Week 14 IDP Rankings for Fantasy Football (2024) - Defense Positional Rankings for LB, DL, DB

December 4, 2024

Fantasy football IDP rankings and IDP streamers for Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season. Chris's IDP fantasy start 'em, sit 'em picks for individual defensive players.

As we have hinted at in several articles this year, the 2024 season seems to be the hardest proof yet that the NFL doesn't care much about fair and balanced scheduling or its fantasy fans. While millions of people watch the NFL primarily for fantasy purposes, the schedule is often bad for us. Worse, it can also prejudice teams that have an early bye in Week 5 or Week 6.

Week 14 is the best time to raise this complaint, considering six teams are on bye. If you roll Week 12 and Week 14 together, 37.5% of the NFL is on bye in those two weeks. This creates a logjam for fantasy managers, particularly those in leagues that start their playoffs this week. Worse, NFL teams with a bye in Week 5 are left playing through fatigue others can sit out.

What could the NFL do about this problem? For starters, it could stick two or four byes in Week 8, where no teams sat this year. It could also stick two more byes in Week 9, where only San Francisco and Pittsburgh were out. Finally, it could go back to the old way of setting two games on Thanksgiving with no Black Friday game, allowing some byes in Week 13.

IDP Scoring System for Rankings

Note: These rankings are also based on leagues that start one player at each defensive position (DL, LB, DB) and two DFLEX:

• 6-points per Defensive Touchdown
• 4-points per Forced Turnover (FF/INT)
• 3-points per Sack
• 2- points per PD, FR, Safety
• 1-point Solo Tackle
• 0.5-points Assisted Tackle

Top Fantasy Defensive Linemen of the Week

DL Riser of the Week

Nolan Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Nolan Smith made our list of defenders to add last week. We advised that his playing time could jump with the injury to Brandon Graham and his speed off the edge could translate into production with more snaps. Those predictions proved true, as the Georgia alum produced eight tackles and 1.5 sacks in an increased role last week.

The Eagles run Whip (rush Nakobe Dean, drop Josh Sweat off the opposite EDGE). The route distribution behind this is incredible. Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean both have good rush reps but it is Smith who ends up with the sack. pic.twitter.com/Pri1x2FcRn

— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) December 3, 2024

Since Graham's injury, Smith has tied and then set a new career high in defensive snap rate. Against the Ravens, he saw a whopping 81% of Philly's defensive snaps and produced the best fantasy game of his career. That uptick means he’s worthy of a season-long stash and could help make a playoff push in deeper IDP formats.

Smith is also a fine streamer in Week 14 with six teams on bye. Carolina is in the top half of sacks allowed per game this year, but its pressure rate is closer to the bottom. In a week with limited high-upside options, Smith is a solid streaming option against a mid-tier Panthers pass-blocking unit.

DL Disappointment of the Week

Tuli Tuipulotu, Los Angeles Chargers

Despite Tuipulotu netting seven sacks in a four-game stretch through Week 11, the Chargers have recently placed him back into a reserve role behind their veterans. With Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa both healthy, the former Trojan is no longer starting and saw a season-low 40% of the defensive snaps last weekend.

While it’s possible Tuipulotu’s snaps were limited in part by the nature of their win over the Falcons, the ground-and-pound nature of the contest didn’t impact Mack or Bosa’s snaps. As a result, we have to worry that Tuipulotu is a deep league matchup-dependent fantasy play as long as all three pass-rushers are healthy.

Top Fantasy Linebackers of the Week

LB Riser of the Week

Troy Dye, Los Angeles Chargers

Nick Niemann saw most of the defensive snaps vacated by Denzel Perryman when he sat out Week 12. That changed in Week 13, with the younger and more athletic Dye stepping in. Dye was once a solid coverage linebacker prospect coming out of Oregon, so it was exciting for those who scouted him to finally see Dye play real snaps on a good defense.

In his first substantial snaps, the Oregon product registered 14 total tackles. While that number is unlikely to be repeated, the former Duck is an intriguing streamer as long as Perryman is out. He may even play Perryman out of a job.

Consider Dye an LB3-caliber streamer in a thin week if Perryman is ruled out.

LB Disappointment of the Week

Dorian Williams, Buffalo Bills

We warned the activation of Matt Milano was likely to hamper Dorian Williams' playing time while leaving Terrel Bernard's largely untouched. That prediction played out on Sunday, as Bernard played his typical 100% snap share against the 49ers, while Williams saw just one total snap … on special teams.

I mean, look at the hustle and speed Dorian Williams has on this play. Again, he saves the Bills four points with this play. Not a lot of LB's are running with that speed. pic.twitter.com/hOgNqLBZ0V

— Patrick Moran (Talking Buffalo) (@PatrickMoranTB) November 11, 2024

Despite the clear red flags, Milano’s status was unknown until this weekend. That’s why we continued to rank Williams as an LB2, and it’s likely why he was the 34th-most-started fantasy LB. However, it’s next to impossible to start Williams now that we’ve seen how he will be used with Milano available.

Williams is still worth stashing in deeper IDP leagues on the chance this game was an outlier, or an injury forces him into more snaps. He has the talent to produce in fantasy if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, right now it looks as if Milano's return could render Williams completely unusable for the foreseeable future.

Top Fantasy Defensive Backs of the Week

DB Riser of the Week

Ugo Amadi, New Orleans Saints

Amadi had zero NFL starts between Week 1 of the 2022 season and Week 10 of this campaign. However, the former Seahawk has strung together three consecutive strong fantasy performances while playing over 90% of New Orleans’ defensive snaps in each. Therefore, he is a noteworthy riser in a week full of byes and middling DB options.

In each of his past three contests, Amadi has totaled at least eight total tackles. He has also collected two PDs in that span. His spike in playing time and production started shortly after Paulson Adebo went out for the season, and it should continue with no threats on the horizon and Tyrann Mathieu questionable for the week.

As stated above, pickings are slim with six teams on bye this week. Outside of Tyler Nubin, who made our Riser of the Week twice already, there also aren't many DBs making a big jump in production lately. That leaves Amadi, who is an intriguing streamer against Drew Lock this week and a fantasy asset who could be viable beyond that.

DB Disappointment of the Week

Carlton Davis III, Detroit Lions

While it's difficult to find clear starters or stars on defense with six teams on bye this week, finding people to fade is even harder. When this many key defenders are resting, it becomes an all-hands-on-deck situation.

For that reason, Davis gets this dubious distinction through no fault of his own. The Auburn alum is still a quality corner, and he's DB28 in fantasy points per game this season. That said, the former Buccaneer is trending toward playing, and he has a relatively weak fantasy matchup on tap.

Carlton Davis' INT was the biggest play of the game for the Lions. The Texans had the perfect play call. pic.twitter.com/nmkiSxWYI1

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) November 11, 2024

Although many will have to start Davis, given his performance this year and a lack of clear options in deeper IDP leagues, the Packers are a stingy opponent. They average the third-fewest pass attempts per game this season, and over the past three weeks, they are the lowest. Green Bay also spreads the ball around, which means it can avoid Davis.

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