How to Incorporate IDP Into Your Fantasy League

You’re gonna do it. You’re taking the plunge. Making the leap.

You have decided to ditch the boredom and irrelevance of team defenses for the added strategy and fun of incorporating individual defensive players into your fantasy football league. No more drafting a team defense late that doesn’t really matter at all. No, you are adding defensive linemen like Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers. Linebackers like Foyesade Oluokun of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Defensive backs like Antoine Winfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Well, at least you want to. The problem (potentially) is that some of your leaguemates may resist this idea. Perhaps they are just resistant to change. Or have misplaced concerns about IDP leagues being overly complicated.

But fear not, intrepid IDP manager to-be. We can alleviate the concerns of your compatriots. Show you how to set up IDP position requirements. Set up scoring.

And it can all be done in three easy steps.

STEP 1: The IDP Sales Pitch

Let’s get one thing straight right off the jump—IDP leagues are more fun than “standard” fantasy football leagues. This is not just this writer’s opinion. It is a scientific fact (trust me).

Yes, in this age of pass-heavy offenses and rules that cater to that side of the ball, offense is king in the NFL. But defense is hardly irrelevant—a big part of the San Francisco 49ers winning the NFC last year was Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner and San Fran’s eighth-ranked defense.

Adding IDPs to fantasy football gives defenses their due. Instead of hoping a team defense gets you five points, you can cheer on every Myles Garrett sack. Every Roquan Smith tackle. Every Derwin James interception. There’s more strategy. More excitement. Just more. Eighty-plus percent of the people I get to try IDP love the format from the jump.

However, getting folks to try IDP can be a challenge at times. They will have reservations—reservations I’m about to help you shoot down one-by-one.

“IDP Isn’t Real Fantasy Football”

This, dear reader, is simply not true. In 1963, Bill “Wink” Winkenbach, a minority owner for the Oakland Raiders, created what is widely regarded as the first-ever fantasy football league—the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League.

The GOPPPL was an IDP league. So more accurately, all the “regular” fantasy leagues people have been playing in for years aren’t “real” fantasy football.

So there.

“IDP Leagues are Too Complicated”

This is just poppycock. Hokum. Bunk. IDP leagues are no more or less complicated than any other fantasy football league. Fantasy managers managed to wrap their heads around quarterbacks and wide receivers being awarded points for yards and touchdowns. The idea of linebackers and defensive linemen being awarded points for tackles and sacks ain’t exactly quantum physics.

Yes, IDP requires managers (at least ones who want to succeed) to do some additional player research and homework. But the IDP analysts here at Footballguys are the best in the business (well, except me). We can hook you up with all the information you need.

“The Draft Will Take Too Long”

To be fair, adding IDPs means lengthening the draft. If you use the “IDP Starter Set” lineup (more on that in a bit) your draft will likely be between 28-32 rounds, depending on bench size. But that’s not as daunting as it sounds.

I am the commissioner of the King’s Classic Dick Butkus Division league that drafts at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s a full 11-IDP defensive lineup. 14 teams. 34 rounds. Last year, it took us just over three hours to draft. Live. With no clock. And breaks.

Besides, isn’t draft day like the best day of the entire fantasy calendar? A day where hope springs eternal for all? How is more of that not better?

STEP 2: The IDP Lineup

OK, you sold the rest of the league. Overcame objections. Cajoled. Pleaded. Intimidated a little if needed. The league is adding IDPs. Victory is within reach.

Now you have to figure out the nuts and bolts—beginning with how many defensive starters each team fields.

If you want to jump into the deep end of the IDP pool head-first and go with a full IDP lineup that requires cornerbacks and defensive tackles, have at it. Those leagues are equal parts challenging and enjoyable. But that may make some managers antsy if they’re new to the format.

What you don’t want to do is only add an IDP or two—or even just a single starter at each position. The reason for this is that it changes nothing. IDPs in that format are no more relevant than team defenses are in other leagues. You’ll wait until the end of the draft, grab a few guys and then cut them loose for players with more favorable matchups.

There’s a happy medium, though—an IDP starter set that makes defensive players a factor in fantasy success without overwhelming newcomers. An “IDP Starter Set” of sorts. In that format, teams start two defensive linemen, two linebackers, two defensive backs and one IDP ‘flex” spot.

It’s a solid place to start. Then, as your leaguemates develop IDP Fever (which is an inescapable as it is incurable), you can ratchet up the number of defensive starters.

STEP 3: The IDP Scoring

All right. You have the lineup requirements set. There’s just one more thing left to do—establish the IDP scoring.

There are two big considerations to bear in mind here—how the IDP scoring is broken down between tackles and “big plays” and how the defensive scoring compares to the offense.

If the ratio of tackles to big plays is 3-to-1 or lower, your IDP scoring is “tackle-heavy.” It’s the most common scoring system in IDP, and one that gives added weight to tackle-vacuum linebackers like Oluokun and safeties capable of triple-digit stops.

Conversely, if your IDP scoring features a tackle to big-play ratio of 4-to-1 or more, the scoring is “big-play heavy.” In that format, 15-sack edge-rushers and ball-hawking defensive backs get a boost in value.

There’s also the matter of how the defensive players score relative to their offensive counterparts. With lower scoring, IDPs are less-relevant—patience can be exercised when draft day rolls around. But if Steelers edge-rusher T.J. Watt scores as many points as Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill, well then that’s another matter altogether.

Personally, this analyst likes the middle of the road—especially for fantasy managers who don’t have a ton of experience in IDP. Scoring that’s relatively balanced between tackles and big plays and gives defensive players some heft without creating draft-day chaos for folks attempting to acclimate to IDP.

Say something like this:

This admittedly requires decimal scoring. But decimal scoring has its advantages—ties become highly unlikely. But it has balance. It has some meat. And it means that even an “IDP Starter Set” lineup will make a difference in how successful a manager’s season is.

That’s it. Three steps to turn your fantasy football league from one that ignores half the game to one that more accurately reflects the sport we all love. Three steps to a better league. A more enjoyable league. An IDP league.

And believe me. Once you go IDP. There’s no going back.

Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can't make him call it X) at @IDPSharks.