Week 9 IDP Rankings for Fantasy Football (2025) - Defense Positional Rankings for LB, DL, DB

Fantasy football IDP rankings and IDP streamers for Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season. Chris's IDP fantasy start 'em, sit 'em picks for individual defensive players.

The hits keep on coming in 2025, as an already injury-plagued, bye-ridden Week 8 gave us a slew of new significant injuries to real IDP contributors. To make matters worse, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust injury reports and the coach speak surrounding whether a player is actually healthy or will be ready to go.

The perfect example of this is Trey Hendrickson. The former All-Pro was said to be a "full go," and that appeared to be the case early on, as his usage was healthy… but the player was clearly not. At no point did Hendrickson look like himself against Gang Green, getting pushed to the ground and struggling to pivot or turn. He was a shell even before "re-aggravating" his hip.

We mention Hendrickson’s performance to explain why an elite player who is still listed as “Questionable” fell down this week’s rankings. Even in a week where key defenders like Ed Oliver, Derrick Brown, and DeShon Elliott are out or questionable, we still must fade a star like Hendrickson until he looks like himself. We did not see the real Hendrickson on Sunday.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

IDP Scoring System for Rankings:

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

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

Top Fantasy Defensive Linemen of the Week

DL Riser of the Week:

Chase Young, New Orleans Saints

After missing the first five weeks of the season, Young has accrued a strong 11 quarterback pressures in his first three games back. He has also earned high pass rush grades in each game, totaled 2.5 sacks, and his pass rush win rate is 12^th amongst all edge rushers this year.

While these strong numbers have been earned in a small sample size, Young's matchup this week is good enough to trust him once more. The Rams are surrendering the sixth-most quarterback pressures and attempting the tenth-most passes per game. While Matthew Stafford avoids many sacks, he is under pressure regularly.

DL Disappointment of the Week:

Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

As you may have noted in our introduction this week, the short-term needle is pointing down on Hendrickson. While we cannot advise those in moderately deep leagues to drop the former All-Pro, as he could return to DL1 status when healthy, it is also difficult to keep him in the top 20 this week.

The former Saint simply didn't look close to himself this past week, even before re-aggravating his hip injury. He looked stiff, slow, and struggled to maintain the point of attack against a typically weak Jets pass-blocking unit. His Questionable tag means he may not play, but his tape from Week 8 suggests he shouldn’t.

Top Fantasy Linebackers of the Week

LB Riser of the Week:

DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas Cowboys

Dallas has not yet activated Overshown, so placing him on this list may be premature. However, all reports indicate the former standout is nearing a return, and his own camp is reporting Overshown is "stronger, faster, [and] can jump higher" since his injury.

While the hyperbole of this former Longhorn’s improved athleticism should be taken with a grain of salt, his past performance should not. Overshown produced fewer than five Standard IDP points in just three contests last year, and he was LB14 in fantasy points per game.

While the emergence of Shemar James could give some people pause over adding Overshown, the veteran performed as an LB2 last season despite sharing the field with Eric Kendricks. Remember, Kendricks himself was a top-10 fantasy scorer last season, so there is room for two significant contributors on the Cowboys’ defense.

LB Disappointment of the Week:

Zaire Franklin, Indianapolis Colts

Franklin has already made an appearance in this space in 2025, but things appear to be getting worse without any change in his fantasy profile. While it is understandable that many don't want to drop or bench last year's top-scoring LB for fear he will return to form, his current role and usage are concerning.

Over his past two games with Germaine Pratt in the fold, Franklin has totaled just 6.5 Standard IDP points. Worse, the Colts' offense continues to score points at a rate never seen in Franklin’s tenure. The big leads that Indy now plays with mean opponents have to pass at a high rate, leaving Franklin in coverage or resting on the bench.

Because the game script doesn't favor Franklin's fantasy profile, it is no surprise his production has taken a nosedive. What is surprising is the fact that he remains fantasy's eighth-most rostered and started LB despite being LB52 overall in fantasy ppg.

Top Fantasy Defensive Backs of the Week

DB Riser of the Week:

Quan Martin, Washington Commanders

When a defensive back leads the NFL in tackles in any given week, it is fair to call them a riser. Quan Martin did just that against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, totaling an impressive 14 tackles against the pass-oriented Kansas City offense.

Martin has an iffy opponent on paper this week, given that Sam Darnold has the fifth-lowest turnover-worthy throw rate amongst starting quarterbacks. However, the Illinois product doesn’t need big plays to produce. He hoards tackles while manning the slot/box 37% of the time, and he will shade against target mavins like Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Martin is not a must-start this week. However, he is an adequate streamer against Seattle and a player whose season-long value is on the rise.

DB Disappointment of the Week:

DeShon Elliott, Pittsburgh Steelers

Obviously, Elliott is injured, and that makes him low-hanging fruit for a "disappointment" label. With that said, we place him in this space because the mixed messaging from the Steelers on Elliott’s injury has been… well, disappointing.

Mike Tomlin claimed on Tuesday that the IDP star is “week-to-week.” That designation implied that Elliott could return any given week, and his injury was not particularly serious. However, the Steelers acquired Kyle Dugger within hours of Tomlin downplaying the injury, and shortly after, Ian Rappaport reported Elliott is headed to IR.

Given the flurry of inconsistent news on Elliott this week, it's hard not to label him as a fantasy disappointment. IDP managers went into Tuesday afternoon expecting their DB1 might have a shot to play this week, but now there are strong indicators he could miss a majority of the season, if not all of it.

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