- Draft Day Fantasy Sports Cheat
- Fantasy Pros Mock Draft
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft
- Cbs Sports Fantasy Draft Kit
- Draft Day Fantasy Sports Fantasy
Fantasy football individual defensive player (IDP) leagues aren't for everyone, but if a new experience is in your 2020 wheelhouse (because, why not?), having a few sleepers in your back pocket is a great place to start.
Fantasy Premier League Draft 2020/21. Free to play fantasy football game, set up your team at the official Premier League site.
- NFL.com's fantasy guru Michael Fabiano provides the definitive guide to prepare you for draft day. You don't have to be a fantasy football genius to learn how to play the game, but you can learn.
- Fantasy Fallout: NFL Draft Day 1. By Rich Hribar April 25, 2019, 7:31 pm ET. It was their true rushing production that elevated those rookies from starting fantasy options into the top-tiers of fantasy football scoring. Young added 97.2 fantasy rushing points (6.5 per game) in his inaugural season, Newton 154.6 rushing points (9.7 per game.
IDP leagues tend to work counterintuitively, especially in the secondary. Star defensive backs, like Marcus Peters or Stephon Gilmore, don't get thrown at enough to rack up the necessary counting stats to matter. Identifying players that will get picked on by offensive coordinators is a good place to start, and understanding matchups is imperative, particularly once we start setting lineups.
Fantasy football IDP player rankings
Defensive linemen | Linebackers | Defensive backs
Fantasy football defensive linemen
Matt Ioannidis, Washington Football Team: Averaging eight sacks over the past two seasons, Ioannidis quietly has posted steady numbers for gamers. He finally played in all 16 contests in 2019 and dramatically improved against the run. He's trending in the right direction at 26 years old in his fifth season, and the coaching change in the offseason brings in two of the better defensive minds in Jack Del Rio and Ron Rivera. Ioannidis is surrounded by first-round picks and isn't likely to be a technical starter, which isn't particularly meaningful in 2020 with a heavier than usual rotation expected as the team transitions to a 4-3. He will be most valuable in run-heavy matchups.
Davon Godchaux, Miami Dolphins: Trajectory matters, and the 25-year-old Godchaux enters his fourth year after consecutive seasons of growth across the board. He is capable of playing nose tackle and lining up as a traditional five-technique in 4-3 fronts. Miami will bounce between 3-4 and 4-3 alignments in effort to maximize its personnel vs. the matchups, much like we saw New England do under Miami's coach Brian Flores. While Godchaux's game is mostly built around being a big-bodied run-stuffer, he's not incapable of getting to the quarterback on occasion.
Alton Robinson, Seattle Seahawks: The rookie entered training camp up to 277 pounds from his 259-pound playing weight in 2019 at at Syracuse. He has been thoroughly impressive in camp, flashing quickness for his size (4.6 speed) and improved power. Robinson racked up 19 sacks in 35 NCAA games. The Seahawks desperately need a defensive edge presence, and Pete Carroll is no stranger to throwing rookies into the fire. Rasheem Green and L.J. Collier shouldn't feel safe right now. At a minimum, Robinson will be rotated in frequently as long as the other two are holding up their end of the deal.
Fantasy football linebackers
Nick Kwiatkoski, Las Vegas Raiders: The former Chicago Bear as an opportunity to step up his game in Las Vegas after honing his craft in and out of the starting lineup in Chicago over the past four seasons. Kwiatkoski hasn't exactly been a fantasy stud to date, averaging no more than 5.9 fantasy points a game in any season. The 2019 campaign illustrated his versatility as he logged 76 combined stops, 3.0 sacks, four passes defensed, an INT and a forced fumble. In the desert, he will play cleanup along side fellow newcomer Corey Littleton behind an up-and-coming defensive line.
Christian Kirksey, Green Bay Packers: A 2014 third-rounder, Kirksey began to showcase his skills in 2015 for the Cleveland Browns. By the end of 2017, he was a fantasy stud who contributed in five categories. He was on pace for another quality season in 2018 before missing nine games after suffering multiple injuries. He was limited two only two contests last year thanks to a pectoral tear. Kirksey moved on to Green Bay and has a fine forecast in a strong defense that helped the departed Blake Martinez punish ball-carriers for the past few seasons. There's definite risk of another injury, and in his age-28 season, Kirksey is a worthwhile gamble for an LB3 with upside.
