IDP The Guru and the Godfather: Week 2

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.

Well, Week 1 happened. And as is usually the case, for everything that IDP managers expected, there were two things they didn't. Stars fell flat. Randos were anything but. It was madness. Chaos. Anarchy.

The 2026 IDP season has begun.

It's a tricky time. Recency bias is on a rampage. 50 percent of IDP managers are winless. People are freaking out, man.

Luckily, The Guru and The Godfather are not people. They are old people. Panic takes too much energy for them to consider it. They prefer contemplation. Reaction. Victory.

And pretzels. They like pretzels.

Surprise, Surprise

It didn't take long for the first big, shocking development of the 2026 IDP season—after no stats in an ugly loss to San Francisco, Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett landed on injured reserve after knee surgery.

Outside that, who was your biggest Week 1 IDP disappointment? And for the glass half-full crowd, who was your most pleasant defensive surprise?

Guru: It took about two seconds to spit out Danielle Hunter as my biggest Week 1 disappointment. It's no mystery that the Bills are a tough matchup for pass rushers, but the Houston defense was supposed to be good, and they have arguably the best edge tandem in the game. My expectations were not great going in, but I thought that surely Hunter would outscore Garrett. Nope! At least Garrett had an excuse.

There were a few pleasant surprises. Being a Bengals homer, the play and production of both Cincinnati second-year linebackers had me giddy. I expected some improvement, but Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. looked like different players both on the field and in the box score. I'm particularly pleased that Knight was on track for at least a 95% play share had he not missed a few snaps in the fourth quarter with cramps.

Godfather: For most of the summer, idiots like us hyped up Indianapolis Colts linebacker CJ Allen. There were reasons for that—he's a talented rookie linebacker who landed in what appeared to be a near-ideal fantasy situation. But injuries in training camp hindered his development in Lou Anarumo's defense, and Allen not only didn't start in Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, but he didn't play a single snap on defense. He's a hold at this point if only because of the investment many already made, but just...oof.

As pleasant surprises go, it's hard to find a bigger one right now than Buffalo Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau. Rousseau had more fantasy points in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring in Week 1 than any edge rusher not named T.J. Watt, and he backed that up with two more sacks in Week 2 against the Detroit Lions—in the first half. He's not going to break the single-season sack record in 2026. But he's on his way to breaking out.

Eyes on the Prize

OK, enough with the looking back. Time to look ahead to Week 2.

Let's get started up front. Which defensive lineman is set to be this week's Kwity Paye and come from nowhere to propel teams to victory? Who is the most likely big name to leave IDP managers in a Monday frame of mind?

GURU: Yaya Diaby is my Kwity Paye award candidate for Week 2. Diaby is a good player, but it's all about the matchup with a struggling Browns offense that will once again be starting a washed-up quarterback. If I had a dollar for every time I've thought to myself, "What the heck are the Browns doing?" over the last couple of decades, I'd retire and take a long vacation. The only reason Deshaun Watson is starting is the massive guaranteed money they have tied up in him. Cleveland just gave up 5 sacks to a Jaguars defense that recorded the sixth fewest in the league last year.

Josh Hines-Allen's big game against the Browns will have a lot of managers forgetting who he has been over the long haul. The guy's middle name is inconsistency. Denver is a good team. Yes, they were horrible against the Chiefs in week one. Which is exactly why I think the wake-up call will make them a different matchup in week two, not to mention that it is the home opener for the Broncos.

GODFATHER: So just taking one of my guys wasn't good enough, huh? Had to take both? I thought we were friends.

Fine, I'll go with something of a blast from the past with DeMarcus Lawrence of the Seattle Seahawks. The 34-year-old played the second-most snaps of any Seattle edge rusher in the season opener against the New England Patriots, and the last time he faced the Cardinals, he was like Deebo from Friday—stole the chain Jacoby Brissett's Grandma gave him. Multiple times.

On the flip side, after leading the NFC in sacks last year and finishing as the runner-up to Myles Garrett in fantasy points among edge rushers, Brian Burns of the New York Giants was quiet in the team's Week 1 win over Dallas. He gets another tough matchup this week on the road against the Los Angeles Rams—no team allowed fewer fantasy points per game to edge rushers in 2025. The Rams aren't as bad as their clunker in Australia.

Drakes and Hens

Not many IDP managers expected Josiah Trotter, Demetrius Knight Jr., and Derrick Barnes to be the top-three linebackers in Week 1 in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring. But here we are.

Who is the best bet to be this week's surprise star at IDP's most important position? Who is the biggest letdown waiting to happen?

GURU: After a red-hot 2024 season, Daiyan Henley cooled off in 2025. His week one production was meh, which makes him qualify for the title of surprise. The talent is there, and he's healthy after regaining all the weight he lost to last year's illness. The rest of the equation is the matchup with a Raiders team that looked much improved last week. I know they played Miami, but Las Vegas has an excellent tandem of young running backs, an improved offensive line, and a coaching staff dedicated to running the ball. I see Henley returning to 2024 form in this one.

This has nothing to do with a Giants offense that looks like a solid matchup, and everything to do with Nate Landman already being banged up. The good news for the Rams is that Landman is expected to be available. The bad news is that he will play with a sore shoulder and a bum thumb. Either injury would affect a linebacker's ability to make tackles; having both at the same time could be like playing with one arm. At the least, I expect the situation to curb Landman's aggressiveness and make it hard for him to wrap up.

