Welcome in for a look at some Fantasy Football Tips for Drafting a Defense in 2021 Fantasy Football! So many questions come up when preparing for a Fantasy Football Draft. "What Quarterback do I draft this year?', "Do I go heavy Running Back right away, or go Zero RB?", and "When is it too early to draft my Tight End?".
The questions are honestly endless, but today I'm here to focus on when you should look at your team defense in Fantasy Drafts, and what you should look for when you're pulling the trigger on defense this year!
Without further ado let's dive into some Fantasy Football Tips for Drafting a Defense.
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Tip Number One
Never Be The First One To Draft A Defense
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Unless you're in the really late rounds already, there's no reason to be the first one to draft a defense. Why is that? Simply put, you don't want to be the one drafting a defense in the seventh round when there are still so many valuable positions left to choose from that you have to start more than one of.
On top of that, there's usually a handful of good defenses to choose from and what usually happens is players will actually grab defenses that are set to bust, more on that later.
There are 32 defenses in the league to choose from, just like there are 32 starting quarterbacks each week. So I like to apply the tactic of "Late Round Quarterback" to defenses, except a defense will never match the starting value of a quarterback? So why should you draft them anywhere near where they're going? Easy, you shouldn't.
In addition to all of that, teams rarely draft more than one defense. So even if you're in a 16-team league, it's unlikely that more than 20 defenses get selected, leaving at least 12 to choose from. This leads me to my next tip.
Tip Number Two
Never Draft More Than One Defense
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For the reason I mentioned above, there's little to no scarcity at this position. Therefore, there's no reason to have two defenses clog up your bench. In the past, I've even gone without drafting a defense so that I could draft a player with upside instead. Then I just fill the void before Week 1.
Also, no one is going to trade you for your extra "stud" defense. And if they do, I hope you take their money. Side note, don't ever trade for defenses.
Tip Number Three
Don't Draft Last Year's Number One Defense
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To clarify, don't draft last year's number one defense, just because they were last year's number one defense. There's often a lot of change in defenses from year to year. Coordinators get fired or get hired elsewhere, players retire, players get injured, and defenses face different matchups on a yearly basis.
It takes a lot for a defense to remain at the top, so I don't like to bank on many staying in the top 5 even on more than a yearly basis.
Also, if you follow Tip Number One, you shouldn't have a crack at last year's number one defense anyway. So good job!
Tip Number Four
Don't Avoid "Bad" Defenses From Last Year
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Again this one will need more context than the tip suggests. This is the other side of the coin from Tip Number Three. Teams can get better, and get better quickly. Players return from injury, new coaches and coordinators get brought in, and players are added in the draft and via free agency.
A great example of this coming into 2022 is the Baltimore Ravens. Last year was a mess for the Ravens and per FantasyData.com they finished as DST26.
Their offense is getting healthy and should be able to operate efficiently again. They've added defensive pieces over the offseason, and are getting healthy on that side of the ball too.
This doesn't mean draft bad defenses, but rather draft good defenses who had an off year.
Tip Number Five
The Last Two-Three Rounds Are for Your Defense
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While you can lump kicker in here too, my last three rounds will always consist of a defense, maybe a kicker, and a player with immense upside. Not necessarily in that order. With the lack of scarcity at defense, I just don't see the point in spending important picks on them when I could draft a positional player instead.
A Bonus Tip
Try IDP
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First off, IDP stands for Individual Defensive Player. So your team defense is swapped for a starting lineup up of individual defensive players, as opposed to a team defense.
My reasoning is if you're in tune with IDPs you're just a mile ahead on all the offseason moves when it comes to what could make a DST better or worse this year. You get to know players, and not a nameless, faceless team defense. It's how you know if offenses are going to be better or worse this coming season.
If you play IDP, you'll probably never draft a bad defense again.
Thanks for checking out my Five Fantasy Football Tips for Drafting a Team Defense, be sure to check out more 2021 Fantasy Football content from our great team of writers!
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Bob Van Duser
Covering all things Dynasty Fantasy Football. Whether it's general strategy, trade advice, player valuations, or in-depth strategies involving team building, trading, draft advice, etc. I do it all.
