"The game is perpetual motion. A swirl of flying bodies and constant collisions. A two and a half hour (sic) carnival of color, sound and action." - NFL Films (The Power and the Glory CD)

Week 7...

Miami - Suddenly unretired RB Ricky Williams returned from purification rituals he was undergoing in Australia. He was issued the Aboriginal name Bong-Bong, which means... He Who Bogarts. After jetting back to the States and league HQ to discuss his potential reinstatement and the timing given his drug program status, he abruptly left the meeting in the hands of his counsel, mumbling something about hardcore munchies. HC Dave Wanstedt consulted various New Orleans-based voodoo witchdoctors, but there was a consensus that the juju was too overwhelmingly bad to overturn this season. In other news, the Dolphins caught the Rams looking past them, thereby becoming the last team in the NFL to get off the snide. MLB Zach Thomas is obliterating the competition for the NFL solo tackle title, first called by FBG freelancer Dave Baker in his General Admission column. All-World DE Jason Taylor has been one of the best sack artists in the business during the three seasons prior to this one, but with the exception of a few sacks is having a rough going and really seems to miss O-Gun (who if he ever has a rap song about him, i call the first two rhymes blow gun & Shogun).

Minnesota - The Vikings are looking like the Colts of the NFC... stellar offense with some question marks on defense (they meet soon in what could be a Guns of Navarone-like pyrotechic display which could make the titanic 51-45 OT battle in which the Jets Ken O'Brien outdueled the Dolphins Dan Marino look like three yards and a cloud of dust). Along with the Eagles, they might be the class of the conference, especially with the Seahawks looking more pretender than contender after following up their torrid 3-0 start with a subsequent tepid 0-3 follow-up. Despite riding on the crest of a wave with a one month win streak in which Minnesota's defense has been good enough to avoid blowing leads (Pop Warner defenses would be good enough given Culpepper's record setting pace... before last week he was on a historic, blistering clip that projected to close to 60 TD passes, which would shatter Marino's NFL record of 48), it is doubtful HC Tice will allow his team to become overconfident and complacent. After starting '03 at 6-0 they suffered through a second half collapse, capped by the stunning final loss to the Cardinals that bumped them from the playoffs... but this year's model has a better offense with a maturing C-Pepp and a superior defense with the infusion of talent such as prized first rounder Kenechi Udeze at DE, second rounder from '03 E.J. Henderson (many scouts thought he was the top MLB/ILB in the draft with Boss Bailey the class of the OLBs... both dropped to the second round in the draft due to chekcered medical histories) and from '04 OLB/MLB Dontarius Thomas, as well as coveted free agent CB Antoine Winfield. While not spoken of in the same breath as elite cover corners like Champ Bailey (DEN), Charles Woodson (OAK) and Chris McAlister (BAL), even more importantly for IDP prospects he is the top tackling CB and probably the most effective & efficient pound-for-pound tackler in the NFL... period. Winfield led the way with an elite MLB-like 8 solos (not the first time in this young season, either), and the impact of his acquisition could have ramifications that will send shockwaves that warp the very fabric of the NFL continuum... IF he helps catapult the team into a deep playoff run. The Vikings had a strange looking boxscore in which only three players had more than 2 solos and seventeen defenders had 1-2 solos. FS Brian Russell and SS Corey Chavous continue to be shut out in the INT dept. almost halfway through the season after finishing 1-2 last year. This weeks current opponent, the Giants, are the same team that started the slide last year after the prolific 6-0 start.

New England - The Patriots extended the consecutive victory record, and last week didn't come against a tomato can opponent, but against the rejuvenated Jets... only the fourth time in NFL history undefeated opponents have met this late in the season. It has become a cliche, but New England is doing all the little things right... they are patient, play within their system/scheme, don't make many mistakes, and make the plays they need to at the end of the game. They clearly have been the best coached team in the league for a few seasons now. A keynote of their system is ever-changing game plans that shift from week-to-week... taking away what the opposition does best and forcing them in directions they don't want to go in. A corollary of this hugely successful matchup-driven philosophy is that it is hard to get dependable scoring from the front seven as they are deployed so differently from game to game, though certainly SS Rodney Harrison has put up numbers with the regularity and reliability of the atomic clock. Deep patrol mate FS Eugene Wilson has also been much more consistent this year, and he had another solid game (5-2), though he reportedly didn't start. HC Belichick declined to shed light on this matter, but it is not thought to have long-term implications for the talented second year secondary ace... versatile enough to star at safety for a Super Bowl team though his resume shows he was an elite CB while at Illinois. Multi-faceted athleticism and talent is a recurring theme that extends throughout the lineup, and surely must be a selection criteria employed by personnel guru Scott Pioli... D-Linemen that can play DT and DE interchangably like Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork, LBs that can run, hit, cover and rush such as OLBs Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel and ILBs like Tedy Bruschi and Roman Pfifer, and outstanding athletes in the secondary with the aforementioned Harrison, Wilson and also CB Ty Law. Versatility is cultivated even on different sides of the ball, with DT/ILB Dan Klecko and Vrabel dabbling at FB and TE. The Pats are in the midst of a meaty part of their scedule, getting the dangerous Steelers and Rams on consecutive weeks.

