How To Win Your IDP League 2021

In the modern NFL, offense is king. But defense wins championships.

They can tilt the rules to benefit the offense all they want, but the Buccaneers didn’t jackhammer the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV because of Tommy Terrific and Gronk. Tampa stomped Kansas City because Jason Pierre-Paul, Devin White and Shaquil Barrett were all up in the Chiefs’ business.

And yet, in most fantasy football leagues, defense is an afterthought.

Fantasy managers wait until late and draft a team defense that will have next to no impact on the season to come.

Unless, of course, those fantasy managers have put on their big-boy (or girl) pants and joined an IDP league. In IDP leagues, it’s not just about Mahomes getting fantasy points for passing yards. It’s about White getting points for sacking him. It’s not just about Derrick Henry getting points for rushing yards. It’s Bobby Wagner getting points for tackling him.

It adds excitement. It adds strategy. It’s just better. And yet many fantasy managers are leery of playing in an unfamiliar format and winding up less like the Buccaneers and more like the New York Jets.

However, with just two pages in this magazine, I can offer up draft strategies and player targets that can help even first-time IDP leaguers kick some proverbial butt in 2021.
 

IDP DRAFT STRATEGY

Without question, the most vital aspect of IDP draft strategy is also the most obvious – KNOW YOUR SCORING. I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched IDP veteran sink their squad before the draft is even over because they didn’t bother to check the league’s scoring.

Is the scoring tackle-heavy (a tackle-to-big play ratio of less than 3:1)? If it is, then the value of tackle vacuum linebackers like Darius Leonard of the Indianapolis Colts increases that much more. Is it big play-heavy (a ratio of more than 4:1)? If that’s the case, then edge-rushers like Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and ball-hawking defensive backs get a boost. Or is the scoring balanced, which falls in-between?

There’s also the matter of how IDPs score relative to their offensive counterparts. If the top defensive players score on a level that’s comparable with a WR3 (the case in quite a few leagues), then you have some inkling of when those high-end IDPs should start coming off draft boards. If they tally fantasy points at a similar level to an RB2, then the top IDPs should be valued as such.

Of course, this assumes that you’re starting at least a couple defensive players at each position. If you’re starting just one at each spot (or just one overall), then there’s no point selecting IDPs until near the end of the draft – there will be plenty of startable options available then.

Also, for shame.

If you’re starting a full defensive lineup that includes cornerbacks and defensive tackles with scoring that makes them as valuable as offensive players, then you’re a badass and should be commended.

I tip my cap to you.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

When it comes to defensive linemen, the name of the game is scarcity. The arrival of young studs like Chase Young of the Washington Football Team has helped deepen the talent pool
relative to recent seasons. But once you reach the back end of the Top 20, the questions start to pile up relatively rapidly. If your IDP league features 12 teams with two starters along the defensive front, then someone is getting stuck with the Riddler.

It’s important to target at least one high-end (top-10) defensive lineman, and as often as not I’ll take my chances with finding value a bit later on at linebacker if it means gaining an edge on the D-line by grabbing two starters ranked inside my Top 15.

TARGET HIM: Yannick Ngakoue, LVR

While speaking to reporters at OTAs, Ngakoue said he has big plans in his new home. “I just want to be the motor to this defense, the motor to the defensive line,” Ngakoue said. “Maxx (Crosby) and I are both identifying ourselves as the guys that need to put this team on our back as far as the defensive side of the ball.” Ngakoue has fallen off many IDP radars after wandering the NFL last year. But he has never had fewer than eight sacks in a season.

FADE HIM: Trey Hendrickson, CIN

Hendrickson parlayed a career-best 13.5 sacks last year into a big contract with the Bengals, where the team will reportedly move him around the formation. “It’s going to be a unique opportunity to rush the passer and be used in different ways,” Hendrickson said, via the Cincinnati Inquirer. Hendrickson finished inside DL1 territory last year, but between his low tackle numbers (just 25 in 2020) and the fact that over 65 percent of his career sacks came a year ago, Hendrickson is a prime candidate to be over drafted in 2021.

SLEEPER: Kerry Hyder, SEA

The San Francisco 49ers suffered through a miserable 2020 season, but Hyder was a bright spot – career-highs in tackles (49) and sacks (8.5) on the way to a top-20 fantasy finish in many scoring systems. That career year got Hyder a free agent deal with the rival Seahawks, where Hyder will line up opposite Carlos Dunlap. The 30-year-old might not be a game-changer, but he could be a dirt-cheap source of DL2 numbers in the upcoming season.

LINEBACKERS

Linebackers are the backbone of most successful IDP rosters. Their propensity for racking up big tackle numbers makes them
not only the highest scoring players in most IDP leagues but also the most consistent. Long story short, without a solid LB corps your IDP team isn’t going anywhere.

In the overwhelming majority of IDP drafts, at least three of my first five defensive picks will be linebackers. Locking down two inside the Top 20 is important. Unless you attack the defensive line early, getting two inside the Top 15 is even better.

