IDP Fantasy Football: Darius Leonard, Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds

When it comes to IDP leagues, there’s a handful of linebackers every fantasy football players wants on their team.

The IDP format in fantasy football isn’t the most popular way to play the game over 50 million people participate in each year but it is surely one of the most challenging. On top of finding the right offensive players, IDP fantasy mangers but also identify the right defensive players to add to their team. It’s a tough task. 

Luckily the fantasy analysts at Sports Illustrated highlight the must-have Individual Defensive Players fantasy football managers should target in their drafts. 

Read the full transcript to find out why Roquan Smith, Derius Leonard, and Tremaine Edmunds are must have linebackers in 2020.

Full Transcript Below:

Bill Enright: Let's dive into some fantasy football talk with a special look at IDP leagues for dynasty formats. For that, I go to Jaime Eisner and Shawn Childs. Two of our best fantasy analysts here at Sports Illustrated. Shawn, I'll let you open things up. Talk to me about two IDP players to grab in dynasty leagues.

Shawn Childs: Well, in his rookie season, Darius Leonard was a complete beast, 163 tackles, 111 solo. Seven sacks, two interceptions, eight defended passes.

 You know, the kind of guy you like to own on a fantasy team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Last year, he missed three games. His tackles dropped to like 121, five interceptions, five sacks he was still productive. And he plays on a team that's going to probably try to control the clock and run the ball. So there will be a lot of rushing attempts against him. So he's going to be a pretty attractive player this season.

Bill Enright: What about the Buffalo Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds?

Shawn Childs: Edmunds, he's in his second year in the league. He already played two years in the league and he's 21 years old. One hundred tackles in both seasons. It doesn't get a lot of sacks. Well, he'd like to see some growth in that area. Kind of a playmaker. He just hasn't reached all the dynamics in his game. He will defend some passes. He's a guy that's probably going to push forward in more sacks. And I expect him to get further and further in the sack department going forward.

Bill Enright: Jaime, I'll go over to you, I know Khalil Mack gets all the love when it comes to the Chicago Bears' defense, but Roquan Smith certainly seems like a very special player very early on in his career.

Jaime Eisner: He's a really exciting player, a lot of speed, sideline-to-sideline. Racks if a lot of tackles, which is going to be a huge theme when you are looking at linebackers in IDP leagues. 

Photo by Jevone Moore/CSM/Shutterstock

He comes in at the number three spot in Matt De Lima's list. He's definitely somebody that you're going to want to own right now and long-term. He would go in the top five of any re-draft leagues if you're starting up your dynasty IDP league this year. One other name to note is rookie Kenneth Murray. He comes in at number 18. He is the highest rookie linebacker on De Lima's list.

Bill Enright: Whether it's Dynasty, IDP, PBR, 2 Quarterback, we have a strategy for all fantasy football formats. You can find it by going to SI.com/Fantasy