Few would dispute J.J. Watt's credentials as the last year's defensive MVP; he earned some votes for NFL MVP, as well. That carried over to the fantasy realm, where he was the best individual defensive player by a wide margin.
Using a scoring system that awards points for tackles (1.5), assists (.75), sacks (4), takeaways (4) and defensive touchdowns (6), Watt last year racked up 235 fantasy points. No other IDP was within 20 points of him; only five others reached 200.
The gap between Watt and other defensive linemen is particularly significant. The franchised Jason Pierre-Paul was the only other one to rank among the top 50 IDPs. (For that reason, some scoring systems -- including the one we use during the year -- give linemen slightly more points for tackles and sacks than linebackers and defensive backs.)
The table below shows the top 50 IDPs, using the above-outlined scoring system.
TOP 50 INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS, 2014 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Team | Pos | Tckl | Ast | Sck | Int | FF | FR | FF Pts |
J.J. Watt | HOU | DE | 59 | 19 | 20.5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 235 |
DeAndre Levy | DET | OLB | 117 | 34 | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 213 |
Lavonte David | TB | OLB | 101 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 209 |
Luke Kuechly | CAR | MLB | 99 | 54 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 209 |
D'Qwell Jackson | IND | ILB | 81 | 57 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 206 |
Justin Houston | KC | OLB | 60 | 9 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 201 |
Curtis Lofton | NO | ILB | 99 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 190 |
C.J. Mosley | BAL | ILB | 89 | 44 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 187 |
Paul Worrilow | ATL | ILB | 84 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 186 |
Jamie Collins | NE | OLB | 74 | 42 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 183 |
Morgan Burnett | GB | SS | 94 | 36 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 182 |
David Harris | NYJ | ILB | 71 | 52 | 5.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 176 |
Lawrence Timmons | PIT | ILB | 87 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 172 |
Demario Davis | NYJ | ILB | 79 | 37 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 168 |
Jelani Jenkins | MIA | OLB | 83 | 27 | 3.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 167 |
Brandon Marshall | DEN | OLB | 91 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 165 |
James Laurinaitis | STL | MLB | 81 | 28 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 165 |
Jason Pierre-Paul | NYG | DE | 54 | 23 | 12.5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 164 |
Ryan Kerrigan | WAS | OLB | 51 | 13 | 13.5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 164 |
Daryl Smith | BAL | ILB | 68 | 60 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 163 |
Alec Ogletree | STL | OLB | 85 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 163 |
Eric Weddle | SD | FS | 91 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 162 |
Michael Griffin | TEN | FS | 85 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 160 |
K.J. Wright | SEA | OLB | 73 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 159 |
Jameel McClain | NYG | MLB | 74 | 42 | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 157 |
Charles Woodson | OAK | FS | 83 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 155 |
T.J. McDonald | STL | SS | 84 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 154 |
Chris Borland | SF | ILB | 84 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 152 |
Telvin Smith | JAC | OLB | 72 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 152 |
Connor Barwin | PHI | OLB | 47 | 17 | 14.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 149 |
Ryan Mundy | CHI | SS | 75 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 148 |
Thomas Davis | CAR | OLB | 66 | 34 | 2.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 147 |
Nigel Bradham | BUF | OLB | 66 | 38 | 2.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 146 |
Johnathan Cyprien | JAC | SS | 80 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 146 |
Rashad Johnson | ARI | FS | 75 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 145 |
Keenan Robinson | WAS | ILB | 71 | 38 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 145 |
Harrison Smith | MIN | FS | 71 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 144 |
Earl Thomas | SEA | FS | 71 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 142 |
Ron Parker | KC | SS | 84 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 142 |
Josh Mauga | KC | ILB | 82 | 21 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 141 |
Von Miller | DEN | OLB | 42 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 140 |
Jason McCourty | TEN | CB | 77 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 140 |
Donte Whitner | CLE | SS | 69 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 139 |
Miles Burris | OAK | MLB | 76 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 139 |
Barry Church | DAL | SS | 77 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 139 |
Ryan Clark | WAS | FS | 69 | 33 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 138 |
Robert Blanton | MIN | SS | 72 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 138 |
Kemal Ishmael | ATL | SS | 67 | 30 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 137 |
Mychal Kendricks | PHI | ILB | 62 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 137 |
Dawan Landry | NYJ | SS | 67 | 40 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 137 |
--Andy Richardson