|
 |
5/24/01
Email Tim
|
|
Defense wins championships!
We saw an example of this in Super Bowl XXXV. Ray Lewis and company
carried the Baltimore Ravens all the way to the Promised Land.
Did you ever want to be able to draft Ray Lewis or Junior Seau on
your own fantasy team? There are many fantasy leagues that do just
that. Just as there are numerous types of offensive systems in fantasy
leagues across the Internet, there are also fantasy leagues that
use defensive players. In fact, some leagues will even start eleven
defensive players. This can seem intimidating for an owner who has
never drafted individual defensive players before.
Where do you start when preparing for a draft involving defensive
players?
It takes a ton of research on your part. That may seem like hard
work, but after you go defensive you may never go back. As to where
you start in your preparation, that is what the rest of this article
is for.
Scoring System
When first preparing for drafting offensive players, you must take
into account the scoring system. Some leagues are touchdown only,
while others weigh yards heavily.
Individual defensive players are no different. You must take into
account the scoring system that your league uses. Some leagues only
count Sacks, Interceptions and Touchdowns. Other leagues will also
count Tackles, Assisted Tackles and even Passes Defended. It is
hard to know what players to draft, if you do not even know how
valuable they are in your scoring system. There are some scoring
systems that hardly count the defensive players as compared to offensive
players. There are some newer leagues that have defensive players
that are almost as valuable as offensive players.
Another thing that is important is the starting requirements for
your individual defensive players. You might only need to start
two or three defensive players. Usually in cases like that, defensive
players are not that valuable in your scoring system. In some leagues
as many as eleven defensive players may be required in your starting
lineup. This would cause your research to be multiplied by ten.
The more starters you have to account for, the more work draft preparation
becomes.
You must know your league criteria to be able to ranking the defensive
players properly.
Positions
The biggest difference between defensive players and offensive players
is the fact that all of the defensive players use the same statistics.
The same cannot be said about offensive players. You do not often
see a quarterback getting receiving yards. Runningbacks do not usually
kick field goals. All defensive players can get Sacks, Tackles or
Interceptions (even Bruce Smith has intercepted the ball). Since
this is the case, there are a lot of fantasy leagues that just start
a number of defensive players instead of select defensive positions
(Defensive Line, Linebackers, Defensive Backs). Usually this is
not the case with Offensive players because it is like comparing
Apples to Oranges.
How do you determine which defensive positions are best to draft?
In the following scoring system:
- Touchdowns - 6 points
- Fumble Recoveries - 2 points
- Fumble Recovery Yardage - 1 point for every 10 yards
- Interceptions - 3 points
- Interception Yardage - 1 point for every 10 yards
- Sacks - 3 points
- Sack Yardage - 1 point for every 2 yards
- Safety - 2 points
- Tackles - 1.5 points
- Assisted Tackle - .5 points
| T O P 20 I
N D. D E F E N S I V E P L A Y E R S I
N 2 0 0 0 |
| NAME |
TEAM |
POSITION |
FF POINTS |
| Rodney Harrison |
SD |
Safety |
237.5 |
| Ronald McKinnon
|
ARI
|
Linebacker
|
222.5 |
| Anthony Simmons |
SEA
|
Linebacker |
219.5 |
| Brian Urlacher
|
CHI
|
Linebacker
|
217.5
|
| London Fletcher
|
STL
|
Linebacker
|
217 |
| Ray Lewis |
BAL
|
Linebacker
|
214 |
| Derrick Brooks |
TB
|
Linebacker
|
212 |
| Donnie Edwards |
KC
|
Linebacker
|
206 |
| Sam Cowart |
BUF
|
Linebacker
|
197.5
|
| Takeo Spikes |
CIN |
Linebacker
|
196.5
|
| Pat Tillman |
ARI
|
Linebacker
|
196
|
| Randall Godfrey |
TEN
|
Linebacker
|
194
|
| Jason Gildon |
PIT
|
Linebacker
|
193
|
| Mike Peterson |
IND
|
Linebacker
|
186
|
| Junior Seau |
SD |
Linebacker
|
183
|
| Jeremiah Trotter |
PHI |
Linebacker
|
183
|
| Greg Biekert |
OAK |
Linebacker
|
180
|
| Keith Mitchell |
NO |
Linebacker
|
178.5
|
| Marvin Jones |
NYJ |
Linebacker
|
178.5
|
| Ed McDaniel |
MIN |
Linebacker
|
175.5
|
|
The first thing you will notice is eighteen out of the top twenty
are linebackers. This just emphasizes the point that linebackers
are the most valuable defensive position. The reason for this is
Linebackers will get more tackles than the other positions. You
will not see many Defensive linemen or Defensive backs with 80-100
tackles. The reason for the amount of tackles for Linebackers is
they are involved in every part of the game. They are a major part
of the run defense. They will obtain sacks because of their blitzing.
They also receive tackles because they will be involved in pass
coverage. Safeties can be valuable if they are in the right defensive
system. It all matters if the Safety in that defensive system will
be used in run support and blitzing.
So if your league just starts four defensive players at any position
than my advice is to draft Linebackers.
Influence of Others
A Wide Receiver's value will go up, if the quarterback position
is upgraded. A Runningback's value will go up if the offensive line
is in front of him is improved. The same is the case for defensive
players.
