NFL Tickets
Offensive players get the most attention in fantasy football circles, and rightfully so given the great overall impact they have, and team defenses are extremely common on all the major websites that offer leagues. But individual defensive players are also used in fantasy leagues, seemingly on an increasing basis, to add an extra element of strategy, in-season management and perhaps headaches for fantasy owners.
Depending on how many Individual Defensive Players (IDPs) are required to be used in your league, if your league uses them, having a solid overall strategy when it comes to targeting said players can make a difference in wins and losses on a weekly basis and thus obviously impact your results at season’s end.
If you’re still reading at this point, that means you are obviously in a league that is using IDPs and if it is your first time in such a league are seeking some guidance on draft strategy. With that, here is my overall strategy guide when it comes to defensive players, broken down by position.
Defensive Lineman
The fantasy value of defensive lineman is largely driven by sacks, and the top of most rankings you will see clearly reflect that with Jared Allen, Jason Pierre-Paul, Julius Peppers, Justin Tuck and Jason Babin among the names that should be considered most valuable here. A particularly low tackle total can be a bit of a buzz kill for fantasy owners, and finding a defensive lineman who is a prolific tackler can be a nice bonus, but using sacks as an overall guide should allow most owners to get the most out of a defensive lineman, in particular defensive ends.
Linebackers
The calling card for linebackers, as could be expected, is tackles. 27 linebackers posted 100 or more tackles in 2011, so the position is also deep for fantasy owners that miss out on one of the top tier options (Patrick Willis, London Fletcher, etc.). Sacks and interceptions can be differentiating categories when looking at linebackers, but both of those things are dependent on a player’s skills and how the team he plays for uses him. Taking some time to learn about a particular defensive coordinator’s scheme and how he employs his linebackers can help uncover some potential sleepers here.
Defensive Backs
The fantasy value of defensive backs is predicated mostly on two things, interceptions and tackles. Safeties can offer both, with George Wilson, Troy Polamalu, Eric Weddle and even Eric Berry, who missed nearly the entire 2011 season after tearing his ACL, among the top options at that position. It is a rare cornerback, for obvious reasons since opposing teams largely try to avoid the league’s best (Darrelle Revis, etc.), that can offer a nice tackle total along with a lot of interceptions. Charles Woodson has been an exception over the last couple years, but even he is rumored to possibly be moving to safety some this season in his age-36 season. New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper had 7.5 sacks last season, but that should be considered a big-time outlier and not at all the norm for defensive backs.
Share 
