8 Undervalued Defensive Linemen

Footballguys Staff's 8 Undervalued Defensive Linemen Footballguys Staff Published 06/14/2023

A fantasy draft is all about obtaining the most value with each selection. Value is available throughout a draft, and grabbing it is one of the most important keys to a successful fantasy team. To point out this value, we asked our staff to look through IDP ADP from TheIDPShow.com and identify players that should outperform their draft position.

Related: See 5 Undervalued Linebackers here >>>

Here are the players who received the most votes:

And here are all of the players mentioned and the reasons why.

Players Receiving 2 Votes

Carl Granderson, New Orleans Saints

Joseph Haggan: Granderson was the defensive lineman on the Saints line that everybody dismissed the past few seasons. It was always, "Davenport is finally going to break out," or "Turner was a great first-round pick." Neither thing has happened for the Saints yet. What did happen was Granderson outperformed Davenport and took over the starting role late in the season with a breakout year. He posted career numbers in tackles (53) and sacks (5.5), with an astounding 1.9% missed tackle rate. He did all of this on just 45% of the team's snaps. Granderson was an absolutely delightful pairing with long-time and ironman defensive lineman Cameron Jordan. He still needs to fight off Payton Turner and rookie Isaiah Foskey, but Granderson has shown the most in his career and earned a start.

Kyle Bellefeuil: Carl Granderson is a player who quietly finished the 2022 season on a strong note. After the Saints' Week 14 bye, Granderson had a solid four-game stretch compiling 19 tackles (12 solos), four tackles for loss, and three sacks on a 64% snap share. With Marcus Davenport leaving in free agency and former first-round pick Payton Turner struggling to stay healthy through two seasons, Granderson is the leader in the clubhouse to bookend Cameron Jordan when the season gets here. With a DL65 ADP, Granderson is an easy late-round upside mouse click.

Harold Landry, Tennessee Titans

Tripp Brebner: The Titans guaranteed Landry $52.5 million before he tore an ACL ahead of the 2022 season. He finished 8th, 14th, and 8th in Footballguys scoring among players now classified as defensive linemen from 2019 to 2021. He's had a full year to recover and rejoin a largely intact defense. His ADP (DL38) looks like an overreaction to the injury or malaise over a team apparently in decline or both.

Kyle Bellefeuil: Harold Landry suffered an unfortunate ACL injury before the start of last season, causing him to be overlooked a bit due to his absence. The last time we saw Landry in 2021, he posted career-highs in tackles (75), sacks (12), tackles for loss (14), and QB hits (22). Landry will have a year of recovery time when the season gets here and is still only 27 years old. It’s also important to note with the recent shift to true-position designations, Landry carries the DE/EDGE tag on more platforms in lieu of the less appealing LB tag. It’s always risky drafting players coming off an injury, but at DL38, Landry is well worth the risk with his upside and previous track record.

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