Jerome Baker, Miami Dolphins: Just 23 years old entering Year 3, Baker's on-field leap from his rookie to sophomore season was promising but not so meteoric that expecting another leap is asking for too much. A look at his per-game results, Baker didn't post more than 9.5 fantasy points in any of his first eight games. He flipped the switch in Week 10 and posted double figures in four of his final eight appearances. Baker briefly was on the reserve/COVID-19 list and has been activated. Miami's overall defensive efforts will improve in the second year of Flores' tenure, and Baker will be at the center of it.
Fantasy football defensive backs
Johnathan Abram, Las Vegas Raiders:
One of a trio of 2019 first-round picks by the Raiders, Abram missed effectively the entire year with a shoulder injury. He's an aggressive tackler and as fierce as they come, but his ball skills could use some refinement, so understand what you're getting. He plays on volume 11 at all times, and the Raiders will find creative ways to get him into the offensive backfield to disrupt plays. Abram is a fine investment as a No. 2 defensive back.
Ronnie Harrison, Jacksonville Jaguars: The third-year Alabama product took a major step forward in 2019 and spread his talents across the spectrum of stats. The 6-foot-3 enforcer can play in the box and is not a total slouch in coverage, recording three interceptions in 28 NFL games. He has a trio of sacks to his credit, as well. Durability could be an issue for this No. 3 defensive back target.
Bradley McDougald, New York Jets: Remarkably consistent, McDougald has averaged at least 5.6 fantasy points per game in four of his last five seasons. He has been a steady tackler and offers a hint of bonus action in coverage. The trade of Jamal Adams brought McDougald to New York, and there is a serious hole to be filled from a fantasy perspective. Gamers won't get a special player, but the consolation is a weekly No. 2 lineup candidate without fail.
Khari Willis, Indianapolis Colts: As a rookie, in 14 games, Willis racked up 71 total stops playing playing half the snaps of the rests of the players in the top 15. He has another year of mastering the system under his belt, and Indy as a whole should be much better on both sides of the ball. There is a limited ceiling here, especially when it comes to any stat outside of tackles, since Willis is far more of a box-oriented defender than a proper pass defender.
Fantasy football IDP deeper sleepers
DL Ifeadi Odenigbo, Minnesota Vikings: The loss of Everson Griffen in free agency gives Odenigbo a legit shot at reaching double-digit sacks against single attention opposite Danielle Hunter.
Draft Day Fantasy Sports Cheat
DL/LB Chase Winovich, New England Patriots: New England lost so many key defensive contributors after last season. Winovich has been a monster in training camp and is poised to capitalize on a strong rookie season.
LB Ja'Whaun Bentley, New England Patriots: After learning behind several standout linebackers, Bentley gets his chance to shine on the heels of a personnel exodus. Opportunity is the mother of inventions … and fantasy sleepers.
Fantasy Pros Mock Draft
LB Duke Riley, Philadelphia Eagles: Running with the starters, Riley gets a chance to show off his athleticism in a division that will feature plenty of running game.
DB Marquise Blair, Seattle Seahawks: Blair's versatility will give him a chance to make plays. The second-year defender has stood out in practice and appears locked into the 'big nickel' role.
DB Karl Joseph, Cleveland Browns: The season-ending Achilles tear suffered by rookie Grant Delpit, in addition to the significant loss of LB Mack Wilson, improve his odds of success. Joseph's biggest enemy is a lack of durability.
DB Duron Harmon, Detroit Lions: The former Patriot heads to a familiar defense in Detroit, which is invaluable in this offseason. Harmon brings ball skills and range to a defense that will be consistently tested.
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Welcome to our seventh season of fantasy baseball coverage. During the next month, we will help you get ready for your drafts and prepare for the upcoming season so you can become a champion.
Throughout the month of March, I will dive deep into fantasy baseball draft strategies, reveal my breakout players, bounce-back candidates, undervalued players and overvalued players.
As a refresher for those who followed our coverage throughout the years and to any new readers, in fantasy baseball there are different league formats that are used, but the traditional is the five-by-five rotisserie league format, and that is what I will base my opinions on.