New York Giants - Extensively covered elsewhere in FBG IDP content for week 8. To that we could add add that rookie sensation Gibril Wilson sustained his torrid pace in another impressive effort with 5 solos, 2 assist and a sack in his second straight game. In the short time the coaches have gotten to learn his strengths (he was inserted into the starting lineup not out of choice but necessity, with BOTH FS Omar Stoutmire first and than SS Shaun Williams blowing out their knees within a few weeks in a grim start to the season that seemingly put the secondary in a deep hole), he has revealed an array of gifts the scouts were not aware he possessed, or at least not to this degree. He has legit 4.4 speed, is a sure open field tackler, breaks on the ball like he was shot out of a cannon and has fine aerial skills to make plays on the ball when he is in the vicinity... which he generally is. Strangely, the Giants lost at home to a team (Lions) that formerly couldn't win on the road for an NFL record 24 games (exactly three consecutive seasons), and now can't lose on the road with three straight victories.

New York Jets - The Jets got out to their first 5-0 start ever, and hopes among the Gang-Green contingent are still sky high in the wake of the Pats loss. Despite (actually because of) gutting their LB corp in the offseason by releasing '03 starters SLB Mo Lewis and MLB Marvin Jones, and suffering an early season knee injury to MLB/ILB Sam Cowart, who had shifted to his familiar spot in the middle, during his halcyon days with the Bills, after spending the last two seasons with the Jets at WLB... they have effected a 180 degree turnaround (always better than the Yogi Berra-esque 360 degree turnaround). The Jets have had the D-Line talent in recent years with stud bookend DEs John Abraham and Shaun Ellis, and with better across the board LB speed, athleticism and agility with SLB Victor Hobson, WLB Eric Barton and MLB Vilma, they have been able to take pressure off their Achilles heel... the secondary. Even there, rookie fifth rounder FS Erik Coleman has been a revelation, and CB Donnie Abraham has been playing at a high level again... HC Herm Edwards was familiar with him from their time together at Tampa Bay, one reason he let former CB starters Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman go to the Texans in the expansion draft. While the LBs haven't been lighting it up in the IDP stats, coaches are said to be very pleased with first round pick (first LB selected at 1.12) Vilma. If possible he has been better than advertised, and has been a quick study, diligent worker, shown great instincts/football smarts and is like a coach on the field. He barks out line shifts and pre-snap keys like a grizzled veteran (a MLB is like the QB of the defense and also has to study tendencies to make appropriate reads). The improved play of the defense in general and LBs specifically has been a key story arc in the Jets early success, as much as having Pennington from the beginning of the season after breaking his wrist last year, and the resurgence of Curtis Martin.

