More and more fantasy managers every year are ditching the irrelevance and boredom of team defenses in fantasy leagues for the added strategy and excitement of individual defensive players (IDP). No more adding a team defense late in drafts that has little to no impact on your chances of success in the upcoming season. Instead, they are drafting defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs who are awarded fantasy points for tackles, sacks and interceptions, just as quarterbacks and running backs get them for yards and touchdowns.
They are playing both sides of the ball. Giving the defense its due.
When many fantasy managers express reluctance about IDP leagues, it’s usually a concern they are “too complicated” — no one wants to have a rotten draft because they don’t understand a format. But it’s not true. With just a few tips and a little knowledge in your pocket, you can successfully navigate an IDP draft.
And once you do, there’s no going back. When you’re cheering for linebackers just as much wideouts on Sunday, you’ll realize what so many already have — that IDP is awesome.
IDP Strategy
The question I’m asked most often by novice IDP managers is, “When should I start drafting IDPs?” There’s no pat answer — scoring and roster requirements can change things significantly.
In a fairly standard IDP setup — two DL, two or three LB, two DB and maybe a “Flex” — with tackle-heavy scoring (most leagues are — check the ratio of solos to big plays like sacks — less than 3:1 is tackle-heavy, more than 4:1 is big-play heavy), the first IDPs will come off the board in Rounds 4-6. But in the King’s Classic Butkus Division, we drafted this past weekend at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where it’s full 11-player IDP lineups and the scoring weighs IDPs and offensive players relatively evenly, the first IDP — Jaguars LB Foyesade Oluokun — came off the board at 1.07.
Here’s the thing though. You don’t need to be the first manager to select an IDP… or the second. Unless things are crazy (like the Butkus Division), you don’t have to worry about being a trendsetter. A couple of rounds after the elite IDPs start coming off the board, the first big IDP run will take place — a round (or even two) where at least 6-7 defenders get drafted. That first run is your cue that it’s time. Try to be closer to the start of it than the end.
Not that long ago, defensive linemen were far and away the shallowest IDP position — the number of dependable weekly starters would run out before every team in a 12-team league had a pair. But now that most providers classify 3-4 rush linebackers as defensive linemen (or edge-rushers), those winds have shifted. A compelling argument can still be made for grabbing at least one high-end (top-8-10) option, but you can get away with a bit more patience now with the second starter without being badly burned.
In the vast majority of IDP leagues, linebackers are the foundation of successful defensive rosters — their steady tackle production makes them both the highest-scoring and most consistent IDPs. They are the running backs of IDP… if this was 1998. Simply put, you cannot have too many solid linebackers on the roster. The key is targeting “three-down” linebackers like the ones who wear the “green dot” helmet communicator. Those linebackers don’t leave the field in passing sub-packages, and more snaps means more opportunities to make stops.
In IDP leagues, defensive backs are two things — plentiful and unpredictable. The list of the top 10 defensive backs at the beginning of the year and the list at the end will be wildly different. There will be big names who disappoint. No-names will come from nowhere to have big seasons. It’s an annual occurrence. Given that, the name of the game with defensive backs is patience — wait on draft day. Grab your starters at the other two positions. Then target upside plays late. If they pan out, great. If not, there will be startable defensive backs on most waiver wires well into the regular season.
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IDP Sleepers
EDGE Bryce Huff, PHI
Huff was one of the more productive edge rushers in the league last year on a per-snap basis, logging 10 sacks in just 480 snaps. That production landed Huff just over $17 million a season to replace Haason Reddick in Philly, and the fifth-year veteran should see a sizable bump in playing time opposite Josh Sweat. If his per-snap production comes close to 2023 levels, a breakout is coming.
EDGE Byron Young, LAR
This analyst has been beating the Young drum all offseason long, so there’s no point in stopping now. As a rookie last year, Young had more total tackles, sacks and fantasy points than 2023 Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr. of the Texans. This season, Anderson is being drafted as a top 12 defensive lineman in many leagues. Young is an IDP afterthought on a potentially sneaky-good Rams front.
