Fantasy football mock drafts: IDP lessons from a rookie draft

What I’m about to tell you might tick you off if you’re a diehard IDP player. You might get angry at me or even, dare I say, unfollow me on Twitter. But it’s something you need to know if you play in IDP leagues.

Ready?

You don’t need J.J. Watt or Luke Kuechly to win your league. In fact, you don’t really need a strong IDP roster at all. The secret to taking down IDP leagues is putting together a strong offensive roster and then backfilling with mid-range options on the defensive side of the ball. This philosophy is true whether you’re in a re-draft league or deep dynasty format.

Recently, the PFF fantasy staff, along with Gary Davenport of Fantasy Sharks and Mike Woellert of 4for4.com, got together for a rookie mock draft with individual defensive players. This review won’t be like the previous one I wrote for our post-draft rookie mock. If you’re interested in the fits and fantasy prospects of this year’s offensive rookies, give that post a read. For this piece, I’m going to focus on the strategy involved on the defensive side of the ball.

Round 1

1.01	Dan Schneier	Leonard Fournette, RB, JAX
1.02	Gary Davenport	Dalvin Cook, RB, MIN
1.03	Mike Castiglione	Christian McCaffrey, RB, CAR
1.04	Pat Thorman	Corey Davis, WR, TEN
1.05	Mike Woellert	Joe Mixon, RB, CIN
1.06	Michael Moore	Mike Williams, WR, LAC
1.07	Brandon Marianne Lee	O.J. Howard, TE, TB
1.08	Tyler Loechner	John Ross, WR, CIN
1.09	Jeff Ratcliffe	Kareem Hunt, RB, KC
1.10	Scott Barrett	Zay Jones, WR, BUF
1.11	Daniel Kelley	David Njoku, TE, CLV
1.12	Walton Spurlin	Samaje Perine, RB, WAS

So far, so good. No defensive players come off the board in the first round, and that’s as things should be this year. There really isn’t a defensive player in the 2017 class who is worthy of a first-round rookie pick. And even if there was, the best approach in the first round is to key in on a future producer on the offensive side of the ball. In dynasty leagues, it’s very important to keep cycling in young talent at the skill positions. Often, you’ll be able to find start-level players on the defensive side of the ball on waivers during the season. The same typically cannot be said about offensive players.

Round 2

2.01	Dan Schneier	Evan Engram, TE, NYG
2.02	Gary Davenport	Alvin Kamara, RB, NO
2.03	Mike Castiglione	Jamaal Williams, RB, GB
2.04	Pat Thorman	Chris Godwin, WR, TB
2.05	Mike Woellert	JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, PIT
2.06	Michael Moore	Taywan Taylor, WR, TEN
2.07	Brandon Marianne Lee	Carlos Henderson, WR, DEN
2.08	Tyler Loechner	D'Onta Foreman, RB, HST
2.09	Jeff Ratcliffe	Curtis Samuel, WR, CAR
2.10	Scott Barrett	ArDarius Stewart, WR, NYJ
2.11	Daniel Kelley	Patrick Mahomes, QB, KC
2.12	Walton Spurlin	Jarrad Davis, LB, DET

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