Week 6 IDP fantasy analysis: Players with favorable matchups

By Jim Coventry, RotoWire Football Writer
Special to Yahoo Sports

Here’s a look at IDPs who have favorable Week 6 matchups. IDP formats can be quite different, so we’ll list players of varying levels. Some will be players found on the waiver wire while in other leagues players will be automatic starters.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Gerald McCoy, Buccaneers at Cardinals – The Buccaneers found their missing pass rush last week against the Patriots, as McCoy chipped in with his first sack of the season. He’s in a fantastic spot to build upon last week’s effort when he faces the Cardinals on Sunday. Arizona seems unwilling to shy away from its passing attack while letting Carson Palmer take a beating each week. McCoy’s typically good for about four tackles per week, and he has an excellent chance to tack on a sack.

Myles Garrett, Browns at Texans – What a debut! McCoy notched a pair of sacks in his first game as a professional and likely wasn’t even at full strength in his return from an ankle injury. Now, he takes aim at Deshaun Watson and the turnstile that’s called the Texans offensive line. Of course, Watson will be on the run by design often, but look for Garrett to have at least a couple opportunities to chase him down. The probability is certainly in his favor that he’ll record another sack.

Derek Wolfe, Broncos vs. Giants – Well, if the Giants’ offense was in trouble earlier in the season, it’s hard to imagine what type of shape it will be in this week after having its WR corps decimated by injuries last week. Without a big threat from the passing attack, while having an extremely weak stable of RBs, Wolfe couldn’t ask for a better matchup. Not only should he pile up a fair number of tackles, but against an overmatched New York line, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he collected a sack or two along the way.

Akiem Hicks, Bears at Ravens – In the season opener, Hicks sacked Matt Ryan twice, but he’s been quiet since. This week, he faces a Baltimore line that is among the league’s weakest. In addition, Joe Flacco is fairly immobile in the pocket, which makes for a perfect storm for a strong defensive end like Hicks. Since he only averages about three tackles per game, fantasy managers will need him to get a sack to have significant value, but that should be a very realistic expectation.

[Week 6: Overall | PPR | QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST | Ks ]

LINEBACKER

Kyle Van Noy, Patriots at Jets – After a slow start the first two weeks of the season, Van Noy has been on fire lately. In his last three games, he averaged more than eight tackles while collecting 1.5 sacks. Even though the Patriots don’t have much of a pass rush, the Jets likely will try to run the ball while adding plenty of short passing to their game plan. As a result, there should be plenty of opportunities for him to pile up another large number of tackles and, with New York allowing three sacks per game, it wouldn’t surprise if he came up big yet again by getting to Josh McCown.

B.J. Goodson, Giants at Broncos – The Broncos should have little trouble controlling this contest, especially with New York being completely depleted on offense. Goodson should find himself in position to notch a boatload of tackles, as it would be no surprise if Denver rushed 40 times. After he piled up 18 tackles in the season opener, an injury forced him to miss two games and he’s collected just 14 stops the last two weeks. Look for him to get back to double-digit tackles in a great matchup this week.

Telvin Smith, Jaguars vs. Rams – While the Jaguars have been wreaking havoc on the league, Smith may be flying a bit under the radar. He started the season a bit slowly with 16 tackles the first three games, but he’s been on fire since. In the last two games, he’s piled up 23 tackles while taking an INT to the house. This week, he faces the Rams, who could easily find their emerging offense overwhelmed against this defense. While it’s unlikely they’ll have much of a downfield passing attack, Smith should clean up with another big week, as Los Angeles is forced to keep its play-calling somewhat conservative.

Kiko Alonso, Dolphins at Falcons – The fifth-year veteran has been consistent this year. He’s posted between six and eight tackles each of his four games. However, he started to show his playmaking ability in last week’s game when he also added a sack and a forced fumble. This week against the Falcons, he will see an offense that isn’t as aggressive as it was in 2016, as it keeps much of its play-calling in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, which is where Alonso specializes. He always has a great floor, but this could be a week when he exceeds expectations.

DEFENSIVE BACK

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Packers at Vikings – With Sam Bradford back under center and Dalvin Cook out of the equation, the Vikings can reasonably be expected to use their short-passing attack to try and keep pace with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense. Although Clinton-Dix has had just one strong game through five weeks, he matches up very well with Minnesota’s style of play and could easily match his season-high eight tackles. In addition, if the more the Vikings are forced to throw, his opportunity for an interception increases as well.

Darius Slay, Lions at Saints – Slay has been a hit-or-miss fantasy option this year with a low floor – twice he’s had one tackle in a game. However, he’s also had games in which he posted eight stops and another in which he posted five tackles and a pair of interceptions. It’s likely he is locked up on Michael Thomas this week, and Drew Brees will have no hesitation peppering his favorite receiver with targets. That should allow Slay to have a productive afternoon.

Jamal Adams, Jets vs. Patriots – The rookie has been relatively productive the last few weeks after a slow start to the season. He’s already posted a sack and recorded a nine-tackle game, and he looks like he’s becoming the playmaker the Jets hoped for when they used the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft on their future starting safety. It’s no secret to anyone that the Patriots will run a number of plays over the middle of the field, which is a recipe for Adams to come up with another impressive effort this week.

Vernon Hargreaves, Buccaneers at Cardinals – The Cardinals likely won’t spend much time trying to run the ball this week. The main reason is it’s their main area of struggle, and against the Buccaneers’ defensive front, it’ll prove to be an exercise in futility. Hargreaves has collected 15 tackles the last two games, and with the potential for Carson Palmer to throw the ball nearly 50 times, he should have a strong fantasy week.