The Guru and the Godfather: Week 13

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John "The Guru" Norton and Gary "The Godfather of IDP" Davenport are two of the most experienced and knowledgeable IDP analysts in the fantasy football industry. Every week during the 2022 season here at Footballguys, The Guru and the Godfather will come together to answer five of that week's most pressing questions.

As the IDP playoffs draw ever closer, the Guru and the Godfather have gathered again to discuss unsettled linebacker situations, talk dynasty stashes, and look ahead to potential week-winners, disappointments, and sleepers for Week 13.

1. The 2022 season has brought with it many unsettled situations at linebacker and players whose snap counts have vacillated wildly this year. Are there any of these part-time linebackers we can trust in the fantasy playoffs? Which ones should be avoided at all costs?

Guru: Trust is a relative term. If by trust, you mean are there any of these guys I trust to start every week, the list is really short. Willie Gay Jr usually sees about 80% of the action, so he doesn’t qualify. That leaves Denzel Perryman and Quincy Williams. Perryman is the best (healthy) linebacker on the Raiders roster and is arguably the best two–down linebacker in the game today. Williams saw his playing time and production slip for a few weeks while he played through injury, but was back in his normal 75% role last week.

There are some other guys I would trust in places. Cody Barton puts up good numbers when Seattle has an opponent that runs the ball well and/or does not use much spread offense. The Rams don’t fit that description for this week, but Seattle has the Panthers, 49ers, and Jets in three of their other four games between now and week 17. I would trust him in those games. It’s pretty much the same story for Germaine Pratt. Start him against the Browns, Patriots, and maybe the Buccaneers.

Guys like Kenneth Murray, Ernest Jones, and JaWhaun Bentley are too hit-or-miss for my liking, regardless of matchup.

Godfather: The cold, hard truth is that IDP managers are going to have to start trusting some of these part-time linebackers. Their ranks are growing. The ranks of the linebackers who play every snap is headed the opposite direction. Unless starting lineup requirements change, in leagues with 3-4 weekly starters, the every-down guys will be long gone before the starting spots for every team are full. It's similar to the scarcity we have dealt with for years with defensive linemen.

The key here may well be to target players who make the most of the snaps they do get—linebackers like Perryman, who is regularly outperforming Jayon Brown in Las Vegas. Alex Singleton of the Broncos is a prime example—he has 28 total tackles over the last three games, despite not playing over 65 percent of the snaps in any of those contests. Jones has held his own on a per-snap basis this season, too—he has eight-plus stops in three of the last four, and oddly enough, the one clunker was a game against the Saints where he played over 80 percent of the snaps.

I might be mentioning him again in this column. Just saying.

The biggest name among the part-timers that I'm "out" on is probably Jerome Baker of the Miami Dolphins. Throughout the 2022 season, Baker has gone from the guy who rolled up 14 tackles while playing (essentially) every snap in Week 3 to playing less than 65 percent of the snaps twice in the past three weeks and hitting the five-solo mark once since Week 4. Again, if a linebacker isn't getting quantity, he has to give quality. Baker isn't.

2. As the fantasy regular season winds down, for some dynasty managers, the focus has already turned to 2023. Are there any young "stashes" those managers should look to acquire who could have a bigger role (and more IDP value) next year?

Guru: This list could get long and is made up mostly of rookies that are being groomed for bigger roles. At the top of the list is Troy Andersen, who is already being transitioned as his play share grows weekly. Malcolm Rodriguez is right behind Andersen on my list. He is highly productive on a per-snap basis. He put up good numbers as a two-down guy for much of the season but has seen a reduced role over the last month or so. The only thing that concerns me there is the chance that he doesn’t get a three-down role next year.

At the third level, I like Bryan Cook and Cam Taylor-Britt. Justin Reid has been adequate as the Chiefs’ strong safety, but I think Cook brings a lot more to the table. He is physical and dependable in run support but his knack for the big play sets him apart. In Taylor-Britt, I see one of those rare corners that think they are part linebacker. The guy loves to tackle and seems to relish run support opportunities.

On the defensive line, I like Michael Clemons and Payton Turner. As a first-round pick, Jermaine Johnson gets most of the attention in New York, but Clemons has quietly been impressive for the amount of opportunity he’s seen. I see him as the eventual starter opposite Johnson. That may not happen next year, but I believe Clemons will have a much bigger role as at least the third man in the rotation. Turner needs to stay healthy. The former first-rounder was stepping up nicely for a few games before the ankle injury slowed him down again. Cameron Jordan is getting long in the tooth, and other than a stretch late last season, Marcus Davenport has been a disappointment.

Godfather: "Stash" can mean different things in different leagues—they are players available in shallow formats that deep-league managers would love to have. I'll split the difference here—not too obvious, but not too obscure, either.

On the defensive line, Josh Paschal of the Lions didn't enter the NFL with nearly the fanfare of teammate Aidan Hutchinson. He's also been statistically invisible—seven total tackles and no sacks. But the Lions think enough of the former Kentucky standout to have given him a prominent role defensively with Charles Harris on the shelf. It's not at all unusual for an edge-rusher to struggle early, though, and if the Lions head into the offseason confident in Paschal's future, Harris may well become expendable.

If Andersen is available, he should absolutely be rostered. So should Malcolm Rodriguez of the Lions, even if his playing time has been scaled back—today's struggles often build tomorrow's stars. Check on the availability of Channing Tindall of the Dolphins, too. Tindall hasn't been much of a factor in 2022, and the Dolphins are admittedly one of those teams rotating linebackers a distressing amount. But Tindall is a talented young player with a Georgia pedigree, and there's a potential out in Jerome Baker's bloated contract after this season.

In the secondary, Cincinnati's Daxton Hill stands out as a player whose future is much brighter than his present. Jessie Bates is a goner after this season, and the Bengals used a Day 2 pick on Hill as his heir apparent. The Cincy safeties haven't been especially productive this season, but that wasn't the case in recent years, and Hill could be not just a starter but the most valuable DB on the Bengals roster as early as 2023.