IDP Matchups & Sleepers: Week 5

Oct 02, 2019

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Each week, I'm going to go through our IDP rankings and look at some of the top matchups and sleeper picks for the week at each position. My IDP brother-in-arms, Ross Miles, will have your IDP waiver wire covered. If you have specific questions pertaining to your lineup, you can always refer to the ranks or hit me up on Twitter @Mike_Woellert.

Now, let's see what Week 5 has in store for us.

Linebacker

Khalil Mack, LB, Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders

I'm all for a good "revenge game" narrative and this certainly checks off all the boxes. A dominant pass rusher facing his former team that happens to have a bad offensive line. Mack has been Chicago's best defender and is sporting a 16.6% pressure rate this season. He's already converted five of his pressures into sacks. If the Bears were smart, they'd unleash Mack on Kolton Miller's side of the line.

Shaq Thompson, ILB, Carolina Panthers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

I like targeting linebackers against the Jaguars. You don't need me to tell you to start Luke Kuechly, but I also like Thompson in this spot. I think the Jags are going to want to control the game on the ground and they are coming off a week where they had 38 rush attempts - Leonard Fournette toting 29 of them. Thompson is enjoying his best season so far and he's recording a 14.5% tackle rate - resulting in 40 tackles through the first four weeks. Jacksonville's offense is yielding 15 tackles (10 solos) to opposing ILBs.

Devin Bush, ILB, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens

Bush is coming off a big game against the Bengals and has now appeared in 100% of the snaps in consecutive games. Through the first four weeks, Bush is recording a 14% tackle rate and has notched 24 solo tackles. Bush's speed should help neutralize Lamar Jackson and he'll be busy with Mark Ingram. Through four games, the Ravens offense is yielding 17 tackles per game to opposing ILBs.

Jamie Collins, OLB, New England Patriots vs. Washington Redskins

Collins has appeared in 100% of the snaps over the last two weeks and has a favorable matchup with Washington's offense this week. Collins is recording a solid 11.3% tackle rate and that puts him on the LB2 radar this week. The Washington offense is yielding 19 total tackles and 1.4 sacks per game to the LB position this season.

Sleeper

David Mayo, ILB, New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings

The Giants are running thin at linebacker and David Mayo could get all of the snaps he can handle - especially with Ryan Connelly going down for the season. Alec Ogletree's status is also up in the air. Mayo ended up appearing in 69% of the snaps last week and recorded a 22.9% tackle rate. If he's not going to have much competition for tackles this week, he's in line to produce like a top LB. The Vikings offense is yielding 15 solo tackles per game to opposing LBs. Mayo should be busy tackling Dalvin Cook this week.