it can vary according to starter requirements (yours sounds similar to ones i play in), scoring, & another big one is number of teams...
i personally like to go offense for the first eight rounds or so (there are exceptions, like if julius peppers or jonathan vilma drops to round eight, but that won't likely happen... it is good to know the rules before breaking them)...
especially since most leagues makes offense more valuable, & it gets progressively harder to find skill position talent in middle & end of draft, i like to come out with starting offense... 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR plus a couple key reserves (usually QB & RB... i should put starting TE in here, too)...
i would then turn my attention to LB & probably get two best left back to back... can't guarantee you will get two top 20 LBs this way... if very savvy group, maybe not, usually you could, though... or if LBs score very high in that system, prioritize them earlier... but it might be at expense of key QB & RB depth...
at some point i might start interspersing skill position picks for depth with IDPs... probably not QB3 early, but maybe RB4 or WR4 depending on value... i like to get at least one anchor DE & S pretty soon after this, too (i find elite DEs seem to go first, but it varies)... its hard to have no holes anywhere in these kind of drafts, especially initially... you can fill holes in future with trades, FA & later drafts... you also need to get couple more LBs, & since LBs are like RB of defense, don't wait too long to get depth there... you'll need a LB5 & LB6, with injuries, byes, unexpected underperformance, guys lose jobs, etc...
i think early, especially with IDPs but even offense (first 5-6 rounds) i pay a LOT of attention to age... & it is generally very possible to get guys that are good AND young... you might be less likely to win year one without tiki barber, but the guys who got priest a year ago are bummin hard now... it is a tightrope... get TOO risky & speculative a RB, & they could be out of a jon in year or two (JJ?)...
for example, few years ago, we had choice between good older guy (keyshawn ) & not so good younger guy (travis taylor)... luckily we opted for keyshawn & he had more trade value the next year... at a certain point, better to have sure thing older dude than flavor of the month young guy who is pretty sketchy... i have seen people wreck team by getting TOO much youth (& perpetually trading for picks than burning picks on speculative players that didn't pan out)... converse true, also, of course... win now mentality can blow up in your face if you don't win anyway & are left holding the bag with bunch of decrepit geezers!
strive for a nice mix of vet production with emphasis on talented AND young players early... i loosen up on age criteria later & for less important positions like CB & DT...
it helps to know positional variances for age-related decline... more important to get younger RB than QB & WR...
another factor is older guys help win now but may have rapidly eroding value in future for trades... get right young skill position player & they are worth a lot more in few years...
another reason to go offense early is general knowledge pool probably more evenly distributed... if you know defense, you are more likely to capitalize by getting starters & sleepers in mid-late rounds...
i wait on CB & DT, but i try & not wait TOO long if opportunity presents itself... antoine winfield or kevin williams in round 30...
you can usually get those types off WW, (relatively) cheap in trades, late in future drafts... sometimes even S & some DEs... LB much harder, so important to prioritize (same with skill position, though even there, easier to get blue chip QBs & TEs in drafts generally than WR, & especially RB)... you can get great LBs in draft in future, but that might require low first, or second/third rounders generally, which sometimes makes sense, but those picks are sometimes good to keep on second-third tier RBs & WRs...
* tough thing about generic inquiries is it is hard to address when crazy value at LB presents itself in round 7 & i said don't get a LB until 9th... amore systematic & rigorous way to go about it would be to look at several scenarios... lets say you get vilma round 6-7 instead of RB or WR... than you get skill position player few rounds later... just plug in scoring system & figure where you would incur worse dropoff?
i would still factor in that it might be easier to get stud LB like hawk or sims late first, early second round in future drafts... skill position players more hit & miss at that point, generally... which MIGHT drive your initial draft decisions about how to best allocate pick resources positionally...
