2011 IDP Rankings - 8 comments

The IDP world of fantasy football is woefully undervalued and not represented nearly enough. It is a growing part of fantasy football for those fantasy players who want to move on from the regular Yahoo public leagues or just want more of a challenge. IDP is the one factor of fantasy football I have to study every year as it changes constantly and quickly. It can be a huge advantage to know who will be performing during the upcoming season. It can be an even bigger advantage to know what to look for in an IDP player week to week.

I have taken the rankings from the three sites I respect the most and combined them with my rankings to offer you the following opinions on how IDPs will perform for the 2011 season. Scoring from site to site varied slightly but a rough average would be as follows.

Tackle – 1 point
Assist – 0.5 points
Sack – 4 points
Pass defensed – 2 points
Interception – 4 points
TD – 6 points
Forced fumble – 2 points
Fumble recovery – 2 points
Safety – 3 points

Please note the date of publishing as some free agents have not yet found homes.

QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | DF | IDP

LINEBACKERS

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	NOTES
1	Patrick Willis	ILB	SF	The undisputed king of IDP
2	Jerod Mayo	ILB	NEP	The prince
3	Jon Beason	ILB	CAR	Maybe a duke but a mean duke and back to MLB
4	Paul Posluszny	ILB	JAX	New city but doesn’t change his ranking
5	Lawrence Timmons	ILB	PIT	#1 stud for a stud-filled Steeler LB corps
6	James Laurinaitis	ILB	STL	Could crack the top 5 this year
7	Karlos Dansby	ILB	MIA	Solid IDP player
8	Demeco Ryans	ILB	HOU	Can be great
9	Stephen Tulloch	ILB	DET	Moved up 2 spots with a move to the Motor City
10	Barrett Ruud	ILB	TEN	Should hold his value in Tennessee
11	Curtis Lofton	ILB	ATL	Moved down 2 spots but not his fault
12	D.J. Williams	ILB	DEN	Consistent IDP star
13	Ray Lewis	ILB	BAL	The old man of IDP… still a solid pick
14	Derrick Johnson	ILB	KCC	Can he make it back to back seasons?
15	London Fletcher	ILB	WAS	Old man, part 2. Still an excellent IDP player
16	Brian Urlacher	ILB	CHI	Hopefully healthy and can put up some points
17	Brian Cushing	ILB	HOU	Still not better than Ryans
18	Chad Greenway	OLB	MIN	The better IDP LB in Minnesota
19	Jonathon Vilma	ILB	NOS	Solid choice for a LB2
20	David Harris	ILB	NYJ	Solid IDP start each week
21	Desmond Bishop	ILB	GBP	Mathews gets headlines, Bishop gets stats
22	Lance Briggs	OLB	CHI	Decent LB2 play each week
23	D’Qwell Jackson	OLB	CLE	The Browns should need lots of tackles again
24	James Harrison	OLB	PIT	Loudmouth but undervalued IDP player
25	DeMarcus Ware	OLB	DAL	Has averaged 13+ sacks a year
26	E.J. Henderson	ILB	MIN	#2 for the Vikings even as an ILB
27	Gary Brackett	ILB	IND
28	Nick Barnett	ILB	BUF	Moves up with a move to Buffalo
29	Thomas Davis	OLB	CAR	If only he could stay healthy
30	Clay Matthews	OLB	GBP	Bye week filler but fun to watch
31	Daryl Washington	ILB	ARI
32	LaMarr Woodley	OLB	PIT	Steeler #3 cracking the top 36
33	Kevin Burnett	ILB	MIA	Crowder’s replacement
34	Sean Weatherspoon	OLB	ATL
35	Rolando McClain	ILB	OAK	Breakout season? Good risk of a late round pick.
36	David Hawthorne	OLB	SEA	High reward pick, could be an LB2 by end of year

DEFENSIVE LINE

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	NOTES
1	Justin Tuck	DE	NYG	A new #1 for defensive linemen
2	Jared Allen	DE	MIN	A close second but too many double teams
3	Trent Cole	DE	PHI	With addition of Babin, could be #1 at year’s end
4	Julius Peppers	DE	CHI	A monster but inconsistent
5	Terrell Suggs	DE	BAL	Love this guy; he loves to play football
6	Robert Mathis	DE	IND	Officially overtaken Freeney
7	Elvis Dumervil	DE	DEN	Finally getting some respect
8	Charles Johnson	DE	CAR	Solid DL1 option
9	Ndamukong Suh	DT	DET	How good is this guy going to be?
10	Carlos Dunlap	DE	CIN	High ceiling for Dunlap, take the risk
11	Jason Babin	DE	PHI	Cole and Babin, stellar duo, watch out NFC East
12	Darnell Dockett	DE	ARI	Arizona defense is looking incredible
13	Osi Umenyiora	DE	NYG	Not a happy camper, risky pick
14	Justin Smith	DE	SF	Consistent start each week as a DL2
15	Chris Clemons	DE	SEA	Fluke? I don’t think so
16	Will Smith	DE	NOS	Possible suspension to start the year
17	John Abraham	DE	ATL	33 and still going strong
18	Ray Edwards	DE	ATL	We will see if he is worth the money
19	Chris Long	DE	STL	Let’s see if he can make the next jump in value
20	Cliff Avril	DE	DET	Should lead the Lions in sacks, unless Suh says no
21	Calais Campbell	DE	ARI	A fine DL2, better as a bye week filler though
22	Aaron Kampman	DE	JAX
23	Dwight Freeney	DE	IND	Can be dominant but has lost a step
24	Matt Shaughnessy	DE	OAK	More playing time means a better stat line
25	Israel Idonije	DE	CHI	Playing opposite Peppers is everything
26	Kyle Williams	DT	BUF	Could be awesome with some help
27	Kyle Vanden Bosch	DE	DET	Part of a potentially dominant line
28	Haloti Ngata	DT	BAL	Just a great football player with good IDP stats
29	Lamarr Houston	DE	OAK	Season 2 should produce some solid numbers
30	Mathias Kiwanuka	DE	NYG	NFC East will dominate the sack totals
31	Jabaal Sheard	DE	CLE	Cleveland defense will generate IDP points
32	James Hall	DE	STL
33	Jason Pierre-Paul	DE	NYG	4th Giant in the top 36
34	Robert Quinn	DE	STL
35	Marcell Dareus	DE	BUF
36	Richard Seymour	DT	OAK	Still has some life and a mean streak