If a team signs a great Defensive lineman from free agency, a good
middle linebacker on the same team has his value go up. The reason
for this is because the Defensive lineman will draw more attention
(and blockers) from the offense. This will free up the middle linebacker
to make more plays on defense. A good addition to a defense will
only help out the other players. The same defensive lineman will
also help out the cornerbacks because the quarterback will be forced
to deliver the ball a lot earlier.
A real life example is below:
Going into the 2000 season this 25-year-old Defensive Tackle had
averaged in the previous two seasons:
- 64.5 Total Tackles
- 9.75 Sacks
- 2 Forced Fumbles
His team had signed a very good defensive tackle in the off-season
after the 1999 season. This resulted in the following numbers for
the 2000 season:
- 66 Total Tackles
- 17 Sacks
- 3 Forced Fumbles
The player above is LaRoi Glover from the New Orlean Saints and
the defensive tackle that they signed was Norman Hand. Norman Hand
does not seem to be the most exciting signing of the off-season
in the 2000. It was not about how many sacks Hand can get, but the
fact he was so good against the run. Add into the equation that
Joe Johnson was back after a full year injured and you have Glover
with a lot less attention devoted to him. The combination of Hand
and Johnson freed up Glover on the defensive line.
It is simple signings like the example above that will need to be
watched for this off-season. It is not always the flashiest player
that has the greatest impact for a defensive team. Sometimes it
is the other guy on a defensive that makes the great player great.
Depth
The hardest part of drafting with defensive players is knowing when
to start drafting on the defensive side of the ball.
There are certain positions fantasy owners know when to select in
a draft. Runningbacks are best to take in the first three or four
rounds. Kickers are best taken later in a draft. When drafting defensive
players, you are trending on new territory.
First it all depends on how much defensive players are worth in
your scoring system. If they are not worth that much then you might
as well wait until the late rounds to even consider drafting them.
The misconception when drafting defensive players is if they are
as valuable as offensive players than you should draft them in similar
rounds as the good offensive players. This is totally untrue. Drafting
defensive players in the first six or seven rounds is a bad move
no matter what their value is. Even if the best Linebacker is similar
in value to a good Runningback, you should wait on drafting a linebacker.
The reason for this is the depth of defense is so much greater.
Quarterbacks only have one starter on a NFL team. Runningbacks only
have one fulltime starter on a NFL team. Wide receivers only have
two starters on a NFL team. On the defensive side, each position
has at least three starters on an NFL team. Defensive linemen start
three to four players on each NFL team. Linebackers also start three
to four players on a NFL team. Defensive backs start four players
on a NFL team. This all adds up to more defensive players that will
put up solid statistics.
Here is a list of some of the top ten in 2000 at each defensive
position and what round they were drafted in a fantasy league called
the NERFF. The NERFF's scoring system has defensive players almost
as valuable as the offensive players.
| D E F E N S I V E L
I N E |
| RANKING |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
ROUND DRAFTED |
| 1 |
La 'Rio Glover |
NO |
13 |
| 2 |
Jason Taylor |
MIA |
22 |
| 3 |
Warren Sapp |
TB |
4 |
| 4 |
Hugh Douglas |
PHI |
19 |
| 5 |
Michael Strahan |
NYG |
11 |
| 6 |
Tony Brackens |
JAX |
3 |
| 7 |
Trevor Pryce |
DEN |
7 |
| 8 |
Marcellus Wiley |
BUF |
15 |
| 9 |
Grady Jackson |
OAK |
Undrafted |
| 10 |
Grant Wistrom |
STL |
11 |
|
| L I N E B A C K E R S
|
| RANKING |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
ROUND DRAFTED |
| 1 |
Ronald McKinnon |
ARI |
8 |
| 2 |
Anthony Simmons |
SEA |
20 |
| 3 |
Brian Urlacher |
CHI |
Rookie Draft |
| 4 |
London Fletcher |
STL |
19 |
| 5 |
Ray Lewis |
BAL |
16 |
| 6 |
Derrick Brooks |
TB |
1 |
| 7 |
Donnie Edwards |
KC |
4 |
| 8 |
Sam Cowart |
BUF |
9 |
| 9 |
Takeo Spikes |
CIN |
9 |
| 10 |
Randall Godfrey |
TEN |
11 |
|
| D E F
E N S I V E B A C K S |
| RANKING |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
ROUND DRAFTED |
| 1 |
Rodney Harrison |
SD |
14 |
| 2 |
Pat Tillman |
ARI |
Undrafted |
| 3 |
Mike Minter |
CAR |
20 |
| 4 |
Ronde Barber |
TB |
23 |
| 5 |
Sammy Knight |
NO |
16 |
| 6 |
Darren Sharper |
GB |
9 |
| 7 |
Victor Green |
NYJ |
7 |
| 8 |
Jason Belser |
IND |
9 |
| 9 |
Lawyer Milloy |
NE |
2 |
| 10 |
Jay Bellamy |
SEA |
Undrafted |
|
The average pick for the top ten at each defensive position:
- Defensive Line: Round 14
- Linebackers: Round 10
- Defensive Back: Round 17
I used round 35 for any player undrafted since the NERFF
had 35 rounds. I also used Round one in my calculation for Brian
Urlacher even though he went in the late first in a rookie draft.
As you can see, drafting a defensive player in the earlier part
of a draft is a mistake. You can get great defensive players all
the way to the end of the draft. Depth is the key. The players on
defense have great depth so there is no reason to take them early.
:: comments to tim
ludwig
|
|
|
 |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
