# Fantasy Football Defense **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681 "2010-11-06T07:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/1 "2010-11-06T07:01:11Z")
Why are FF Defenses drafted as a unit, and not individually? Seems like fans are saavy enough to do it, and the 4/3 3/4 distinction isn’t that huge a difference. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/2 "2010-11-06T07:10:26Z")
Some leagues do allow individual defensive players (IDP). Most leagues aren’t involved enough to want to learn all of the stats on that side of the ball, and I suspect the scoring isn’t quite as interesting and exciting. We proposed adding IDP to some of the SDMB leagues, but the interest wasn’t high, and we had some disagreements on how to weigh tackles vs other defensive scoring. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/3 "2010-11-06T07:11:11Z")
A decent number of leagues do draft IDP’s (Individual Defensive Players). One of the biggest reasons I have seen against IDP leagues is that it significantly increases the amount of time spent drafting players for your FF team. Damn that quick Beef character with his lightning fast reflexes… ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/4 "2010-11-06T08:31:51Z")
The SDMB All-Star league used IDP it’s first year. I was one of many who wanted to try it out just to see what it’s like. Ever since then I have argued against it, though it’s not like it would be particularly bad. My argument goes like this: If you score on big plays – sacks and interceptions – the high scorers will effectively be random and unpredictable, meaning there isn’t much FF acumen in play. If you instead score on predictable metrics – tackles and passes defensed – then there are probably a hundred guys who will score just as well as the guy you have, meaning again there isn’t much FF acumen at play. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/5 "2010-11-06T15:03:01Z")
I’m playing in a IDP league this year, but I won’t again. It just takes too much time to fill in all the holes during bye weeks. The draft also took 3 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/6 "2010-11-06T15:45:04Z")
IDP just isn’t fun. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-football-defense/559681/7 "2010-11-06T18:33:18Z")
IDP also seems to be broken on yahoo this year.