Drafting IDP Players (1 Viewer)

[3quinox]

Hey I just finished my first year in a fantasy leaugue and have been asked back. I have gotten the general gist of how to draft but IDP are still somewhat confusing. IMO middle linebackers are your bread and butter especially when they are in defenses that set them up for solo tackes, Willis, D'qwell jackson. But what about D lineman and defensive backs? I think strong safeties like T Branch are solid but maybe not. As for D line man what position puts you up for the most success? lastly is picking a defense. Should you pick a top 5 defense in one of the last rounds or maybe play just off of match ups? Many people load up on offense even in rounds 7 and 8 getting back up receivers but if during this time you drafted sure thing IDP players would that be a mistake? I have had two games where they have won for me. Any thoughts?

 

[rlwomack]

Hey I just finished my first year in a fantasy leaugue and have been asked back. I have gotten the general gist of how to draft but IDP are still somewhat confusing. IMO middle linebackers are your bread and butter especially when they are in defenses that set them up for solo tackes, Willis, D'qwell jackson. But what about D lineman and defensive backs? I think strong safeties like T Branch are solid but maybe not. As for D line man what position puts you up for the most success? lastly is picking a defense. Should you pick a top 5 defense in one of the last rounds or maybe play just off of match ups? Many people load up on offense even in rounds 7 and 8 getting back up receivers but if during this time you drafted sure thing IDP players would that be a mistake? I have had two games where they have won for me. Any thoughts?

Regarding DL, you would want to grab 4-3 DEs over 3-4 DEs and DTs. As far as team defenses, I don't try to grab a top 5 defense because most likely they are drafted way to early. This year I was able to pick up Houston D in second to last round. The great thing was that they had a week 11 bye so I wasn't I having to play defense roulette until later own. If you don't have a restriction on # of WW moves, I'd pick a decent defense as late as possible and when performance starts dropping, start playing matchups. For those that picked the Packers defense in 8-10 rounds, thr didn't seem to work out too well as their defense didn't seem to perform as well as last season.

 

[3quinox]

Hey I just finished my first year in a fantasy leaugue and have been asked back. I have gotten the general gist of how to draft but IDP are still somewhat confusing. IMO middle linebackers are your bread and butter especially when they are in defenses that set them up for solo tackes, Willis, D'qwell jackson. But what about D lineman and defensive backs? I think strong safeties like T Branch are solid but maybe not. As for D line man what position puts you up for the most success? lastly is picking a defense. Should you pick a top 5 defense in one of the last rounds or maybe play just off of match ups? Many people load up on offense even in rounds 7 and 8 getting back up receivers but if during this time you drafted sure thing IDP players would that be a mistake? I have had two games where they have won for me. Any thoughts?

Regarding DL, you would want to grab 4-3 DEs over 3-4 DEs and DTs. As far as team defenses, I don't try to grab a top 5 defense because most likely they are drafted way to early. This year I was able to pick up Houston D in second to last round. The great thing was that they had a week 11 bye so I wasn't I having to play defense roulette until later own. If you don't have a restriction on # of WW moves, I'd pick a decent defense as late as possible and when performance starts dropping, start playing matchups. For those that picked the Packers defense in 8-10 rounds, thr didn't seem to work out too well as their defense didn't seem to perform as well as last season.

That sounds like a good strategy. Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

 

[Punch]

Hey I just finished my first year in a fantasy leaugue and have been asked back. I have gotten the general gist of how to draft but IDP are still somewhat confusing. IMO middle linebackers are your bread and butter especially when they are in defenses that set them up for solo tackes, Willis, D'qwell jackson. But what about D lineman and defensive backs? I think strong safeties like T Branch are solid but maybe not. As for D line man what position puts you up for the most success? lastly is picking a defense. Should you pick a top 5 defense in one of the last rounds or maybe play just off of match ups? Many people load up on offense even in rounds 7 and 8 getting back up receivers but if during this time you drafted sure thing IDP players would that be a mistake? I have had two games where they have won for me. Any thoughts?

With IDP's, it depends on your scoring sytem. Use a tackle to sack ratio with 1:3 being standard. Anything more is big play, less is tackle heavy. 1:5 is big play scoring, 2:4 would be tackle heavy. The league that I run is a 1:5 ratio with 6 points for INT's, +2 for tkl for a loss, PD 1, FF 4, FR 2...very big play oriented. I add +2 for tkl for loss because it's just like a sack except the guy being tackled just isn't a QB. Some leagues have 2 pt tkls, 1 pt asst, and 2 for sacks and turnovers. This type of system makes a LB30 score more than a DL1. PFF created what they call the ultimate IDP scoring system that rewards game changing plays while making the top DB's and DL's up to the same scoring level with LB's without having to score tkl's differently between the positions. In this system, Jared Allen is the #1 IDP for 2011 as he should be because he's been dominant. Von Miller is a top 10 LB in a big play system as he should be...he's a game changer. In a tackle heavy format, he might be ranked in the 30's, not reflective of his performance relative to his NFL team. Charles Woodson is the DB1 because yet again, he's a game changer. In a big play system the top 5 DL's are GOLD! beacause after that they are all very hot and cold. Guys like Allen, Suggs, and JPP are unusually consistent for D linemen and I would take one of these over a top LB in a heartbeat in a standard or big play league. In a tackle heavy league a guy like P Willis could score as much as a stud RB. It's not much unlike offense where the first key to winning is knowing your scoring system. LB's and especially DB's can be had on waivers throughout the season but good DL's are few and far between. If you don't have a top one you're hoping to avoid a goose egg every week. A guy like Chris Avril scores 27 points so you pick him up from waivers and he'll likely score a big fat zero the following week.Just out of curiosity, what is your scoring system?tkl, asst, sk, ff, fr, s, pd, int, tkl for lossHope this helps.

