Breaking Down Team Defenses (Overview)

  Guest Submission posted 7/25 by Mike Howerton, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

As a diehard Lions fan, I've had plenty of time to sit and think this offseason! Here's a little project I've been working on. It is a complete rundown of all 32 fantasy defenses, ranked from worst to first. Each and every one of these teams has the talent to move up or down, so keep a watchful eye on how some of these teams perform to start the season. Preseason analysis is always good, but you know as well as I do that every season a team comes out of nowhere and enjoys fantasy success. Before you read these, keep in mind a few key points. All defenses are sorted into tiers. Below is a quick breakdown of each tier:

• Tier 1 - These teams are must-start defenses in nearly all matchups. Unless certain matchups provide a no-brainer alternative, they should be started every week.
  


• Tier 2 - These teams are startable in the majority of all matchups, and have a highly ranked fantasy playoff schedule. Any one of these teams has the talent to bump up a tier.
  


• Tier 3 - These teams are a marginal DEF1 with upside. They're either a solid sleeper team, a highly ranked combo defense, or a near-perfect playoff combo. Or a combination of all 3.
  


• Tier 4 - These teams are the bottom dwellers. They're not startable in most matchups, and are a poor consideration as a combo/sleeper defense. They're also a risky decision during the fantasy playoffs.

Whenever 2006 fantasy results are mentioned, this is the default scoring used:

One last note to keep in mind, the leagues in which I refer to in this article are primarily REDRAFT, 12-member leagues, with the fantasy playoffs held weeks 14-16. If you play in a league that involves week 17, please take that into consideration. Also, I have relatively little experience playing in IDP leagues, so do not treat this as an IDP analysis piece.