As anyone who has ever tried to play matchmaker with a couple of his or her friends can attest, it is a maneuver wrought with peril. They either hit it off and live happily ever after or hold it against you forever when it doesn't work out. That is why I have retired from playing ‘cupid' with my friends and limit my matchmaking to the fantasy realm. It keeps the number of angry phone calls to a minimum and is a lot more fun. The defensive back position is full of fantasy relevant free agents for 2013, and, looking at where respective players can best reach their fantasy potential may not fall in line with where a lot of ‘NFL experts' feel players should sign. Hey, let's be honest here folks. As Individual Defensive Player (IDP) fantasy owners we really don't concern ourselves with whether or not a cornerback can shut down his side of the field as much as we want the man thrown at as often as possible. We want our safeties having to come down into the box to support a weak run stopping defense more than we want him trolling 20 yards downfield as the last line of defense. With that in mind, let's get down to some fantasy matchmaking ... William Moore, SS, Atlanta: Moore was hampered down the stretch last season with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the final four weeks of the regular season. On the bright side, he did play every defensive snap in the games he played in and finished the year with 62 solos and 85 total tackles including the playoffs. After appearing in only two games as a rookie (knee and hamstring issues), Moore has been a three-year starter for the Falcons. He has racked up more than 200 combined stops with 11 interceptions along with 1.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in his career. The St. Louis Rams are in need of a premier strong safety to line up alongside Quintin Mikell (who may need to restructure his deal if he wants to remain a Ram) in their secondary, and Moore would fit the bill perfectly. He is steady against the run and capable of more than holding his own in coverage. He has struggled with staying healthy and has missed 24 regular season games in his four years in the league but is coming off his best season to date. St. Louis is highly unlikely to bring back strong safety Craig Dahl, who is a free agent and has underwhelmed in his stint for the Rams. Adding a Pro Bowl talent like Moore to the mix of Cortland Finnegan, Janoris Jenkins as well as Mikell improves the Rams defense considerably as well as ...

It's Week 17 of the 2011 National Football League season, and while the majority of IDP leagues were wrapped up a week ago there's still one more game to go in some leagues, and it's for all the proverbial marbles. To help you prepare for this very important week's action here's a look at my Top 30 defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs for Week Seventeen 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.) Jason Pierre-Paul - NYG vs DAL 2.) Jared Allen - MIN vs CHI 3.) Terrell Suggs - BAL at CIN 4.) Jason Babin - PHI vs WAS 5.) Julius Peppers - CHI at MIN 6.) Elvis Dumervil - DEN vs KC 7.) Trent Cole - PHI vs WAS 8.) Justin Tuck - NYG vs DAL 9.) Chris Clemons - SEA at ARI 10.) Justin Smith - SF at STL 11.) Robert Mathis - IND at JAX 12.) Calais Campbell - ARI vs SEA 13.) Chris Long - STL vs SF 14.) Will Smith - NO vs CAR 15.) Jeremy Mincey - JAX vs IND 16.) Cliff Avril - DET at GB 17.) Greg Hardy - CAR at NO 18.) Haloti Ngata - BAL at CIN 19.) Jabaal Sheard - CLE vs PIT 20.) J.J. Watt - HOU vs TEN 21.) Darnell Dockett - ARI vs SEA 22.) Kyle Vanden Bosch - DET at GB 23.) Ndamukong Suh - DET at GB 24.) Brandon Deaderick - NE vs BUF 25.) Michael Johnson - CIN vs BAL 26.) Charles Johnson - CAR at NO 27.) Israel Idonije - CHI at MIN 28.) James Hall - STL vs SF 29.) John Abraham - ATL vs TB 30.) Geno Atkins - CIN vs BAL LINEBACKERS 1.) London Fletcher - WAS at PHI 2.) Derrick Johnson - KC at DEN 3.) Ray Lewis - BAL at CIN 4.) D'Qwell Jackson - CLE vs PIT 5.) Navorro Bowman - SF at STL 6.) James Laurinaitis - STL vs SF 7.) Curtis Lofton - ATL vs TB 8.) Nick Barnett - BUF at NE 9.) Pat Angerer - IND at JAX 10.) Colin McCarthy - TEN at HOU 11.) Daryl Washington - ARI vs SEA 12.) Jerod Mayo - NE vs BUF 13.) Karlos Dansby - MIA vs NYJ 14.) Desmond Bishop - GB vs DET 15.) David Hawthorne - SEA at ARI 16.) Sean Lee - DAL at NYG 17.) Paul Posluszny - JAX vs IND 18.) Chad Greenway - MIN vs CHI 19.) DeMarcus Ware - DAL at NYG 20.) Brian Urlacher - CHI at MIN 21.) Sean Weatherspoon - ATL vs TB 22.) David Harris - NYJ at MIA 23.) James...

