Week 13 IDP Rankings for Fantasy Football (2025) - Defense Positional Rankings for LB, DL, DB

Fantasy football IDP rankings and IDP streamers for Week 13 of the 2025 NFL season. Chris's IDP fantasy start 'em, sit 'em picks for individual defensive players.

The hazards of NFL injury reports are a nightmare for fantasy managers, especially when things go to the wire. Consider Joe Burrow, who was more active in practice than Joe Flacco and was projected by multiple fantasy services to eclipse 20 fantasy points last week. Sports doctors even stated that Burrow waiting four extra days before starting would make no medical difference.

As you know, Burrow didn't play on Sunday, and the Bengals lost again. This was a frustrating last-minute decision that flustered fans, but IDP managers are intimately familiar with this kind of inexact injury reporting. Far more than on offense, IDP managers must scrounge for information and speculate on whether a "Q" means someone will play or miss a month.

A fine example of this is Terrel Bernard, a player currently labeled "Questionable,” yet his coach says the former star could be headed for IR. DeShon Elliott is another example of a player who was “day-to-day” just hours before he went on IR. Worse, Tremaine Edmunds wasn’t even on the Rotowire injury report on Friday, yet he was on IR by Saturday.

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

Quinnen Williams, Dallas Cowboys

In his first game with the Cowboys, Quinnen Williams secured more sacks (1.5) than he had in eight games with New York, plus he registered the second-most quarterback pressures of his career. In his second game with Dallas, Williams tied a career high in QB pressures with eight. In just two games in Texas, Williams has 15 total pressures.

Now, Williams faces a Chiefs offense that should be missing Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith. While Smith is a better run blocker than pass protector, his presence will be missed on an offense attempting the third-most pass attempts per game in the NFL. Better yet, the Cowboys line Williams up over Smith's guard spot over 35% of the time.

DL Fade of the Week

Jaelan Phillips, Philadelphia Eagles

Phillips remains a highly efficient pass-rusher whose pass-rush metrics rose exponentially after he joined the Eagles. Thus, he is not a season-long fade, and we are not overreacting to his donut performance against the Cowboys. Even when disappointing against Dallas, Phillips registered three quarterback hurries and four pressures.

Unfortunately, the Eagles are facing an underrated Bears pass-blocking unit this week. Chicago is averaging the fourth-fewest quarterback pressures allowed and the fourth-fewest sacks allowed per game. Caleb Williams is simply a nightmare to bring down, which drops Phillips outside of our top 15 for the first time since he joined Philly.

Top Fantasy Linebackers of the Week

LB Riser of the Week

Barrett Carter, Cincinnati Bengals

Carter cracked our top 15 last week with a premium matchup against the Patriots on tap, and he rewarded that faith with 12 standard IDP fantasy points. Now, he has an even better matchup ahead, with the Ravens averaging the fourth-most rush attempts per game since Lamar Jackson’s return from injury.

Carter is just the 30th-most-rostered LB in fantasy, but he is a top-10 option for us this week. It will be a major surprise if the Ravens do not feed the Bengals rookie enough carries to get him over the double-digit tackle threshold again.

LB Fade of the Week

All Dallas Cowboys Linebackers

The Cowboys drastically improved their run defense with multiple trades at the deadline, but they significantly muddied the waters at linebacker. Against Philadelphia, none of Dallas' linebackers saw more than 61% of the defensive snaps, and the only reason any of them cracked five fantasy points was Kenneth Murray Jr.'s forced fumble.

To make matters worse, the Cowboys face a Chiefs offense averaging the third-most pass attempts and the 15^th-fewest rush attempts per game this year. While Kansas City did make a concentrated effort to run the ball last week, that is not enough to rank anyone in this Cowboys rotation higher than an LB3 this week.

Top Fantasy Defensive Backs of the Week

DB Riser of the Week

Kevin Winston Jr., Tennessee Titans

The Titans have made a concentrated push to get their younger players snaps recently, and Winston is a major beneficiary of that. The former Nittany Lion has started in each of Tennessee’s past three games, with 100% of the snaps in its past two. Those are encouraging rates for the third-rated safety on my 2025 NFL Draft board.

At Penn State, Winston showed the ability to play at the line of scrimmage and drop into man coverage. While he struggled in single coverage against Jaxon Smith-Njigba, everyone does. Overall, the metrics and usage for this rookie are great. Plus, his film suggests there is elite dynasty potential if Winston continues to get real opportunities.

DB Fade of the Week

Renardo Green and Deommodore Lenoir, San Francisco 49ers

The Browns are averaging the fourth-fewest pass attempts per game this season and the third-lowest over their past three games. One could even point out that they attempted the second-fewest passes in Week 12 during Shedeur Sanders' first start, but that was driven by Sanders playing with a massive lead all game.

While Cleveland's odds of blowing out San Francisco are low, this should be a competitive game between two teams that want to run the ball. Worse, only half of Sanders' attempts went to outside receivers last week, and nothing about their outside receiving corps suggests that rate will continue.

Green and Lenoir are solid cornerback options most weeks, but they are strictly boundary corners this year. If you want to target a 49ers cornerback against the Browns, you are better suited picking up slot corner Upton Stout. The rookie should see far more fantasy-friendly opportunities this week than his fellow corners.

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