I'm trying to figure out if I should start J. Peterson this week. Does he line up on the right side such that he would be pass-rushing against the Bills backup LT Walker?

hes OLB so im pretty sure. hes a stud and you always should start your studs.

The problem is I have quite a few stud LBs and can only start 3. I have Witherspoon, Barnett, Vilma, EJ Henderson, Briggs, Peterson, J. Harrison all who I see as capable of putting up big points on any given week. Just wondering if Peterson could outperform some of these other guys Week 1. My main interest is if he lines up against the LT or RT in pass-rushing situations...

im not really even sure why you have harrison on your team. with those other guys there, he's likely not to get any playing time. i think J Peterson is your 5th best LB anyway. even if witherspoons injury keeps him out of week 1, i still say start Briggs, Barnett, and Henderson. i always start my studs, especially in what looks like a smaller league.

it's a 10 team league with 40 man rosters. i'm hoping to trade some LBs, but right now that's how my team shakes down. i think vilma is an intriguing option for week 1 because the Bucs are no threat to throw the ball down the field and do a lot of running and short passes. in contrast, the colts throw the ball down the field a lot so i'm not sure that briggs is as valuable. i agree he could return to being a stud this year though.

i'm just wondering if peterson could light it up week 1 against a backup LT

i could support your decision to go with vilma over briggs. i have indy O-line ranked 3rd (before saturdays injury), where i had TB 23rd

Yes ... Peterson is the ROLB, Seatlle designates their backers right/left rather than will/sam.

Thanks, this is the info I was looking for. Now I just have to decide whether I should start him over my other guys

It's hard to know whether to start a player without the important league facts.

Please read the pinned thread. It tells you what we need to know to give you an informed response.

Sorry, I was mainly trying to figure out if Peterson was playing ROLB or not, but I would appreciate any advice.

My scoring system:

Tackle: 1.5
Assist: .5
Pass Def: 3
Sack/Safety/INT/FF/FR: 6
DTD: 10

Start 3 LBs

With the sack/tackle ratio at 4:1, he is worth considering. But more needs to be known. Since you are relatively new to the forums, read the link below, then post. It saves us a lot of time.

Link

My suggestion is to pick the players you are definitely starting and ask about the ones you are unsure of. But follow the instructions in the link. Thanks.

Redraft or dynasty (primarily for free agent/waiver advice requests)

Dynasty, 40 man roster, keep entire roster

Scoring system (minimum solo/sack/INT/PD/bonuses)

See previous post in this thread

Number of starters required at each position

In this case, start 3 LBs

Which team your player faces that week with home/road designations

I am planning on starting Witherspoon @ Phi if he plays (looks promising)
I am planning on starting Barnett vs. Minn

I am unsure about starting Briggs @ Ind
I am unsure about starting Vilma vs. TB
I am unsure about starting EJ Henderson @ GB
I am unsure about starting J Peterson @ Buff

I also have J Harrison vs. Hou

Anything else you find pertinent (eg. I'm facing a stacked team and need a miracle)

We start QB/RB/RB/RB-WR/WR/WR/WR-TE/TE/K/LB/LB/LB/DL/DL/DL/DB/DB/DB

I have Brees/R Bush/???/???/Colston/Jennings/Welker/Witten/Crosby/Witherspoon/Barnett/???/Kampman/Cole/Suggs/G Wilson/C Harris/R Harper

Because of the fact that I have a lot of ???s at RB (McGahee/Rice/K Smith/White/Chr Johnson/Young/Hall/M Morris/J Jones) I am hoping that I can be consistent across the rest of my roster.

Thanks again

Peterson makes a decent start with your scoring system and Buffalo's line issues. That would be my choice.

Thanks

Ok, I am having a hard time making up my mind between Peterson, Harrison, Briggs, and Vilma for my #3LB, so I ran some stats. I looked at median/range scores for big plays, tackles, assists, and passdef from last season.

This narrowed things down to Peterson and Harrison with a very slight edge to Harrison (keep in mind that median eliminates the bias there would be if mean were to be used given Harrison%s one huge game).

Since it was close, I used the matchup analyzer tool to see how OLBs performed against Hou and Buff last year. Again, a very slight edge to Harrison vs. Hou. Looking at the range stats, they both have the same basement, but Harrison has a much higher ceiling given his one game explosion last year (this biases the range stat imo).

Briggs of course was hurt somewhat last year, but he played really well after both games he missed, so I%m thinking the injuries shouldn%t be a huge factor in his case. He is also going up against one of the most feared passing offenses in the league so his tackle numbers could be limited and Peyton doesn%t get sacked often. It would be nice to feel like I could sit him for this matchup.

Vilma of course lost most of his season, so the stats used were not as numerous in his case (though using the median still makes for a basis of comparison for the games he did start). However, with Vilma, this does not take into account his change of scenery and ???s surrounding whether his knee is good to go, etc. Since Vilma came out low in these analyses I think I can afford to sit him for one week though to see how he does.

So, right now I%m leaning toward starting Harrison by a narrow margin over Peterson, am I nuts here? Peterson is going against a backup LT in Buff. Should that be enough to tip the scales back toward Peterson?

Houston%s turnover ratio last year was also -13 (31st) and Buffalo%s was plus 9 (6th)... (Sea plus 10, 5th; Pitt plus 3, 12th; so, 5th vs 6th or 12th vs 31st)

p.s., Of course, I am keeping an eye on injury news with Harrison%s knee to see if it is anything serious. If he was questionable or worse for this week, I would go with Peterson.

Houston's offensive line is a lot better than last year, namely because of their impressive rookie tackle Duane Brown.

I would temper using last year's performance. This is a completely different year and a lot has changed since last year.

Yeah, I agree, but without seeing anyone play yet it makes it harder to gauge how things will shake down. I just have a hard time buying into Houston getting good. That seems to be the story every year and every year it doesn't happen. Basically, I'll believe it when I see it.