NLS Article by: Mike IDP drafting is a lot different then drafting a standard league I dont mean "different" because you do it in a different way then standard I mean you can take a lot more chances drafting an IDP then you can with standard drafting. For instance when I take the approach to getting ready for my coming drafts I look for players that are now just getting involved in the defense or moving to a newer position from the previous year. The reason is teams have reasons to move a player from Middle to Outside or from LE to RE or even from FS to SS and the reason is they know more then we do because they see them every day. Most owners follow there rankings from other sites or from last years stats and thats what they go off of. They do not take into consideration that player x that was the 10th best LB last year moved to a 3-4 from a 4-3 or is moving to the Strongside opposed to the middle. Just by moving a little bit can have a huge factor in how a player pans out the next season. Thats why I look at a lot of sleepers or more of a mover then a sleeper I should say. Last year a prime example is Barrett Ruud from Tampa Bay before the season how many of you knew about this guy? I am guessing not to many of you and was a hot player to add after week 1 or even week 2. I drafted him last year in round 30 I think it was and became a starter week 1. My Early Sleepers on the defensive side of the ball this coming season are as follows: 1LB - Matt Wilhelm - SD Chargers - With Stephen Cooper out the first four games this coming season I think Wilhelm can be a huge factor. He gets the chance to show he can be a damn good LB in the NFL and if he keeps making his 07 numbers better he could push Cooper for the spot upon Cooper's return. 2LB - Paul Pozluzny - BUF Bills - The injury scares me a little bit but he will be starting in the middle come this season and with the key additions to the defense the Bills are making it so Poz can be the man to anchor this defense. 1DL - Julius Peppers - CAR Panthers - Coming off one of the worst fantasy seasons recorded he will be back into the mix this season and if you are in one of those redraft leagues he could come cheap. From the reports I have been reading Julius is in damn good shape this off season and looks to be fully healthy un like last season. The only thing that concerns me is the move to the opposite side from where he is used to. If the switch is taken easily he will be back on the top next season. 2DL - Tamba Hali - KC Chiefs - Who? yes KC will produce another damn good Dlineman this season. If the Chiefs did not think they had someone to fill Allen's shoes do you think they would have pedaled him off? I don't think so. I am not saying he is going to produce like Allen did but his numbers will increase greatly this coming season. 1DB - Kenny Phillips - NY Giants - I usually would stay away from nominating Rookies in the mix but he was the best safety in this draft and takes over right away in the starting lineup. He will make plays for the Giants and could be a damn good late round sleeper. 2DB - Nedu Ndukwe - CIN Bengals - Usually when a player gets moved its because the team has someone else waiting in the wings. Nedu can be a hell of a steal this coming season. Nedu replaces Madu and should become better than Madu in his first season getting the nod in the backfield. Nedu is in a damn good division for points in a fantasy season. I see big things from this kid. Just Missed LB - Keith Rivers - CIN Bengals DL - Alex Brown - CHI Bears DB - Clinton Hart - SD Chargers Source
There isn't much doubt that Hali will produce better numbers barring injury IMO, but giving up Allen was a stupid move by a pigheaded GM. The Chiefs didn't pedal Allen off, Carl Peterson pissed him off. How do you trade arguably the best DE in the league? We are supposedly in a "rebuilding" process. Allen is 26 and has not hit his prime. I believe he will be even better this year. Congrats Vikes fans, IMO you have the best defensive line in the league.
How are they not? Check back on there stats last year and then come back to me with your valuable information So you dont like what the Chiefs did in the draft? I think they are better off with what they have now and they probably still will have money to use in the coming seasons.
Poz will be a tackle machine. I hope to get him on my IDP team this year. I'm targeting him late and DeMeco Ryan early. Ryan carried my D last year.
To be honest to me in most of my leagues Poz is going a lot earlier then I thought and has turned into one of those guys that I would never take a chance on that early. Although he could put up huge numbers its not a guarantee.
That's odd for a guy who played in only 3 games as a rookie. He was all over the field on those 3 games though.
He did play decent in the 3 games but not for me to draft him as high as I have seen him go. Thats just me though when I draft IDP leagues I have away of getting the best talent at the right spots.
In my league we play with 2 DBs and 2 LBs. They can score just as many points as some of the top WRs. A good D can translate into the difference between wining and losing. That being said, it's good strategy to get good Defensive players early, but not too early because there are only 10 teams and the pool of LBs and CBs is deep. Every year i end up dropping a LB I drafted in favor of a top 10 point scorer I find on waivers.
the reason that you don't draft IDP's too early is because the dropoff from 1st tier to even third tier isn't nearly as bad as in the offensive skill positions. It really all depends on who is available. Don't fret if you don't get a super stud at one defensive position, you are likely to get one at another position. Also because teams usually carry more offensive backups than defensive backups, that reduces the pool of players to choose from at a position like WR, but not so much at DB - because of less backups and more players to choose from (DB includes SS,FS,CB) Finally, there are always guys available on WW at the beginning of seasons and more unknowns come from the IDP side My advice is go for a couple of guys that you have targeted and then pick some consistent contributors, you need your defense to be solid, but it's not worth getting crazy about.
Good stuff and I agree I will wait on my defense and have mine set up in tiers as well and point structure. Defensive guys are hard to gauge a consistent weekly score as well
