The Guru and the Godfather: Preseason Edition

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. Each week during the regular season, they gather to answer the most looming questions facing IDP managers.

However, the Guru and the Godfather like to get together every once in a while in the offseason, and with the last weekend of the preseason underway and just two big IDP draft weekends left, said offseason is just about over.

So, ahead of their infallibly accurate IDP predictions for the 2026 season (coming soon here at Footballguys), The Guru and the Godfather have convened once more to offer up some last-minute IDP advice.

Commence the advising!

Discount Defensive Linemen

There were plenty of edge rushers not named Myles Garrett who changed teams in the offseason. Many have drawn rave reviews from their new teams in camp. Many more are available in the later rounds of IDP drafts.

Which one of those later-round edge rushers has the best odds to return value in 2026?

Guru: There are plenty of good options for this answer. I'll go with Jermaine Johnson II. The first four years of his career have been up and down, with more down than up. As many rookies do, the 2022 first-round pick got off to a slow start with the Jets. He had somewhat of a breakout in year two, totaling 55 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 7 batted passes, 3 turnovers, and a score. Just when he was on the verge of becoming something special, Johnson blew out his knee two games into season three. He was back on the field last year but was not the same player.

Often, we see players struggle to find their way back to prominence in these situations. Often, a change of venue and a fresh start is just what they need. I believe the move to Tennessee will get Johnson back on track. The scheme is a good fit, and the Titans are not a team that spreads the wealth when it comes to snap counts. At least not by design. 

Godfather: Generally speaking, The Godfather shies away from low-tackle edge rushers—their reliance on sacks adds a layer of volatility to a position that's already volatile enough. Over five years in the league, Odafe Oweh of the Washington Commanders has surpassed 40 stops just once. If Oweh doesn't get home, he's not racking up points.

However, there's reason to believe Oweh will get home quite a few times in 2026.

After a slow start in Baltimore last year, Oweh was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers, where he tallied 7.5 sacks in 12 games before exploding for three more in the Wild Card Round. The season before that, Oweh had 10 sacks with the Ravens. The Commanders thought enough of Oweh to give him $20 million a season. And per ESPN, Oweh had a better Pass Rush Win Rate than every edge rusher in the NFL not named Micah Parsons.

Given how late Oweh is going in drafts, I can live with the relatively low tackle production.

Going No. 2

We appear to have a pretty good idea of who most of the NFL's 32 teams will start at linebacker in 2026. But while guys like Nakobe Dean of the Raiders and Divine Deablo of the Falcons have gotten some run this summer after stepping into "Green Dot" roles, for every Batman there has to be a Robin.

Which second-fiddle linebacker is going to turn into a first-rate IDP asset this year?

Guru: Looking at teams like the Packers, Raiders, and Bears. It is sometimes hard to identify which linebacker is Batman. That could be the case in Philadelphia as well once the season gets rolling, but for now, I'll assume that Zack Baun is Batman and Jihaad Campbell is Robin.

Baun was the third-ranked linebacker in 2024. Nakobe Dean was seventh when he was injured in week 16. Campbell stood in and performed admirably as a rookie, taking a back seat when Dean returned. Campbell started seven games last year. He recorded 32 tackles, 22 assists, 3 turnovers, and 3 pass breakups in those games, reaching double-digit fantasy points five times, falling short of nine points just once. The Eagles liked Campbell enough to let Dean leave, and they are running the same defense.  

Godfather: The Cincinnati Bengals were wildly aggressive in trying to fix a terrible defense in the offseason, both in free agency and the draft. However, while there are new faces along the defensive line and on the back end, the starting linebacker duo of Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. remains unchanged.

It's Carter who plays the "Batman" role and wears the Green Dot, even if he's the worst superhero ever—from an NFL perspective, his play last year was, um, not great. But Knight had a decent rookie season after being drafted in Round 3 in 2025, logging 106 total tackles to tie Carter for the team lead among linebackers.

Simply put, Knight is a better player than Carter. He picked up steam down the stretch last year, hitting double-digit tackles twice over his last four games. And he's going to be the highest-scoring linebacker in the Queen City in 2026.

Defensive Backs--Blah