Don't underestimate the power of the IDP. We've already seen Joe Schobert put up a monster game on Thursday night with a sack, seven solo tackles, and two interceptions. Jamal Adams may have won some games single-handedly last week with his strip-sack for a TD along with eight tackles and another sack. Likewise, Jadveon Clowney and Darius Leonard proved that players at each position can be just as valuable as offensive players. Who will be this week's breakout performer? My money is on Chandler Jones or Tracy Walker. We won't spend time below analyzing them, as we want to provide some more insight on lesser-owned fantasy commodities.
Serious fantasy football players know that the game isn't played on offense alone. While team defenses are a staple of the game, being able to identify value with individual defensive players (IDP) takes it to the next level. RotoBaller has you covered when it comes to IDP rankings. Expert analysts Pierre Camus and Justin Carter will bring you their top-100 consensus IDP rankings throughout the 2019 season, so check here for the latest weekly updates.
Players are classified by major position group (DL, LB, DB) to simplify things for you. We've also tiered these rankings to give you an idea of relative importance and will analyze a few key players to watch. Check out our rankings page for the offensive players right here.
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Top 100 Individual Defensive Players - Week 11
Tier | Rank | Player Name | Position |
1 | 1 | Darius Leonard | LB |
1 | 2 | Jordan Hicks | LB |
1 | 3 | Jamal Adams | DB |
1 | 4 | Danielle Hunter | DL |
1 | 5 | Cory Littleton | LB |
1 | 6 | Luke Kuechly | LB |
1 | 7 | Joe Schobert | LB |
2 | 8 | Jordan Poyer | DB |
2 | 9 | Roquan Smith | LB |
2 | 10 | Deion Jones | LB |
2 | 11 | Aaron Donald | DL |
2 | 12 | Chandler Jones | LB |
2 | 13 | Nick Bosa | DL |
2 | 14 | Jaylon Smith | LB |
2 | 15 | Shaq Thompson | LB |
3 | 16 | Joey Bosa | DL |
3 | 17 | Eric Kendricks | LB |
3 | 18 | Eric Reid | DB |
3 | 19 | Cameron Jordan | DL |
3 | 20 | Myles Garrett | DL |
3 | 21 | Budda Baker | DB |
3 | 22 | Leighton Vander Esch | LB |
3 | 23 | Devin White | LB |
3 | 24 | Vonn Bell | DB |
4 | 25 | DeForest Buckner | DL |
4 | 26 | Harrison Smith | DB |
4 | 27 | Demarcus Lawrence | DL |
4 | 28 | Lavonte David | LB |
4 | 29 | Minkah Fitzpatrick | DB |
4 | 30 | T.J. Watt | LB |
4 | 31 | De'Vondre Campbell | LB |
4 | 32 | Devin Bush | LB |
5 | 33 | Nick Vigil | LB |
5 | 34 | Cameron Heyward | DL |
5 | 35 | Justin Houston | DL |
5 | 36 | Demario Davis | LB |
5 | 37 | Khalil Mack | LB |
5 | 38 | Zach Cunningham | LB |
5 | 39 | Tracy Walker | DB |
5 | 40 | Calais Campbell | DL |
5 | 41 | Shawn Williams | DB |
5 | 42 | Jessie Bates III | DB |
5 | 43 | Tremaine Edmunds | LB |
5 | 44 | Everson Griffen | DL |
6 | 45 | Fred Warner | LB |
6 | 46 | Jason Pierre-Paul | DL |
6 | 47 | Matt Milano | LB |
6 | 48 | Melvin Ingram | DL |
6 | 49 | Xavier Woods | DB |
6 | 50 | Frank Clark | DL |
6 | 51 | Jamie Collins | LB |
6 | 52 | Landon Collins | DB |
6 | 53 | Jerome Baker | LB |
7 | 54 | Kyle Fuller | DB |
7 | 55 | Tahir Whitehead | LB |
7 | 56 | Chris Jones | DL |
7 | 57 | Robert Quinn | DL |
7 | 58 | Erik Harris | DB |
7 | 59 | Jonathan Allen | DL |
7 | 60 | Taylor Rapp | DB |
7 | 61 | Eric Weddle | DB |
7 | 62 | A.J. Johnson | LB |
7 | 63 | Ronnie Harrison | DB |
7 | 64 | Todd Davis | LB |
7 | 65 | Matt Ioannidis | DL |
7 | 66 | Dante Fowler Jr. | DL |
7 | 67 | Shaquil Barrett | LB |
7 | 68 | Tre'Davious White | DB |
7 | 69 | Patrick Onwuasor | LB |
8 | 70 | Nick Kwiatkoski | LB |
8 | 71 | Grady Jarrett | DL |
8 | 72 | Hasean Clinton-Dix | DB |
8 | 73 | Tavon Wilson | DB |
8 | 74 | Myles Jack | LB |
8 | 75 | Jon Bostic | LB |
8 | 76 | Jabaal Sheard | DL |
8 | 77 | Haason Reddick | LB |
8 | 78 | Mack Wilson | LB |
8 | 79 | Sam Hubbard | DL |
8 | 80 | Reshad Jones | DB |
8 | 81 | Yannick Ngakoue | DL |
8 | 82 | Arik Armstead | DL |
8 | 83 | Trey Flowers | DL |
8 | 84 | Benardrick McKinney | LB |
8 | 85 | Earl Thomas | DB |
9 | 86 | Justin Simmons | DB |
9 | 87 | Terrell Edmunds | DB |
9 | 88 | Jarrad Davis | LB |
9 | 89 | Bud Dupree | LB |
9 | 90 | Brandon Graham | DL |
