IDP The Guru and The Godfather: Week 11

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.

It's Week 11 of the 2025 season, which means that just one month remains in the regular season in many IDP leagues. With the playoffs drawing ever closer, many fantasy managers have no margin for error. They can't afford any more losses, which means they can't afford any more lineup mistakes. They have to be laser-focused. Have the Eye of the Tiger.

Oh yeah.

Fortunately, the Guru and the Godfather are never wrong. Just ask them.

Into the Trenches

We saw at least one massive performance from a "lesser" edge rusher last week, when Will McDonald IV of the New York Jets erupted for four sacks against the Cleveland Browns.

Who is the best bet to be this week's surprise star along the defensive front? Which big name at the position is headed for Downtown Letdown?

Guru: I'll roll with Atlanta's Jalon Walker on this one. He is currently ranked around 25th among edge defenders on the season, but has been showing out for the last couple of weeks. It was eye-catching when Walker tallied 4-1-2 with a forced fumble and a batted pass against the Patriots in week nine, but New England had been giving up a lot of points to the position, so I was not convinced. When he followed it with a 4-2-1, a forced fumble, and a recovery in a much tougher matchup with the Colts last week, he had my full attention. This is not your father's Atlanta defense. They are getting after the QB at a near elite pace, and Walker is a big part of it. This week, he gets a matchup with the Panthers, who have allowed the seventh-most points to the position on the season.

Every now and then, we see a matchup between the immovable object and the unstoppable force. That's what I see when the Broncos and their number one pass rush come up against the Chiefs, who don't give up many splash plays at all, and have a quarterback that is always tough to sack. I don't see Patrick Mahomes II coming out of this one unscathed, but I don't expect the typical Denver sack parade either. It's a coin toss for me between Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper as to which one draws the short straw, but I think one of them comes out on the short end of the deal while the other has a mediocre week.   

Godfather: I'd love to play, "Who plays the Tennessee Titans?" this week, but that's Houston—and Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr are rather known commodities.

Travon Walker (no relation to Jalon) of the Jacksonville Jaguars was supposed to be a known commodity this year, too. But after at least 10 sacks in both 2023 and 2024, both he and batterymate Josh Hines-Allen are stuck on two sacks nine games into the season. That changes in Duuuuuuval this week against the Los Angeles Chargers—the Bolts are down both starting tackles and are tied for the third-most sacks allowed in the league at 34.

If you have read anything The Godfather has written at Footballguys this year, you know that Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Byron Young is my bae—no one in IDP beat the drum more for him than me. Sadly (especially for me, since I have him rostered all over the place), that drum will likely be silent in Week 11—no quarterback in the league has been sacked fewer times this season than Seattle's Sam "I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts" Darnold.

All Linebackers Matter

The linebacker position is the lifeblood of IDP lineups; just ask The Godfather, whose linebackers in the King's Classic Dick Butkus Division, um, suck.

Which linebacker down this week's rankings a ways is going to break out with a fat stat line? Which high-end fantasy linebacker is going to make IDP managers crave a margarita (or four) by Sunday afternoon?

Guru: Interestingly, the 4-6 Guru, who has won two in a row and is desperately trying to hang on after a butt-ugly, injury-riddled start to the season, faces the 7-3 Godfather in the Butkus Division this week. That means your linebackers will go off, Gary, while my best is on bye.

I'll go back to that Broncos/Chiefs matchup again for Denver's Dre Greenlaw. He returned to action on a pitch count three weeks ago and has seen his snap count rise steadily. With a 62% play share and modest numbers last week, it is easy to understand why he ranks 37th for Week 11. On the other hand, Alex Singleton is out, and Greenlaw is very possibly ready for a return to full-time action just when he is needed most. Add that to a strong matchup with the Chiefs, who have allowed the most points to linebackers on the season, and Greenlaw is poised for a breakout.

I like Seattle's Drake Thomas, especially if Ernest Jones IV is out again, but I have to question his current Footballguys ranking of LB15 for this week. He was mediocre in the lead role last week against a Cardinals team that has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to linebackers. This time, he gets a Rams offense that, while being fairly balanced in terms of run/pass ratio, has allowed the fourth-fewest points to the position. Some players have posted respectable tackle totals against them, but there is virtually no big play upside with this matchup, and no linebacker has made the top 10 in any week against Los Angeles.

Godfather: If it makes you feel any better, sir, I'm feeling the Zaire Franklin bye in a few spots myself. That it comes after easily his best fantasy performance of the season is just mean.

Also didn't get a great game from my top guy (Jamien Sherwood), but I digress.

In The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring, the Cincinnati Bengals have given up the fifth-most fantasy points per game to linebackers, because offense is the only side of the ball the team is interested in playing this season. That means Norton's roll-out of Payton Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers should pay off nicely, and this is one of the weeks where Patrick Queen's importance to his NFL team and fantasy production actually align. Both crack the top 25 in Week 11—because the Godfather of IDP said so.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there isn't a team in the NFL that has surrendered fewer fantasy points per game to linebackers this season than the Philadelphia Eagles. Jack Campbell's coming-out party has been fun for IDP managers with shares of the Detroit Lions standout this season. But there won't be much cake and ice cream to be had Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Defensive Backs--Ugh