5 Breakout Defensive Linemen to Target in IDP Leagues in 2025

Aug 13, 2025

Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Ok, the list of breakout linebackers is posted, so now it's time to shift focus to the big dogs up front.

Remember, I'm the captain here, so I get to determine who fits the ambiguous 'breakout' qualifications, with arbitrary lines in the sand to drive my point home.

For this exercise, I think what serves you, the audience, best is a look at defensive linemen who I believe are currently undervalued based on their current ADP and the ECR rankings on FantasyPros. Some guys are younger, and some are a little older, but the goal is to find value your leaguemates might not see.

Opportunity is the golden goose of all fantasy scoring, whether it's offensive only or IDP. In IDP leagues, regardless of your league's scoring format, top-tier defensive linemen are the most bankable commodity in the game. Defensive linemen are unique because their value is often tied to their skill level. We can't forget about opportunity, but at the end of the day, when the player is on the field, it comes down to his ability to beat the player or players in front of them.

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Breakout Defensive Linemen

Yaya Diaby - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay's third-year EDGE rusher, Yaya Diaby, is a positive regression monster waiting to explode in 2025. Daiby finished 2024 with the 11th most pressures in the league according to PFF's tracking, and his 24.1% pass rush win rate on true pass sets ranked seventh in the entire league, ahead of Will Anderson, Brian Burns, Jonathan Greenard, and Daniel Hunter. But sacks are fickle, with pressures and sacks telling a very different story at times.

For instance, Diaby's 65 pressures were eight more than Denver's Nik Bonitto, yet Bonitto finished the year with 13 sacks, while Diaby posted 4.5. Per PFF's Jon Macri, Diaby's 8.6 expected sacks, a far more predictive metric than the previous year's sacks, exceeded Bonitto's 7.0. Drafters are getting wise to Diaby's underlying upside, but it's still going at least 15-20 picks later than he should be in the recent IDP-only leagues.