 

[tonato]

you also have to remember that a sack is also a +1 in tackle stats, and an INT is also a +1 in PD.

 

[Punch]

you also have to remember that a sack is also a +1 in tackle stats, and an INT is also a +1 in PD.

Yes, good point, but it depends how you set it up. When I set up our scoring I did TKL 1, TKL for loss 2, and sack 2 so it adds up to 5 for a sack and a total of three for TLK for loss. I entered 1 pt for a PD and 5 for INT so it adds up to 6. Next year it will change to 2 for PD and 4 for INT so it will still add up to 6 for an INT but PD's would be 2 pts. If a player swats a ball away from a receiver shouldn't that be worth more than if he allowed the catch and then tackled him? That's my thought anyway.Not trying to hi-jack your thread to make it about scoring systems, just want to stress how important it is to be aware of it. They vary in defense way more than offensive scoring systems.

 

[3quinox]

Hey I just finished my first year in a fantasy leaugue and have been asked back. I have gotten the general gist of how to draft but IDP are still somewhat confusing. IMO middle linebackers are your bread and butter especially when they are in defenses that set them up for solo tackes, Willis, D'qwell jackson. But what about D lineman and defensive backs? I think strong safeties like T Branch are solid but maybe not. As for D line man what position puts you up for the most success? lastly is picking a defense. Should you pick a top 5 defense in one of the last rounds or maybe play just off of match ups? Many people load up on offense even in rounds 7 and 8 getting back up receivers but if during this time you drafted sure thing IDP players would that be a mistake? I have had two games where they have won for me. Any thoughts?

With IDP's, it depends on your scoring sytem. Use a tackle to sack ratio with 1:3 being standard. Anything more is big play, less is tackle heavy. 1:5 is big play scoring, 2:4 would be tackle heavy. The league that I run is a 1:5 ratio with 6 points for INT's, +2 for tkl for a loss, PD 1, FF 4, FR 2...very big play oriented. I add +2 for tkl for loss because it's just like a sack except the guy being tackled just isn't a QB. Some leagues have 2 pt tkls, 1 pt asst, and 2 for sacks and turnovers. This type of system makes a LB30 score more than a DL1. PFF created what they call the ultimate IDP scoring system that rewards game changing plays while making the top DB's and DL's up to the same scoring level with LB's without having to score tkl's differently between the positions. In this system, Jared Allen is the #1 IDP for 2011 as he should be because he's been dominant. Von Miller is a top 10 LB in a big play system as he should be...he's a game changer. In a tackle heavy format, he might be ranked in the 30's, not reflective of his performance relative to his NFL team. Charles Woodson is the DB1 because yet again, he's a game changer. In a big play system the top 5 DL's are GOLD! beacause after that they are all very hot and cold. Guys like Allen, Suggs, and JPP are unusually consistent for D linemen and I would take one of these over a top LB in a heartbeat in a standard or big play league. In a tackle heavy league a guy like P Willis could score as much as a stud RB. It's not much unlike offense where the first key to winning is knowing your scoring system. LB's and especially DB's can be had on waivers throughout the season but good DL's are few and far between. If you don't have a top one you're hoping to avoid a goose egg every week. A guy like Chris Avril scores 27 points so you pick him up from waivers and he'll likely score a big fat zero the following week.Just out of curiosity, what is your scoring system?tkl, asst, sk, ff, fr, s, pd, int, tkl for lossHope this helps.

Its standard 1:3 and is very tackle heavy. I love von miller but like u said in my league he's mid 30's where d'qwell jackson for example is top three because he gets tackles.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Agree with the responses in this thread that stress the importance of scoring system and understanding a player's role in his defense. Those are critical to correctly evaluating defensive players.

There are lots of good resources that were released outside the FBG subscriber window in our Warehouse thread, pinned at the top of this forum, including introductory podcasts, general strategy articles and other columns that might be helpful. If you're a subscriber, you might also be interested in my August IDP Perfect Draft feature, which specifically addresses some of your concerns about when to draft IDPs and which positions to target. The strategy there (target elite DE relatively early, identify undervalued LB2+ prospects and let the DB position come to you) has been effective for a few years now, but there are indications (based on an early look at the 2012 tiers) that it could be changing.

Classic IDP Informational and Strategy Articles and Columns

Breaking Down NFL Defenses

Incorporating IDP Concepts

Why You Should Know Schemes

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2011 Offseason IDP Roundtable Podcast ThreadsClassic IDP Informational and Strategy Series: IDP 101-401

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2011 Offseason IDP ContentPerfect Draft IDP (Bramel) -- August 22

Adaptation of the long-running Perfect Draft feature by David Dodds with strategy suggestions on how to have a strong combined offense/IDP draft.