IDP The Guru and the Godfather: Week 4

John Norton ("The Guru") and Gary Davenport ("The Godfather of IDP") are two of the most experienced and knowledgeable IDP analysts in the fantasy football industry. Every week during the 2024 season here at Footballguys, The Guru and the Godfather will come together to answer five of that week's most pressing questions.

We're three weeks into the 2024 fantasy campaign, and it has been a white-knuckler. Just as with Christian McCaffrey on offense, the No. 1 IDP overall in most leagues (Jacksonville linebacker Foyesade Oluokun) has been sidelined by a significant injury. Big names have been invisible. No-names have blown up.

Up is down, Wet is dry. The Macarena is cool again.

(It's not, thank God.)

The Guru and the Godfather have come together to soothe some nerves, raise a red flag or two, and offer their roadmap to IDP success in Week 4.

They will not, however, be doing the Macarena.

Slow Starts and Surprise Stars

Three weeks is an admittedly small(ish) sample, but we're starting to get a feel for the IDP landscape in Week 4.

We're in statement mode this week—identify one IDP star you are officially worried about and a surprise star you think can turn three weeks into a breakout season.

GURU: Jonathan Allen of the Commanders is a perennial top-ten defensive tackle, or at least he was until this season. Three games into 2023, Allen was sitting with eight tackles and a sack. Three games into this season he has four tackles with one solo and one assist in the last two. I'm not sure if it is a tweak to the scheme or what, but it is not encouraging that his, normally studly, teammate Da'Ron Payne, is slumping just as hard. Having several shares of Allen across my leagues, I'm very concerned.   

Buffalo Bills linebacker Dorian Williams had a chance to play as a rookie. He struggles greatly and was replaced in short order. When his opportunity came this year, he was prepared. Williams looks like a different player in his second season. He's no longer hesitant, is not making the mental mistakes that got him benched last year, and simply looks like a different player. He is currently in the top ten at the position. I'm not sure he can hold on to that, but I like his chances for a top-20 campaign. 

GODFATHER: The whole thing in Washington just blows my mind—that both tackles have been so quiet. I think the awful of that defense may have infected them.

I'd have teed Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun up here had he not gotten hurt—the rotating linebackers in Jacksonville were just—OK, whatever. But as much as it pains me to say it, if you paid retail for Cleveland Browns edge-rusher Myles Garrett, it's time to worry.

That Garrett has two sacks in two games on two bad feet is amazing. He'll keep playing until he just physically cannot because he's Myles Garrett. But even he can't post 15 sacks at 55 percent. And he was drafted in the hope he'd have 15 sacks.

It's always fun to see a talented young player have that "lightbulb" game in the NFL—that game where everything just clicks into place. It looks like New York Jets edge-rusher Will McDonald IV had his recently. In fact, he had two. It's not just the stats—although those are nice. It's the consistent pressure he's applying. It clicked, he's winning more snaps than he loses, and he looks like the first-rounder he was. McDonald will cool off some, but I expect he'll land around the top 15 when the dust settles this December.

January. Whatever. Time no longer matters.