When I started playing fantasy football in 1991, I did not have all the choices players have today. There was no Superflex, tight-tnd premium, or daily fantasy. Many people would say that it must have been boring, but the new generation will never know the “fun” of scouring the USA Today on Monday for all the stats or putting in your line-up over the phone with the first letter of the player’s first name and last three letters of their last name. “For Jamal Lewis…..press 1”. While fantasy football has exploded in popularity over the past 25 years, only a small group of us have enjoyed using defensive players to win us championships.
People have always been excited about watching a five-touchdown explosion from Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow, or a long bomb to Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase, or a rumbling touchdown run that includes a textbook stiff arm or a hurdle over a ducking cornerback from Derrick Henry or Saquan Barkley. But they don’t realize the joy….and more importantly, the points, from a 15-plus tackle game from Roquan Smith or Fred Warner, or a three-sack effort from Maxx Crosby or Myles Garrett, or even another interception from Trevon Diggs or Jessie Bates.
Leagues that use Individual Defensive Players are referred to as “IDP”, and I believe this represents the next level of fantasy football. IDP expands the type and number of statistics, introduces a whole group of additional players, and allows you to search for sleepers on the other side of the ball. Players begin to understand the importance of tackles, sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and, of course, when someone takes an interception or a fumble “TO THE HOUSE!”
Embracing Change
So why should you want to play IDP? In addition to helping you learn additional players, defensive schemes, and the differences between defensive coordinators, IDP offers the ability to offset some of your offensive weaknesses after you lose two wide receivers to injury in the first three games of the season. It can also help you survive the week where your opponent’s flex has a three-TD game or when your stud decides this is the week where he only has three catches for 45 yards and no touchdowns.
IDP gives you more players to root for, which comes into play when you are a Carolina Panthers fan like me. The other thing I have experienced is that, for the most part, defensive players seem to get hurt less often than offensive players, so you are not constantly trying to fill a hole because your player is out for the week.
Finally, you can be successful against those IDP players who still focus mainly on offense by being the manager who drafts the first linebacker in the 5th round rather than their second running back or third wide receiver. By playing in multiple IDP leagues for more than 25 years, I have only missed the playoffs a handful of times, and in all but three years, have had a top-3 scoring defense. That is how you make money!
IDP Draft Prep
So, what should you know when preparing for your IDP draft? First, and most importantly, IT IS ALL ABOUT TACKLES!!! I can’t say that enough. As a result, you should be focused on linebackers and safeties. A good tackling linebacker can be a consistent scorer for multiple years. Ray Lewis never had a season where he averaged less than 7.3 tackles per game, while Zach Thomas’s lowest season was 8.3 tackles per game. When I am preparing for a draft, I will be very disappointed if I don’t have at least two of my top 10 ranked linebackers and one of my top 5 defensive backs (all of whom will play safety).
Consistency Matters
Second, you need to understand that compared to tackles, sacks, and interceptions have substantially more variance and usually come in waves. With sacks, while there are a handful of guys who you can count on for double-digit sacks (Watt/Parsons/Garrett), you will also see a guy like Josh Hines-Allen, who has averaged 8.5 sacks per year over the past five years, but here are his stats: 2020 – 2.5, 2021 – 7.5, 2022 – 7, 2023 – 17.5, and 2024 – 8.
You also occasionally have the “flash in the pan” players like Romao Okwara, who had 10 sacks for the Lions in 2020, but since then, has had only five total and is no longer in the league. This is generally why, if I don’t get one of the top 5-6 defensive linemen, I will pick them much later in the draft. Interceptions are even worse. There has not been a repeat leader in interceptions over the past 10 years, and the high over that time has ranged from six in 2019 and 2022 to 11 by Trevon Diggs in 2021. It should be noted that Diggs only had three interceptions in both 2020 and 2022.
Schemes Matter
Third, you should always pay attention to the defensive schemes that each team primarily plays. 4-3 defenses can make an absolute star of a middle linebacker. In a 4-3 defense, middle linebackers have gap responsibility and benefit from two defensive tackles taking on blocks, thereby freeing up the linebacker to make the tackle. In addition, 4-3 linebackers are generally lighter and faster, with the ability to go sideline to sideline to make the play.
Finally, while 4-3 linebackers are not asked to blitz as much as their 3-4 counterparts. When they do blitz, they often are untouched, or just have to take on a surprised running back. It should be noted that the top 3 linebacker tackle leaders came from predominantly 4-3 defenses. That being said, there are a lot of great tackling 3-4 linebackers, including Roquan Smith, Kaden Ellis, and Zach Baun.
Roster Considerations
In addition to knowing the defensive schemes, you should also be aware of who the team’s defensive coordinator is. Any defensive player who is part of the aggressive defensive plans of Steve Spagnuolo, Vic Fangio, Brian Flores, Lou Anarumo, and Jim Schwartz has the opportunity to be an IDP star.
Another piece of valuable advice is regarding cornerbacks, and this is why I rarely have one on my roster. Darrell Revis, Richard Sherman, Champ Bailey, Deion Sanders and Darrell Green are some of the best “shutdown corners” in the history of the game…..but for the most part, they were all terrible fantasy players. Always remember, when you have a player that is so good that they name an island after them, you might want to avoid them in your draft because smart quarterbacks don’t challenge them too often. Furthermore, many offensive coordinators scheme around these guys. I think the only cornerback that could potentially be on my roster is a guy opposite the shutdown corner.
Finally, I believe you should always be the first person to draft a defensive player, which, as we all know now, should be a linebacker. Depending on your scoring, I have found that the top LBs will outscore anywhere from 60%-70% of wide receivers and running backs.
2025 IDP Rankings
In conclusion, I want to give you my defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs rankings for 2025. But, before I do, I should warn you. You will find that once you start playing IDP, it is addictive, and you will no longer be satisfied with only playing in your normal offense-only leagues. Furthermore, when you win your IDP league, you KNOW that you are a much more talented fake GM/coach than all of the other fake GMs/coaches.
Enjoy IDP!
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