RADIO
Three of the top offenses in the league are taking a break this week, which could result in some lower-scoring games. New quarterbacks in Denver and Washington could lead to promising defensive performances from their opponents. As always, those who play in IDP leagues should balance safety at the linebacker position with some risk at DB or DL in order to seek out sacks or always unpredictable turnovers.
Dedicated fantasy football players know that the game isn't played on offense alone. While team defenses are a staple of the game, being able to identify value with individual defensive players (IDP) takes it to the next level. As we do with each position and every league type, RotoBaller has you covered when it comes to IDP. Expert analysts Pierre Camus and Justin Carter will bring you their top-100 consensus IDP rankings throughout the 2019 season, so check here for the latest weekly updates.
Players are classified by major position group (DL, LB, DB) to simplify things for you. We've also tiered these rankings to give you an idea of relative importance and will analyze a few key players to watch. Check out our rankings page for the offensive players right here.
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Top 100 Individual Defensive Players - Week 9
| Tier | Rank | Player Name | Position |
| 1 | 1 | Darius Leonard | LB |
| 1 | 2 | Bobby Wagner | LB |
| 1 | 3 | Danielle Hunter | DL |
| 1 | 4 | Landon Collins | DB |
| 1 | 5 | Joe Schobert | LB |
| 1 | 6 | Luke Kuechly | LB |
| 2 | 7 | Blake Martinez | LB |
| 2 | 8 | Jordan Hicks | LB |
| 2 | 9 | Jamal Adams | DB |
| 2 | 10 | Myles Garrett | DL |
| 2 | 11 | Calais Campbell | DL |
| 2 | 12 | Jordan Poyer | DB |
| 3 | 13 | Kevin Byard | DB |
| 3 | 14 | Leighton Vander Esch | LB |
| 3 | 15 | Tracy Walker | DB |
| 3 | 16 | Eric Kendricks | LB |
| 3 | 17 | Jamie Collins | LB |
| 3 | 18 | Joey Bosa | DL |
| 3 | 19 | Nick Bosa | DL |
| 4 | 20 | Devin Bush | LB |
| 4 | 21 | Danny Trevathan | LB |
| 4 | 22 | Zach Cunningham | LB |
| 4 | 23 | Logan Ryan | DB |
| 4 | 24 | Jabrill Peppers | DB |
| 4 | 25 | Roquan Smith | LB |
| 4 | 26 | Rashaan Evans | LB |
| 4 | 27 | Khalil Mack | LB |
| 4 | 28 | Shaq Thompson | LB |
| 4 | 29 | Harrison Smith | DB |
| 4 | 30 | Tremaine Edmunds | LB |
| 5 | 31 | DeForest Buckner | DL |
| 5 | 32 | Alec Ogletree | LB |
| 5 | 33 | Ronnie Harrison | DB |
| 5 | 34 | Shaquil Barrett | LB |
| 5 | 35 | K.J. Wright | LB |
| 5 | 36 | Lavonte David | LB |
| 5 | 37 | Benardrick McKinney | LB |
| 5 | 38 | Budda Baker | DB |
| 5 | 39 | Kwon Alexander | LB |
| 5 | 40 | Devin White | LB |
| 5 | 41 | Eric Reid | DB |
| 5 | 42 | Todd Davis | LB |
| 5 | 43 | Jaylon Smith | LB |
| 5 | 44 | Justin Houston | DL |
| 6 | 45 | Yannick Ngakoue | DL |
| 6 | 46 | Antoine Bethea | DB |
| 6 | 47 | Everson Griffen | DL |
| 6 | 48 | Fred Warner | LB |
| 6 | 49 | Tyrann Mathieu | DB |
| 6 | 50 | Olivier Vernon | DL |
| 6 | 51 | Haason Reddick | LB |
| 6 | 52 | Jadeveon Clowney | DL |
| 7 | 53 | Cameron Heyward | DL |
| 7 | 54 | Mychal Kendricks | LB |
| 7 | 55 | Robert Quinn | DL |
| 7 | 56 | Von Miller | LB |
| 7 | 57 | Jurrell Casey | DL |
| 7 | 58 | Jayon Brown | LB |
| 7 | 59 | Richard Sherman | DB |
| 7 | 60 | Jarrad Davis | LB |
| 7 | 61 | Devin McCourty | DB |
| 7 | 62 | Matt Milano | LB |
| 7 | 63 | Jerry Hughes | DL |
| 7 | 64 | Jabaal Sheard | DL |
| 7 | 65 | Demarcus Lawrence | DL |
| 7 | 66 | Tahir Whitehead | LB |
| 7 | 67 | Morgan Burnett | DB |
| 7 | 68 | Jon Bostic | LB |
| 7 | 69 | Myles Jack | LB |
| 7 | 70 | Dont'a Hightower | LB |
| 7 | 71 | Malcolm Jenkins | DB |
| 7 | 72 | Melvin Ingram | DL |
| 8 | 73 | Minkah Fitzpatrick | DB |
| 8 | 74 | Justin Simmons | DB |
| 8 | 75 | T.J. Watt | LB |
| 8 | 76 | Wesley Woodyard | LB |
| 8 | 77 | A.J. Johnson | LB |
| 8 | 78 | Hasean Clinton-Dix | DB |
| 8 | 79 | Justin Reid | DB |
| 8 | 80 | Kyle Fuller | DB |
