The Guru and the Godfather's Can't-Miss IDP Predictions for 2025

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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. 

The beginning of the 2025 regular season is almost upon us. There's just one big draft weekend between now and watching the Philadelphia Eagles mudstomp the Micah Parsons-less Dallas Cowboys (if someone knows what Jerry Jones is doing, let the rest of us know). The anticipation is thick in the air.

Wait, that's Davenport. Apologies. He's a funky monkey.

Whether you have already drafted and are just wondering what the season to come holds or are looking for some last-second draft advice, The Guru and the Godfather are here to turn the IDP excitement level up to 11.

They are here to Pump! You Up!

No idea who is Hans and who is Franz.

It All Starts Up Front

Let's get after it. IDP managers are counting on the likes of Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt and Cleveland's Myles Garrett to have big 2025 seasons, but which defensive lineman a bit farther down the rankings is best positioned to break out this year? Which high-end defensive lineman gives you the most pause?

Guru: Josh Hines-Allen had a career year in 2023, racking up 66 tackles and 17 sacks. It was just the second time in his six NFL seasons that he reached double digits in the sack column, so that might prove to be a career outlier when all is done. What was not an outlier was his excellent tackle totals. Hines-Allen had at least 57 in three consecutive seasons leading up to 2024, with a career best of 70.

Whatever the Jaguars were trying to do defensively last year was a total failure. It all but ruined some great IDP targets. The clowns piled back into their tiny car and drove off, so there is a real defensive coordinator in town. I look for a big rebound for Hines-Allen with 55+ tackles and low double-digit sacks.

The Saints elected to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense, without consulting Carl Granderson or giving much consideration to his skill set. He is much better suited to play in an even front with his hand in the dirt, and it showed during the preseason. He is a fish out of water in coverage, which is something that 3-4 edge guys have to do. Granderson is simply not a good fit, and I expect it to show up on the stat sheet.   

Godfather: The Philadelphia Eagles have long had one of the NFL's more formidable defensive lines—the faces may change, but the results stay the same. There will be a number of new faces this season after the likes of Josh Sweat and Milton Williams signed fat contracts in free agency.

With Sweat gone, the mantle of Philadelphia's top edge rusher passes to third-year veteran Nolan Smith Jr., who had 6.5 sacks in just under 550 snaps a year ago. Four of those sacks came after Week 10 last year—over that span, the 24-year-old was a top-10 fantasy producer. Who's up for a Year 3 breakout?

For the sake of Bengals fans everywhere (The Guru included), I'm glad that Trey Hendrickson got his raise and signed on the bottom line. But I'm still out on last year's sack king at cost. A 30-year-old edge rusher whose entire summer was wiped out by a holdout who has topped 40 total tackles just twice in eight seasons is a little too risky for this wuss.

Baby's Got Linebackers

Productive linebackers are the key to a successful season in IDP leagues. Which linebacker ranked, say, outside the Top-20 has the best chance of muscling their way into LB1 territory this year? Which big-name linebacker are you most concerned will disappoint fantasy managers in 2025?

Guru: The three most important factors in a highly productive fantasy linebacker are situation, situation, and situation, with talent ranking a close fourth. Nate Landman will never be mistaken for Ray Lewis, but the situation he is in might make it hard to tell that by his numbers at the end of the year.

The Rams have no stellar young talent waiting for an opportunity to excel. What they have is a smart, dependable veteran with average skills and a lot of heart. Landman knows the scheme, having played in it while in Atlanta. He has emerged as the leader and is wearing the green dot helmet communicator, which tells us he will not come off the field. And then there is the long history of linebackers, including some rather average ones, putting up good numbers for the Rams. James Laurinatis started it all, then there was Alec Ogletree, Mark Barron, Cory Littleton, Troy Reeder, Ernest Jones IV, and last year, Christian Rozeboom, all of whom were at least solid every-week starters for us.  

There are rumors swirling that suggest Bobby Okereke is on shaky ground with the New York Giants, and there is evidence to back it up. He did not play well in 2024, though some of that can be attributed to the sore back that he dealt with. Then there was the preseason, where Okereke gave up the green dot helmet to Darius Masau in the second game and was not on the field full-time when the starters played.  It is a make-or-break year for Okereke in New York. If he fails to show the "make" early on, it may not be long before the break hits.

Godfather: There are actually several so-so talents in excellent situations who could be IDP stars this year. That includes the aforementioned Christian Rozeboom, who was handed "green dot" duties with the Carolina Panthers after Josey Jewell's release. But I'm going to go with a darling of the IDP community who is getting another chance to start in 2025.

There's a reason why Jack Sanborn played a career-low 235 snaps with the Chicago Bears last year—and it's not solely the presence of T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds. But now in Dallas, Sanborn is not only starting but relaying the defensive play-calls—and the 25-year-old has shown that he can post big numbers in the past when the snaps are there.

Robert Spillane had himself a year in 2024—his 158 total tackles were third in the NFL, and Spillane finished the season fourth in fantasy points among linebackers. That huge statistical season got Spillane a fat bag of cash from the Patriots, but it's a situation that's far from ideal for IDP managers—Mike Vrabel's defense isn't that much different from Jerod Mayo's or even Bill Belichick's, and it has been a long time since a linebacker posted gaudy numbers for the Pats.

The DB Dance

Defensive backs are well-known for being unpredictable in IDP leagues, but we're going to try some predicting anyway. Who will be this year's out-of-the-blue IDP star in the secondary? Who is going to continue the long tradition of higher-end defensive backs who fail to meet expectations?