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IDP DRAFT STRATEGY
By Mark Cuebas, NFL Draft Bible

Playing Fantasy Football and using Individual Defensive Players (IDP) in lieu of team defenses is becoming increasingly popular. Owners who use the IDP system draft defensive players as they would offensive players according to their roster requirements. Most IDP leagues that I have seen employ 1 DB, 1 DL, and 1 DB/DL. The DL (Defensive Lineman) position is a bit of a misnomer as either a defensive lineman or a linebacker may occupy this slot. The DB (Defensive Back) position is likewise filled using either a cornerback or a safety. The DL/DB (Defensive Flex) position is filled using any defensive player.

It is important to consider the scoring system that your league uses when evaluating the defensive talent. This is probably the most important rule of fantasy football on both sides of the ball. Generally, the categories used for defensive scoring will include: sacks, interceptions, passes defended, tackles, forced fumbles, return yardage, etc. Be prepared, for I have seen leagues where ½ tackles and ½ sacks are awarded as well!

Take special notice whether return yardage is awarded to the individual player. This is significant in that it will also affect how you value your offensive talent as well. For example, in 2006, owners in leagues that used team defensives were probably not especially impressed by New England RB Laurance Maroney. His rushing numbers from the 2006 season (745 yards and 6 touchdowns), as well as his receiving numbers (194 yards and 1 touchdown) were impressive for a rookie, but borderline for a number two running back. Factor in his return yardage totals (783) and he suddenly becomes a bit more palatable. For the sake of this article we will consider the following scoring format:

Tackle sole (1)
Tackle assist (.5)
Sack (3)
Interception (2)
Passes Defended (1)
Fumble Forced (2)
Fumble Recovered (2)
Touchdown (6)
Safety (2)
Return Yardage (1 per 10 yards)

In this format you can quickly identify two things. The first is how high return yardage is valued. This makes it all but imperative to draft a DB that does double duty as a KR or PR.

The DB that jumps out to many due to his performance last year is Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears. His kick return (528 yards 2 TD’s) and punt return (600 yards 3 TD’s) numbers were certainly impressive. Unfortunately Hester’s tackles for the season (9) were not. Coaches that were awed by Hester’s talent and plugged him into their rosters were often times more disappointed than not. The obvious exception would have been Hester’s record setting two touchdown returns against the St. Louis Rams in week 15. However, one or two successful outings does not make a fantasy stud. Hester’s low tackle numbers make it near impossible to consider Hester for any sort of regular defensive impact. Interestingly enough the Chicago Bears are reportedly intrigued with his potential speed on offense and are rumored to be shifting him from DB to a hybrid WR/RB/KR/PR, which would certainly increase his fantasy football value from an offensive standpoint. Unfortunately, that discussion is outside the scope of this article and will be addressed at a later date.

The defensive backs that return kicks and/or punts and record tackles are significantly more valuable and as a result heavily coveted. This is where the second thing you should notice about the scoring format comes into play. In fantasy football, tackles are king. A full point a tackle used to be the norm but more and more leagues are turning to .5 point per tackle. While in any format tackles are important in this format they are doubly so. In addition you must take into account a player with a high number of tackles figures to be around the ball a great deal.

A defender’s presence around the football can reward the lucky coach with a sack or fumble recovery or perhaps even the sack/fumble recovery/touchdown trifecta.

Buffalo’s CB Terrance McGee is certainly one example of an IDP owner’s dream. In 2006 McGee recorded 63 solo tackles and 11 passes defended. He also returned kicks for 1355 yards (0 TD). By the above scoring format you can see that for the season McGee earned well over 200 points even though he went the season without a TD.

McGee has been fantasy gold since his sophomore season when he replaced an injured Troy Vincent. Although his size (5’9) limits his interceptions he certainly does well enough in other areas to overlook it. It will be interesting to see what the loss of Nate Clements in the offseason (San Francisco) means now that McGee is the number one corner in Buffalo. If past success is any indicator McGee is in for a monster season.

Other examples of successful defensive back/returners are the Jet’s CB Justin Miller and Tennessee’s unsuspended CB Pacman Jones. If you are unable to secure one of the elite few DB’s that return kicks or punts, all is not lost.

A fantasy coach can do quite well with the likes of Buccaneers CB Ronde Barber (84 solo tackles) or Bears CB Charles Tillman (68 solo tackles). Both of these corners are usually able to deliver tackle numbers almost like that of a linebacker. Generally speaking though ,when evaluating defensive backs for tackles and defensive stats you will want to consider the safeties first. Safeties like Arizona’s SS Adrian Wilson (74 tackles, 5 sacks, 4 INT, 7 passes defended, 1 TD) and Pittsburgh’s SS Troy Polmalu (57 solo tackles, 1 sack, 3 interceptions, 7 passes defended) are IDP Studs due to their tackles as well as their great all around stats.

Linebackers are the key to IDP leagues for their high tackle numbers and are most often drafted to fill the DL position. Linebackers like the Dolphins Zach Thomas (103 solo tackles), DeMeco Ryans (125 solo tackles) of the Texans and the Bears Lance Briggs (109 solo tackles) are all important players to consider on draft day. If you are in a league that values sacks more heavily than tackles, then a linebacker like Shawne Merriman (17 sacks) of the Chargers might figure more into your plans. If high sack totals are truly your friend, you will want to consider defensive ends prominently such as Miami’s Zach Taylor (13.5 sacks, 40 solo tackles) or Carolina’s Julius Peppers (13 sacks, 48 solo tackles).

In the end, it is truly your scoring system that will determine who you draft and when you draft them. If you are converting your league to an IDP league this season you should plug the numbers from last year’s stat leaders into the newly proposed scoring format and see who falls where. This should be extremely useful in establishing a guide to what you are looking for in terms of positions. Once you compare that with the points generated by offensive stat leaders in the same scoring system you should have a good idea when to draft what positions. Put it all together and you’ve got yourself your draft day IDP cheat sheet

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