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 ...

It's Week 13 of the 2011 fantasy football campaign, and this week brings with it the conclusion of the regular season in many leagues, making this a do-or-die game for many an IDP owner across the land. 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 Eleven 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 vs DEN 2.) Terrell Suggs - BAL at CLE 3.) Julius Peppers - CHI vs KC 4.) Trent Cole - PHI at SEA 5.) Andre Carter - NE vs IND 6.) Jason Pierre-Paul - NYG vs GB 7.) Justin Smith - SF vs STL 8.) Chris Long - STL at SF 9.) Elvis Dumervil - DEN at MIN 10.) Kyle Vanden Bosch - DET at NO 11.) Jeremy Mincey - JAX vs SD 12.) Haloti Ngata - BAL at CLE 13.) Chris Clemons - SEA vs PHI 14.) Jason Babin - PHI at SEA 15.) Will Smith - NO vs DET 16.) J.J. Watt - HOU vs ATL 17.) Robert Mathis - IND at NE 18.) Greg Hardy - CAR at TB 19.) Calais Campbell - ARI vs DAL 20.) James Hall - STL at SF 21.) Charles Johnson - CAR at TB 22.) Cliff Avril - DET at NO 23.) Ahtyba Rubin - CLE vs BAL 24.) Ray Edwards - ATL at HOU 25.) Darnell Dockett - ARI vs DAL 26.) Justin Tuck - NYG vs GB 27.) Israel Idonije - CHI vs KC 28.) Lamarr Houston - OAK at MIA 29.) Brian Robison - MIN vs DEN 30.) Robert Geathers - CIN at PIT LINEBACKERS 1.) Patrick Willis - SF vs STL 2.) D'Qwell Jackson - CLE vs BAL 3.) Derrick Johnson - KC at CHI 4.) James Laurinaitis - STL at SF 5.) Curtis Lofton - ATL at HOU 6.) Paul Posluszny - JAX vs SD 7.) London Fletcher - WAS vs NYJ 8.) Nick Barnett - BUF vs TEN 9.) Daryl Washington - ARI vs DAL 10.) Chad Greenway - MIN vs DEN 11.) Ray Lewis - BAL at CLE 12.) Navorro Bowman - SF vs STL 13.) Sean Weatherspoon - ATL at HOU 14.) Pat Angerer - IND at NE 15.) Karlos Dansby - MIA vs OAK 16.) Brian Urlacher - CHI vs KC 17.) Sean Lee - DAL at ARI 18.) Brian Cushing - HOU vs ATL 19.) D.J. Williams - DEN at MIN 20.) DeMarcus Ware - DAL at ARI 21.) David Hawthorne - SEA vs PHI 22.) Kevin Burnett - MIA vs OAK 23.) Perry Riley - WAS vs NYJ 24.) James...

If you look at several sets of Individual Defensive Player (IDP) rankings compiled by fantasy "experts," one of the first things that leaps out at you is the significant variation from one list to the next, much more so than you'll usually find in rankings for offensive players. This can reflect differences in the scoring used as a default in generating the rankings (which hammers home the all-important IDP draft rule of knowing the scoring in your league and how it affects player values), a difference in philosophy from ranker to ranker, or even the personal preferences or biases of a particular ranker. For example, I hate Quintin Mikell, as he has been conspiring to destroy my IDP teams since I started playing in this format. I'm on to you Quintin, and you will not succeed. Rankings also change a great deal as they're updated and injuries, depth chart changes, and schematic changes or tweaks wreak havoc on individual defensive player values. Nowhere was this more evident than in this truncated NFL offseason, as the rankings that were cranked out before the lockout ended have been eviscerated by the innumerable player moves that have occurred since the NFL light bulb finally came on. With the help of FantasySharks' resident IDP mastermind, the honored and esteemed James Elvins (figured it might be nice to involve one person who had an idea what he was talking about), let's take a deeper look at a few players whose IDP values seem to be up for debate, whether it's due to a change in role, health or just the fact that fantasy football pundits can be a contrary bunch. With that, let's start the IDP Showdown! Paul Posluszny, LB, Jacksonville James Elvins: You know what, I'm actually liking Posluszny to challenge for No. 2 overall IDP this year (Carolina's Jon Beason at No. 1 for me -- that defensive line is gosh awful. I know some people don't like him for moving away from the Buffalo Bills value wise, but I don't think his value is affected in this change. I think it's improved as you have two franchises at different stages of their rebuilding. Buffalo have been consistently working on their defensive line for the past three years. Look at their draft picks. Jacksonville has only just come into the light in that respect. They will be starting two rookie defensive tackles. Their big offseason free eagent acquisition on the line (Ron Edwards from Kansas City) has already gone on Injured Reserve. Their former first-round defensive end (Derrick Harvey) has ...