Interview w/ the IDP Staff (1 Viewer)

[Clayton Gray]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

 

[Dave Baker]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

I think scheme is more important, or rather, where you play. A player that is less talented can often find themselves in the more enviable slot of weakside linebacker or strong safety where as others more talented find themselves relegated to strong side linebacker or free safety where the numbers don’t typically live up to their counterparts. Of course, what you really want is a talented player in the right system. That’s IDP gold.

 

[Jene Bramel]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

That’s a tough one. But scheme over talent. Guys like Brian Urlacher or, hopefully, DJ Williams and Derrick Johnson can sometimes be so talented that they force themselves into valuable fantasy (and NFL) playmaking roles. Some guys, like Bruce Smith in the 3-4 or soon-to-be-stud Shawne Merriman, are so talented that they can transcend any and all scheme disadvantages. But, when in doubt, go with the slightly less talented player in the better position. It’s the reason Lemar Marshall or Danny Clark have more value than DJ Williams and Manny Lawson.

 

[Bob_Magaw]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

Brutal question... they are so inextricably linked in some cases.One way to parse it would be to say that with elite, blue chip players, I usually tend to emphasize talent over scheme. The just discussed Thomas Davis would be a good case in point here.

Talent can transcend scheme (this gets back to recurring theme of mine that it is important to know the rules well enough to know when you can break the rules, and identify and recognize exceptions which you can exploit and capitalize on).

Spotting a stud SLB, CB, FS or DT (all ugly, redheaded, freckled step-children of IDP positions) before anybody else will almost always present exceptional value.

Once we are talking about more marginal talent and uncertain situations, i will focus more on scheme than talent. In recent years I have scooped up players like Lance Briggs, Gibril Wilson, Chris Gamble and Kerry Rhodes... not because they were exceptional talents (this was before they broke out, and in most cases undrafted rookies)... but because I may have liked the situation they were in, and in such a context that consideration predominated and was overriding

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

probably scheme and opportunity. I think it's more common with IDPs for less talented players in great situations to outperform more talented players in worse situations. Starting MLBs, SS, RDE, WLB, etc. all tend to produce good numbers simply by virtue of the position they play. Also, offenses may sometimes target the less talented defender by running or throwing at him while they might try to avoid the more talented defenders. While it may be counterintuitive, you sometimes want weak defenders on weak defenses on your team b/c they will be picked on often and the defense will have a hard time getting off the field. This creates many more tackle opportunities, which lead to more fantasy points.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

During the draft - Talent - a player that cant hold onto the job isnt going to help you very much. Talent will find its opportunity. Scheme trumps talent in a few situations (DJ Williams), but this is the exception not the rule. Its important that the player is in a position and scheme that will allow them to produce, but make sure you get talent along with opportunity when using quality picks on IDPs in your draft.Waiver wire - scheme - I don't care how good or bad Dashon Polk actually is, but when I saw that he was playing inside in place of Kailee Wong last year, I ran to pick him up.

Dynasty - TALENT TALENT TALENT. the worst wasted picks in IDP dynasty initial drafts are on players whose value is only temporary because they dont have the talent to hold onto the starting job long term.

 

[John Norton]

And we end the evening with the following:

Q20 - What is more important when evaluating an IDP? Talent or scheme? Why?

If you are looking at this year only I would have to say scheme over talent. A great player can overcome an unproductive scheme or position and still contribute but it's much easier for an average player to put up great numbers in the right scheme. On the other hand the cream will eventually rise to the top so if you are in a dynasty league talent becomes a bigger factor

 

[Clayton Gray]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

 

[Dave Baker]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

Thanks Clayton. You can go back to your Iron Maiden now.

 

[Clayton Gray]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

Thanks Clayton. You can go back to your Iron Maiden now.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

And we only got through half the questions asked of us. Thanks for all the great questions. I'll be posting a thread tomorrow morning to discuss some of the questions that just missed the cut tonight. We'll all try to hop in and answer those over the next couple of days as well.Big thanks to Clayton for taking the time to keep us in line.

 

[John Norton]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

Thanks Clayton, It's been fun. P.S. I have to assume you are a Judas Priest fan also?

 

[Bob_Magaw]

I'm going back to On the Corner and Get Up With It...

thanx to Clayton, team IDP & FBG IDP nation...

stay tuned, there is plenty more where that came from in pre-season & looking towards 2006 season.

* thanx to Joe and David for allowing us to keep adding to FBG team IDP with such great recent hires as Bloom and Jene.

 

[Clayton Gray]

Well we ran a little long but covered a ton of material tonight. Thanks for hanging out here for a while.

Thanks Clayton, It's been fun. P.S. I have to assume you are a Judas Priest fan also?

Well yeah.

