In a 12-man re-draft league, when do you typically decide to take a defense? I've read in all kinds of fantasy football strategy articles that say it's best not to take a defense until the latter part of the draft. Many say for example in a 16 round draft, take defense anywhere from rd 10-16.
How many of you REALLY wait to take a defense? Its always a gamble to take a D early,
How many of you gamble and take a good D earlier than normal (rds 6-8) or later in the draft (rds 9-16)?
The last couple of years, I've bought into waiting very late in the draft to grab a defense and I'll show you why. In the 6th-8th round you can grab so much better value, rather than wasting it on a defense. Last year for example, (12-man, 18rounds) I waited until 9 owners selected their defense, a couple of them had already selected their 2nd Defense before I drafted the Cowboys in round 12 and the Packers in round 13. (I had the 1st overall pick) and I still didn't wait long enough!! Looking at the top ten defensive teams in our league, 6 out of 10 were drafted in the 16th round or later, 2 were undrafted, and ONLY 2 teams selected between rounds 6-9 were in this list. The Defenses I drafted: Cowboys (81pts) and Packers (101pts), were ranked near the bottom of the pack #26 & #31. Luckily, I was able to grab the Bengals off the waivers and finished got some good weeks out of them. In 2003, (16 man, 16 rounds) I didnt draft ANY defenses! I ended up dropping a scrub WR and picking up Vikings, and later on the Lions. My point is, the Team Defense position is very unpredictable and chancing an early pick is a huge risk. I've also learned, that you only need to draft 1 Defense and not 2. Ditto with Kickers. Youre more than likely going to find a top scoring defense off the waivers, so depth at this position isnt necessary like other positions. I know that each league has different scoring systems, but I guarantee that you'll find similar results in almost any scoring system. Our league mirrors the scoring of the WCOFF (World Championship of Fantasy Football).
Defense/Special Teams Scoring:
1 point for every sack
2 points for every team takeaway (interception or fumble recovery)
6 points for every TD (via interception return, fumble return, punt or kickoff return, blocked FG return, missed FG return, blocked punt return)
2 points for every safety
5 points for every shutout
2 points for allowing between 1- 5 points
1 point for allowing between 6 – 10 points
2004 Defense - Points/rd drafted
1.Bills 189 - 16th
2.Ravens 165 - 8th
3.Pats 155 - 9th
4.Falcons 153 - 16th
5.Colts 150 - 16th
6.Steelers 146 - 16th
7.Bengals 144 - undrafted
8.Bears 139 - undrafted
9.NYJ 131 - 18th
10.Seahawks 131 - 16th
11.Bucs 131 - 10th
12.Panthers 130 - 6th
13.Saints 127 - undrafted
14.Lions 125 - undrafted
15.Giants 124 - undrafted
16.Texans 123 - undrafted
17.Eagles 121 - 10th
18.Cardinals 115 - undrafted
19.Chargers 115 - undrafted
20.Chiefs 108 - 11th
21.Redskins 107 - 15th
22.Titans 102 -8th
23.Browns 104 - undrafted
24.Vikings 103 - 16th
25. Jaguars 102 - undrafted
26. Packers 101 - 13th
27. Dolphins 101 - 14th
28. Broncos 93 - 11th
29. 49ers 91 - undrafted
30. Rams 87 - 11th
31. Cowboys 81 - 12th
32. Raiders 71- undrafted
2003 Defense - pts/rd drafted
1.NE 185 - 9th
2. Ravens 176 - 9th
3. Rams 172 - undrafted
4. Chiefs 158 - 14th
5. Titans 147 - 10th
6. Dolphins 145 - 7th
7. Vikings 137 - undrafted
8. Bucs 136 - 5th
9. 49ers 133 - 14th
10. Lions 127 - undrafted
11. Panthers 126 - 7th
12. Seahawks 126 - 15th
13. Packers 124 - 6th
14. Falcons 123 - 9th
15. Cowboys 117 - 12th
16.Eagles 115 - 6th
17. Giants 114 - 10th
18. Colts 112 - 15th
19. Steelers 112 - 6th
20. Saints 109 - 10th
21. Bills 107 - 13th
22. Raiders 107 - 10th
23. Broncos 100 - 12th
24. skins 96 - 14th
25. Browns 94 - 15th
26. Jets 92 - 12th
27. Bengals 90 - 16th
28.jaguars 90 - 12th
29. Bears 88 - 13th
30. Cards 78 - undrafted
31. Chargers 78 - 11th
32. Texans 71 - 16th