DEFENSIVE BACKS

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	NOTES
1	Eric Berry	S	KCC	A freak. Could be #1 for years to come
2	LaRon Landry	S	WAS	Free reign to roam makes him #2
3	Yeremiah Bell	S	MIA	Super consistent IDP talent
4	Patrick Chung	S	NEP	Should take another step forward this year
5	T.J. Ward	S	CLE	Cleveland D is on the field A LOT
6	Tyvon Branch	S	OAK	May be a bit too low
7	Bernard Pollard	S	BAL	Still should put up solid stats
8	Roman Harper	S	NOS
9	Troy Polamalu	S	PIT	Have to admit it, the guy can play
10	Louis Delmas	S	DET
11	Kerry Rhodes	S	ARI	Should be #1 point getter for Zona
12	Dawan Landry	S	JAX	The move to JAX should be fine for his value
13	Charles Tillman	CB	CHI	Undervalued pick. Look at his stats over last 3 years
14	Quintin Mikell	S	STL	The move to STL moves him up 4 spots
15	Michael Griffin	S	TEN	#1 IDP option in Tennessee
16	Antoine Bethea	S	IND
17	Richard Marshall	CB	ARI	A great addition for Zona, a drop in value for IDP
18	Oshiomogho Atogwe	S	WAS
19	Tramon Williams	CB	GBP
20	Adrian Wilson	S	ARI	Arizona secondary is looking great
21	Charles Woodson	CB	GBP	Just an awesome player that will get you some points
22	Brandon Flowers	CB	KCC
23	Eric Weddle	S	SDC	He may be too low but just can’t rank him higher, yet
24	Devin McCourty	CB	NEP	Solid CB pick
25	Patrick Peterson	CB	ARI	#1 rookie on the DB list
26	Jaiquawn Jarrett	S	PHI	#2 rookie on the DB list
27	William Moore	S	ATL
28	Craig Dahl	S	STL
29	Alterraun Verner	CB	TEN	Quality corner that could surprise
30	Erik Coleman	S	DET
31	Brian Dawkins	S	DEN	Can still play
32	DeAngelo Hall	CB	WAS
33	Cortland Finnegan	CB	TEN	Bit of a tool, should be fine for bye week filler
34	Nick Collins	S	GBP
35	Leon Hall	CB	CIN
36	Michael Huff	S	OAK	I am not convinced he has found his groove

Michael Hawes is one of a growing number of fantasy experts who write for the Cafe. Nearly 20 years of FF, had to have learned something in that time. You can catch up with Michael in the Cafe's forums where he posts under the name of bungle613.

Want to write for the Cafe? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!

8 Responses to “2011 IDP Rankings”

204BC says:

August 22, 2011 at 11:15 pm

I would like to nominate Alterraun Verner to make the list at DB. In fact, I might even project him top 5. He finished last season with 85 solo tackles, 16 assists, 3 INT’s, 11 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble. He was a rookie last season and…i might mention, he only started 12 games. Project those stats over 16 starts and he outperforms the #1 guy on your list.

Keep an eye on him, he’s gonna be a beast.
Reply
204BC says:

August 23, 2011 at 11:11 pm

Perhaps it would be a good idea to update the list periodically? Terrell Thomas is out for an extended period due to injury, possibly for the season. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

I like your list by the way, even though I don’t agree with everything on it. Overall it is quite good.
Reply
Da18thLetter28 says:

August 27, 2011 at 10:44 am

I know this is a good list for fantasy IDP’s. I can’t stand leagues where tackles are the only stats that really matter. I set all my leagues up where every role is rewarded for what they do. If you are a sack master like Freeney, you get rewarded, INT guy like Ed Reed, you get rewarded. Someone at the major fantasy sites needs to address this and even out the scoring where the best players score the most points like I have. Most IDP leagues only have IDP’s just to say them have them. They really don’t score enough points to make a difference in the game, so why have them at all.

Sorry folks, just venting.
Reply
SirGrotius says:

August 27, 2011 at 11:53 am

Great list. Good, straightforward commentary.
Reply
bungle613 says:

August 28, 2011 at 8:06 pm

Verner was close for me, I have him personally in the top 24 but he got averaged out of the rankings.

I would love to update it and may find time. My company just moved offices, kid starting school again, wife got a promotion… yada yada yada. You get the picture. Bear with me, I hope I can get it done this week.
Reply
bungle613 says:

August 30, 2011 at 10:07 pm

Updated slightly. Not sure I will get to this and R.J. is planning to revise the offensive rankings this week. That I think should get priority.
Reply
k.k. says:

September 9, 2011 at 8:21 pm

Would Wake not be considered part of the top 36?
Reply
Alex Wiedmann says:

September 13, 2011 at 11:13 pm

Here’s another good list.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8374897/alert_definitive_idp_rankings.html?cat=14
Reply