LB Blake Cashman, MIN
Minnesota’s first preseason game featured something of a surprise, as it was Cashman, and not second-year pro Ivan Pace Jr., who wore the helmet communicator when the first-team was on the field. Cashman topped 100 total tackles last year with the Texans. If he maintains that every-down role as defensive play-caller into the regular season, he could be one of the biggest values of 2024 at the position.
LB DeMarvion Overshown, DAL
Overshown’s rookie season ended before it began — he tore his ACL on the second drive of the second preseason game. But the young linebacker is reportedly healthy again, and Dallas coaches have raved with regularity about how good he has looked on the practice field. The linebacker position was a glaring weakness for the Cowboys last year, and while the team brought in veteran Eric Kendricks in the offseason, the No. 2 LB spot in Dallas is a question mark.
S Vonn Bell, CIN
After a relatively disappointing 2023 season in Carolina, Bell is back in Cincinnati, where he enjoyed some of the most successful seasons of his eight-year NFL career. When Bell signed with the Bengals back in March, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor called him the “ultimate standard-setter.” Bell appears locked in as the starter opposite Geno Stone in the Queen City, and he’s been productive for IDP managers in that role in the past.
S Taylor Rapp, BUF
Rapp was a bit player behind Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde last year in his first season with the Bills, although injuries forced him into four starts and 50 total tackles for the year. Now, Poyer and Hyde are both gone, and rookie Cole Bishop and free-agent acquisition Mike Edwards are both nursing injuries. That opens the door for Rapp to at least open the season as the starter in a Bills defense that has produced a number of big seasons from the safety position.
IDP Busts
EDGE Will Anderson Jr., HOU
This has nothing to do with Anderson’s talent, as last year’s DROY has a bright future ahead of him. But his statistical production last year wasn’t great (45 total tackles and seven sacks), and he’s being drafted inside the top 10 at the position in many leagues — ahead of players like Jacksonville’s Josh Allen-Hines and Chicago’s Montez Sweat. Drafting at ceiling is almost always a bad idea.
EDGE Haason Reddick, NYJ
Not that long ago, Reddick was inside my top 10 defensive linemen for the season — he has four straight seasons with double-digit sacks despite playing for three teams over that span. In two of those seasons, Reddick also eclipsed 60 total tackles. But the 29-year-old and the Jets are embroiled in a nasty contract dispute, and, at this point, even if Reddick does report, he’s bound to be rusty after sitting out so much of the offseason workouts.
LB Lavonte David, TB
David turned back the proverbial clock in 2023 — 134 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and a LB8 finish in fantasy points per game. But last year was the first time that David had 130 total stops since all the way back in 2015, and the 34-year-old missed multiple games for the second time in three seasons. Frankly, it wouldn’t be especially surprising if batterymate K.J. Britt posts more fantasy points in 2024.
LB Fred Warner, SF
From an NFL perspective, Warner is one of the best players at his position — he has triple-digit tackles in all six seasons in the league and has hit 130 total stops each of the past three years. But Warner has never been a big-play guy, and last year he finished with four interceptions — as many as he logged in his first five seasons combined. Warner is more likely to finish outside the top 20 than inside the top five.
S Jerry Bates III, ATL
Bates was phenomenal in his first season with the Falcons — his 89 solos, 132 total tackles, six interceptions and three forced fumbles were all career-highs. Only Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Buccaneers had more fantasy points among safeties. But Bates had just five interceptions in 2021 and 2022 combined, and those three forced fumbles matched his first five seasons put together. This isn’t to say Bates won’t have a fine season, but drafting defensive backs with the expectation they will match career seasons is asking to be disappointed.
S Antoine Winfield Jr., TB
Winfield was the highest-scoring defensive back in fantasy football, and he will be the first player at his position off draft boards in quite a few IDP drafts in August. Winfield admittedly had a great 2023, setting career highs across the board. But a league-high six forced fumbles a year ago won’t be easy to duplicate, and last season was the first time he had even 95 stops in a campaign. He has also missed at least three games twice in the past three years.
Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on X at @IDPSharks.
(Top photo of Blake Cashman, Will Anderson Jr.: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
