When it comes to Defense in fantasy football, you can definitely hold off til the later rounds to get one or even two team defenses. You never want to be the guy who reaches for a defense in the 8th round just because your other positions are already filled. It is way more important to build up your bench of skill players rather than drafting a defense early, in which you’ll probably drop at some point during the season anyway. Whether you’re going for a top defense or plan on streaming week to week, these rankings should help you get a general idea of who to target this upcoming season:
- Buffalo Bills
- Tampa Bay Bucs
- Dallas Cowboys
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Green Bay Packers
- Denver Broncos
- Los Angeles Chargers
- New England Patriots
- Indianapolis Colts
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cleveland Browns
- Miami Dolphins
- Kansas City Chiefs
- New Orleans Saints
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Minnesota Vikings
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Arizona Cardinals
- New York Jets
- Washington Commanders
- Tennessee Titians
- Carolina Panthers
- Houston Texans
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New York Giants
- Detroit Lions
- Chicago Bears
- Seattle Seahawks
- Atlanta Falcons
I tend to use the 2-defense approach; 1 stud, 1 streamer strategy. Pick out 5 defenses pre-draft that you think could have big years and target to draft at least one of them. Some thinking points to get your 5 could include which teams have standout playmaking stars that rack up sacks and turnovers (ex. Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack, Trevon Diggs, etc.), teams in weak divisions (Cowboys, Packers, etc.), and teams with weak schedules (especially in the second half of the season). Streaming a defense throughout the season is quite easy, you just go with teams with good matchups on weeks your stud has a bad matchup. Another strategy experienced players will use is streaming a defense a week or two early, specifically when their stud defense is going through a strong stretch.