2024 Fantasy Football LB rankings for IDP leagues: Roquan Smith top, Bobby Wagner slips, Lavonte David on the rise

Modified Jul 03, 2024 16:56 GMT

IDP leagues offer a unique twist on traditional fantasy football formats when it comes to roster construction and scoring settings. Standard formats allow each manager to have an entire NFL team's defensive and special teams unit on their fantasy rosters. When playing in an IDP league, managers must instead fill their roster with individual defensive players.

Most leagues using this setting will break down the defensive roster slots into three categories, including defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs. These players will receive fantasy points for generally the same categories as DST leagues, including sacks and interceptions. The major addition is that IDP leagues reward points for tackles.

Having tackles count toward a weekly fantasy football score makes inside linebackers the most valuable defensive position. Tackles are the most reliable statistic on a weekly basis, while sacks and turnovers are harder to come by consistently. Even the NFL leaders in these categories often average fewer than one per game.

When it comes to strategizing IDPs in a fantasy football draft, inside linebackers usually take the top priority. This creates an interesting situaton for fantasy rosters because some of the best defenders in the entire NFL lose some of their weekly value. In particular, this applies to edge rushers who are listed as outside linebackers, such as Micah Parsons and TJ Watt.

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Rather than using a linebacker spot on an edge rusher in fantasy lineups, managers would be wise to target more reliable tacklers in this position. Roquan Smith takes the top spot in the 2024 rankings for linebackers, due to his proven ability to accumulate a ton of tackles.

Role changes and altering supporting casts on NFL teams often impact fantasy values for all playes. When it comes to linebackers, Lavonte David could see a boost to his fantasy value with Devin White departing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason. On the other hand, Bobby Wagner has potentially seen his value fall this year by joining the Washington Commaders.

Taking all of these various situations into consideration, here are the linebacker rankings for the 2024 fantasy football season.