Week 2 of the preseason has just ended and things are certainly heating up on the Individual Defensive Player (IDP) landscape. Roles are beginning to take shape and depth charts are slowly coming into focus. There will still be some shuffling as injuries and poor performances may cost players their jobs but we can more clearly begin to evaluate the fantasy potential of the top end talent in each division. The AFC North has long been considered a tough bruising defensive division dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens as the Cincinnati Bengals look to close the gap. Surprisingly, the division isn't as chocked full of IDP studs as one may have been led to believe. The sums of the parts of the defenses equate to nice NFL overall rankings as opposed to IDP value. With all that being said, let's take a look at some names that can help lead IDP owners to the promised land. LINEBACKERS 1. D'Qwell Jackson, WILB, Cleveland: The stars are aligning for Jackson to have a monster 2013 fantasy campaign. New defensive coordinator Ray Horton will look to utilize him in much the same way he did Daryl Washington in Arizona. Jackson will have the luxury of a healthy Phil Taylor, Ahtyba Rubin and Desmond Bryant to keep him clean and able to get after the ball carrier. Horton will also look to take advantage of Jackson's physicality and athleticism with blitz packages. A statline of 100-plus tackles and a top 10 fantasy finish are on tap for Jackson this season. 2. Lawrence Timmons, ILB, Pittsburgh: Timmons finished last season with 106 total tackles, six sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. Those are very nice fantasy totals but it's the way he amassed them that keep his owners scratching their heads. He racked up five of his six sacks in the season's final three weeks and 47 of his total tackles in the last six weeks of 2012. That inconsistency is what makes him a bit of a wildcard selection on draft day. Outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley both struggled last season and Timmons was moved around the defense quite a bit early in the year before settling in and putting up the nice finish he had. He could finish with LB1 numbers if he picks up where he left off or as low as LB3 production if he's shuffled around the defense again this season. This ranking shows that I'm leaning towards the former. 3. Vontaze Burfict, WLB, Cincinnati: Burfict led the Bengals in total tackles last season despite playing only 57 snaps ...

While it seems like the season just kicked off, week eleven is actually upon us and the bye weeks are coming to an end. Fantasy owners will have their full complement of players to choose from when setting line-ups for the stretch run and drive for the championship. As the fantasy regular season draws to an end every week is vitally important and being able to find that sleeper who blows up for a stellar week can be the difference between making the playoffs and just playing for pride. Examining the match-ups and deciphering the trends is what it's all about this time of year. Seeing who has just been missing sacks but getting consistent pressure on the quarterback or who is being thrown at the most and is poised for that two interception game. I smile like the butcher's dog the whole time that I research and write this column because of the ups and downs that fantasy football brings us on a weekly basis. Trying to stay ahead of the crowd in locating the next big thing on the defensive side of the ball from deep down NFL rosters isn't always easy, but it sure is always fun. That being said, let's get to the week eleven sleeper options. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN Tyson Alualu, DT, JACKSONVILLE, at HOUSTON: Alualu has had a very nice season on a very bad team. He's posted 27 total tackles and two sacks this season, including ten solo stops and a sack over his last four games. The Texans have been a fantasy friendly match-up for defensive lineman and Alualu registered six solo tackles in their first meeting back in week two. Look for similar numbers in week eleven from the Jaguars big defensive tackle. Henry Melton, DT, CHICAGO, at SAN FRANCISCO: While he has not posted a sack since week four, Melton has been stellar against the run for Chicago and has 31 total tackles and a forced fumble. This match-up with the 49ers looks to be a slugfest dominated by rushing attacks and Melton will benefit from that type of game. He does have four sacks and has been credited with 14 QB hurries so the possibility of a sack is always there. Phil Taylor, DT, CLEVELAND, at DALLAS: Taylor finally made his season debut in week nine and logged 34 snaps, registering a single solo tackle. He will have a much better second game back against a Cowboy team that is allowing just less than nine solo tackles a week to defensive lineman. Taylor may not be in total game shape for a couple weeks but he plays on an underrated defensive front that brings plenty of pressure up the middle where ...

undefinedundefinedundefinedundefinedundefinedundefinedundefinedundefined IDP CHEATSHEET: Week Fourteen Week 14 of the 2011 fantasy football season has arrived, bringing with it the fantasy playoffs in many leagues, so it's time to get down to the business of making a run at Championship glory. To help you prepare for another week's action here's a look at my Top 30 defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs for Week Fourteen of the 2011 season in IDP leagues. These rankings are based on Default IDP Manor Scoring, which awards 1 point for solos, .5 points for assists, 2 points each for fumbles forced and recovered, 4 points for interceptions, sacks, and safeties, 6 points for defensive touchdowns, and 1 point for passes defensed. It's a balanced scoring system, so if your IDP league is especially tackle-heavy or big play-heavy some players may move up (or down) a few spots. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN 1.) Jared Allen - MIN at DET 2.) Terrell Suggs - BAL vs IND 3.) Andre Carter - NE at WAS 4.) Trent Cole - PHI at MIA 5.) Julius Peppers - CHI at DEN 6.) Chris Clemons - SEA vs STL 7.) Jason Pierre-Paul - NYG at DAL 8.) Jason Babin - PHI at MIA 9.) Justin Smith - SF at ARI 10.) Justin Tuck - NYG at DAL 11.) Chris Long - STL at SEA 12.) Elvis Dumervil - DEN vs CHI 13.) Charles Johnson - CAR vs ATL 14.) Kyle Vanden Bosch - DET vs MIN 15.) Jabaal Sheard - CLE at PIT 16.) Israel Idonije - CHI at DEN 17.) Jeremy Mincey - JAX vs TB 18.) Cliff Avril - DET vs MIN 19.) Haloti Ngata - BAL vs IND 20.) Calais Campbell - ARI vs SF 21.) Will Smith - NO at TEN 22.) Greg Hardy - CAR vs ATL 23.) James Hall - STL at SEA 24.) Robert Mathis - IND at BAL 25.) Phil Taylor - CLE at PIT 26.) J.J. Watt - HOU at CIN 27.) Darnell Dockett - ARI vs SF 28.) Lamarr Houston - OAK at GB 29.) DaQuan Bowers - TB at JAX 30.) Ray Edwards - ATL at CAR LINEBACKERS 1.) Derrick Johnson - KC at NYJ 2.) James Laurinaitis - STL at SEA 3.) London Fletcher - WAS vs NE 4.) Curtis Lofton - ATL at CAR 5.) D'Qwell Jackson - CLE at PIT 6.) Navorro Bowman - SF at ARI 7.) Paul Posluszny - JAX vs TB 8.) Nick Barnett - BUF at SD 9.) Daryl Washington - ARI vs SF 10.) Sean Weatherspoon - ATL at CAR 11.) Colin McCarthy - TEN vs NO 12.) Karlos Dansby - MIA vs PHI 13.) David Hawthorne - SEA vs STL 14.) Desmond Bishop - GB vs OAK 15.) James Anderson - CAR vs ATL 16.) Brian Urlacher - CHI at DEN 17.) Sean Lee - DAL vs NYG 18.) Rey Maualuga - CIN vs HOU 19.) D.J. Williams - DEN vs CHI 20.) Chad Greenway - MIN at ...