Data Driven IDP Cheat Sheet For Week 7 Fantasy Football

This data-driven IDP cheat sheet for Week 7 fantasy football breaks down advanced defensive stats, highlighting players giving up the most yards, touchdowns, and fantasy points to help optimize your DFS and lineup decisions.

Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Watching the defensive player movement in yards and touchdowns has been a fun follow this year. It can aid in lineup decisions and provide an advantage in finding favorable coverage for the DFS market.

Tyson Campbell continues to hold wideouts to a low completion rate (50%), but DK Metcalf beat him for a 25-yard touchdown last week. He’s allowed the most receiving yards (376) per Pro Football Reference, with receivers scoring four touchdowns and 83.60 fantasy points in PPR formats. 

The Kansas City Chiefs should look to attack S Isaiah Pola-Mao this week after taking over the league lead in passing touchdowns allowed (5) despite pacing a low number of targets (27). Receivers have caught two-thirds of their chances while gaining 17.3 yards per catch. Pola-Mao ranks ninth in yards allowed (311) and second in fantasy points per game (13.28).

Defenders Who Allow The Most Receiving Yards

Here are the top 15 defensive players who gave up the most receiving yards this year:

Shawn Childs

Before this year, I compiled a Google Sheet with the 2024 advanced defensive statistics from Pro Football Reference. The goal was to gain a deeper understanding of the defensive side of the ball in weekly WR/CB matchups and identify potential players to start in the DFS market. Finding defensive statistics is a challenge on the free open market, as many outlets score plays differently on the defensive side of the ball.

Here’s a link to my preseason write-up on the data provided by Pro Football Reference, and a description of my added fantasy stat breakdowns: 

2025 Fantasy Football IDP Cheat Sheet: Defensive Stats And Insights You Need

2025 NFL League Leaders In Tackles

LB Jordyn Brooks maintained the league lead in combined tackles (66), with five players within five players within 10 tackles.

• Bobby Wagner, Washington Commanders (65)
• Jamien Sherwood, New York Jets (60)
• Cedric Gray, Tennessee Titans (60)
• Nathan Landman, Los Angeles Rams (58)
• Jack Campbell, Detroit Lions (56)

LB Nik Bonitto continues to lead the league in sacks (8), a half sack ahead of Byron Young (7.5). Brian Burns (7), Aidan Hutchinson (6), and Dorance Armstrong (5.5) round out the top five.

Defenders Who Allow The Most Touchdowns In 2025

There are six players who allowed four touchdowns.

• Tyson Campbell, Cleveland Browns (22/376/4)
• Donovan Wilson, Dallas Cowboys (11/122/4)
• Zyon McCollum, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (19/208/4)
• Brandon Stephens, New York Jets (24/268/4)
• Kool-Aid McKinstry, New Orleans Saints (22/315/4)
• Christian Benford, Buffalo Bills (21/198/4)

Note: the IDP scoring in the above grid is only based on the stats provided by Pro Football Reference.

I used these scoring values to create IDP totals:

• Tackle (1.5 fantasy points) – Pro Football Reference only offered combined tackles, so I treated two assisted tackles as a full tackle
• Sacks (4.0 fantasy points)
• Interceptions (5.0 fantasy points)

These are the scoring data points that I’m lacking:

• Tackle for a loss: 2 points
• Forced fumble: 4 points
• Fumble recovery: 4 points
• Defended Passes: 1.5 points
• Defensive touchdown: 6 points
• Safety: 2 points