Philadelphia - In a bizarre twist, the Eagles have given up a league worst 4.9 yards per carry average, yet have parlayed that into an undefeated record (the only NFC team to shadow the Patriots)... though this trend almost caught up with them in a bitterly contested TO/OT contest in the Garcia-gate game in which they escaped a loss at the hands of the Browns by the narrowest of margins. They are the consumate bend-don't-break defense, and seem to have the knack of letting teams run rampant between the twenties and than are able to conjure up an inpenetrable force field once opponents get in the red zone. An important piece to the puzzle is how well CBs Lito Sheppard (10 solos and 1 INT last week) and Sheldon Brown have held up. This has allowed FS Brian Dawkins to transform himself into "Idiot Man" and be a sideline-to-sideline roaming playmaker and disruptive blitzing presence (1 sack and FF to go along with 8 solos against Cleveland) who was able to keep offenses guessing when man-to-man cover aces Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor were still with the team. While Philadelphia eschews devoting a large amount of cap dollars to a monster LB corp and seemingly prioritizes them as much as other teams do third string QBs, they make up for the power outage in LB dominance by applying relentless pressure on the QB. Despite a lot of injuries on the D-Line, which perpetuates a trend seen last season, DE Jevon Kearse has been every bit as good as advertised and has been almost as important to the defense as free agent acquisition Terrell Owens has to the offensive side of the ball. Even when he hasn't lit up the IDP positional leader tables he has come up huge in actual game planning with countless QB pressures that didn't show up in the box score... last week he had 4 solos, 1 assist and a sack. This week we get to witness the spectacle of the always controversial Terrell Owens returning to the scene of the crime, where he left the jilted Ravens at the altar of the proposed 49rs trade, later overturned in a rare league sanctioned reversal based on Owens appeal to regain his free agent staus (apparently lost over a paper work technicality snafu), in order to control his destiny over which team he ultimately signed with. Eagle nation, HC Andy Reid and QB Donovan McNabb can only wonder how much their collective fortunes might have turned on that one, pivotal administrative decision... who can say if they would have been undefeated, if they were going to play the Ravens with Ray Lewis AND Terrell Owens. Things work out for the best, as Baltimore QB Kyle Boller chucking (or is that upchucking) the rock to him would have entailed a profound waste of his awesome athleticism and superior talent.

Pittsburgh - BYE... the Steelers are a dangerous team that is firing on all cylinders and being improbably led by rookie QB phenom Ben Rothliesberger. Cowboys HC Parcell likened the way he has taken the league by storm with an NFL record tying four consecutive victories to open his career (with Phil Simms) to Dan Marino... even more stunning, nobody said the analogy was preposterous. While it is probably a little wide of the mark, the kid is good enough to evoke those kinds of comparisons through his leadership, presence in the huddle and field awareness... he played WR until his senior season (coaches son was QB, but clearly there was no nepotism going on), but still managed to become Ohio State Player of the Year playing QB only the one season. With Big Ben playing so well (he was an outstanding prep point guard, and possibly that experience helped deepen some of the attributes he has been showcasing... the vision to see the whole field like a court, the patience and confidence to "slow the game down" and the agility and mobility to get a pass off to the open man) it takes a lot of pressure off the defense, who don't need to shut out their opponents to stay in the game... a return to the Steelers signature brand of a hard-nosed, smash mouth running game has also helped control the tempo of the game, and almost always keeps them within striking range. While OLBs Joey Porter and Clark Haggans have been pedestrian at best and Kendrell Bell is having an inordinate amount of trouble just trying to find his way onto the field (the latest is it could be another couple weeks), ILB James Farrior has been the best LB on the team for the second season in a row. The Steelers showed they exercised sound fiscal judgement in re-upping Farrior recently to a long-term contract extension... he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Week two weeks ago (since the last ETTG installment on Steel-Town) with easily his best game of the season... a box score that included 6 solos, 2 sacks and THREE FFs (!), the last of which was a game changing play, knocking the ball out of Dallas QB Testeverde's hand and creating a Cowboy turnover, which was summarily turned into a late score by Rothliesberger and company that pushed the team over the top. Farrior was seemingly all over the field, and was even back in coverage on the obligatory final Hail Mary heave into the end zone, knocking the ball down. Another player who has been seemingly all over the field this season is SS Troy Polamalu. He had Pittsburgh faithful worried after a perplexing slow start in his rookie season last year. Despite the occasional assignment lapse and blown coverage, he has been a steadying presence in run support (bringing back memories of his collegiate exploits while an All-American SS at USC his senior year, along with Mike Doss of Ohio State) and has helped mitigate the team's uneven LB play. An Achilles Heel of the past few years, poor secondary play has been better in 2004, although CB Chad Scott has been placed on IR... Willie Williams is first in line to replace him, though rookie second rounder Ricardo Coclough and '03 third rounder Ike Taylor (teammate of the Bears Charles "Peanut" Tillman from small school Lafayette, LA) could be in the mix. Of bigger concern to the overall tenor of the defensive scheme, and less replaceable, is NT Casey Hampton also going on IR... he went to his first Pro Bowl last year.

