What constitutes a good matchup?

[Pix]

Complete IDP rookie here, and i need to get on top of the game. Fortunately a lot of my players pick themselves (Watt, Morgan, Butler, Posluszny, McCarthy?, Chancellor). But in the future I'm going to have line-up decisions like Starks or Coples; KJ Wright or Riley or Aldon Smith; LaRon Landry or Rahim Moore; Joseph or Haden.

So is there any rule of thumb for evaluating matchups for these positions, especially the different LB positions? Or do you just go with the hot hand, regardless of opponent? Are there any FPA stats for IDP?

Scoring is slightly tackle-heavy in my league. (Int = 6, Sack = 4, all tackles = 1.5)

[rangerdave]

You need to look at the tendencies of opposing offenses and try to gauge how often the opposition will either run or pass. This is crucial when deciding between LB who aren't of the three down variety.

For pass rushers, you need to look at the quality of the opposition's offensive line. Anytime one of my guys faces a bad O-line, he gets a start.

You also need to see how your guy is trending in comparison to the other guys on his NFL team, especially in the snaps department. Also, some scorers are very generous with tackle numbers for their home team's players.

[ChadtheDragonLord]

If I am trying to decide between two players, and I have the time to research, I look at the teams they are facing. I will go back and look at those teams' previous games and see if their opponents racked up a lot of tackles or not against them, if those teams ran the ball a lot or passed, etc. Basically try and guage who is likely to give your guys the most tackles. Interceptions and Sacks are so hit or miss that I almost always look at tackles only, except for DL obviously. If I still can't decide or I don't have the time to investigate I will just go with the hot hand or whoever has better stats for the season.