IDP's 10 Best Bets to Rebound in 2025

There is no more hopeful and optimistic date on the fantasy football calendar than draft day. Every IDP manager rolls into the draft filled with positivity. They are going to build a defense certain to compete for a championship. Opponents will be vanquished. Trophies will be won. It will be glorious.

And then it happens. 

The defensive lineman they drafted early to anchor the position gets hurt in Week 3. The linebacker they were certain would rack up 150 tackles winds up relegated to a part-time role. The defensive back they took among the top-five at the position comes nowhere close to living up to that draft slot because defensive backs.

Instead of glory, there is chaos--and their season goes off the rails like a crazy train.

Rest in peace, Ozzy--you will be missed.

The season passes. The disappointment fades. It is replaced by another emotion. One that burns like the heat from a thousand suns. Rage. That player who let them down? Dead. Never to be drafted again. There won't be a second go-round. 

As George W. Bush once said, "There's an old saying in Tennessee--I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee--that says, fool me once, shame on--shame on you. Fool me--you can't get fooled again.”

No, really. He said that.

Occasionally, that's wise. There are players for whom that disappointing season or injury is a harbinger of doom--they go sailing off the proverbial cliff like Thelma and Louise and are never fantasy-relevant again. But for some IDPs, it's just a one-off. Those players are more likely to rebound than disappear. With many fantasy managers writing those players off, they can often be had at a position of value--later than they should be.

And passing on value like that is The Ultimate Sin.

Saw Ozzy live in Arizona in 1991. Good times.

IDP Rebound Defensive Linemen

EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit

Over the first five games of last season, Hutchinson was on a rampage that would make Godzilla green with envy (see what I did there?). He racked up 7.5 sacks over that span and was second in fantasy points among defensive linemen in The Godfather's Default IDP Scoring. But in that fifth game of the 2024 campaign, Hutchinson broke his leg--and just like that, his season was over.

Hutchinson won't be getting the disappointment discount this season that some of the other players in this column will--he'll come off the board among the top-five defensive linemen in far more fantasy drafts than not. But Hutchinson is practicing in camp and appears to be a full-go for the regular season--and among the players with a legitimate shot to be the DL1 overall, the 24-year-old is the least expensive.

EDGE Joey Bosa, Buffalo

There was a time when Bosa appeared to be a sure-fire superstar. On the way to winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors back in 2016, Bosa logged 10.5 sacks. The following season, Bosa posted 70 tackles, added 12.5 sacks, and was third among all defensive linemen in fantasy points. He added two more double-digit sack seasons after that, in 2019 and 2021.

Of course, there have also been a litany of injuries, including a whopping 23 missed games over the past three seasons. Now 30 years old, Bosa is trying to rejuvenate his career with the Bills after nine years and five Pro Bowls with the Chargers. Bosa's injury history can't be ignored, but if a change of scenery rejuvenates him, Bosa possesses a DL1 ceiling available outside the top-25 at his position in many drafts.

EDGE Haason Reddick, Tampa Bay

It's understandable that many fantasy managers have written Reddick off. He'll be 31 in September and is coming off a disaster of a year that would make Hurricane Andrew jealous. After holding out for a new contract well into the regular season in 2024 with the New York Jets, Reddick finally caved, joined the team--and proceeded to log all of one sack in 393 snaps over 10 games.

Now, Reddick is in Tampa Bay on a one-year "prove-it deal." It's a make-or-break season--if Reddick falters again, that could be the end of the line. Over four straight seasons from 2020 to 2023, Reddick logged at least 11 sacks. He was a top-10 defensive lineman in fantasy points in three of those years, including a DL1 overall finish in 2020. He's also essentially free in many IDP drafts.

DT Derrick Brown, Carolina

Two years ago, Brown made IDP managers very happy--not only was he a top-five defensive tackle in fantasy points, but the 27-year-old offered a measure of consistency unheard of at the position thanks to a staggering 103 total tackles. That made Brown one of the first tackles drafted in 2024, but he made it just one game and three stops into the season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

The upside to getting hurt early is that it offers more recovery time. By the time this season starts, it will have essentially been a year since Brown got hurt. Brown has never been a big sack producer. In five seasons, he has never logged more than three. But that kind of gaudy tackle upside is incredibly appealing, and given the state of the Carolina defense, he shouldn't hurt for opportunities in 2025.

IDP Rebound Linebackers