In this second Saints 4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW of the day, we’re going to be covering the individual defensive players (IDPs) on the Saints that you should consider rostering during the 2021 fantasy football season.
While Drew Brees’ retirement and the debate of who should take up his mantle has been the main talk of the town in the “Crescent City” this offseason, defensive-minded folks like us IDPers care more about what losses and improvements have been made to this Saints roster on the defensive side of the ball. Notably speaking their biggest hit was taken along the defensive line as Trey Hendrickson, who was tied for 2nd in the NFL in sacks with 13.5 in 2020, left the team in free agency for the Cincinnati Bengals. Slated to start in his place, in 2021, is Marcus Davenport who is now entering his fourth season with the team. To say his career has been somewhat of a disappointment is a bit of an understatement. Having not even played a full NFL season due to injury and combined with the fact that even when he has been on the field he hasn’t been very productive from a real football and fantasy football standpoint fans have a right to be concerned.
Will the 4th year veteran finally live up to the hype of his first-round pedigree?
Is there any hope for him from a fantasy standpoint?
Maybe. We’ll get more into that a little later!
Other notable losses on defense have taken place at the linebacker position this offseason. With Kwon Alexander and Alex Anzalone no longer on the roster, the Saints decided to go in a younger direction and draft a promising young linebacker out of Ohio State University in Pete Werner. While he had a solid year in his final season in Columbus he is still considered a developmental project that will take time to adjust to the pros…aka not someone you’re drafting for the 2021 season.
From an IDP perspective, I hate to say things are more of the same when it comes to players you should have on your fantasy teams this year from the Saints, but that just happens to be the case. However, that’s OK! There is nothing wrong with riding with the old reliable players who you know can deliver where it matters most, in the fantasy points column. What makes drafting the following players even more advantageous is a few of them have almost certainly exceeded their perceived value in seasons past yet keep getting pushed farther and farther down ADP rankings the following season.
With all that being said, which players on the Saints defense should you roster on your IDP team in 2021? Find out NOW in our 2021 Saints 4-EYED IDP Team Preview!
*This season at Fantasy In Frames we’ll be using IDP123 scoring as our default scoring rubric when talking about the fantasy relevance of IDP player performance.*
Defensive Lineman
*Positional designations & ADP data brought to you by Sleeper.
Cameron Jordan (Current ADP: EDGE 26/ DL14)
The captain of this Saints defense, Cameron Jordan has been the very definition of an “Iron Man” having not missed a game since his rookie season back in 2011. He’s led his team in the number of snaps per game on the season for several years now and has done so by a WIDE margin. His 51 snap/game average led the team in 2020 with the next best player having averaged 39.9 snaps/game. Since 2018, he’s tallied 35 sacks & 50 tackles for a loss (TFL) and has averaged 13.9 fantasy points per game (fppg) which if you take his recent three-year average and compare that to fppg finishes in 2020 he would have been the DL10 in fantasy points per game. While the EDGE position in IDP is sweeping the IDP fantasy football landscape making pure defensive linemen less valuable, the fact remains that Cameron Jordan is still an elite player in fantasy football. His ADP has him as a DL2, but consider him to have DL1 upside in 2021!
Marcus Davenport (Current ADP….who cares!?)
The ONE THING Davenport has going for him heading into the 2021 season is the opportunity to PROVE he can live up to the hype behind him being drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2018. The Saints exercised his 5th-year option this offseason which means he will be on the team through the 2022 NFL season. For dynasty purposes, he’s certainly worth a gamble on since he’ll likely be in a position over the next couple of years to line up one-on-one with offensive tackles since Cameron Jordan will command so much attention during that period putting him in prime position to make plays and get you fantasy points. However, for the 2021 season in redraft, he is not worth rostering one bit.
*Special shout out to Defensive Tackle David Onyemata. He was 3rd on the team with TFLs (12) and was just one sack behind Cameron Jordan for second on the team. IF both edge rushers for the Saints can come close to providing the type of pressure we all should expect from them look for Onyemata to capitalize off of his 10.1 fantasy point per game average in 2021 and present some fantasy value off of the waiver wire this season*
Linebackers
*Positional designations & ADP data brought to you by Sleeper.
Demario Davis (Current ADP: LB41)
#IDP – Demario Davis ranks among off-ball linebackers since 2017 (per @PFF):
— Jon Macri (@PFF_Macri) February 25, 2021
Pass-rush attempts – 1st (523)
Total pressures – 1st (107)
Sacks – T-1st (18)
QB hits – 1st (21)
Pass-rush grade – 83.8 (4th – min. 25 snaps)#FFIDP pic.twitter.com/j7mNOh64Bs
Demario is the perfect example of who I was talking about earlier when it comes to returning fantasy value. He finished as the LB21 in 2020 averaging 16.4 fantasy points per game and was the LB16 in total tackles on the season. He also finished the 2020 regular season with 12 QB hits (LB19), 5 passes defended (LB18), and was tied as the LB17 in tackles for a loss with 11. We’re talking about LB2 value for someone who is being drafted as an LB4. Not only has he been a high-volume tackler over the past 4 seasons of his career but he blows up plays behind the line of scrimmage and gets to the quarterback more often than not. Don’t let this #TackleMachine slide past you in drafts this season.
Defensive Backs
*Positional designations & ADP data brought to you by Sleeper.
Malcolm Jenkins (Current ADP: DB39)
Jenkins is another example of finding fantastic value in fantasy drafts. Finishing the 2020 season as DB9 in fantasy points per game (15.6) this 13 year veteran at strong safety is not slowing down one bit. Second on the team in total tackles with 91, this defensive back picked up right where he left off in Philadephia in 2019 and instantly helped elevate this Saints defense to one of the better tackling units in the NFL (7th best). Having averaged 88 total tackles the past three seasons you know what you’re getting from him from a fantasy standpoint. If you wait on DB in your IDP drafts in 2021 just know you can snag a DB4 later in your drafts who consistently produces DB1 upside yet is totally slept on in IDP fantasy football circles.
