Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
In recent years San Francisco 49ers LB Patrick Willis has severely slipped in fantasy football IDP leagues. He was once the first defensive player taken off the board every summer, but he has recently become just another mid-round linebacker.
Willis racked up 9.7 tackles a game over his first three years in the league. However, in the three years since then, he has only managed 7.8 tackles per contest and has severely fallen down fantasy draft boards. People have started to forget about Willis, but he still has the skill to rack up four or five points a week in tackles alone.
In 2012 Willis was tied for 21st in the NFL with 120 tackles and it was viewed as somewhat of a disappointment. Fantasy owners were accustomed to Willis leading the NFL in tackles, but in recent years his involvement in the passing game has taken him away from the line of scrimmage, and thus tackling opportunities.
Also his teammate, NaVorro Bowman, was second in the league with 149 tackles last year, which was much higher than the 120 tackles that Willis amassed. Bowman is natural tackling-machine and has clearly become the more reliable fantasy option in San Fran.
Regardless of Bowman’s emergence, though, Willis can still be an elite fantasy defender. Willis is one of the best open field tacklers in the game and should easily be able to rack up over 130 tackles in 2013. Willis may not be the number one IDP option anymore, but he should still be a top-five linebacker in fantasy leagues this summer.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
