The defensive line is the thinnest of all the IDP positions and provides the most inconsistent producers in general. Some have Aaron Donald at the top of their overall lists because of the consistency with which he plays and that’s a very reasonable strategy. As laid out in the overall primer, defensive line is usually where I start my IDP drafting, and in any league with two or more DL starters, I want to have my starters by the end of Tier 3. Remember that most defensive linemen are highly rotational (Donald was the only DL over 90% of the snaps and there were only three others over 80%), so if you invest highly and aren’t getting the results you expected, as long as the snap percentage isn’t getting worse, your luck should change quickly.

DT required leagues — DT is deeper than I can really ever remember it (shout out to every team moving to multiple fronts), but it’s still not great. If your league does require a DT, I would suggest investing early and Donald would be at the top of my list.

Rookies — This rookie class was one of the best in recent memory for top-end DL talent. I would compare DL to TEs as rookies in that earning time is more difficult because the learning curve can be massive.