GODFATHER: Drake Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks played well in the team's Week 1 win over the Patriots, posting nine total tackles and a sack. Perhaps even more importantly for IDP managers, he was an every-down player. Now, Thomas and the Seahawks head to the desert to face an Arizona team that was both surprisingly kind to opposing linebackers last year and ran the ball the seventh-most times in the NFL in Week 1.

The good news for IDP managers who invested in Titans linebacker Cedric Gray Jr. is that he has been cleared from the NFL's concussion protocol and will make his 2026 debut this week against the Philadelphia Eagles. The bad news is that the Eagles were a rotten IDP matchup for linebackers last season, and after Anthony Hill Jr. went nuts last week, there's some uncertainty about who will play which linebacker spot for how long in Week 2.

Secondary Concerns

Defensive backs are an annual exercise in anarchy in IDP leagues, so we won't belabor you with a full accounting of Week 1's madness.

Which "nobody" defensive back is about to enjoy his 15 minutes of fantasy fame? Which high-end option is headed from the penthouse to the outhouse?

GURU: I'm not sure if A.J. Haulcy qualifies as a "nobody", but he hasn't proven otherwise yet, so I'm going to talk about him anyway. Going into week one, we weren't even sure he would start. He did, and played every snap at strong safety. The numbers were respectable at 4-3, but not eye-catching. After this week's matchup with the Chiefs, he probably won't be a nobody any longer. For starters, there is the debacle that is the Colts linebacker position. If you're not familiar with that, check out my Week 2 Eyes of the Guru. For now, I'll just say it was ugly. Then there is the matchup against Kansas City and their new toy, Ken Walker III.

With 10 combined stops, including seven solo, Jonas Sanker enters Week 2 tied for the league lead in tackles at the safety position. He goes from a matchup with the Lions, who like to spread things out with three receivers and use the entire field, to a Baltimore team with King Henry in the backfield and a M.A.S.H. unit set up in the receivers room. Sanker might have plenty of opportunity to make tackles when Henry runs over guys at the first two levels. The problem is, Sanker is the Saints' nickel defender, which means he will be on the sideline much of the time when Baltimore fields two receivers. I expect that will be often.

Godfather: Talanoa Hufanga of the Denver Broncos made his way onto several of my IDP rosters this season—a top-10 safety from a year ago available well outside that range on draft day. Week 1 was, um, yeah—there are legitimate concerns about the Denver defense after last week's Clown Show in Kansas City. What isn't concerning is this week's visit from the Jaguars—no team allowed more fantasy points to safeties a year ago, and the Jacksonville offense was firing on all cylinders last week against Cleveland.

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has long been one of the first players at his position selected every year. He was again in 2026, and in Week 1 at least those who did so were pleased—his 10 total tackles against the Chargers paced the team. This week will be a different story. The Seahawks are a bad fantasy matchup for safeties when the offense is working—and a worse one when it isn't.

Playing Tag 

This is simple. Just like the kids' game. And Davenport.

"Tag" one IDP (Any position—dealer's choice) ranked outside the top 40 in Footballguys Week 2 IDP rankings at their position who will wind up a viable (top 24) fantasy starter.

While you're at it, tag one inside the top 15 who will finish outside the top 30. A little boom/bust action. Who is "it"—for better or worse.

GURU: For the record, I write my part of this feature on Thursday afternoon. Jaishawn Barham is currently LB44 in the Footballguys Week 2 rankings. Once DeMarvion Overshown is confirmed out, Barham should move up some. The rookie has quickly become a fan favorite in Dallas for his brute force and physical play. It looks as if he will get a game or two to audition and make the case for staying in the lineup after Overshown returns. Barham split time with Dee Winters for three quarters in the opener. When Overshown went out, Barham put on the green-dot helmet and never left the field the rest of the way.  The Commanders are not a particularly strong matchup at this stage. I don't think Barham needs them to be.

I like Jihaad Campbell a lot and would not argue with him being ranked in the Top 10 in some weeks. That said, I think some of our rankers and projectors missed the fact that Philadelphia plays the Titans Sunday. Tennessee could get nothing going against the Jets, running the ball 10 times and completing 17 passes. I don't see there being enough opportunity for Campbell in this one, especially considering he will be competing with Zack Baun for what tackles there are.

GODFATHER: Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards played every defensive snap in last week's score-fest against the Carolina Panthers. That he finished the game with all of one assist was—disconcerting.

Both Edwards and batterymate Devin Bush are ranked outside the top-40 this week, but IDP managers burned by Edwards need to stay the course—the Vikings gave up the fourth-most fantasy points to linebackers a year ago, and the best course to a win for the Vikings against Chicago's high-octane offense is playing keep-away with the run game.

Well, since I already threw one elite safety under the bus, might as well go for two. For the record, my problem with players like Derwin James Jr. of the Chargers isn't James—it's that he's not going to pay off. The value isn't there. At best, you get a high-variance IDP and leave a hole at linebacker or up front. This is going to be one of the down weeks from James that has helped form that distrust over the last two decades—Vegas doesn't have the offense to keep him box (score)-busy.

John Norton (The Guru) and Gary Davenport (The Godfather of IDP) have over 45 combined years of IDP experience. Follow John on Twitter (still not calling it X, so there) at @JohnPNorton and Gary at @IDPGodfather.

Follow @IDPGodfather Follow @Footballguys