San Francisco - BYE

Seattle - Penalty ommission for losing 3 straight... OK, the loss in the middle to the Pats wasn't so bad (EVERYBODY loses to New England and Tom Brady lately), but the second-worst-in-NFL-history loss with less than six minutes implosion against the Rams may have foreshadowed the turmoil to follow with the latest brutal loss to Denny Green's up 'n coming Cardinals. NFL leader in a statistical category you don't want to figure prominently in... dropped passes (to cop a line from Joe Bryant's Random Shots, that made me barf out loud... Koren Robinson leads the league in passes defensed). To top off those skillz, or is it ILLZ, he is now getting ready to serve a 4 game suspension for Ricky Williams syndrome... more feared in NFL personnel offices than an air-borne strain of E-Bola. And for fans of the dynasty persuasion, Robinson owners now have to concern themselves with the fact that the slippery handed one (you would think the sticky icky would act like a gen-X iteration of Lester Hayes stick 'em up to the elbows exploits; you half expected an errant pass to cling to his forearm back in the day) is a bonghit away from a league sanctioned one year vaction without pay. Hasselbust was awful with 4 INTs, and put a lot of pressure on a defense that has lost a few key guys on the same side in successive weaks (sic)... first difference maker DE Grant Wistrom (the ex-Ram was looking like a fulcrum point on which the NFC West balance of power had balanced and shifted on), than SLB Anthony Simmons, who hadn't looked like himself, which may have been due to a shoulder that has been bothering him since the beginning of the season... he could be out for a few weeks to a month with surgery on the bad wing. HC Holmgren needs to find a way to stop the three game slide in a hurry, or risks letting the teams fragile psyche falling into a serious tail spin, which could see their chance at taking the NFC West crown from the Rams rapidly erode and fade away from them.

St. Louis - Two weeks in the penalty box for losing to laughing stock and poster boys for ineptness and unluckiness, the Miami Dolphins. The Sports Center highlight reel hit by Tony Bua that laid out two pursuers like bowling pins on a punt return was the signature play and lasting image of the game. The Dolphins wanted it more. Bua said it best, when he (to paraphrase) said the losing streak made a lot of guys on the team play like their hair was on fire. Hopefully Martz doesn't allow the Rams to become like the Saints of the West, with the only constant their complacency, disinterestedness and sporadic intensity.

Tampa Bay - The Bucs have been playing better the past few weeks, in part to getting their QB situation settled with the steadying presence of Brian Griese, a semblance of a running game with Michael Pittman and the blossoming of rookie WR Michael Clayton, who wasn't expected to be as pro-ready and playing at as high as level as earlier drafted WRs Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Williams, Reggie Williams and Lee Evans. Clayton looks like he could be a superstar within a year or two, and he may need to be, as the Tampa Bay defense isn't as good as it used to be, when since departed DT Warren Sapp and SS John Lynch were the scourge of the old NFC Central. WLB Derrick Brooks is looking like an All-Pro again after a brief hiatus, and really looks rejuvenated after a down season (ditto for Cu-Mart and Emmitt on offense). One of the fiercest competitors in the game, his fiery presence and world class athleticism are front and center again... he had a stout 7 solo and 1 assist line, and has led the way in the box score several times in recent weeks. DE DeWayne White, who was touted here in the pre-season Sleepers/Busts article (which the In-Depth Profile section points towards often), got his first sack of the season, but it was strangely from the DT position. Perhaps this was due to DT Ellis Wyms succumbing to an injury, or maybe Gruden and DC Monte Kiffin are experimenting with combinations that get their best D-Linemen and pass rushers on the field at the same time. The Ian Gold SLB experiment is looking like an abject failure... while he COULD be the Bucs WLB of the future, Brooks is somewhat unexpectedly playing at a high level again and may not be supplanted so quickly as '05. If so, this could be another in a litany of contract situation where the Postal bros. may have steered their clients wrong and cost them some money... in this scenario, by asking for a ridiculous contract extension from the Broncos when his contract extension negotiations unfortunately coincided with rehab from an ACL reconstruction. Skeletor was concerned that one of the league's fastest but also smallest LBs might be Fools Gold and let the Bucs have the headache of the always contentious Postal negotiations, electing to go in a different direction. That direction now points towards early Defensive Player of the Year Favorite with a bullet (see below) D.J. Williams, former USA Today Defensive Player of the Year coming out of perennial powerhouse De La Salle out of Concord, CA as one of the most highly recruited preps in the nation. Tampa Bay does have potentially one of the top CB tandems in the league with Ronde Barber seemingly getting a TD every other week and Brian Kelly among the league leaders in passes defensed. SS Jermaine Phillips and FS Dwight look more comfortable with each passing game... important, as Simeon Rice hadn't been getting to the QB as much this season as in the previous four, though he has begun to get untracked the past few weeks. Fortuitously, HC Chuckie won't need to wear a mask to scare his charges into practicing with maximum intensity during their Halloween bye week. If so, the Bucs could be putting the scare to their NFC South divisional rivals in the second half of the season... all of which are coming of horror-inducing and terrifying weeks/starts. The Super Bowl hangover Panthers, the imminent-termination Jim Haslett-led Saints and the Falcons coming off a spooky loss to the Chiefs that seriously creeped Atlanta out. Several league records were broken as they gave up 8 rushing TDs and 4 EACH to "If ya need the Lord, call a" Priest Holmes and his understudy Blaylock.

