IDP The Guru and The Godfather: Week 6

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.

And just like you fine folks, they are trying to make sense of a zany first five weeks of the 2025 season. For every defensive player who has met expectations, there are two who have exceeded them or fallen flat on their faces. This isn't new. It happens every year. Luckily, the Guru and the Godfather have powers.

OK, one of them thinks he does.

With the bye weeks here (just two teams this week, at least) and some IDP managers already in scramble mode, Norton and Davenport are back to help you make Week 6 a successful one.

Well, Norton is. Davenport is running around in spandex and a cape.

Staying Power

Five weeks into the 2025 season, the leaderboards at all three major IDP positions have no shortage of surprise standouts. Which of those shocking stars is best-positioned to continue producing in the long run? Who is a mirage who will disappoint down the road?

Guru: Cedric Gray of the Tennessee Titans didn't exactly come out of the gate on fire. He has no marks in the big play columns, and he hasn't even played every defensive snap in a game. Yet, somehow, he is a top-20 linebacker. I believe he will stay in that range. The guy is a tackling machine on a bad team. He has already made 48 combined stops, including 29 over the last two weeks. But for the week five hiccup when the Titans took a brief look at Kyzir White, Gray has played at least 82% of the snaps in every game, cracking 90% in two of them. He's a beast versus the run and has been better than expected in coverage. All of this sounds like the formula for a guy we can count on as a solid second starter every week.   

Gray has 48 stops to date. Devin Lloyd of the Jacksonville Jaguars has 25, yet he currently ranks among the top-10 because he's often been in the right place at the right time. Give the man credit for being a playmaker. He combined for nine turnovers in his first three seasons, which is not bad for a linebacker. At his current pace, he would have 17 by the end of this season. That is simply not sustainable. Ten weeks from now, I expect we will find him ranked somewhere in the mid-30s.     

Godfather: This IDP analyst isn't shocked that Los Angeles Rams edge-rusher Byron Young is having a good season. I talked the third-year pro up all summer as a value pick. Have the receipts to prove it and everything. But I can't pretend I expected a 100-tackle pace or 5.5 sacks in the first five weeks of the season.

With that said, there's no reason to believe Young's production is going to fall off a cliff. Will he cool down? All but certainly. But Young has at least four solos in four of five games this year. If he can hit say 80 total stops and add 10-12 sacks, that is essentially a good season from Maxx Crosby—and one of the biggest IDP steals of 2025.

It's no secret that defensive backs are inherently volatile, and that volatility is going to catch up to Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre, who currently sits eighth among defensive backs in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring. This isn't 2022, when Pitre had 99 solos and almost 150 total tackles. He has a different role that makes him far more reliant on big plays for fantasy production. Relying on big plays eventually gets IDP managers burned.

Hold the Line

Which defensive lineman headlines your top Week 6 matchup plays? Which higher-end IDP option up front gives you the most pause this week?

Guru: If I'm picking one defensive lineman to start this week, it will be Mad Maxx Crosby. We know what the guy is from a talent perspective. Now add the matchup with a Titans team that has given up the second-most points to the edge position on the season. Tennessee is allowing 3.8 sacks per game and 2.6 to the edge position alone. It's not just the sacks, though. Edge defenders in this matchup have made a lot of tackles as well, with an average of half a turnover for emphasis.

Josh Sweat is on pace to blow away his previous career best in nearly every scoring category for edge defenders. He has at least one sack in four straight games and is currently tied for third in the league. This week's matchup with the Colts, however, will be a big test. In five games, Indianapolis has allowed four total sacks and one forced fumble.     

Godfather: Maxx Crosby. Wow. That's a bold call. That limb gonna hold?

I kid because I care.

Things are starting to go full Chargers in Los Angeles, and among the issues facing the Bolts in Week 6 is the absence of both of the team's starting tackles. The Chargers have allowed 17 sacks already this season—third-most in the NFL. Bradley Chubb's four sacks in five games and top-15 fantasy ranking kinda preclude him from the "matchup play" conversation, but batterymate Jaelan Phillips played a 76 percent snap share and logged his first sack of the season a week ago.

At the opposite end of the pass-rushing spectrum, we have the Atlanta Falcons, who are tied with the Denver Broncos for the second-fewest sacks allowed in the league (five). Buffalo Bills edge-rusher Greg Rousseau is coming off a six-tackle effort with a sack last week against the New England Patriots, but he's likely headed for a quiet game Monday night.

Linebacker Love