Defensive backs are like the kickers of IDP leagues. There really aren't too many players that need to be picked early in your drafts. They are also like tight ends after the first 5 or so where streaming on a week to week basis can be the way to go based on the weekly matchup. Outside of some top end safeties who rack up tackles, guessing who will finish near the top of DB scoring is a crap shoot. In tackle heavy scoring systems it's a little easier to go after safeties, but in big play leagues, trying to predict who will garner interceptions, passes defensed, and sacks from this position is tough. A typical drafting strategy for DBs in IDP leagues is to wait and here's why.
In the trenches of their team defenses, linemen can be the key to your IDP draft. Until I’m blue in the face I will say it over and over again: make sure you know your scoring system. Do you want a lineman with a high sack upside or someone in the interior who will produce tackles? Does your league separate out DE/Edge and DT? Does the hosting site have TJ Watt and Shaq Barrett as linebackers or Edge rusher? It’s simple to state that you need to know your rules but you’d be surprised at the number of fantasy players that don’t. Another aspect of drafting IDPs is how does their scoring compare to their offensive counterparts? This will help you decide when to jump into the defensive side of your draft. For those starting out with IDP, I’ll be covering draft strategies in upcoming articles and you’ll find out why you may want to prioritize this position over the more popular linebackers.
My rankings are based on a balanced scoring system (3:1 ratio of big play points to tackle points). If your league leans big play or tackle heavy, then some adjustments may be necessary. Â
Dr. Donkey Teeth and The Boof, aka Ralph Macchio, are back on the YouTube talking fantasy football for your viewing pleasure. After discussing the BIG news of the week—Carlos Hyde signed with the Seahawks—the guys taking a stroll down memory lane, reminiscing about some of their favorite fantasy players from past years including Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss and Antonio Brown. Later the Karate Kid opens up about his anxiety in regards to trading for running backs in dynasty leagues which leads to an in depth strategic discussion about how to approach the buying and selling of RBs in dynasty. Tune in and subscribe to our YouTube channel now!
Bryan Edwards - University of South Carolina - 6’3” 212 lbs. - November 13, 1998 (21 years old)
B_Don and Donkey Teeth are joined by Al_FF_Red, formerly known as Boof, to go over Donkey's dynasty rankings. DT walks us through his ranking process and we ask him about the general construction of his top 20.Â
We dig into his Joe Mixon ranking/hatred as both B_Don and Boof are all in on Mixy. We then ask DT about his top 20 ranking of Julio Jones and if he still belongs in that range at this point in his career. B_Don then asks Boof and DT to explain the Deebo Samuel infatuation.
As the guys wrap up, we look at some late ranked players in Alshon, Kyle Rudolph, Jalen Hurts, Nick Foles, and Darren Fells (who B_Don only brings up to plug Kahale Warring).
Year one of the RazzBowl was a great success. Very nice. Sexy time. Wawaweewa. Sorry, I had Borat playing in the background while working on my 2020 fantasy football rankings.
So last year we were graced with a loaded field for the inaugural RazzBowl better ball tournament. It was a real who's who of the fantasy football world, including Heath Cummings, Jake Ciely, Andy Behrens, Brad Evans, Michael Salfino, my cousin Goncharius with the lazy eye who claims he's the greatest fantasy footballer of all-time, plus many more of the industry's biggest guns. But it was Mike Beers of RotoViz who took us all to Kazakhstan, hoisting the RazzBowl Cup with the help of his three-headed-monster backfield of Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henry.Â
I watched The Match on Sunday featuring Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning battling against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. The echo chamber said Tiger had a huge advantage playing at his home course. The echo chamber said Tiger wouldn't lose two matches in a row to Phil. Turns out the echo chamber sometimes echos for good reason, as the Tiger/Manning duo held off a later charge from Phil and Brady to hoist the Pandemic Cup. But the echo chamber isn't always right, especially in fantasy football. Remember last years mad chants of David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell as surefire first rounders? And JuJu and OBJ as top 15 draft pick elite WR1s? Well, I've stepped outside the echo chamber and into a private padded room to compile my 2020 fantasy football rankings. Over the weekend I gave you my overall top 10 for 2020 fantasy football which were crazy as a pack of unicycle-riding-gorillas. The only echos you'll find here are the friendly, completely sane, voices inside my head. Anyway, here's my top 20 for 2020 PPR fantasy football:
I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats waiting for the second half of my linebacker rankings to drop. Well probably not but since you probably have to draft more than 2 in 12 team leagues, this should be useful. We see the debut of three rookies for those who asked “Where are the rookies?” in response to my top 25. We have three tiers here in the second 25 because, well, the differences between these players start to get smaller. Â
Remember in leagues where you are starting two linebackers, these are all bench guys/bye week fillers if you were smart enough to take two of my top 25. Here you want to look for upside if you took players towards the end of the top 25 or you just don’t agree with my rankings. If you took Darius Leonard, look for a guy who has a great matchup in week 7 because, well, you’re not benching him. Ever. Or you can just go with the boring guy like Matt Milano who will give you tackles week in and week out.
The build up to the 2020 NFL Draft was like waiting for Christmas morning as a child, the release of Game of Thrones Season 8 as an adult and the return of Taco Bell's Nacho Fries as a stoner, all at once. But alas the excitement of the draft has come and gone. Giants fans were left wondering what might have been if their GM figured out how to use a computer, Bears fans were left wondering what it feels like to make a good draft pick and fantasy football fans were left wondering when Donkey Teeth's 2020 fantasy football rankings would be released. Sorry Giants and fellow Bears fans, I have no answers for you, but fantasy fans you're in luck. It's redraft rankings season! All of my 2020 dynasty football rankings have already been released, dissected and judged as terribly inadequate. Anyway, here's my top 10 for 2020 fantasy football:
Just kidding! Tricked you again! First, I'm contractually obligated to plug my wildly popular new YouTube show called Fantasy Football Malpractice with myself (Dr. Donkey Teeth) and The Boof. Episode two was released earlier this week where we discuss NFL in the COVID Era, drafting for upside and some of our worst takes from 2019. Watch, subscribe, comment and click that thumbs up dealie if you don't hate us too much!