A. Pierce (1 Viewer)

[Markus P Dub]

I have an opportunity to do a trade where I would have a choice between Merriman and Pierce. Now I wanted both of these guys in my draft and I slept a little too long on Merriman. I remember Pierce was a stud last year before he hurt his ankle. Can I get some IDP guru help and break down these two LBs?

In my league, we start 3 IDPs and scoring is: 1 pt tackle, .5 pt ### Tackle, 4 pts sack, 4 pts fumble recovery, 3 pts FF, 1 pt PaDef, 4 pts INT and 6 pts TDs.

I’m excited with my draft of IDPs which consists of:

Urlacher

Mike Peterson

Julian Peterson

T. Spikes (not that high on him and he could be the first waived)

My obvious starters are Urlacher & M. Peterson and I need to determine which other player will be the best: J. Peterson, Pierce or Merriman?

Thanks!

 

[Markus P Dub]

Any thoughts?

 

[Chaos Commish]

I'm one of Merriman's biggest fans around here, and while I wouldn't be surprised if he played his way past Pierce this year, I sure can't project it. Your scoring has a little extra weight on sacks than mine does, and that make Merriman an even better option, but Pierce is a player who can score with the Peterson's and Urlacher's on a weekly basis. If the value given is the same for both players, I vote Pierce.

 

[Rovers]

I agree with CC on all counts... Merriman is a beast, but Pierce is the choice.

 

[Markus P Dub]

Thanks for the replies I agree, Merriman is a stud in the making but I remember Pierce being a stud for the first 14 weeks of the season or so. I know Pierce plays every down and Merriman I’m not so sure on. The only knock on him is that he isn’t much of a tackler and is more of a pass rusher. Kind of like a T. Suggs player? Although Merriman is so fast he probably flies past the ball carrier to begin with. Thanks.

 

[houndirish]

Admitted Pierce homer as I included him in my Top 5 IDP list so take this with a grain of salt but Pierce is definitely the way to go here. I'm not down on Merriman by any means but I think Pierce is LB fantasy elite by seasons end. Not only does he rack up tackles but he collects big plays too. Not for nothing but I like him better than Urlacher and Julian Peterson too. I think it's also realistic that he could outscore Mike Peterson, although I'm not quite ready to predict that.

 

[Markus P Dub]

Yeah Pierce seems like a ball hawk, always there when it counts, just like M. Peterson and Urlacher. So with the addition of Lavar Arrington, barring his injury, will he cut into Pierce’s stats or help free him up to move around?

 

[Rovers]

Don't hold your breathe on Arrington... he left practice.... with what else... a swollen knee. Nuthin new there.

 

[houndirish]

Yeah Pierce seems like a ball hawk, always there when it counts, just like M. Peterson and Urlacher. So with the addition of Lavar Arrington, barring his injury, will he cut into Pierce’s stats or help free him up to move around?

Arrington shouldn't negatively effect Pierce. The Giants really seem to want to use Arrington as a rush backer from the outside. That's not Pierce's game anyway so I don't really see where that added pressure hurts Pierce. Arrington has never been a consistent tackle magnet so I still see Pierce being the unquestioned tackle leader on the team.