2019 NFL Draft Guide: IDP Breakdown

Many fantasy football owners’ only experience with the defensive side of the game is limited to selecting which Team Defense and Special Teams (DST) squad to start on a weekly basis. Sure, you need to look at which teams limit the points scored by their opponents, whether a defense is racking up tackles, sacks, and interceptions on a regular basis and in the more advanced systems, whether the team has a decent return scheme. It is often suggested that fantasy owners draft their team defense just before drafting a kicker, generally the next to last pick in the draft. No need to go into a rant about how a savvy fantasy drafter will stock up on offensive players while his opponents are wasting valuable mid to late round picks on defenses, but it is a general truth that pre-season rankings of defensive teams are highly suspect. How well did it go for those owners who leapt in early to grab the Jacksonville D/ST in the eighth or ninth round last season?  It certainly did not push their team over the top in their league, unless their setup has decidedly strange settings for team defense/special teams point accumulation. In short, last season’s results mean bupkis for the current year.

Every fantasy football league this writer has ever set up has an IDP (Individual Defensive Player) component, and this generates a substantial aspect of weekly scoring results for each team. In an IDP league, an owner not only drafts the normal offensive players (QB, RB, WR, TE, K), but also linebackers, defensive backs and defensive linemen (LB, DB, DL). Having IDP slots proves to be interesting and valuable for the same reason as using holds as a statistical category in fantasy baseball, in that it opens up a whole group of additional players that have significance in your league. Of course, this means you have to study IDP as well as the usual offensive players. This also allows the fantasy player to enjoy watching football from both sides of the line of scrimmage on Thursdays, Sundays and Monday night. Most fantasy team owners are already aware of the star IDPs, like Khalil Mack (CHI),  Lavonte David (TB) or Landon Collins (WAS), but when you are involved in an IDP league, it is necessary to study such aspects as the defensive scheme a team employs which will affect how useful a linebacker will be for your fantasy team.

Defensive Schemes

The main difference will be whether a team employs a 4-3 or a 3-4 scheme. If a team has three DLs (a 3-4), then you want to target their outside linebackers. The OLBs on a 3-4 defense are more likely to pick up sacks, as the linemen generally just clog up the running paths up front and are not used to rush the quarterback. DLs and inside linebackers on a 3-4 team will get you tackles and not much else. Of course, in a tackle heavy IDP league, this can prove valuable, too. Scoring systems will be discussed a bit later in this article.

A 4-3 team provides a boatload of IDP value with its defensive ends and the middle linebacker. The DE spot will supply your best option for sacks, while the MLB is a tackle machine. Also, in a 4-3 defensive scheme, all three LB spots will give you points, as there is less spreading of the tackles, interceptions and passes defended among the three linebackers in this type of defensive system. Overall, you want to draft your IDPs from a team that runs a 4-3 scheme, as the points will flow to you better on a week to week basis, since you will have effectively five defensive players putting up numbers for you. A 3-4 team will provide decent numbers from the weak side LB, while the strong side LB will often be tied up by the tight end’s blocks, and as discussed above, the three defensive linemen will provide some tackle points but little else.

Linebackers

Linebackers are gold in IDP leagues. They provide tackles, interceptions, fumbles and fumble returns (although any IDP can cause or recover a fumble), and will also put up passes-defensed (PD) points. That being said, there are also a lot of linebackers that you can draft and find fantasy goodness with, so you do not necessarily need to target your linebackers as your first defensive players to draft. Provided, if you have the opportunity to nab a stud LB as your first IDP pick, you should do so without question. If you can get two stud LBs, take them and do not look back. If your other league members have drafted their initial IDPs early, however, you can afford to be patient as value is there in the middle picks. What was stated above about knowing what sort of scheme a team employs is essential to picking your linebacking crew, but you also want to populate your roster with “3 down” linebackers. It only stands to reason that the more time a player spends on the field, the more likely he is to provide your team with fantasy point production. Also, look for linebackers on bad teams, as they will undoubtedly have more opportunities to tackle the opponent’s RBs, WRs and TEs (and on a more limited basis, the quarterback).