| 8 | 81 | Vince Williams | LB |
| 8 | 82 | Jalen Mills | DB |
| 8 | 83 | Kyle Van Noy | LB |
| 8 | 84 | Nathan Gerry | LB |
| 8 | 85 | Za'Darius Smith | LB |
| 8 | 86 | Janoris Jenkins | DB |
| 8 | 87 | Chandler Jones | LB |
| 8 | 88 | Whitney Mercilus | LB |
| 8 | 89 | Markus Golden | LB |
| 8 | 90 | Jerome Baker | LB |
| 8 | 91 | Adrian Amos | DB |
| 8 | 92 | Jermaine Whitehead | DB |
| 8 | 93 | Eddie Jackson | DB |
| 8 | 94 | Thomas Davis | LB |
| 8 | 95 | Earl Thomas | DB |
| 9 | 96 | Micah Hyde | DB |
| 9 | 97 | Raekwon McMillan | LB |
| 9 | 98 | Mario Addison | DL |
| 9 | 99 | Jonathan Allen | DL |
| 9 | 100 | Anthony Hitchens | LB |
Streamers/Key Players to Watch
Von Miller (LB, DEN) vs Cleveland
The seven-time Pro Bowler has been relatively quiet this year with no sacks in half of his games played. He also has a knee injury to deal with, although he is listed as probable for Week 9. Miller was blanked in the stat sheet in Week 7 but came back strong with 1.5 sacks and five solo tackles last week. He now gets to face one of the few teams struggling as badly in the passing game as his own - the Browns. Picks aside, Baker Mayfield has been sacked an average of three times per game, with a sack rate of 8.3% that is ninth-worst in the league. The fact that the Broncos are rolling out Brandon Allen at QB and no longer have Emmanuel Sanders could lead to a lot more time on the field for the defense. That's not good for the team but it could benefit some individual defenders on the stat sheet.
Rashaan Evans (LB, TEN) @ Carolina
Quietly, Evans has solidified himself as a top-20 IDP asset in his second season. His solo tackle totals have risen the last couple of weeks and he's recorded at least eight combined tackles for five straight games. Carolina is in the bottom-third in terms of total plays run this season but we know as long as Kyle Allen remains at QB, this offense will live and die with Christian McCaffrey. The run game and short passes will continue to keep the ball within Evans' range, so expect a high tackle total once more.
Devin White (LB, TB) @ Seattle
Tampa's rookie is far behind in the battle of the Devins. While Steelers LB Devin Bush is already an IDP stud in the vein of Darius Leonard last year, White has missed time with injury and is stuck on a team that leaves its defense in bad positions way too often. Still, there's plenty of value here as White promises to be one of the leading tacklers against a Seattle team that will run, run, run. In his last two games, White has played 98% and 85% of the team's defensive snaps. He'll continue to move up the linebacker ranks as the season wears on and could be someone to add now while his ownership remains at a meager 14%.
Olivier Vernon (DE, CLE) @ Denver
After a slow start to his career in Cleveland, Vernon is picking things up. He posted a season-high six solo tackles last week along with his second sack. Getting to face a first-time starter in QB Brandon Allen could lead to an even better day, as Denver's offense struggles to remain competent by NFL standards. They have the fifth-highest sack rate at 9.3% and are still trending downward, if you can believe it.
Darryl Roberts (CB, NYJ) @ Miami
If you thought the offense looked bad, things are getting so ugly on the Jets' defensive side, particularly the LB corps, that Ryan Fitzpatrick is looking mighty streamable in Week 9. Avery Williamson tore his ACL in the preseason, CJ Mosley is out for several weeks, and Blake Cashman was just put on IR too. That leaves cornerback Darryl Roberts as the leading tackler outside of Jamal Adams. He's averaging 5.5 solo stops per game and also has one INT and three PD on the year. Facing Fitzpatrick doesn't hurt his chances of coming up with a big play, if we're being honest here.
More Week 9 Lineup Prep
Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.