For those who are not familiar with what that means, there are five hitting categories — consisting of batting average, home runs, runs scored, RBIs and stolen bases. For pitching, the categories consist of wins, strikeouts, ERA, walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP) and saves.
On-base percentage (OBP) continues to become more popular as a replacement to batting average, so I will refer to that stat as well since it could change how we evaluate certain players.
I personally feel fantasy baseball is at a crossroads with the current format. Major League Baseball teams are not valuing starting pitchers, closers and stolen bases anymore and we need to adjust as an industry. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened.
Even though roto leagues are still the standard, I encourage commissioners to think about implementing head-to-head formats along with total points. By adding more categories and getting the fantasy football feel of going against an opponent every week will only help enhance the fantasy baseball experience.
When referring to draft rankings for particular players, I will use the average draft position compiled by many of the experts on FantasyPros.com.
To get you started, I have listed the consensus rankings and auction values from FantasyPros.com.
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE 2020 SEASON?
This is a tricky question as the season counted and I don’t think we can totally dismiss what happened. However, we need to realize that after months of a long layoff there was a quick ramp-up to the season, and hitters — along with pitchers — accumulated a little more than one-third of their usual stats.
We always preach fantasy baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. However, that was far from the case in 2020.
For example; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich finished with a .205 batting average. The former National League Most Valuable Player has never hit lower than .282 in his career. Has Yelich become a bad player or did he have a bad couple of months?
In a normal year, Yelich would have struggled through May and we would have said he’s too good of a player and will turn things around through the remainder four months. We didn’t have that opportunity.
The same can be said for a player that dominated like New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit. The slugger hit 22 home runs in 2020. Should we draft him like he will hit more than 50 home runs in 2021? I don’t think so.
There’s a happy medium, and I believe adding the 2019 stats along with the 2020 season is the right way to go — or looking at the player’s stats throughout his past 162 games. This becomes harder when dealing with rookies from 2020. However, rookies are always overdrafted; this happens when most people only look at their minor-league stats. We at least now have data of the player going against the best competition in the world.
DRAFTING MULTIPLE-POSITION PLAYERS:
Flexibility is crucial in fantasy baseball and having multiple players who you can move around to different positions will set you up for success. This is especially important for those who are in leagues that make daily moves.
This may be one of the most important strategies, so I can’t stress it enough. Targeting players who can help at multiple positions is important.
The shortstop position is extremely talented in 2021. Fourteen shortstops rank in the top 75 overall players, according to FantasyPros.com. Out of those 14, four are eligible at other positions. It’s not out of the question to draft multiple shortstops this season due to the ability to move players around.
However, this does bring me to my next point. Fantasy owners need to know what site they are playing on. For example, Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks is eligible at outfield, shortstop and second base on Yahoo! Sports. Marte is only eligible at second base on ESPN and Fantrax. His value increases significantly on Yahoo, but not as much on ESPN or Fantrax.
Another important aspect to know is finding out how your league determines when a player is eligible at a certain position. In some leagues a player has to play five games, others it is longer than that. This will help planning ahead.
Using Marte as an example again, he did play other positions in 2020, but not enough to qualify in fantasy on ESPN or Fantrax due to the truncated season. It’s expected that he will play around the diamond again so he should add multiple positions, but it may take a couple weeks for that to happen.
Recognizing these things will go a long way in constructing a strong roster that is capable of competing all season long and can be used as a tiebreaker on draft day when deciding similarly-valued players.
DRAFTING MULTIPLE-CATEGORY PLAYERS:
In order to build a strong, well-rounded team, we need to target players that will help in every category.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft
Eugenio Suarez of the Cincinnati Reds hit 15 home runs in 2020, a top-15 mark in baseball. However, his .202 batting average ranked 134th in baseball. The home runs helped, but that average would have killed our rosters, especially since he doesn’t steal bases.
Cbs Sports Fantasy Draft Kit
We don’t need the top performer in every category, but we can’t afford to have the worst, either.
Draft Day Fantasy Sports Fantasy
This is something we do throughout the season when we attack the waiver wire, but you can withstand a guy who may not have a high average if you at least build a strong base in the early-to-mid rounds. This can be said for the other categories as well.
