Here’s a look at our IDP strategy and rankings as you prepare for your IDP fantasy football drafts.
- IDP Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Strategy: Defensive Backs
- IDP Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Strategy: Linebackers
- IDP Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Strategy: Defensive Linemen
Linebackers
LB Primer
This is where you will get most of your points in standard tackle-heavy leagues. Unlike defensive linemen, linebackers don’t have to be good to put up good numbers in IDP; they just need to be on the field. A tackle 9 yards downfield gets us the same 1.5 points it does at the line of scrimmage. However, the good LBs are the ones that stay on the field the most and are usually around the ball.
Pass-rushing LBs
Some pass-rushing specialist types of LBs earn their points mainly through sacks. T.J. Watt is the epitome of this style of LB, with guys like Barrett, Landry, and Reddick in the same boat. I’m not the biggest fan of these guys in tackle-heavy leagues because they tend to be boom or bust, but they can be helpful with the right matchups.
Upside Plays
Upside plays can hurt in deeper leagues from the LB position because if they don’t pan out, they usually aren’t on the field enough to be in your starting lineup. However, when they payout, it’s like hitting a progressive jackpot. There are fewer examples this season than most, but guys like JOK, Barton, Bolton, and Werner are guys that can way outplay their ranking and ADP.
2022 IDP Linebacker Rankings
ADP – Average Draft Position
Defensive Backs
DB Primer
Defensive Backs should be the last IDP position that you draft. There are SO MANY DBs that will score points that it makes DBs harder to predict on a week-to-week basis and cheap to buy in drafts. Passing increases every year and with that so do defensive backs making plays on the ball and stacking tackles. I have no issue taking my first DB all the way down to tier 3 and that’s not something I’m willing to do at the other positions. Even splitting the DBs into Safeties and Corners in bigger leagues doesn’t change my thought process for DBs because the position is so deep.
Drafting CBs
In leagues that mix S and CB (most leagues) Corners are so unbelievably inconsistent that I have my first CB (Kenny Moore) all the way down at 37 amond DBs and 134 overall. Diggs had a historic year with 11 INTS (most since 1981) and still only finished 19th in tackle-heavy formats in PPG. There is a ‘rookie CB rule’ that most rookies tend to get picked on in their first season and get more tackles. It’s more of a matchup play but it didn’t really pan out last year, Surtain was the #1 scoring CB from the 1st round and didn’t crack the top 50 in PPG.
Take Risks
This is the position you are most likely to find a solid replacement for on the wire so why not buy a lottery ticket? I’ll be rostering rookies like Hamilton, Brisker, Pitre and Cine on most of my rosters and if they don’t work out someone will show up on the wire to add.
2022 IDP Defensive Back Rankings
ADP – Average Draft Position
Defensive Linemen
The defensive line is the thinnest of all the IDP positions and provides the most inconsistent producers in general. Some have Aaron Donald at the top of their overall lists because of the consistency with which he plays and that’s a very reasonable strategy. As laid out in the overall primer, defensive line is usually where I start my IDP drafting, and in any league with two or more DL starters, I want to have my starters by the end of Tier 3. Remember that most defensive linemen are highly rotational (Donald was the only DL over 90% of the snaps and there were only three others over 80%), so if you invest highly and aren’t getting the results you expected, as long as the snap percentage isn’t getting worse, your luck should change quickly.
DT required leagues — DT is deeper than I can really ever remember it (shout out to every team moving to multiple fronts), but it’s still not great. If your league does require a DT, I would suggest investing early and Donald would be at the top of my list.
Rookies — This rookie class was one of the best in recent memory for top-end DL talent. I would compare DL to TEs as rookies in that earning time is more difficult because the learning curve can be massive.
2022 IDP Defensive Linemen Rankings
ADP – Average Draft Position
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