Week 15, after fantasy football's regular season has concluded in most leagues, offers the opportunity to reflect on player results to date and implications for line-ups. Reading the Defense will review defensive tackles this week, followed by edge defenders, linebackers, and defensive backs to close out this season's column.
Overview
Defensive tackles enjoyed a banner year in fantasy football in 2022. Nine finished among the top 24 defensive linemen by Footballguys' scoring. Seven of the nine were first-round picks of past NFL drafts. While a couple of them enjoyed break-out seasons, none were waiver-wire wonders outside of shallow leagues.
In 2022, ten interior defenders collected at least 7.0 quarterback sacks, and half of them compiled a double-digit total. The high totals (by players other than Aaron Donald) raised questions as to whether NFL defenses were evolving such that interior defenders could approach edge defenders in fantasy value.
The pendulum swung fiercely in the opposite direction in 2023. A position leaderboard reliably dominated by blue-chip players for years is speckled with sleepers. The blue chips didn't vanish entirely, but most of 2022's pacesetters regressed year over year in production for fantasy gamers. Names new to the top 24 at the position include formerly disappointing first-round picks, day-two picks including a rookie, and veterans bouncing back from obscurity.
Volume
Playing time continues to drive fantasy output for all positions. It can be underrated by gamers chasing quarterback sacks from rotational pieces in good match-ups. Fifteen defensive tackles are on pace for 800 snaps in this 17-game season. All rank among the top 28 scorers on Footballguys' leaderboard.
Insight into which players will play high volumes of snaps presents the clearest path to value in IDP fantasy football. Nine players who cleared 800 snaps in 2022 are on pace to repeat the feat of volume in 2023. Three more of this year's snap leaders might have eclipsed 800 reps in 2022 had they not missed time to injuries.
Zach Allen leads the position in volume.
THE EXTRA MILE (WEEK 15 AT DET.): Among defensive ends, DE Zach Allen is tied for the fifth-most passes defensed (13) since 2021 and the sixth-most QB hits (20) this season. Allen is also tied for the fifth-most run stops (26) among interior defensive linemen in 2023, according… pic.twitter.com/Cdp0P9BG2b
— Tyler Gorse (@Tyler_Gorse_) December 14, 2023
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Tackles
Defensive tackles atop the fantasy leaderboard are always a mix of run-stuffers and interior penetrators getting to quarterbacks. Eleven defensive tackles collected 60 or more combined tackles in 2022. While just eight are on that pace in 2023, several more are close. Four of the eight have recorded 3.0 or fewer quarterback sacks.
The Panthers' Derrick Brown (1.0 QB sack) has established himself as a quality run defender and leads NFL defensive tackles with 76 combined tackles. He has not yet developed into the pass rusher the seventh overall pick used on him would seem to have predicted. At 25, he is the youngest player ranking among fantasy football's top 12 defensive tackles.
Derrick Brown wild for this 😠pic.twitter.com/vGJz3Kb1JD
— =ÍŸÍŸÍžBlande (@JustBlande) December 10, 2023
Minnesota's Harrison Phillips has been one of the season's biggest surprises among defensive tackles. He's playing a role in Brian Flores's defense similar to that formerly occupied by Christian Wilkins in Miami. The Vikings' thin depth chart is amplifying Phillips's value in Minnesota and fantasy football.
Quinnen Williams and Daron Payne have both disappointed fantasy gamers in 2023. While both continue to perform as run defenders, they have fallen far short of their career years as pass rushers in 2022. Williams's play has not fallen off as badly as his numbers, but Payne's Jekyll-and-Hyde act exemplifies that of the entire Washington defense.
Sacks
Justin Madubuike has been one of the position's biggest surprises as an interior pass rusher in several years. Broderick Washington, rather than Madubuike, was the young tackle that Baltimore chose to extend last offseason. While their roles differ in the Ravens' defense, Madubuike's prospects of playing time supporting a DT1 finish were dim last summer. Madubuike's 11.0 quarterback sacks to date position him to capitalize on a contract year like Matt Ioannidis five years ago.
Time will tell whether Madbuike's outlook more closely resembles the former Redskin, a decent player with one great year, or Javon Hargrave. Mired in a rotation early in his career, Hargrave emerged in the final year of his rookie deal due to injuries ahead of him on the Steelers' depth chart. He took his game to another level as an unrestricted free agent in Philadelphia and now in San Francisco.
.@Ravens @JustinMadubuike leads the Ravens in sacks who lead the NFL in sacks with 29. @KVN_03 has been a golden addition to this roster #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/QclQlSkBmM
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 23, 2023
No other interior defender's sack total is within four of Madubuike's. Ranking second with 7.5 sacks, Chris Jones is playing closer to a Pro-Bowl level this season versus his All-Pro 2022 campaign.
Christian Wilkins also resides at 7.5 sacks, already a career high. He collected 187 tackles over the last two seasons, a rate that predictably fell off. The former national champion at Clemson is growing into the impact player in both the run and pass games that Miami hoped it drafted at 17 overall in 2019.
Sacks can be fickle. Aaron Donald leads all interior defenders in pass-rush win rate just as he has in nearly every year of his career, yet he's off pace for a double-digit sack season for only the fourth time in a decade. Like Quinnen Williams, Donald's disappointing production for fantasy gamers does not necessarily reflect his play.
A Look Ahead
Two young defensive tackles in the midst of break-outs must only play more to emerge as weekly starts for fantasy gamers in 2024. Osa Odighizuwa and Jalen Carter should be early picks at the position next summer in hopes that their roles expand to meet their growing performance.
Que el mundo empiece a conocer a DT Osa Odighizuwa.
— Cuentos Vaqueros ✠(@CuentosVaqueros) December 14, 2023
Una bestia por el centro de la línea defensiva de Dallas#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/OBB3L1erc4
Jarran Reed, in his second tour of duty in Seattle, and Miami's Zach Sieler are enjoying DT1 seasons and providing great value to fantasy gamers who typically drafted them as DT3s. Fantasy gamers must watch these teams' offseason moves to see if these players have more competition for snaps in 2024.
Perennial DT1 Cameron Heyward might finally be falling off in his age-34 season. He has come to exemplify the optimal defensive tackle for IDP gamers. For years, Heyward provided a high floor for tackles along with frequent boom weeks getting to the quarterback.
In Conclusion
A premium fantasy asset among defensive tackles is one who piles up tackles and stacks sacks. DeForest Buckner has returned to the top of the position's pecking order in 2023, excelling in both run and pass defense. Several younger players appear ready to join a select few, including Buckner and Wilkins, in the echelon of complete interior defenders. Importantly, however, all but Jalen Carter are age 25 or older. Slow upward trajectories of players like Ed Oliver, Christian Barmore, and Devonte Wyatt will make for attractive investments next summer.
Aaron Donald, Quinnen Williams, and the Commanders' duo have not forgotten how to play football. They are obvious candidates to return to the position's top echelon in 2024.
Expanding depth at the position makes this the perfect time for fantasy commissioners to pitch a line-up change to their leagues. Roughly half of the leaderboard plays in nominal 3-4 defenses. True-position designations of interior defenders have been seeping into fantasy football platforms for several years. Increasing starting line-up requirements from one to two defensive tackles to reflect this reality will make this position more central to strategy and elevate the importance of talent to fantasy results.
Reading the Defense drops each Friday. This column seeks to identify not only whom to target or fade but why. Analysis at Footballguys aims to equip fantasy gamers with the confidence to acquire players for their rosters and deploy them on Sundays. Readers are welcome to contact and follow this writer @DynastyTripp on the website formerly known as Twitter.