Seattle Seahawks. He managed nine fantasy points in his last matchup against this squad and should have had an interception. Seattle averages the second-most pass attempts per game and Geno Smith is coming off one of the worst performances of his career. This is a plus matchup.

Fade: Montez Sweat, DL, Chicago Bears

According to advanced metrics, the Green Bay Packers remain the highest-rated pass-blocking offense in the NFL. Their starting tackles are averaging just 3.3 quarterback pressures allowed per game combined. Green Bay isn’t a particularly high-volume passing attack, either, sitting 18^th in pass attempts per game.

With Chicago’s offense continuing to struggle, this game is shaping up to be a boring one. Expect Green Bay to hold an early lead and protect a hampered Jordan Love by running the ball. That is a bad script for Montez Sweat, on top of a tough matchup with the Packers’ elite edge protectors.

Fade: Dorian Williams, LB, Buffalo Bills

It is tough to fade a linebacker who has been as productive as Williams. His high-end tackle production has him as LB18 overall in fantasy points per game. He may also continue that trend this week if Matt Milano doesn't suit up or is severely limited.

Unfortunately, there’s a chance Milano’s return hampers Williams’ production as early as this week. As was mentioned in my IDP Rankings, Milano is the far-superior coverage linebacker compared to Williams. Terrel Bernard is also the superior pass-rusher to Williams, meaning Williams could sit on nickel-and-dime packages.

If Williams is relegated to just obvious running downs, that caps his fantasy potential. Even if he shares a rotation on passing downs, it means capped snaps.

Of course, we have no idea if Milano plays this week. If he doesn’t, deploy Williams as normal. If Milano does play, know it will likely hurt Williams more than it does Bernard.

Premium/Deep League Streamers and Fades

Stream: Omar Speights, LB, Los Angeles Rams

Speights was one of our preseason sleepers. He got a ton of buzz coming out of camp, and we warned his stock could go way up with the trade of Ernest Jones IV …. of course, that stock spike didn't happen.

Omar Speights didn't do anything spectacular ... a lot like this, just doing his job pic.twitter.com/x4XEQy9xZj

— Jim Youngblood 53 (@53_jim70721) November 13, 2024

Instead of giving the unheralded rookie regular snaps, the Rams started the year with two well-known standards: Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder. We hoped that Speights could overcome Reeder, who the team had let go in the past and knew was “just another guy” rather than “the guy.”

With Reeder on IR, Speights finally got a majority of the defensive snaps against Miami. He came up with six solo tackles and eight overall. It wasn't a sexy performance, but it was solid production for a rookie’s first start. As long as Reeder is out, Speights is worth streaming in deeper leagues. He may just win the starting job in the interim, too.

Stream: Will McDonald IV, DL, New York Jets

Before you say McDonald isn't a deep-league streamer, consider that he has been ice-cold the past few weeks. He has managed just four total fantasy points in his past three games combined. That's truly awful. It's likely why the Iowa State product has been dropped by a quarter of those who rostered him in the past week.

The 50th-most-rostered DL in fantasy as of this writing, McDonald started the season strong before spiraling. While it’s likely that some of McDonald’s poor performances are due to the exodus of Robert Saleh as the defensive leader, some of it has simply been bad matchups and bad luck.

While the Colts' advanced pass-blocking metrics are strong on the season, they have recently hit a slump. The normally stingy Indianapolis front has surrendered 12 sacks in its past three games. That includes five quarterback takedowns with Anthony Richardson under center. It's a bad matchup on paper, but deep managers may risk it.

Fade: Cam Taylor-Britt, DB, Cincinnati Bengals

Taylor-Britt is one of the more beloved outside corners in IDP leagues, sitting as the 39th-most-rostered DB in all of fantasy. He's returned on that usage, too, putting up the 39th-most fantasy points per game.

Unfortunately, Cincinnati’s top cover corner has a tough matchup this week. The Chargers average the second-fewest pass attempts per game in the NFL. Worse, they have no clear lead wideout who deserves shadowing. This is an offense that prefers to run the ball and spread it around in the passing game.

The Chargers personnel and play-calling are both bad for the fantasy prospects of opposing corners.

Fade: Matthew Judon, DL, Atlanta Falcons

Judon is the 33rd-most-rostered DL in fantasy, meaning he’s being used in some shallow leagues and a lot of deeper ones. Unfortunately, it’s not clear he should be used in either.

As we've addressed, Atlanta's coaching staff recently had some backhanded comments about Judon's effectiveness. They've been well deserved, as the veteran has zero sacks in his past nine games with an abysmal 6.4% pass-rush win rate. For perspective, 247 defensive linemen sport a better pass-rush win rate than Judon.

Now, the Falcons face a Broncos offense surrendering the fifth-fewest sacks per game. That’s a terrible matchup for a veteran who is struggling so mightily.

Defenders Worth Stashing

Kamren Kinchens, DB, Los Angeles Rams

Kinchens’ fantasy stock shot up after he notched two interceptions, including a pick-six, against Seattle two weeks ago. His stock is bound to go down after a disappointing one-tackle game against Miami, though.

KAMREN KINCHENS WITH THE 103-YARD PICK-SIX!! 😱🏡

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/LOpcLM3FvG

— ESPN BET (@ESPNBET) November 4, 2024

However, there are positives to take from Kinchens’ game against the Dolphins.

One positive is that the rookie started. Another is that he saw the most defensive snaps in his short NFL career. Those are both good signs, as is the fact he was a dynamic playmaker and turnover machine at "The U," which led me to rank him as a borderline second-round talent coming out of college.

Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Green Bay Packers

Cooper remains an underutilized fantasy asset, as he is just the 70th-most-rostered DB in IDP leagues. We have told people to roster him, but he’s still not on enough fantasy teams.

The rookie has had a hot streak, and his usage still is not ideal. However, he is a quality pass-rusher going up against a Chicago Bears offense that is hemorrhaging fantasy points to opposing defenses. He is a fine deep-league streamer this week, and if he continues to perform, you should expect enough snaps to make him an LB2.

Rashan Gary, DL, Green Bay Packers

We couldn’t find a way to fit Gary into our sleepers this week, so we are listing him here. The 75th-most-rostered DL in IDP leagues, he has an elite matchup with the Bears and their beleaguered offensive line.

While he doesn't carry the long-term potential that his teammate Edge Cooper does, Gary's stock as a streamer this week is worth buying. The Bears are an attractive enough matchup to merit adding two Packer defenders this week.

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