2024 Fantasy Football IDP rankings: Roquan Smith top, Bobby Wagner slips, Aidan Hutchinson on the rise

Modified Jun 29, 2024 20:34 GMT

IDP fomats offer an alternative to traditional fantasy football leagues that feature DST as a primary lineup position. IDP stands for Individual Defensive Players, so rather than having an entire NFL team's defense on a fantasy roster, managers will have the opportunity to draft defenders individually. They are often broken down into three positions, including defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs.

Leagues that use IDP rather than DST require a different draft strategy. Most managers in DST leagues will target defenses that are most known for pressuring opposing quarterbacks. Teams that do so will often generate the most sacks and turnovers, which can be valuable to fantasy scoring.

On the other hand, IDP scoring formats often lead to managers prioritzing tackles more than anything else. This is due to it being the most reliable statistics for individual defenders weekly. Double-digit tackles can be common for the best defensive players, especially linebackers, while stats like sacks and interceptions can be more difficult to count on.

Even the NFL sack leaders often average less than one per game, so this is more of a luxury stat for defensive players in fantasy football. This concept is even more true for interceptions, which are often rare even for the best ball hawks in the NFL. The result is that inside linebackers often make for the most valuable targets when analyzing IDP options.

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For the 2024 IDP rankings, Roquan Smith takes the top spot as the leading tackler for the Baltimore Ravens, one of the best defenses in the NFL. Bobby Wagner is usually one of the best IDP options in fantasy football, but his move to the Washington Commanders caused his ranking to fall a bit. On the other hand, Aidan Hutchinson is one of the fastest risers, ranking toward the top of all defensive linemen.

Taking everything into consideration, here's how the IDP rankings stack up for the 2024 fantasy football season.