Today, we conclude our Risers & Fallers series by looking at the other side of the ball on defense. Let us look at who are the Dynasty Fallers at Defensive Back heading into the 2022 fantasy football season!
As much as Nate and I love the Defensive Back position in IDP and can rattle off various players we’re fans of, unfortunately, the ARE players that we were once high on that just don’t have the dynasty value they had before. Add to that their poor performances in 2021 and now you have players that should have a definite drop in dynasty value heading into 2022.
Now, before we get into the various metrics that support our arguments, let’s not forget that IDP scoring settings play a HUGE role in assigning value both in redraft and in dynasty. Here at Fantasy In Frames, we created an optimal scoring setting for use on the two most popular fantasy football platforms, Sleeper and ESPN, that allows for balanced scoring output between offensive and defensive players.
WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND you adopt these settings to your IDP leagues TODAY!
With all that said, let us get down to what you are all here for, the Dynasty Fallers at Defensive Back.
Below are three players listed whose dynasty value has definitely fallen after the 2021 season. For more on DBs whose value has the POTENTIAL to fall in 2022 tune into 4th In Frames Wednesday at 8pm EST!
Those who have fallen……
John Johnson III
If there is an example of just how quickly a dynasty asset can fall out of favor, look no further than John Johnson III. It was just in 2018 that Johnson, in only his second professional season, had taken the IDP landscape by storm coming off of a productive rookie season with the Rams in which he was 5th among all safeties in Passes Defended and tallied 70 tackles.
In that 2018 season, Johnson finished as the DB5 overall using our ESPN modified IDP scoring settings, averaging a robust 13.5 fantasy points per game. To put it into perspective how far he’s fallen since, using our ESPN scoring settings, in 2020 and 2021, Johnson was the DB41 averaging 11 PPG and the DB131 averaging 7.9 PPG, respectively.
According to PFF, Johnson had a missed tackle rate 11.7% in 2021 and was rated as the DB54 overall in defensive grading.
It’s time to move him down and off of your Dynasty rosters for the foreseeable future.
Malcolm Jenkins
The soon-to-be 35-year-old strong safety for the New Orleans Saints saw a dip in his base metrics across the board in 2021 from his passes defended, solo tackles, to his TFLs. He finished using our Sleeper scoring settings as the DB55 in total points scored and the DB75 in PPG with an average of 9.3 points.
All that is coming off the heels of his Top 10 Total Fantasy Point Scored performance in 2020 where he finished as the DB7 overall and, in PPG, finished as the DB7 with 13.3 PPG.
His decrease in baseline metrics in tackle volume and PBUs is a huge concern for any IDP, especially at strong safety. Combined with him entering the 2022 season with him turning 35, one has to wonder if Jenkins is just falling off a cliff in terms of production due to age. Cold words, yes, but it is something that needs pondering. In any event, he’s a definite must-drop in dynasty value going forward.
Kareem Jackson
One of my favorite IDP defensive backs for years now, Kareem Jackson had a very disappointing fantasy season despite leading all Broncos defenders in total tackles on the season. Having the 18th highest missed tackle percentage among all safeties in the NFL certainly didn’t help his efficiency and having a career-low in passes defended certainly did help his DB fantasy stock. Using our Sleeper league modified scoring setting he was the DB80 in PPG with an average of 9.1 and the DB69 in total fantasy points scored.
Jackson rated as the DB90 in coverage, according to PFF, which is a shame given the fact that all those years of success in Houston he was the perfect mix of being able to play in coverage AND closer to the line of scrimmage as a run-stopping machine. It was his duality of play that made him such an IDP stud.
Entering his 13th season in the league and given his dip in all-around production in recent years, it is now time to bump him down your rankings for good and cast him out into the free agent waters in your IDP fantasy football leagues!