In an era when most NFL teams are in passing sub packages more than any other formation defensively, targeting linebackers who stay on the field in subs (“three-down linebackers”) is critical. On the other hand, unless your league awards highly for sacks, most rush OLB like Arizona’s Chandler Jones are better left alone. Their production tends to fluctuate a great deal from week to week.

TARGET HIM: C.J. Mosley, NYJ

Mosley’s first two years in New York have been a nightmare – he played in just two games in 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season. However, per the team’s website the 29-year-old is jazzed to be back on the field. “It’s been a breath of fresh air, that’s the best way to put it,” Mosley said. “I’m happy to be back in the building with my teammates. Mosley is barely being drafted inside LB2 territory. If healthy, he has top-10 (and maybe top-5) upside.

FADE HIM: Myles Jack, JAX

Jack is actually coming off one of the better seasons of his pro career – he set a new career-high with 118 total tackles in 2020. But he was outperformed statistically (by a wide margin) by batterymate Joe Schobert, and the arrival of yet another new defensive coordinator means Jack will yet again have to learn a new scheme and position (in this case, playing inside in the 3-4). Jack may be able to put together a lower-end IDP LB2 season in 2021, but he’s being drafted at that fantasy ceiling. Pass.

SLEEPER: Ernest Jones, LAR

Jones has spent some time as the defensive play-caller in OTAs, although he admitted to reporters that playing alongside Aaron Donald was a bit intimidating. “Last week sometime, I was calling the play out, and he didn’t hear it,” Jones said. “So he asked me again, and I about froze up because I was like, ‘Bro, this is Aaron Donald,” There are snaps to be had in the middle of that Rams D. If Jones can win a three-down job he’ll be one of this year’s biggest steals given his non-existent ADP.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

In IDP leagues, most defensive backs are two things – plentiful
and unpredictable. You can rest assured that each year there will be highly-drafted defensive backs who fall flat. You can also bet the rent there will also be defensive backs who come from nowhere to have a big season. It happens every single year.

Given those realities and the depth of options available at the position, I’ve long been a proponent of patience where drafting defensive backs is concerned. I almost always have all of my starters squared away on the defensive line and at linebacker before I draft anyone in the secondary. Fairly often I’ll have locked down a reserve or two.

There will be defensive backs available late who are undervalued for whatever reason, be it injury or just a lack of notoriety. Cincinnati’s Jessie Bates was the poster safety for such players last year, but after a third-straight 100-stop season his odds of falling in drafts in 2021 aren’t great.

Target upside plays late in drafts. If they pan out, the strengt hs you have built along the D-line and at linebacker will make you hard to beat. If they don’t, there will absolutely be defen - sive backs available on the waiver wire as the regular season gets rolling.

TARGET HIM: Khari Willis, IND

While speaking to reporters at OTAs, Colts DC Matt Eberflus lauded Willis’ ability to flow to the ball. “With Khari, what we noticed right away was his instincts,” he said, “his ability to process and then to really move fast to the football,” The 25-yearold missed a pair of games last season, but Willis quietly finished among the top-12 fantasy defensive backs in terms of points per game. He’s a great target for patient IDP managers in the secondary.

FADE HIM: Derwin James, LAC

Using a pick on James is like buying a Mega Millions ticket. If it hits, the payoff could be huge. But after missing a staggering 27 games over the past two years (including all of 2020 with a knee injury) the odds aren’t especially good. If he can stay healthy, there’s a good chance he’ll crack the top-10 in fantasy points. But five games played in two seasons doesn’t speak well to his doing that. Unless he falls in your IDP draft, let someone else take on the riskiest DB of 2021.

SLEEPER: Jordan Fuller, LAR

We have seen both John Johnson and Taylor Rapp post DB1 numbers at the back end of the Rams’ defense, while Fuller’s production as a rookie was admittedly less impressive. But with Johnson now in Cleveland, Fuller is locked into a starting role this year behind a suspect group of linebackers with a year of experience under his belt and a “normal offseason” with which to prepare. There’s some second-year breakout potential here.

THE $64 QUESTION

There is one question I invariably get asked more than any other by novice IDP managers – “When should I start drafting IDPs?” It’s a query with no easy answer – scoring and lineup requirements play a major role in determining when defensive players start coming off the board.

In a “standard” IDP setup that features two DL, two or three LB, two DB and maybe a “FLEX” option, the elite IDPs will likely start getting drafted in the fourth or fifth round. They will trickle off the board for a while, and then in Round 7 or Round 8 (approximately) the first big defensive run will happen.

It’s not as important to have the first linebacker or defensive lineman taken as it is to avoid being frozen out of that run altogether. If you are unsure about how to set the defensive pace in your IDP draft, don’t worry about it. Let the other managers fret about reaching while you load up on offense and then add your IDP foundation during