As we all know there are many ways to skin a cat and drafting your fantasy football team is no different. Don’t draft a QB early. Zero RB strategy. Grab at least 2 RBs in the first 3 rounds. Which one is right? Well the one that wins of course as each season presents us with different options depending on trends in the NFL. With IDP leagues becoming more and more popular and many trying them out for the first time, what are some strategies that will help you win?
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When I wrote about the top 25 defensive lineman, it was easy to get excited about it. There were players who got you revved up when thinking about their explosiveness coming off the ball, dominating the offensive lineman and putting a hit on the quarterback.
Writing about the next 25 conjures up very little of those feelings. Historically, this is the shallowest position for IDP leagues as once you get past the top 10-20 players, there is very little difference in the next 30-40. Last year in my home league (scoring was 0.5/tackle, 3/sack/FF/INT, so big play skewed), Joey Bosa finished as DL22 with 4.16 ppg. Brian Burns was DL51 with 3.12 ppg. That’s only 1 ppg difference between those two players. Is it better to have Bosa, well of course, but over a season, it probably made little difference in your record on a week to week basis. Now this may change a bit with the change in position designation by some sites as many OLBs will be designated at Edge and moved into the defensive line category. This will expand the choices at defensive line and make this group of 25 more interesting. I’ll cover this topic as we get more clarity as to what most sites will do.
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IDP Leagues: DB Draft Strategy
May 30, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Strategy, IDP Rankings, IDP Report, Roster Strategy |by: GasDoc
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.
Please, blog, may I have some more?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.
Please, blog, may I have some more?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.
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.
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If you play in an IDP league, you already know that linebackers are the bread and butter of defensive scoring. If you are trying to learn about IDPs or deciding whether to convince your fellow league mates to switch from the hum-drum team defense to the dynamic scoring of individual defensive players, this is a good place to start. We’ll start with the top 25 linebackers and then cover 25-50 and the top 50 at DL and DB.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Whenever you see an overall ranking for IDP leagues, linebackers will dominate the list. Some will have the top 10-20 players be linebackers and that would be true if you only based the rankings on projected points, but draft strategy has to come into play. As in your offensive player part of the draft, position scarcity and tiers come into play. There is a large core of players in each of the three positions that don’t vary much, but the start of each of these cores varies greatly between positions.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Individual defensive player (IDP) leagues have been around for a long time. I’ve been playing in one for over 15 years, but why are they so scarce? “I don’t have time for that” “It’s too complicated” “Makes the draft too long” are the excuses you hear by those who don’t play in this format. These excuses come from the same people who will play in a 50 round dynasty league in both baseball and football. It’s not that difficult and adds a level of competition that goes beyond picking a team defense. Your league can make it as simple or as complicated as it wants. Start with the basics and tweak each year as the owners in your league get more comfortable with the format.
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