IDP Fantasy Hindsight/LB’s

Leagues with Individual Defensive Players are becoming more and more
popular and a must for the Fantasy Football Diehard. Today for story
time we are going to talk about how the Top 10 Linebackers drafted in
an IDP league looked over the 2007 season. TINO IDP Re-Draft league
used the usual offensive players (QB, RB, WR, TE, K) as well as
Linebackers, D-Backs, and D-Linemen. Owners started three LB’s.
The scoring is through week 16, when most fantasy seasons end.
Defensive scoring is as follows:
TD’s=6 pts
Tackles=2 pts
Assists=1 pts
Safety=3 pts
Sacks=2 pts
Forced Fumble=2 pts
INT’s and Fumble recovery=2 pts
Passes Defensed=1.5 pts
Now let’s have a look at where these guys were drafted and how they ranked by position and overall (including all positions).
Linebackers:

Pick	Overall	Name	Team	Pos. Rank	Overall Rank	Points
3.12	36	London Fletcher-Baker	Chesapeak Challenge	4	18	250.50
4.01	37	DeMeco Ryans	Chesapeak Challenge	3	17	251.00
4.03	39	Shawne Merriman	Warsaw Cowboys	59	171	154.00
4.09	45	Brian Urlacher	The Paramounties	6	23	241.50
4.12	48	Zach Thomas	I want My $2	88	412	99.00
5.01	49	Keith Bulluck	I Want My #2	39	111	175.50
5.02	50	Lofa Tatupa	Superbowl Seahawkz	18	46	216.50
5.04	52	DeMarcus Ware	The Paramounties	47	125	169.00
5.06	54	AJ Hawk	Twisters	31	77	194.00
5.07	55	Jonathan Vilma	T-Town’s Finest	103	507	83.5

Undrafted Stud:
Michael Boley, Falcons. Boley finished #9 for Linebackers and #33 for all players. Boley was picked up by Twisters week 6.
Sleeper Stud:
Patrick Willis! He ranked #1 for LB’s and #7 for ALL players. Willis
out scored the #2 LB by 52 1/2 points on the season. He was drafted in
the 7th round by The Paramounties.
Breaking them down by player…

London Fletcher-Baker:
Some heads were scratching when Fletcher-Baker went as the first
linebacker. Sure, he is a LB stud but is getting up in age and was
changing teams. Just happened to be the homer team for the owner.
Solid, consistent season.
DeMeco Ryans:
During the draft the owner was ecstatic to get his two LB studs out
of the way early. Ryans has been a top notch fantasy LB since coming
into the league. These picks set up a run on LB’s in the 4th round…and
a run at the league Championship for Chesapeake Challenge, who beat
Twisters in the finals by 85 points.
Shawne Merriman:
This is an example of how NFL studness does not always translate
into fantasy studness. Missing week 15 did not make much of a
difference here, so you can’t blame that.
Brian Urlacher:
Despite the Bears defense biting it this year, Urlacher maintained
fantasy studness. He had only two single digit games all season.
Zack Thomas:
This was my pick. I was jumping around like a school girl with a
jump rope when he was still there at this pick. This was falling right
into my plan. If I can get two top LB’s here to go along with my #1
pick L.T. I’m going to be hard to beat. Well, we know what happened
with Thomas. Week 7 was the last time we heard from him and he had
already missed two games before that. The one bust of the LB’s lives
here.
Keith Bulluck:
This was a very average fantasy season for Bulluck. Usually one of
the top fantasy LB’s, he also had me jumping at this position. What a
let down!
Lofa Tatupa:
This turned out to be another NFL stud with an above average fantasy
year. He worked well in a group though as the owner also had the #16
and #17 LB’s as well.
Demarcus Ware:
Two many playmakers on the Cowboys D rotating around hurt this pick. 3rd lowest finish for the Top 10 LB’s drafted.
A.J. Hawk:
This was viewed as a great value for the draft position. Hawk had a
lot more help on the Packers D this year and it showed in his fantasy
stats.
Jonathan Vilma:
Vilma has not been the same since the change of the D. Just a couple
years ago he was the top fantasy LB. He should fall waaaaay down in
drafts next year after being the biggest bust of the players mentioned.
I know there were missed games…a lot of them, but we don’t know what is
going to come of Vilma with the Jets.

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