Defensive Backs

If you are not required to have both cornerbacks and safeties on your fantasy team, always go for safeties as your DBs. Safeties are the safest choices (pun intended) as they will provide you with the most tackles on a weekly basis, since their role in the defense is to stuff the run. Even if your league puts a high value on interceptions, these plays are notoriously inconsistent from week to week, and especially year to year. Also, a shutdown corner is a bad IDP choice, as the opposing team will avoid passing to whatever WR he is covering. For example, Xavier Rhodes (MIN) and Casey Hayward (LAC) are both superb football players, but lousy fantasy football players on a point-production basis. In fact, if a rookie cornerback is starting for a team, he is a particularly good draft option, as the offense will test him repeatedly until he proves he can cover his man. Thus, a rookie starting CB will give you points for tackles and potentially, passes defended and an occasionally interception. Even so, safeties provide the best consistent value at DB and you should target them when drafting your squad.

Defensive Linemen

When targeting defensive linemen, you will want to go for defensive ends as opposed to defensive tackles. DEs will be the best source of sacks as well as tackles, although there is the occasional DT that provides value. As a general rule, however, unless your league requires that a DT be started, avoid them altogether. If you find that the all the top tier LBs have been snatched up when you begin to draft your IDPs, then go for one of the top tier DEs which will most likely still be available. Remember, look for a DE that starts in a 4-3 scheme and in this case, you should look to last year’s stats for some guidance as far as sack totals and tackle numbers. Target at least one of the top five-seven DEs for your roster, as the drop-off after the first tier is dramatic.

Draft Timing

You should not begin drafting IDP until you have your starting offense set. Even then, it is suggested you grab at least one backup RB and WR, and possibly wait until you have three backup offensive players. Do not rush to draft defensive players, no matter what your league mates are doing early on. You run the risk of missing out on the top tier LBs, but usually DBs and DLs will be there for you to select for your initial IDP options. Except in two QB (super-flex) leagues, you should fill all your IDP starting spots before you go back to selecting backup offensive players, but like all draft advice, adjust and adapt to your particular draft; i.e., if an offensive bargain falls to you in the later rounds, you need to take advantage at the expense of grabbing an IDP. No matter how highly you may have an IDP ranked on your cheat sheet, it is urged that you not to reach for him over a starting QB/RB/WR/TE. If you use a tiered cheat sheet (highly suggested), you should have a separate sheet for IDP, but even though certain players may be ranked as top-tier IDPs, do not to get carried away; a tier one IDP is a round 10 selection, not a fourth-round draft choice. It should go without saying that all IDP starters should be selected before your kicker, and if your league uses a team D/ST together with IDPs, it is suggested that you wait on that position, too. Another suggestion is to draft a D/ST in the slot just before you select your kicker, or the next to last draft slot. You should have taken any backup offense players as well as any valuable IDPs based on predicted production or bye week use before considering taking a team defense or kicker.

Scoring Setup

Ideally your IDPs will provide point totals every week that are nearly equivalent to an offensive player. For example, a good LB can usually give your team 10-15 points a week, which is what you at a minimum want from my RB or WR. Occasionally, if a player blows up, his totals can rival those of a top tier QB. Be warned that many IDP leagues follow the recommended settings found in various places around the web. Now, though, if you have any say in the IDP scoring set up, it is suggested that you value IDP stats differently. For example, interceptions, sacks, forced fumbles and blocked kicks as more valuable than fumbles recovered (a lucky occurrence) or passes defended. This because these defensive plays reverse possession (interceptions) or stop momentum (sacks and forced fumbles) and have a greater impact on the game than simply tackling a RB or stopping a reception. Sacks are of significantly more consequence in the course of a game than a tackle, and thus are assigned an appropriate importance when setting up an IDP scoring system. Here is a recommended set of scoring values:

• Solo Tackle (or Total Tackles) 1 point
• Assisted tackle 1/2 point
• Sack 4 points
• Interception 6 points
• Pass defended 1 point
• Fumble forced 4 point
• Fumble recovered 2 points
• Safety 2 points
• Blocked FG/PAT/Punt 6 points
• All defensive TDs 6 points

In some newer IDP leagues, frequently a D/ST slot is not employed, and some leagues are disposing with the PK slot as well, mostly because of a belief that over the course of a season, all kickers are basically the same. It also frees you from feeling like you are settling for your final two picks; rather, you are looking for a sleeper IDP or RB/WR/TE at the end of the draft.