Tennessee - One of two second round DEs selected in the 2004 draft, Travis LaBoy of Hawaii (the first before Antwan Odom of Alabama) got off the mat with 2 sacks. WLB Keith Bulllock had shockingly out of character bad starts in weeks 4 and 5 with back-to-back 2 solo starts, but he has returned to the form he showed in last season's breakout top 5 campaign the past few weeks, with 16 solos, 7 assists, and his first INT of the season (a lack of big plays has been one of the differences in the slow start this year, with no sacks or FFs). FS Lance Schulters having to be put on the shelf for an extended period of time due to the dreaded Lis-Franc injury was supposed to be a blow to the Titans secondary (actually they are reeling and one of the biggest disappointments in the first half of the season, but for other reasons), but the insertion of Lamont Thompson into the lineup looks like a huge upgrade, and it is hard to see how Schulters will be able to be regain his job if and when he returns... he is not on IR, but that particular injury is extremely troublesome and can linger for a long time... it could easily swallow up this season.

Washington - BYE

Defensive Rookie of the Year Watch

(All stats YTD)

1. DJ Williams (WLB - DEN)... 37 solos, 8 assists, 1 sack
2. Jonathan Vilma (MLB - NYJ)... 20 solos, 9 assists, 1 sack, 1 INT
3. Sean Taylor (FS - WAS)... 19 solos, 5 assists, 1 sack, 1 INT
4. Gibril Wilson (SS - NYG)... 28 solos, 6 assists, 2 sack, 2 INTs
5. Courtney Watson (MLB - NO)... 25 solos, 9 assists, 1 sack
6. Teddy Lehman (SLB - DET)... 32 solos, 6 assists, 1 FF
7. Daryl Smith (SLB - JAX)... 23 solos, 3 assists, 1 INT
8. Erik Coleman (SS - NYJ)... 25 solos, 12 assists, 2 INTs
9. Dontarrious Thomas (WLB - MIN)... 31 solos, 7 assists, 1 sack, 1 FF
10. Dunta Robinson (CB - HOU)... 20 solos, 7 assists, 3 INTs
11. Kenechi Udeze (DE - MIN)... 12 solos, 3 assist, 2 sack
12. Darnell Dockett (DT - ARI)... 16 solos, 1 sack
    
    Standing on the Verge (of Gettin It...)

• Demorrio Williams (MLB/WLB - ATL)
• Madieu Williams (SS/FS/CB - CIN)
• Michael Boulware (SS - SEA)
• Karlos Dansby (SLB - ARI)
• Will Smith (DE - NO)
• Vince Wilfork (DT - NE)
• Caleb Miller (MLB - CIN)
• Chris Gamble (CB - CAR)
• Jason Babin (OLB - HOU)
• Glenn Earl (SS - HOU)
• Tommie Harris (DT - CHI)
• Tank Johnson (DT - CHI)
• Brandon Chillar (SLB - STL)
• Antwan Odom (DE - TEN)
• Landon Johnson (WLB - CIN)
• Junior Siavii (DT - KC)

In-Depth Profile

From the pre-season Sleepers/Busts article... since it was written, Colts SLB Thornton has cooled off after an initially hot start, and WLB Cato June has come on after stumbling out of the gate. One of the most interesting studies in contrast in the pre-season about what bearing their respective SLB/WLB roles would have on their respective fortunes will probably continue to be of interest to IDP fans all season long...

