2024 Fantasy Football: IDP Linebacker Rankings

Note: Rankings updated Monday, August 26

The one and lonely, the self-proclaimed IDP expert Matt De Lima, the No. 3 2023 IDP in-season ranker on FantasyPros, is offering up his IDP linebacker rankings for the 2024 NFL and fantasy football season.

Before we get started, I want to once again go over the basics about how there is no industry IDP standard for the number of players to use or an official IDP scoring system. I mention this because I am failing in my attempt to steer the community toward my preferred league setup and scoring system, which you can find below.

IDP Linebacker Rankings 2024

Note: Rankings updated Monday, August 26

IDP Linebacker Rankings Explained

I have to insist that a well-crafted scoring system is the backbone of a good IDP league. I am a fervent advocate for leaning into a tackle-focused scoring system. This means while sackmasters like T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, and others should rightly score a ton of points, the top-scoring IDPs must be tackle-heavy linebackers like Foyesade Oluokun, Roquan Smith, Bobby Okereke, and so on.

Big play scoring can never be consistent and the throughline in my IDP philosophy is bringing consistency to a game that is controlled chaos on the field. Nothing in football is predictable, but tackles happen every play and the best tacklers accumulate the most tackles. Hopefully, I’m preaching to the choir here.

I view Oluokun, Smith, Okereke, and Zaire Franklin as the members of Tier 1. Tier 2 (Ernest Jones IV, T.J. Edwards, Fred Warner, and Nick Bolton) are just ever so slightly a step below. Tiers might be too harsh a word when it comes to linebackers because it’s truly a gradient because even guys in the mid-20s could take big leaps forward.

Tier 3 and Beyond

Once you get to this Tier 3 (LB9), I think the Tier 1 upside dwindles in most players. You can see we’re getting into some of the game’s elder statesmen like Bobby Wagner, C.J. Mosley, and Lavonte David–living legends.

While I can understand avoiding older running backs or wide receivers because you feel this is the year it all falls apart. That doesn’t really apply to IDP. The floor with these guys is so extremely high and safe that you should not chase youth. IDP veterans don’t stick around to play backup. Think of it in terms of NFL salary cap. These teams aren’t going to spend big vet money on a fourth-string linebacker. Sure, maybe the coaching staff thinks a guy is toast, but their playing time is usually safe through the end of the season. It’s the off-season when a team will move on from an older IDP.

Yes, there is a certain titillating unknown to a guy like Terrel Bernard who is entering his second season as a full-time starter. But IDP guys put up points until they retire. If Wagner, Mosley, and David are on the field, they’re putting up numbers. I can assure you.

By LB24 (Frankie Luvu), I want at least two LBs. Going by my IDP league standard, linebackers should compose the core of your IDP talent pool. If your league requires three LB starters and one or two IDP flex starters, that means you’re going to need five linebackers most weeks. Factor in bye weeks and injuries, you don’t want to be forced to start a defensive tackle as a flex one week. Even the most well-crafted scoring system cannot favor the other IDP positions.

So you can’t afford to fade linebackers at all, again, assuming you’re in a league that places a priority on tackle-focused IDPs.

Roster Churn

In my previous IDP defensive linemen rankings article, I discussed how you should chase points and not players. How at the DL position, there’s essentially a top 30 or so of guys who I’d consider undroppable in a bigger IDP league. Beyond them, I have no loyalty and I’m happy to drop a player in pursuit of the next big thing.

The guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing in your league, he’s the one holding the same IDP for practically the whole season. Don’t be like that guy. And that same mindset applies to linebackers. But we have to be a little more tactical at linebacker because it’s typically a bigger player pool.

The first thing we’re looking for are injury replacements. If Oluokun goes down, of course you want to add the guy who will be the LB1 in Jacksonville. That should be a no-brainer. The next best way to track who will be the next big thing is by tracking snaps.

For example, one defense I’ll be watching this year is the Green Bay Packers D. I like Quay Walker a lot, but he hasn’t quite gelled into the linebacker I expected him to by this point. If you told me Isaiah McDuffie or even Edgerrin Cooper finished this season as the Pack’s leading tackler, I wouldn’t be shocked.

Another example, I thought Nakobe Dean would be higher on the Eagles’ depth chart. Right now, he’s a backup. But the Eagles signed a bunch of free agent linebackers and now Dean’s status as a young upside sleeper seems like a memory. It’s still possible that Dean steps up or maybe the team has moved on for a reason. Stay mentally flexible to each team’s situation.

Rankings Are Only a Starting Point

By Week 8, this IDP linebacker rankings list will be meaningless. No, it’s okay, I can admit there’s a short shelf life to my musings. Maybe even sooner. Rankings are a starting point, and we don’t know yet where we are going.

Players emerge, players stumble, and players get hurt. In the end, we follow the points. Even the most studious fantasy football player has to admit they don’t know the scouting reports for everybody in the league.

When a guy starts putting up big tackle stats, trust the numbers. Hopefully, your league allows you to have a long bench so you can take some chances and add guys to hold. Last year there was a guy named Nate Landman on the Falcons who was having big weeks around midseason. We’re talking tackles, sacks, and INTs across a month-long period.

And now he’s a backup again behind Troy Andersen, who hasn’t really delivered up to expectations (like Nakobe Dean). So maybe Landman (my LB74) will break out this year. Just like how we don’t know which Chargers running back or wide receiver will be the guy this year. These same situations exist on the IDP side too.

Recommended IDP League Settings

Defensive Lineup

1 DT, 2 DE, 3 LB, 1 CB, 2 DB, 2 IDP Flex (DL/LB/DB)

IDP Scoring

• 1.5 points per Tackle
• 1 point per Assist
• 4 points per Sack
• 4 points per Forced Fumble
• 2 points per Fumble Recovery
• 4 points per Interception
• 1.5 points per Pass Defended
• 4 points per Safety
• 6 points per Defensive Touchdown
• 1 point per QB Hit
• 1 point per Tackle For Loss

Got a beef with Matt’s 2024 IDP Linebacker Rankings? Drop some knowledge in the comments below and then make sure to check out our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit for more great rankings and analysis.