Fantasy Football IDP Highlight: Is There a Better DB Than Tyvon Branch?

The growing popularity of IDP leagues rests heavily—among other reasons—on the fact that a good collection of defensive players can be just as fruitful as your dominate offensive roster.

But with that, comes the never ending search for just who exactly will be a top weekly contributor.

One of the players I would like to highlight for you is DB/S Tyvon Branch of the Oakland Raiders who is rapidly rising to fantasy dominance.

In most circles, DB/S such as Nnamdi Asomugha, Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Quentin Jammer, and Brandon Flowers are all the first names you’ll hear mentioned when talking about AFC West cover men. For a third year man like Branch, that’s pretty good company to be associated with.

Branch was a ball hawk, and a receiver hawk, and in 2009 he registered 123 total tackles (led all safeties), registered two fumbles, and eight pass deflections/breakups.

Branch is a dual qualifier for those of you still new to IDP leagues, which means you can start him at his natural position (Safety) or utilize him in the DB spot of your roster.

2009 was considered a breakout year for Branch, but the truth is, he is looking more and more like a player who has just begun to show what he is truly capable of.

Need more?

Despite being a quality cover man, his penchant for tackling comes primarily against the run game. Now that doesn’t say much for the front five of Oakland, but registering tackles is all you care about in IDP leagues, not whether or not a team is doing well in the record department.

And that is precisely why he did so well in 2009, and why 2010 seems to be another stellar opportunity for you to take advantage of his skills.

The Raiders were ranked 26th overall in team defense, 29th against the run (ironically enough), and 7th against the passing game.

What that tells you, from a football stance, is the Raiders couldn’t stop the run up front, or even with their linebacker corp. and it was up to the last line of defense to make the stop.

More of this will come in 2010.

As a pass defensive team, the Raiders weren’t all that bad, but again, you don’t necessarily need the team to be good just the player you draft.

The Oakland Tribune reports the Oakland staff as saying Branch is a “potential star” which bodes well for him and you.

Numbers tell a great deal of the story, but not the whole story as most of you already know.

In ranking the DB/S position, Branch is currently ranked fourth overall with a 124.54 ADP. He is also ranked 14th in Keeper and Dynasty leagues, and is projected to earn roughly 130 fantasy points this year—all rankings provided by fftoolbox.com —but considering IDP will perpetually reshape the Fantasy Football landscape, your strategy could be modified in where and when to actually take him.

Branch is a solid choice as a first rounder not only because of his skill set, but because playing for the Oakland Raiders is very fruitful for the DB/s position, something every manager can take advantage of.

I hope this article was helpful, and if you enjoyed it, please check out more great fantasy advice particularly our Over/Under DB analysis.