9 | 91 | Dee Ford | DL |
9 | 92 | Von Miller | LB |
9 | 93 | Damarious Randall | DB |
9 | 94 | Ryan Kerrigan | LB |
9 | 95 | Devin McCourty | DB |
9 | 96 | Jerry Hughes | DL |
9 | 97 | Whitney Mercilus | LB |
9 | 98 | Fletcher Cox | DL |
9 | 99 | Micah Hyde | DB |
9 | 100 | Brandon Copeland | LB |
Streamers/Key Players to Watch
Vonn Bell (S, NO) @ Tampa Bay
What is IDP if you don't stream against Jameis Winston at DB? He only threw two picks last week after not turning it over at all in Week 9 but he still leads the way with 14 INT on the year. He is also third in pass attempts with 355, which means plenty of action will come Bell's way. Consensus rankers have dropped Bell from earlier in the year, likely because he is yet to claim his first interception of 2019. He does have four fumble recoveries, tied for the league lead, so don't let that stat discourage you from making Bell a top-10 DB choice.
Nick Vigil (LB, CIN) @ Oakland
Preston Brown has been released and that's just the start of some house-cleaning that will take place in Cincinnati this offseason. That means Vigil will have a bigger load on his shoulders in stopping the run, which has been Cincy's main problem (among many) this year. His star has been falling lately with just one tackle in last week's thrashing by the Ravens and seven combined solo stops the previous two games before the bye. The Raiders have the fourth-fewest pass attempts this year and will have no need to press the issue downfield in this game. That means a lot of work for Vigil underneath in what should be a return to top-25 LB form.
Xavier Woods (S, DAL) @ Detroit
Woods is taking over as the rising star in the Dallas secondary, after it seemed Byron Jones was doing a year ago. Woods has accumulated 49 solo tackles, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles this season, with two of those picks coming in the last three games. He's also defended one pass in each of the last three contests. If your league counts PD as a category, Woods is a strong consideration this week against Jeff Driskel and the hobbled Lions offense. Just think of the numbers Nick Kwiatkowski (see below) posted last week.
Erik Harris (S, OAK) vs Cincinnati
Talk about a second-half surger... Harris drew some attention, at least enough to crack our rankings last week, following his Week 9 output where he combined for 10 tackles, eight of which were solo, along with a PD. Then he proceeded to put up zero solo stops in Week 10 but the two INT, including a pick-six sort of made up for that. Both Karl Joseph and LaMarcus Joyner are in danger of missing the rest of the season, which makes Harris a possible keeper at safety (in redraft leagues, not dynasty) based on remaining schedule. Oakland plays the Bengals, Jets, Chiefs, Titans, Jaguars, Chargers, and Broncos the rest of the way. He is a late bloomer for sure but one who will get plenty of action in an otherwise beleaguered secondary.
Nick Kwiatkowski (LB, CHI) @ L.A. Rams
Spelling his name proved to be a far more challenging task than proving why he belongs on your roster. In his first game filling in for Danny Trevathan (elbow), he tallied eight solo tackles, one sack, one interception, and one pass defended. That's a tremendous showing for an IDP player at any position, regardless of matchup. It appears he will draw another start, this time against a Rams offense that seems to have lost its identity. They still run the sixth-most plays per game and won't be kept off the field too long by Mitch Trubisky and company.
Jonathan Allen (DE, WAS) vs N.Y. Jets
He may not be quite the dominant force that Washington was hoping for when they selected Allen in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft but he's at least showing some consistency. Allen posted seven combined tackles for three straight games before the bye in Week 10. You'd like to see more than four sacks by this point in the year, though. He's got a great shot against Sam Darnold and the Jets, who allow the second-most fantasy points to DL and the most sacks on a per-game basis. He's no Jadveon Clowney but he might have to do this week.
Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.