help on defense I KNOW NOTHING

[Guest]

first time fant. football player. here. i know all about offense but nothing bout D. heres who i got:

zack thomas, al wilson, deltha oneil, simeon rice, lamont brightful, jimmy williams? good ? bad? i need to get tackles interceptions, sacks as main categories

[Guest]

thomas is a solid pick, other than that, check out the waiver wire

[brdmaverick]

I don't really know much about individual defensive players and fantasy scoring, but sometimes the great players in football are not good in fantasy football. A few guys that come to mind are Charles Woodson and Warren Sapp.

From my one year's experience with Individual Defensive Players (so take my advice for what it's worth), I have found that linebackers are the big scorers, and that usually there are decent LBs taht can be found on the waiver wire.

[terpfan]

thomas and wilson are very good lbs. rice is one of the best dls around (but if dls and lbs are lumped together, as they are in yahoo leagues, the value of true d lineman drops dramatically). after that u dont have much. o neal is a solid corner but corners usually dont score many points. brightful and williams are worthless. id need to know what was available on waivers to help u out anymore. im oretty sure u could upgrade those last 3 players.

[dgroundhog_ffc]

Check out this thread for some sites, especially the IDP Info.

http://www.fantasyfootballcafe.com/foru ... info+links

NFLFreaks also has some IDP rankings. A fine site for info.

Ditto on Thomas and Wilson being LB studs. Zach is best if assisted tackles are also counted. Guys that might have gone un-noticed are Bullok from TEN and Barton from the Raiders. A Simmons in SEA is coming back from injury and might be solid. Claiborne for MIN could have a good year. There is depth at LB.

DL I wouldn't start unless you have to. Jason Taylor, Julius Peppers, Strahan are probably the elite and can start even if lumped in with LB's. Other than that, pass on them

DB's can be a little more usueful. Roy Williams is being referred to as the Urlacher at the position. Sharper is a top pick. Lance Schulters might rebound for another big year. Ed Reed for the Ravens is a good pick - young and looking studly. Fred Smoot might be a good pick just because nobody is going to throw at Champ in WAS. P Buchanon in OAK has a similar situation. Dre Bly might get decent numbers trying to stop Moss, Driver, C Rogers, and Booker all season.

Deltha used to be an elite DB if punt/kick return yardage was used. If it is, and he is still returning, he might be solid. If you get no points for return yards. Return yards will affect the rankings dramatically for those average DB's that return kicks.

Sometimes the best DB's are not good fantasy players. Safeties usually get the tackles and are better options than CB's and cover guys. Sometimes rookies are good DB choices because they get tested. Newman in DAL would fit that mold. Sometimes a bad team like HOU or ARI will yield solid fantasy numbers for LB's and DB's because the D is always on the field.

Check out the IDP rankings, scour your wire (if it's Yahoo, the D rankings make no sense at all), if you need more direction, let us know how many players of which type you must start. No need to hold many extra D players.