Defending
There comes a time in your fantasy draft where you have your starting QB, two or three RBs, three or four WRs, and possibly your Tight End. Adding depth is very important, but don’t overlook the value of a top-tier defense. The good thing about defenses is that elite ones don’t tend to change from year to year despite injuries and turnover. Take the Giants for example. Who would have thought they would have an elite defense after Strahan retired and Osi went down? Yet they did. Philadelphia has had players come and go without missing a beat. Think about how long Pittsburgh and Baltimore have been elite fantasy defensemen.
The top fantasy defenses based on average draft position are:
Pittsburgh – 8th round
Baltimore & NY Giants – 9th round
Minnesota- 10th round
You can choose to wait until round 11 or 12, assuming there isn’t a run on defenses, and land in the San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, NY Jets or Tennessee.
Don’t worry if you miss out on one of the best Ds. There are still great values to have down the line, like New England, Green Bay, Dallas and Washington, but landing in the Pittsburgh D can make all the difference. Some of the players who will participate in the eighth round along with Pittsburgh D are Jamal Lewis, Julius Jones, Ahmad Bradshaw and Percy Harvin. Jamal and Julius have few advantages. Ahmad and Julius have great potential, but can you really trust them on any given week? Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is a plug and play. You don’t have to worry about matchups. You just use them every week.
kickers
Yesterday we discussed being bold and taking a top defense early. Since the best defenses don’t tend to change from year to year, it’s a calculated risk. Kickers, on the other hand, is much more of a dice game. In fact, since 2002 there have only been two Kickers in the top five in points in consecutive seasons.
Stephen Gostkowski is one of the back-to-back Kickers, so he may be the exception, even though his average draft position is the 11th round. I don’t see any reason why New England’s offense shouldn’t continue to score in clusters, but personally I’d rather secure a top-notch defense or provide depth to another key position. Of course, I’m not opposed to abandoning the Kicker position entirely, but that’s a topic for another day. If you’re writing a Kicker based on last year, you’ll probably miss the boat. Here’s a look at the top five point scorers from 2002-2008.
2008
Stephen Gostkowski – 148
David Akers-144
John Carney – 143
matt bryant-131
Juan Kasay – 130
2007
Mason Crosby – 141
Stephen Gostkowski – 137
Rob Bironas – 133
Nick Folk – 131
Shayne Graham – 130
2006
Robby Gould-143
Nate Kaeding – 136
Jeff Wilkins-131
Matt Stover-121
joseph scobee-119
2005
Jay Feely-148
Neil Rackers-140
Shayne Graham-131
Lawrence Tynes-125
Mike Vanderjagt – 121
2004
Adam Vinatieri – 141
Jason Elam-129
jeff reed – 124
David Akers-122
Shayne Graham – 122
2003
Jeff Wilkins-163
Mike Vanderjagt – 157
Matt Stover-134
Juan Kasay – 125
Gary Anderson-123
2002
Jay Feely-138
David Akers-133
John Carney – 130
Martin Grammar – 128
Sebastian Janikowski – 128
Ryan Longwell-128
My advice is to fill your roster with good depth at your key positions and take a Kicker in the last round. Chances are you’re going to drop your Kicker on your bye week anyway. Unless you have an extremely deep list, you don’t want to have two Kickers at once.