David Thornton (6'2" 230)... "Thornton burst on to the scene out of relative obscurity for the Colts in '03, going from an unheralded second day pick (4.09 '02) who was a North Carolina walk on with only one good collegiate season on his resume, before being a little known backup to stud WLB Mike Peterson with Indianapolis (before he was released and allowed to depart to the Jaguars in free agency)... to a 5th place finish in solo tackles among NFL LBs (117)... and overall among all IDPs. Donnie Edwards (SD), who tied for the NFL lead with MLB Keith Brooking (ATL), was the only WLB to finish with more solos than Thornton... Ray Lewis (BAL) and Jamie Sharper (HOU) were barely eclipsed by Edwards and Brooking with 125 and 124 solos, but they play MLB and ILB for their respective teams. For the second offseason. in a row the Colts suffered attrition from the LB ranks, letting SLB Marcus Washington jump ship to the Redskins. Surprisingly, rather than plug in some journeyman at SLB, HC Dungy and DC Ron Meeks chose to slide Thornton over and replace him at WLB... Cato June and Gilbert Gardner get first shot at the position. This is noteworthy because SLBs typically don't get as many tackle opportunities as the WLB (who in most schemes, are covered up and protected from blockers better than their strong side counterparts... the red headed, freckled stepchildren of LBs) and for the most part there seems to be a consensus opinion that Thornton's chances to be a playmaker will dry up, and his productivity will plummet. A key to IDP success is knowing the "rules" well enough to know when you can bend them, if not break them. Having a handle on systems and schemes (see the definitive articles by John Norton and Bob Henry) arms you with the principles you need to form judgments and come to conclusions about whether a player falls into the class of players that proves a given rule, or the set of players that is the exception to the rule. A lot of rankings flip flopped Thornton and June (moving the former down and the latter up) with the announcement of the new roles and starting assignments. Based on early returns, Thornton has looked like a beast and capable of blowing up ball carriers as effortlessly from the strong side as his ex-position... that rare SLB that can still live large and in charge (like Lavar Arrington and Pisa Tinoisamoa last season, and Anthony Simmons, Julian Peterson and Scott Fujita in '04). Conversely, the jury is still up in the air on Cato June, who could be replaced by Gilbert Gardner (comes from a program that well prepares prospects for the mental rigors of a pro-style defense; Purdue saw four LBs taken in the '03 draft) before or during the season, at any time. Thornton has a good head on his shoulders (former student body president and national honor student as a prep) and has taken a team first approach about the move. Rather than making excuses and setting himself up for failure, he is attending exclusively to those matters that can propel him to becoming the best SLB for the Colts possible. Situated next to the plodding and ponderous Rob Morris at MLB, and absent any outstanding run stuffing DEs in front of him, don't be surprised if Thornton once again cruises to the team lead in solo tackles."

IDP Dynasty Tip of the Week

The depth of your league's collective memory sometimes only extends a few deep by position in the draft. Each year, seemingly at every position there are a few clear cut top players... beyond that it can get kind of murky... you can exploit this murkiness by fixing your attention on the talent exactly where it starts after the top, initial tier leaves off. This season the elite tier was comprised of Jonathan Vilma (NYJ) and D.J. Williams (DEN) at LB, last season it was Boss Bailey (DET) and E.J. Henderson (MIN). This still left outstanding value with playmakers like Pisa Tinoisamoa (STL) in '03 and Daryl Smith (JAX) in '04. Troy Polamalu (PIT) and Mike Doss (IND) were the hot properties at safety last year, but that still left Bryan Scott (ATL) and Ken Hamlin (SEA). This draft class there was Sean Taylor (WAS) and everybody else... but Michael Boulware (SEA) and Bob "Hitman" Sanders (IND) may emerge as frontline playmakers at their respective position.

On offense, always the top skill position players will rapidly fly off the board... often by the first and second round in the case of RBs, WRs and QBs. This season, OUTSTANDING IDP talent like Demorrio Williams (ATL) and Gibril Wilson (NYG) went undrafted in many leagues. Wilson has truly been a sleepers sleeper (the subject of last weeks column - working the waiver wire), but Williams talent could be seen from a long way off, and careful scouting could have determined that it was probably just a matter of time. The surprise has been in his time potentially coming so much sooner than expected... not that he had the talent to break the door down once he got his foot in the door.

HOT-WIRE YOUR HEAD WITH FBG IDP!