Defensive Player (IDP) Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1

Weekly Defense Player Rankings

No surprise to see the rankings dominated by linebackers, as they are the higher scoring position and the most consistent. Darius Leonard comes in as the number one option again, as he dominated scoring all while missing a few games as well. Leonard is great in racking up tackles, and also has shown the ability to force turnovers in back-to-back years. Turnovers and touchdowns are tough to predict for defensive players, especially because they do not happen on a grand scale. Leonard has been the top linebacker each season since returning and barring a major injury, it is hard to see that changing for 2020.

There continue to be other consistent linebackers, like Bobby Wagner and Cory Littleton. Both are strong weekly plays that bring consistent production, and Littleton also breaks out that weekly upside now and then. Pittsburgh was the top-scoring overall fantasy defense last season, and that brought some strong names to the table. T.J. Watt was one of the top IDP plays last season and a force in terms of bringing down the quarterback. The rookie Devin Bush also produced a strong year. While he isn’t in that top tier of defensive lineman, Cameron Heyward was a reliable option that generated a lot of production out of the nose tackle spot. That isn’t necessarily easy to do.

The yearly scoring for defensive lineman continues to fluctuate. Look at Aaron Donald, for instance. Coming off a strong 2018, he was double-teamed a ton in 2019 and didn’t have the same fantasy impact. J.J. Watt has fallen off as well, leading to new names like Danielle Hunter and Cameron Jordon to be the more reliable edge rushers. Hunter and Jordan both have dominated in the sacks department, and the Bosa Brothers are not far behind either.

Outside of just a few names, the secondary position scoring is a wildly variant one to trust. Jamal Adams, Budda Baker, and Eric Reid have been consistent, but outside of these players, safety is a tough position to trust. Secondary players that also do make tackles is a big advantage, but you generally will have to draft higher to get them. Tracy Walker and Budda Baker are two names that surpassed 80 tackles last season. A lot of the time, you are relying on the big turnover plays or hoping for a few pass deflections. This results in a lot of lower floor weeks compared to the rest of the positions.

IDP Draft Strategy

There are a lot of different roster formats that tie into IDP leagues. You can have rosters that just require to have a few defensive players, where positions do not matter. There also can be truly designated positions with cornerbacks, safeties, defensive ends, etc. Most of the time, you will have just a set of defensive lineman, linebackers, and secondary players. It is important to understand how the roster format is, as well as how scoring works. There is a lot more creativity in IDP leagues, so it can vary draft strategies. Scoring could weight tackling higher, be balanced, or weight turnovers and touchdowns higher. This is also very important to understand. It plays into your offensive players as well, because if defensive players score closer to offensive players, then drafting will be different. If offensive players are weighted much higher, that means you can sit back in the draft and wait till closer to the end.

Looking at each position, we will start with defensive linemen. There is a pretty clear front few guys that will go a few rounds ahead of the rest of the defensive options, but this is a pretty inconsistent position at times. There are also not a ton of options, even though the league has been getting deeper here over the last few games. This is a position to watch and wait for. I don’t necessarily want to bite on any of the top names at their ADP unless I feel comfortable with the rest of my lineup, but missing out on at least the first few tiers, you could be struggling to fill these needs later on.

Linebackers are the easy plug and play options each week. If your league does not have designated slots, and instead just use defensive players, linebackers are the most consistent options and also the deepest of any of the defensive positions. They are dependable, and there are a few things to look for when drafting IDP players, and that is mostly how many snaps they are playing. Linebackers sometimes will play the first two downs and then leave the field, while some come in solely for third-down purposes. You also have workhorse backs who play all three downs.

The secondary is a position with a lot of depth. This is also an easy position to stream weekly. Scoring is volatile, but that is going to affect everyone, not just you. Because there will be waiver wire options and this will not be a high fantasy scoring position, look to wrap up the rest of your positions before drafting players in the secondary. There are going to be names that didn’t finish in the top 30 last year be in that range for 2020, and vice versa.

IDP fantasy football Rankings Frequently Asked Questions

• What Are The Top Defensive Players In Fantasy Football?

• When Should I Draft Defensive Players In Fantasy Football?

• What Defensive Player Has The Most Sacks?

• How Many Defensive Players Should I Have On My Bench?

• How Do I Determine What The Best IDP Matchups Are?

• How Do Stream Defensive Players?