IDP Matchups, Living the Stream, Week 1

Photo: USA Today Sports

It always feels a little weird to write this column early in the season—because in Week 1, IDP managers really shouldn't need streaming plays.

This early in the season, with any luck at all, your defensive roster should be in pretty good shape. Hopefully, you spent the summer studying the Complete Guide to Dominating IDP here at Footballguys. When draft day arrived, you attacked the linebacker position. Built a solid cadre of defensive linemen. Used patience before investing in defensive backs.

If you didn't, why not? Why not avail yourself of 35-plus years of IDP experience? Why not use that experience and wisdom to help you field a competitive defense in 2023? What's up with that?

I mean, do you even lift, bro? When is leg day, bro?

You know what, though? That's OK. Maybe you had a plan of your own on draft day—one that didn't play out like you'd hoped. Maybe an injury or two has hit a spot where you can't afford it. Maybe you drafted Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs or Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers and are stuck waiting for their holdouts to end. Or maybe you just really like fading IDPs until late and then playing matchups.

Whatever the reason, there are IDP managers out there who will already be digging a little deeper on defense right out of the gate.

And it's for them that the second season of Living the Stream debuts.

DE Odafe Oweh, Baltimore (vs. Houston)

The first two seasons of Oweh's career haven't really gone according to plan. A first-round pick of the Ravens in 2021, Oweh has flashed at times but failed to make a consistent impact, logging eight sacks over two seasons. In 2023, the youngster is going to be called on to play a much larger role defensively—and defensive coordinator Mike McDonald told reporters he believes the former Penn State star is ready to answer that call.

"You do see a daily focus from him on what we're asking him to do within the defense," Macdonald said of Oweh. "His rush is a lot more decisive. You see a more consistent plan on a down-in and down-out basis. The message I told him the other day is can you do it for 55 plays? Can you do it for 60 plays? That's the challenge, and I think he's taken that head-on. That's the next step for him."

Oweh and the Ravens couldn't ask for a much better matchup to open the season than hosting rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the hapless Houston Texans. Houston's offensive line might actually be a strength of the team, but Stroud was known to hold the ball too long in college, and Houston was a solid 11th in fantasy points allowed to defensive ends in 2022.

DE Preston Smith, Green Bay (at Chicago)

Smith is no superstar. He's never been to a Pro Bowl, and he's hit the 10-sack mark just one time—in his first year with the Packers back in 2019. What Smith is, however, is the elder statesman of an underrated Packers defense, and as Bill Huber wrote for Packer Central, Smith knows that means being tasked as a leader in addition to his duties of making opposing quarterbacks miserable.

“I'm the oldest person on defense right now, and I'm still young,” Smith said. “It's crazy to say that. I'm the vet on the defense. It's the first time in my history that I've been the vet on defense. It's a task I'm willing to accept. A lot of younger guys are coming up [that] you want to take under your wing and try to develop in the right way, especially if you know they can help the team.”

Smith is a paternal favorite of mine as a late-draft snag or priority waiver add. You know what you're going to get from the 30-year-old—40-50 total tackles and eight or nine sacks, numbers that make him an excellent depth piece or bye-week fill-in. Smith could be much more than that against the Bears in Week 1—the 58 sacks the Bears allowed last year ranked fourth in the NFL, and Smith had 12 tackles and two sacks in two games against Chicago in 2022.