Top 24 Defensive Players (IDP) Rankings For Week 5: Devin Bush Is In Store For A Breakout Week

No matter how your IDP roster is set up, we have you covered. Just like offensive players, defensive players can have positive and negative matchups that will reflect in their fantasy potential. The top seven names are broken down for each week between defensive lineman, linebackers, and defensive backs. Some leagues, you might no restrictions and just need to roster IDP players, and you can find them as a whole in our rankings. Get the rest of your fantasy football lineup figured out with our projections page.

Defensive Lineman

1. Aaron Donald – Los Angeles Rams

Aaron Donald has been able to mash weaker offensive lines and produce fantasy and it helps when those teams don’t just double team him. He gets another weak offensive line in Washington this week.

2. Myles Garrett – Cleveland Browns

Myles Garrett is currently your leading defensive lineman this season as he has five sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He was well on this pace last season before being suspended.

3. Joey Bosa – Los Angeles Chargers

Joey Bosa ranks 17th in scoring but always has that weekly upside. While the Saints have a solid offensive line, Bosa is still one of the top plays on the board.

4. Chris Jones – Kansas City Chiefs

Chris Jones is back this week and despite missing Week 4, he is still the 6th highest scoring defensive lineman in the league right now. He is generating sacks with 3.5 and has also forced two fumbles.

5. Cameron Jordan – New Orleans Saints

Los Angeles has allowed the 7th most fantasy points to opposing defensive lineman this season. This is a good spot for Jordan to finally have a breakout game in 2020.

6. Grady Jarrett – Atlanta Falcons

Grady Jarrett has been sneaky good while the rest of the Falcons defense has not. He ranks 9th in scoring and the Panthers offensive line has really struggled so far this season.

7. Yannick Ngakoue – Minnesota Vikings

With the absence of Danielle Hunter, Yannick Ngakoue has picked up his pace with two forced fumbles and four sacks this season. Not a bad spot on Sunday night against Seattle.

8. Cameron Heyward – Pittsburgh Steelers

The Eagles have allowed 12 sacks to defensive lineman and the most fantasy points on the year. Cameron Heyward had a long week off and will be back to cause some damage.

Linebackers

1. Blake Martinez – New York Giants

Blake Martinez continues to rack up tackles and has 26 now on the season but also two sacks. He is one of three averaging double-digit points per game so far this season. Dallas has played at a high pace so there will be a ton of chances for a big week.

2. Bobby Wagner – Seattle Seahawks

Bobby Wagner finally had that big week where he had ten tackles against the Dolphins. He has been one of the top IDP linebackers over the last few seasons. The Vikings are in the bottom third in fantasy points allowed to linebackers.

3. Jaylon Smith – Dallas Cowboys

Jaylon Smith continues to be one of the few options on the Dallas defensive side. The Giants are allowing the 6th most fantasy points to opposing linebackers this season.

4. Eric Kendricks – Minnesota Vikings

Eric Kendricks now ranks in top five in scoring among other linebackers this season. He has 30 tackles in four games. Kendricks is now a stable weekly play given his tackling ability.

5. Devin Bush – Pittsburgh Steelers

Philadelphia is also allowing plenty to opposing linebackers but Bush has a lot of sack upside this week while facing one of the poorer offensive lines because of their injuries.

6. DeMario Davis – New Orleans Saints

Demario Davis is averaging eight fantasy points per game this season and is in a good spot this weekend. The Chargers have allowed the second-most fantasy points to linebackers.

7. TJ Watt – Pittsburgh Steelers

TJ Watt always has a super high ceiling because of the sack and turnover upside he brings. Against Philadelphia, that potential is there, especially with sacks. This could be a multi-sack week.

8. Zack Cunningham – Houston Texans

Zack Cunningham currently ranks second in scoring after generating 32 tackles to start the season. Fire him up again. Jacksonville is allowing the 7th most fantasy points to opposing linebackers.

Defensive Backs

1. Jordan Poyer – Buffalo Bills

The Bills have one of the top secondaries in the league and Jordan Poyer is a big reason. He is top ten in scoring and has 22 tackles already this season. The Titans are a team to target and this game is expected to be played mid-week.

2. Harrison Smith – Minnesota Vikings

Harrison Smith will have his hands full against this lethal passing attack but there will be plenty of potential for Smith to generate some fantasy points.

3. Landon Collins – Washington Football Team

Landon Collins is averaging 7.1 points per game so far this season. The matchup is more league average with the Rams but we have seen them allow a few big games.

4. Justin Simmons – Denver Broncos

Justin Simmons is a guy I like especially when he can play up a bit in a game like this. He ranks 16thin defensive back scoring and is always a solid option. The Patriots are allowing the 5th most fantasy points to defensive backs.

5. Brian Poole – New York Jets

Brian Poole has been excellent so far in IDP scoring because he is consistently racking up tackles. That should be the case again this week with the Cardinals allowing the 8th most fantasy points.

6. James Bradberry – New York Giants

Targeting defensive backs against the Cowboys has been a great way of getting big fantasy points. James Bradberry gets them this week and already has nine pass deflections. They have allowed the second-most fantasy points to defensive backs.

7. Marlon Humphrey – Baltimore Ravens

Marlon Humphrey has driven a lot of his fantasy points through turnovers and has that potential this week. Cincinnati gives defensive backs plenty of volume.

8. Tyrann Mathieu – Kansas City Chiefs

Tyrann Mathieu ranks 18th in scoring so far this season and is averaging 7.8 points per game. The Raiders are allowing the 10th most fantasy points to opposing defensive backs this season.