Week Seven is about to come to an end after Monday Night Football; and I’m not going to start counting down the weeks left because we want football to go on, right?  Is it me or week after week we’re seeing more Forced Fumbles than usual and also wondering how many more people is the Prison going to lose in The Walking Dead or if you’re wondering what happened to your IDP Stud give Saul or Carrie a call.  Now we enter week 8, seems like half of the league is on bye this week and I hope you’ve built the depth to put out a starting lineup this coming week.  It has definitely been an interesting week in the IDP world, with the disappearance of Dansby & Washington on Thursday Night Football to the rise of a safety named, Michael Mitchell.  I’m wondering if some Justin Houston owners are also Robert Mathis owners?  Yes, Houston is on a slump right now but with his big play ability it’s so hard to bench him whereas Mathis surprised me as I didn’t believe he could get to Manning twice (we know it felt good Mathis, right?).  As always, I’m going to chime in on the top 5 performers from each position from all of week 7 (not including Monday Night Football).

TOP 5 DL

1. CHANDLER JONES (PATRIOTS):  11 tackles (8 solo) / 2 TFL / 1 FF / 2 sacks 
2. CHRIS JONES (PATRIOTS):  10 tackles (5 solo) / 3 TFL / 2 sacks
3. JJ WATT (TEXANS):  6 tackles / 1 TFL / 1 FF / 1 sack
4. MARIO WILLIAMS (BILLS):  3 tackles / 2 TFL / 1 FF / 2 sacks
5. CALAIS CAMPBELL (CARDINALS):  8 tackles (7 solo) / 1 TFL / 1 FR

TOP 5 LB 

1. SEAN LEE (COWBOYS):  11 tackles (9 solo) / 1 TFL / 1 int / 1 PD 
2. DEMECO RYANS (EAGLES):  9 tackles (7 solo) / 1 TFL / 1 int / 1 sack
3. TAMBA HALI (CHIEFS):  6 tackles (5 solo) / 1 TFL / 2 FF / 2.5 sacks
4. LAWRENCE TIMMONS (STEELERS):  17 tackles (12 solo)
5. JAMARI LATTIMORE (PACKERS):  12 tackles (9 solo) / 1 TFL / 1 sack

TOP 5 DB

1. ANTONIO ALLEN (JETS): 9 tackles (5 solo) / 1 int / 3 PD / 1 TD
2. LOGAN RYAN (PATRIOTS):  4 tackles / 1 int / 1 PD / 1 TD
3. MICHAEL MITCHELL (PANTHERS):  8 tackles / 2 TFL / 2 FF / 1 sack
4. CAPTAIN MUNNERLYN (PANTERS):  5 tackles / 1 FR / 1 int / 1 PD / 1 TD
5. WILLIAM MOORE (FALCONS):  7 tackles / 1 FF / 1 sack / 2 PD

*notes* Sean Lee is showing why he’s arguably a top 5 LB in & has been a monster the last 4 weeks, for those who asked me to drop him and i told you no and that he’s too good to put up poor numbers; I hope you’ve listened too hang onto him.  Some notable IDP’s came back this weekend like Von Miller (meh performance, thought he’d come back harder than that), LaRon Landry is back for the Colts and their about to have a tackling duo at Safety with Bethea and Landry.  Calais Campbell played and shown flashes of his dominance self; or what we expect from him week in week out (he has the talent!).  Quick note too is like offensive players, there’ll be inconsistent weeks from the studs to the streamers and it’s tough to predict which DB will have an interception or how many sacks a DL will get just have to keep your head up and know you’ve made the right decision on who too start, if you’ve been asking me questions on who to start I base it mostly on match-ups and how long the defense will stay on the field.  For example, when teams play the Jaguars and their atrocious offense I rank opposing IDP’s lower than expected because of the limited time they’ll spend on the field.

Let’s now take a look at some WAIVER WIRE ADD’s and/or Spot Starters this week:

• CHRIS JONES (PATRIOTS) DL:  he showed up out of nowhere, but with the injuries to Wilfork and Kelly, Jones steps in for opportunity to play and he did well against the Jets.  Could be nice fill-in if you need a bye week replacement. 
• ROPATI PITOITUA (TITANS) DL:  this dude is huge (haven’t really seen him until today) and has been hit or miss but with Morgan battling an injury he has some limited upside for a fill-in if you need.  But, of course he has a bye in week 8 so if you want him you’d have to get him and stash him a week.  Once Morgan comes back though his value could take a hit.
• JAMARI LATTIMORE (PACKERS) LB:  The Packers are losing LB’s by the week and seems all they have left is Lattimore and Hawk.  The last 2 games Lattimore has looked active and flying all over the field.  If he continues to put up nearly double digit tackle numbers weekly, he has low LB2 upside but as long as Jones/Perry/Matthews are out Lattimore becomes a solid grab and a solid start.
• JOPLO BARTU (FALCONS) LB:  I’ve mentioned to look in at him if you needed a LB, especially if you’re a Weatherspoon owner because Bartu has been balling for the Falcons.  Not fancy out of this world type numbers but he’s been pretty consistent and has definitely played better than Dent.  Nice LB3 fill-in, especially for this week with nearly 5 teams on bye.
• ANTONIO ALLEN (JETS) DB:  Been keeping my eye on Allen for a few weeks now and he’s finally looking like he’s putting it all together.  Like I’ve mentioned week after week on how you can stream DB’s, Allen is one to stream or hang onto because he will continue to produce in Rex Ryan’s defense.
• MICHAEL MITCHELL (PANTHERS) DB:  Mentioned him last week and the week before, if he’s still available i’d suggest to grab him now.  Last 3 weeks he has been balling and racking up the turnovers, will it stop? of course it will but ride the hot hand and know that he has no competition to he isn’t losing his job anytime soon.  Solid DB2 rest of season.
• TRAMAINE BROCK (49ers) DB:  has 3 INT’s his last 2 games and has clearly earned his snaps and played better than Nnamdi.  Here we are again with another DB to stream too, if the 49ers are up against a passing attack, he’s one to stream as he’ll get the attention.

Taking a quick look at the Monday Night Football game between the Vikings and Giants and the pace Eli is on throwing INT’s I wouldn’t be surprised if Chad Greenway or Erin Henderson ends up with an INT up the middle or Sanford having one himself as this would’ve been a game where Harrison Smith blows up (but he’s injured).  Jason Pierre-Paul ever going to turn it around, yes he will but probably not this year already so if you’re in a redraft league it’ll be ok to cut him loose, but in dynasty you keep hold.  Jon Beason looked pretty good in his first start with the Giants but was that a fluke? I believe he’s been done already with all those injuries and maybe he’ll prove me wrong so we’ll see how he performs in his 2nd game.  Prince Amukamara could have a busy night racking up tackles, Ryan Mundy looks to repay his IDP owners from his dud last week.  I like both Jared Allen and Brian Robison this week, but Jared a little more as he’ll be chasing Eli.

Other than that, let’s enjoy the game and as always feel free to reach me via twitter @IDPwithBEE_DSE

Aloha