IDP The Guru and The Godfather: Week 1

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 that week.

After months of draft prep and draft beers and draft day(s), it's officially go-time—the 2026 regular season is underway. We've had a game on a Wednesday. A game played in the future (or was it the past?). Madness. Chaos. Anarchy.

The NFL is glorious. As is fantasy football.

Now we're headed into the first big weekend of NFL action this year, so IDP managers are ready to run through a wall—jacked to set lineups. Start the season off right. Get a Week 1 win.

The Guru and the Godfather are here to help—except with the running into the wall thing.

That looks painful.

The Plot Thickens

By the time this column runs, we'll already have seen arguably this offseason's biggest defensive storyline play out (if only for 60 minutes)—Myles Garrett's debut with the Los Angeles Rams.

Yawn.

With that said, there remains no shortage of muddied waters for IDP managers entering Week 1. Which situation are you most anxious to get some clarity on, and how do you expect it to play out?

Guru: The rookie linebacker class has my attention in week one. Some of those situations are settled, and I want to see if the guys will produce to my high (maybe too high) expectations. The one I'm watching most closely for resolution is in Tennessee, where Anthony Hill Jr. has made a strong case. There is no doubt he will eventually move into the lineup. Right now, however, Rent-A-Backer Cody Barton is in the way, or is he? Barton opened camp as the starter and has not been demoted, but the rookie was sneaking into some first-team snaps by the time training camp ended.

I expect that the two will continue to share snaps well into the season, with Barton seeing base action and Hill working in sub-packages. My hope is that Hill makes the most of his snaps early on and sees his role expand quickly.

Godfather: The Guru is spot-on here. There are multiple linebacker situations that are unsettled heading into the regular season—and uncertainty at IDP's most important position is absolutely no bueno.

In Indianapolis, it appears the Colts will enter 2026 with Akeem Davis-Gaither and Jaylon Carlies as the starters after rookie CJ Allen missed time in camp. Seventh overall pick Sonny Styles struggled so much over the summer that the every-down role so many projected him for off the jump isn't expected to happen yet. We don't know how the snap shares will work out in Jacksonville. Or in Carolina.

Some of these situations may not be resolved until well into the regular season—and that's going to make an already-thinning pool at the position that much shallower.

So much fun that it's happening in Week 1. Why wait for Week 8 to be miserable?

Line 'Em Up

All right, time for you geezers to do what you do. Along the defensive line, who is set to shatter expectations in the first game of the season? Which big name will land IDP managers in Downtown Disappointment?

Guru: Any player who says the matchup with a former employer is just another game is either a weak competitor or is lying through his teeth. Weak competitors don't make it to the NFL. Jermaine Johnson II had one good season with the Jets before his career was derailed by a knee injury. Instead of showing patience and confidence in him, the team shipped him to Tennessee. So we have a hungry, highly talented former first-round pick who is now fully recovered from the knee injury, facing his old team, which is deep into a rebuilding process and not very good. Sounds like a recipe for a big game to me. 

I can't get excited about Nik Bonitto against the Chiefs. He is without his bookend, Jonathan Cooper, which won't help, but my biggest concern is the matchup. Yes, Patrick Mahomes II is coming back from a knee injury, and his mobility will be limited. He is also a very smart quarterback with a very intelligent coach. I look for a lot of max protection with extra blockers, a short passing game that gets the ball out of his hand quickly, and some quick throwaways if anyone gets close. They may get pressure on Mahomes, but don't expect him to take many hits.

Godfather: Heading into the 2025 season, many IDP pundits expected a star turn from Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Travon Walker after back-to-back 10-sack seasons. What they got was a massive disappointment—Walker's 38 tackles were the fewest of his career, and he managed just 3.5 sacks. However, Walker still got a four-year, $110 million extension in the offseason, and he's going to start earning all that cash Sunday against a Cleveland Browns team that allowed the seventh-most fantasy points per game to edge rushers in 2025.

T.J. Watt is coming off a down 2025 season by his standards, and with his 32nd birthday right around the corner, some have questioned whether Watt's best football might be behind him. The Godfather isn't ready to go that far just yet, but this week's tilt with the Atlanta Falcons is surprisingly poor. The Falcons allowed just 26 sacks all season long, and Tua Tagovailoa is so gun-shy at this point that he throws passes before it's even snapped.

Linebacker Limbo