Every time I have joined a new Fantasy Football dynasty league, I have won the Championship the first year. Drafting individual defensive players (IDP) at the right time is essential to starting your run for that first league trophy. 

Draft offense first, second, and even third. Yes, IDPs can score as much as their offensive counterparts. However, top defensive players are much more plentiful and thus easier to acquire. 

Many times I have heard some people justify reaching early for a stud linebacker (LB) by noting how they score more points than other positions. That’s true, but irrelevant. You can draft high scoring players late, but you can’t always find top players at every position. Scarcity of top producers is the key to position value. 

Remember, a winner will get a better total score than their opponent, but a Champion will outscore his opponent at every position. 

Looking at it that way, you begin to understand why starting running backs (RB) are fantasy gold. You’ll see that there’s a big difference between the first three wide receivers (WR) and the next dozen. 

Make sure you fill out your entire offensive starting lineup, as well as key backups at QB, RB and WR, before even thinking about taking your first IDP. Yes, that means you’ll be waiting until round 10, 12 or even 14. You’ll be glad you did when you have to roll with your third and fourth RB and your backup QB for a week or two in midseason. 

Lay in wait to draft your studs. The time to get your stud LBs is not in the sixth round when they are already established. The successful IDP owner drafts them in the middle rounds in the players’ breakout year. 

The only IDP position where you should even consider drafting your favorite player early is defensive line (DL). There are simply fewer stud DLs than there are teams in your league. Even so, if you concentrate on drafting this year’s stars instead of last year’s, you can find your DL anchors late in the draft. 

There are so many productive LBs that you can afford to wait until the very end of the draft to get most of yours. With a handful of breakout players at LB every year, here again you can afford to wait until the middle rounds to take your first one. 

The top 10 change from year to year at defensive back (DB) like no other position. On my winning IDP teams, I usually experience 100 percent turnover at DB during the season. You can save drafting DBs until the very end. 

Drafting to win now and drafting for the future are not in conflict. You can and should do both. Football is a young man’s game, so younger players can often produce more for you than older veterans. 

Favor youth, but don’t be afraid to draft veterans when they slide either. Even in dynasty, you’ll be replacing players every year. As long as veterans don’t dominate your roster, you can make room for some guys with only a couple of productive years left in them. 

For example, last year I snagged Laveranues Coles in the ninth round of a first-year dynasty draft. People passed him by in favor of younger receivers, and I did raise a couple of eyebrows with that choice. But as a fifth WR, Coles came at a tremendous value. 

When I selected Coles, I had only used one prior pick on an IDP, and that was a mistake. 

This year, older RBs like Jamal Lewis are going to have that kind of value for you. Let people laugh when you call his name. If it’s in the 10th round and he’s your fourth RB, you’ll be the one having the last laugh. 

Consistency wins championships. Even in leagues where big plays score top points, you want to fill your IDP roster with players who can be counted on to score week in and week out. Always take the tackle machine over the sack artist. 

Once you get past the elite players, the only positions where you can count on weekly points are QB and RB. All other positions are too dependent on opportunity. If the opportunities don’t come their way one week, they can give you a big fat zero on the scorecard. That’s true at all IDP positions. 

Let other owners get excited about drafting the big NFL stars known for their interceptions or defensive touchdown celebrations. While of course no one would turn their nose up at those points, one cannot survive in an IDP league on big plays alone. Look for players who get the most tackles every week and you’ll have an edge. 

Attack the waiver wire. Don’t be afraid to give up on an underperforming IDP to make room for breakout free agents. The two points during the season where you are most likely to find a developing stud off the wire at any IDP position are about weeks four and twelve. 

At week four, a player no one expected to produce has had the chance to establish enough consistency to prove he’s not just a flash in the pan. At week twelve, players who have battled their way into the starting lineup are ready to put their upside on display. 

Even better, in their zeal to pick up these new players, many owners will lose patience with a known stud who is just in a bit of a slump and cut him. This is how I acquired many of my stud DLs in particular. Watch the wire every day for those guys and be ready to scoop them up immediately. 

Know your league rules. This first rule of Fantasy Football in all formats becomes doubly important in IDP leagues. There’s a huge difference between a league where tackles are worth two points and sacks are worth six, and one where tackles are worth one point and sacks count for eight. Clearly, in that first league you’ll want to follow the consistency rule religiously. In the second league, consistency is only one factor to consider of many. 

If your league gives points for return yards, that can have a huge impact on the value of DBs in particular. The same cornerback could be waiver wire fodder in leagues which don’t reward you for return stats, but a top five option in those that do. 

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