This article is part of our IDP Analysis series.
Looking for a good tiebreaker when drafting defensive players you have closely ranked together? Although not a hard and fast rule, using the projected win totals from Las Vegas casinos can help us have a better idea in identifying some teams that might face more rushing or passing attempts than the average team.
For the teams with the highest win totals, their opponents could find themselves playing from behind, which could elevate both sacks for the pass rushers and tackle totals for defensive backs. Conversely, for the teams expected to lose most of their games, the linebackers and strong safeties could see elevated tackle totals due to the fact that their opponents could find themselves running the ball late in games to run out the clock.
Again, the main purpose of this article simply is to provide tiebreakers between players you have similarly ranked, so we'll see a blend of superstars and ordinary IDP options.
We'll start with the teams that are projected to win 10 or more games, and those are the Vikings, Packers, Patriots, Eagles and Steelers.
Pass rushers who could see elevated sack totals by playing on a potentially elite team:
Defensive Tackles: Sheldon Richardson (Vikings), Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
Defensive Ends: Everson Griffen (Vikings), Danielle Hunter (Vikings), Mike Daniels (Packers), Muhammad Wilkerson (Packers), Trey Flowers (Patriots), Michael Bennett (Eagles), Brandon Graham (Eagles), Stephon Tuitt (Steelers), Cameron Heyward (Steelers)
Linebackers: Anthony Barr (Vikings), Nick Perry (Packers), Clay Matthews (Packers), Kyle Van Noy (Patriots), T.J. Watt (Steelers)
Defensive backs
Looking for a good tiebreaker when drafting defensive players you have closely ranked together? Although not a hard and fast rule, using the projected win totals from Las Vegas casinos can help us have a better idea in identifying some teams that might face more rushing or passing attempts than the average team.
For the teams with the highest win totals, their opponents could find themselves playing from behind, which could elevate both sacks for the pass rushers and tackle totals for defensive backs. Conversely, for the teams expected to lose most of their games, the linebackers and strong safeties could see elevated tackle totals due to the fact that their opponents could find themselves running the ball late in games to run out the clock.
Again, the main purpose of this article simply is to provide tiebreakers between players you have similarly ranked, so we'll see a blend of superstars and ordinary IDP options.
We'll start with the teams that are projected to win 10 or more games, and those are the Vikings, Packers, Patriots, Eagles and Steelers.
Pass rushers who could see elevated sack totals by playing on a potentially elite team:
Defensive Tackles: Sheldon Richardson (Vikings), Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
Defensive Ends: Everson Griffen (Vikings), Danielle Hunter (Vikings), Mike Daniels (Packers), Muhammad Wilkerson (Packers), Trey Flowers (Patriots), Michael Bennett (Eagles), Brandon Graham (Eagles), Stephon Tuitt (Steelers), Cameron Heyward (Steelers)
Linebackers: Anthony Barr (Vikings), Nick Perry (Packers), Clay Matthews (Packers), Kyle Van Noy (Patriots), T.J. Watt (Steelers)
Defensive backs who could see a boost in tackles by facing many opponents who'll likely be forced to throw the ball often, especially late in games. Note: Some of the elite-type cornerbacks are left out because offenses are more likely to pick on the weaker coverage options.
Cornerbacks: Trae Waynes (Vikings), Kevin King (Packers) Quinten Rollins (Packers), Eric Rowe (Patriots), Jason McCourty (Patriots), Ronald Darby (Eagles), Jalen Mills (Eagles), Artie Burns (Steelers), Joe Haden (Steelers), Mike Hilton (Steelers)
Safeties: Harrison Smith (Vikings), Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (Packers), Devin McCourty (Patriots), Malcolm Jenkins (Eagles), Morgan Burnett (Steelers)
Now we'll move onto the teams projected to lose around 10 games, making a note of both the linebackers and safeties who could see increased opportunities to pile up tackles late in games. The teams expected to trail often are the Browns, Bengals, Cardinals, Dolphins and Washington.
Linebackers: Joe Schobert (Browns), Christian Kirksey (Browns), Vincent Rey (Bengals), Preston Brown (Bengals), Haason Reddick (Cardinals), Deone Bucannon (Cardinals), Kiko Alonso (Dolphins), Zach Brown (Washington), Mason Foster (Washington),
Safeties: Jabrill Peppers (Browns), Shawn Williams (Bengals), Budda Baker (Cardinals), Reshad Jones (Dolphins), T.J. McDonald (Dolphins), Montae Nicholson (Washington)
