IDP Post
I found this post on some website that was ranking individual defensive players, while there ranking is fine for week 1 of the pre-season, what really caught my eye was the article. I just thought I would share.
Fantasy Football
2010: Individual Defensive Player (IDP) Ranks
By Andy Behrens
"Admit your mistake.
You should have been playing IDP leagues all along, but you haven't
done it. You've always considered yourself to be a
defense-wins-championships sort of fan, yet you've only participated in
fantasy leagues where scoring is dominated by offensive skill players.
On your rosters, there's just one starting spot dedicated to defense,
and it scores 5-12 points per week. Like a kicker, basically.
It's shameful. Few observers would argue that the winning formula in
the NFL is one-ninth defense, eight-ninths offense. But that's how we've
set up the fantasy game.
There's a better way. And you know it. Unless you're
involved in an IDP league, you cannot claim to have a balanced fantasy
portfolio. Most of us will acknowledge that the daily requirements of
fantasy ownership — draft prep, lineup management, trade negotiation,
etc. — have made us more knowledgeable fans. We're not necessarily
better spouses, better parents or better employees, but we're certainly
better-informed football fans. Yet if you're not playing IDP, then you
can only claim expertise in a very small segment of the player pool.
You're a more committed fan than that. The fact that you clicked on
this post despite its unambiguous headline suggests that you're at least
IDP-curious. Give it a one-year trial, gamer. There's no cost, no
obligation to continue. Below, you'll find some defensive player ranks
to get you started.
But before this thing degrades further, becoming a simple list of
names, we have a few caveats. First of all, you need to understand that
there's not quite an industry standard for IDP scoring. The ranks here
were crafted with Yahoo! default settings in mind; they were not
designed for custom leagues where sacks and turnovers may dominate the
scoring.
In most IDP formats (but not all), you want high-volume tacklers.
Those points are relatively consistent and predictable. Fumble
recoveries, interceptions and defensive TDs are nearly impossible to
forecast season-to-season, so forget about doing it week-to-week. If
your league awards points for tackles, that's where you should focus
your attention. And if you're involved in a format where you simply
start a collection of generic defensive players — that is, you aren't
required to play a specific number of LBs, CBs, DEs — then you'll
probably want to own nothing but inside linebackers.
You also need to understand that the best real-life defensive players
often make terrible fantasy options. Perhaps the best example of this in
today's NFL is Raiders corner Nnamdi Asomugha
He's a little too good for our game. Asomugha is rarely challenged by
opposing quarterbacks, so he routinely finishes with useless tackle and
interception totals (34 and 1 in '09). Fantasy irrelevance can be the
flip side of on-field dominance.
Unless you have a ridiculous number of bench spots available for use,
you'll drop most defensive players when you hit their bye weeks. It's
rare for an IDP league to be so deep that stats can't be found via free
agency. Realistically, the only IDPs that I'd be willing to roster
through an injury or bye would be the occupants of the top 2-3 tiers in
the ranks below… "