What We Learned in the Fantasy Football Season (IDP)

The 2024 fantasy football season has officially concluded. Now we can kick back and enjoy some playoff football (or start to ramp up our playoff drafts to try and put a nice bow on our 2024 winnings). Here at FTN, we have already begun reflecting on the 2024 season by looking at things we have learned for each AFC and NFC team.

We continue our 2024 fantasy reflection series this week with things we learned in 2024 in IDP leagues. Check out the major takeaways below.

What We Learned in the Fantasy Season: IDP

Sack Totals Down Across the League

One of the best ways to gain an edge in IDP leagues is to identify players who can deliver sacks since they are a fast way to rack up points. However, fantasy managers who tried to make that their draft strategy in 2024 were undoubtedly left wanting more from their IDP players.

2024 was the first time since the 2012 season that a single player failed to register 90 or more pressures. As a result, sack totals across the league took a significant hit. Trey Hendrickson led the NFL in sacks (17.5), the lowest amount a sack leader has had since the 2020 season. Additionally, 2024 had the fewest players with 10 or more sacks (17) since the 2021 season.

That led to an underwhelming year for defensive linemen in IDP scoring. No defensive player (outside of Aidan Hutchinson, who played just five games) scored more than 11.4 points per game. Only 10 defensive linemen even reached hit 10 fantasy points per game (minimum 10 games played).

The resurgence of 2-high coverages led to teams leaning more on the run game and utilizing quick passing attacks to move the chains. That, combined with the number of teams expanding their defensive line rotations, led to a very down year for defensive linemen.

The Linebacker Position Dominates the Rankings (Again)

The linebacker position feasted while defensive linemen took a hit in their production stats thanks to an increase in run volume and quick passing. Some 43 different linebackers averaged at least 10 fantasy points per game. Sixteen players had over 13 points per game in 2024.

Eleven of the top 12 IDP scorers in 2024 were linebackers (min. 10 games). There is always a sense of urgency to take the best linebacker possible in IDP leagues thanks to their passing volume, but in 2024 there were plenty of streaming options that would have provided solid scoring weeks.

Finding linebackers who can rack up tackles and contribute in the passing game is key. Nine of the top 10 scoring linebackers had at least 2.0 sacks and an interception in 2024.

Figure Out Who the Box Safeties Are Early and Get Them

Getting consistent production from the defensive back position remains difficult for fantasy managers. However, the best bet to get solid production comes from focusing on safeties thanks to their ability to generate tackles. Three of the top 20 defensive back scorers (minimum 10 games played) played safety in 2024.

Just five of the preseason top 12 IDP-ranked defensive backs finished in the top 12 (Kyle Hamilton, Derwin James Jr., Brian Branch, Jessie Bates III and Kyle Dugger) finished in the top 12 in fantasy points. Another two would have qualified if they had stayed healthy and productive (Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jaquan Brisker).

Identifying a good defensive back for fantasy football (whether it is through the draft or on waivers early in the season) comes down to one common tie for the top scorers: finding a safety that plays up in the box on defense.

There were 32 defensive backs who scored 10-plus fantasy points per game in 2024. Fourteen of them were safeties that played at least 28% of their snaps at or near the line of scrimmage, including eight of the top 10 defensive back scorers in fantasy points per game. The average fantasy points per game scored by the top 25 safeties in box snaps was 9.8.

Interceptions are not sticky from year to year, but finding the safeties who are in a position to bolster their tackle totals while providing a chance to generate interceptions (and turnovers in general) seems to be the best bet for IDP leagues in an NFL is trending more run-heavy. Once an NFL team shows you how they plan on deploying their safeties, attack the position on the waiver wire to optimize your lineups going forward.

Don’t Be Afraid to Target Good Players on Bad Teams

One of the most common refrains you will hear in traditional fantasy leagues is to “target good players on good teams.” That logic makes sense and mostly works out. The best fantasy assets generally find themselves on teams that have good offenses that put up a lot of points. There will always be outliers (good players who are awesome on bad teams), but generally, successfully identifying strong offenses is a way to put yourself in a position to put up fantasy points.

However, in IDP formats, we want to target good players on bad teams as well.

Of course, finding good players on good defenses will also get the job done. However, finding talented defensive players paired with bad offenses that give the ball away (or can’t sustain drives) can provide big fantasy production in IDP scoring.

There were 97 players who scored at least 10 or more fantasy points during the 2024 season. Of that, 55 of them (56%) were on a team that didn’t make the playoffs. There were 34 players with at least 12 fantasy points, with 19 players (55%) missing the NFL playoffs. Seven of the top 10 scorers in IDP (including top scorer Zaire Franklin from the Colts) were on teams whose season ended in Week 18.

Practice Patience Drafting IDP Players

In IDP leagues, there is always a rush to get the most recognized defensive names that have the perception of dominating. However, it is important to put IDP scoring in context.

The top IDP scorer in 2024 (Zaire Franklin) finished with 16.2 fantasy points per game. That would have made him QB17, RB13, WR14 or TE2. However, he was one of four IDP players to average over 15.0 fantasy points per game. Two of them (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Aidan Hutchinson) missed most of the year due to injury. The vast majority of IDP players scored like an RB3 or WR4.

From 2018 to 2022, there was at least one defensive player who generated at least 17.0 fantasy points per game. However, over the last two seasons, we haven’t seen a player eclipse that total. Additionally, there have been at least eight IDP players to average at least 14.0 fantasy points per game in every season since 2018 (including 16 in 2023). However, just six players hit that mark in 2024.

NFL defenses are leaning heavier on nickel packages (five defensive backs on the field) while also utilizing rotations among their box defenders. Those things certainly had an impact on IDP scoring in 2024.

If you feel like you’ve filled (and hit on) your traditional starters, then it is fine to take a shot on an IDP player you feel is going to amplify your team’s weekly production in fantasy. However, more often than not you are better off attacking the second or third wave of IDP players and being willing to pivot to the waiver wire after seeing how a team plans on utilizing their defensive stalwarts.