Good, interesting IDP leagues employ six to eight defensive slots. The normal setup is two LB, two DL, two DB and perhaps two defensive players that can be LB, DB or DL. Certainly, you can consider deleting the dedicated DL slots, however, and instead letting each owner decide if he wants a DL on his roster by using two to four general DP slots. There are so few great DLs, it only seems fair to let the few top tier DEs fill a DP slot and allow the other owners to draft IDP that provide good numbers each week.

Rookies

Unlike the situation with offensive players, where rookies are generally to be avoided when drafting a starting lineup, rookie defensive players frequently have great value immediately. As noted above, a rookie CB will rack up points for you simply because he will be targeted by the opposition until he proves himself to be a capable defender. Depending on the team that drafts him, a defensive player can step into a starting role immediately. The learning curve for IDPs is not as steep as other positions, and on a regular basis you can find exceptional value from a rookie that is taken in the first few rounds of the NFL draft, depending on the team situation he steps into. Also, some rookie IDPs drafted in the first round are slotted to start due to their predecessor being traded, dropped or retiring from the league, and these are in this age of massive internet information overload still true sleepers in IDP leagues. This year, look to Tampa Bay Buccaneer first round pick Devin White (ILB) or Oakland Raider draft pick Johnathan Abraham (S) as potential late round picks to click.

Rankings 

Rankings are, as with all fantasy projections, subjective. Below you will find three lists of the top 25 preseason linebackers, defensive linemen and defensive backs. Understand that these are EARLY pre-training camp rankings based on projections that will undoubtedly change as the summer rolls on and we get a better idea as to how teams are designing their defensive schemes and using their personnel. It is a useful tool for those of those of you new to IDP fantasy football, however, and will give a general idea as to how the various positions are ranked. 

We will be posting updated rankings all the way up until the opening kickoff of the 2019 NFL season. Also, if your league uses a different IDP stat system than that posted above, there is a possibility that a set of rankings employing your system could find its way to you if you ask kindly. You will need to find this writer’s contact information elsewhere on the site, so as to prove yourself worthy of the special attention, though.

Final Thoughts

Consistency is the key to having success in an IDP league. That means drafting for tackles: middle linebackers and defensive ends in a 4-3 scheme, outside linebackers in a 3-4 scheme, and safeties over cornerbacks. All the other statistical categories, with the exception for sacks to an extent, are too unpredictable to project when you draft.

Look for tacklers on bad teams. The defense on a lower scoring team will be on the field much more with a resultant increase in tackles and other defensive scoring play opportunity. The winning team also will most likely run the ball more than turn to the pass to try and run out the clock. Draft your defensive backs from good teams, conversely, as the opponent will likely have to air it out to play catch up, and this will increase the interception and tackle opportunities in the backfield.

The waiver wire will be your friend, since aside from some top tier IDPs, fortunes fluctuate over the course of the season, based on injury, performance (or lack thereof) and match ups. Especially with DBs, do not sweat it if you do not manage to draft your top targets. All DBs, and especially CBs, are wildly inconsistent and you can use that to your advantage, snatching up those mid to late season rising stars to replace the underperforming and injured dogs cluttering your roster.

Unless you have an absolute stud IDP, do not worry about dropping him on a bye week. Most likely, no one will pick him up that week, and you have a chance to slide him back onto your roster once the bye week is over. Even if you do not get him back, it is likely some other top IDP will be dropped due to bye week pressures by another owner and you can then pick up his castoff. Besides, there are plenty of good IDPs on the waiver wire or free agent market every week, simply based on matchups.

If your league gives points for return yards, look for IDPs that play on special teams as kick returners. This will make these players valuable even if they do not put up a bunch of tackles or interceptions for you.

I went IDP several years ago and will not set up a league without having at least six IDP slots in the starting lineup. I implore you to take the plunge and open up the world of IDP in fantasy football. After all, we’ve been doing basically the same thing in fantasy baseball all along when we draft hitters and pitchers, or in fantasy hockey where goalies are drafted alongside skaters. Why not extend the same concept to fantasy football. If nothing else, it will make every game even more meaningful no matter the score, as you will now have defensive players to pull for or root against. The first week you win a match-up with a superb performance from your starting linebacker on Monday night you’ll be hooked, I will bet my league fees on it.