 

[Tick]

He is a barbaric, medieval hitter

Awesome quote there.

 

[Bob_Magaw]

marcellus from pulp fiction was a great scout.

 

[Tick]

Wow, just read the whole thread. This was great.

 

[Padraig]

Good stuff. Thanks gentlemen.

 

[Mapmaker]

A terrific thread ... it should be posted on the front page as well as announced in the shark pool as to it being up and very much worth the read!!

 

[Bojang0301]

Wish you would have talked about the Saints situation.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Wish you would have talked about the Saints situation.

We've started some more discussion at the end of the thread where folks submitted questions. Here's my reply to one of the Saints questions.

8.  Will Anthony Simmons take on a 3-down WLB role for the Saints?  If so, isnt he undervalued?

Maybe and definitely would be.  Nobody knows what's happening in New Orleans, though.  After every mini-camp there was new breaking news.  First, it was that Bockwoldt was the only sure starter and that he was moving to the middle, although Fujita/Bockwoldt/Simmons were taking snaps at every position to give the new coaches some tape to decide what to do with them.  Now it's said that Fincher is the "#3 LB", pushing Bockwoldt to the bench and presumably assuming the starting MLB role.  Your guess is as good as mine.  But if that guy is fully recovered from his wrist injury and has his legs under him, he's going to be a steal for both the Saints and watchful IDPers.

And we've been debating Alfred Fincher here.For now, it looks like the speculation is the following:

Fujita WLB

Fincher MLB

Simmons SLB

But any or all of those roles may change on a daily basis come camp.

I'll be doing a spotlight article on the Saints LB corps sometime in July - hopefully more information will have come to light then.

 

[Chaos Commish]

Finally found the time to read through this. Great read. I've said it ever since breaking down and subscribing, the IDP content makes this place a bargain in time saved alone.

 

[Rozelle]

COOL!

It would be nice if ya'll could do this again in month or so.

 

[Bojang0301]

Wish you would have talked about the Saints situation.

We've started some more discussion at the end of the thread where folks submitted questions. Here's my reply to one of the Saints questions.

8.  Will Anthony Simmons take on a 3-down WLB role for the Saints?  If so, isnt he undervalued?

Maybe and definitely would be.  Nobody knows what's happening in New Orleans, though.  After every mini-camp there was new breaking news.  First, it was that Bockwoldt was the only sure starter and that he was moving to the middle, although Fujita/Bockwoldt/Simmons were taking snaps at every position to give the new coaches some tape to decide what to do with them.  Now it's said that Fincher is the "#3 LB", pushing Bockwoldt to the bench and presumably assuming the starting MLB role.  Your guess is as good as mine.  But if that guy is fully recovered from his wrist injury and has his legs under him, he's going to be a steal for both the Saints and watchful IDPers.

And we've been debating Alfred Fincher here.For now, it looks like the speculation is the following:

Fujita WLB

Fincher MLB

Simmons SLB

But any or all of those roles may change on a daily basis come camp.

I'll be doing a spotlight article on the Saints LB corps sometime in July - hopefully more information will have come to light then.

Thank you.

 

[Tick]

Finally found the time to read through this. Great read. I've said it ever since breaking down and subscribing, the IDP content makes this place a bargain in time saved alone.

It's not just time saved - a decent amount of the info and all the opinions here are unavailable elsewhere from what I've seen.

 

[Islander]

Extremely high quality thread

The problem I saw last year was that projecting any type of big play for a player would skew the numbers and rank that player higher than he should be. IE if you project a corner at 2-1-0 he is a non factor but if you add a PD and a pick he is suddenly way up on the list. Since projecting big defensive plays is such a crap shoot, the projections this year will allow me to break things down to percentages. For example I might project the Bengals for 1 interception. Last year I had to make an educated guess as to who would make that play. That's a pretty tough thing to do. This year I will be able to give O'Neal .5, James .3 and Madieu .2. In the end this should go a long way toward improving the weekly cheats.

Very pleased to see this. The quality and reliability of the IDP projections will go way up

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Extremely high quality thread

The problem I saw last year was that projecting any type of big play for a player would skew the numbers and rank that player higher than he should be. IE if you project a corner at 2-1-0 he is a non factor but if you add a PD and a pick he is suddenly way up on the list. Since projecting big defensive plays is such a crap shoot, the projections this year will allow me to break things down to percentages. For example I might project the Bengals for 1 interception. Last year I had to make an educated guess as to who would make that play. That's a pretty tough thing to do. This year I will be able to give O'Neal .5, James .3 and Madieu .2. In the end this should go a long way toward improving the weekly cheats.

Very pleased to see this. The quality and reliability of the IDP projections will go way up

Guessing who would get the pick is silly and I'm glad to see the change to percentages.