Five Defensive Players to Pick Up at the End of a Fantasy Football Draft

Individual Defensive Players(IDP) are becoming more popular within fantasy football leagues. These defensive players can usually help win a matchup if two fantasy managers have similar offensive rosters. Even though these defensive players can be a tiebreaker, I never draft them until my final picks. The reason I do this, is that it's so hard to predict what a defensive player is going to do against any given opponent. The only time I may take a defensive player earlier, is if the league has return yards in their scoring settings. In past NFL seasons I have seen defensive players such as Chris Carr and Leodis McKelvin contribute very well because of returning punts and kickoffs. So before you make your IDP picks make sure you check what the settings are for the league and defensive positions. The safest picks for defensive players are players that are near the top of the NFL in tackles or sacks. There will always managers that draft the big names earlier so I will give you five players you might be able to get at the end of the draft or on waivers.

Jerod Mayo - New England Patriots - LB - Even though Mayo only had two sacks last season, he finished the season with 175 total tackles. He also contributed with four turnovers, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. With the addition of Albert Haynesworth, who should eat up blocks, expect Mayo to be free to make more tackles.

Osi Umenyiora - New York Giants - DE - While Umenyiora didn't add a lot of tackles with a total of 48, he had 11.5 sacks. In addition, he is good at stripping the ball when he gets to the quarterback. He had 10 forced fumbles last season and 1 fumble recovery. With one of the most dominate defensive lines in the NFL, expect him to be around the quarterback a lot this season.

James Anderson - Carolina Panthers - LB - While most managers probably have never seen him play, he should be one of the safest defensive picks. Anderson had a total of 130 tackles with 3.5 sacks. He also was very good at taking the ball away with one interception, two forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. I expect him to have around the same numbers this season because the offense in Carolina has not improved much.

Tamba Hali - Kansas City Chiefs - LB - While most football fans outside of Kansas City haven't heard much about Hali, he is on the verge of being a star. He was second in the league in sacks last season with 14.5, while adding 51 total tackles. He also had a total of six fumbles, four of them were forced fumbles and two were recoveries.

Cameron Wake - Miami Dolphins - LB - While most managers will take a player like Clay Matthews earlier, Wake had a half sack more than Matthews with a total of 14. Wake also helped the Dolphins and fantasy managers that had him on their roster with three forced fumbles. Look for Wake to put up similar numbers this season in Miami.

Sources:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/defense/sort/sacks

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/defense/sort/totalTackles