Unless most of the teams in your league carry a backup defense, more than half of the league should be available to you every week. Perhaps instead of playing one above-average defense every week, regardless of matchup, we should instead target the widely available waiver wire defenses with the best matchups in any particular week? You can always make exceptions if your rent-a-defense gets hot - heck, you might find a team worth starting all year by accident. Even if you don't, good matchups will continue to get greater in number as more QBs get injured or yanked as the season goes on. You can steal some points from bad weather come December. Each week I'll list the startable fantasy defenses on most waiver wires and rank them.
**Baltimore has a great matchup in Week 1 but is assumed to be drafted earlier**
Week 1 Candidates
Philadelphia (vs Washington)
Case Keenum on the road with no Trent Williams. This is far and away the most attractive matchup for a defense outside of the Top 10 drafted this week. Philadelphia outscored Washington 52-13 in their two matchups last year and should be an even better team than the 2018 edition.
A Look Ahead: @ATL DET @GB - We’ll be looking on the wire for our Week 2 option
Dallas (vs New York Giants)
A home matchup against Eli Manning is going to be a target this year, with or without Ezekiel Elliott. The defense is becoming a strength and the offense might be the best during the Dak Prescott era. The real reason to start Dallas Week 1 is to catch the wave of the Washington and Miami matchups in Weeks 2 and 3
A Look Ahead: @WAS MIA @NO - You won’t need to attend to your D/ST until Week 4
Seattle (vs Cincinnati)
My how a weekend changes everything. Adding Jadeveon Clowney to this defense makes it look much more attractive for fantasy leagues, even with Ezekiel Ansah getting ready to play just under the wire and Jarran Reed sitting out for six games. Cordy Glenn is still in concussion protocol (monitor that) and the Bengals offensive line is in shambles going into one of the toughest road venues in the league.
A Look Ahead: @PIT NO @ARI - we will come back to Seattle in Week 4 if Arizona is off to a rough start
Detroit (at Arizona)
This one is a simple referendum on Kliff, Kyler and the unveiling of the Air Raid: NFL version. If you think it will fizzle, the Lions D/ST is your play. The Detroit running game should keep the Cardinals offense on the sidelines for long stretches, turning up the pressure to perform.
A Look Ahead: LAC @PHI KC - If the new-look Lions defensive line dominates and the Chargers struggle vs the Colts in Week 1 behind their questionable line, the Lions D/ST could give us another solid week.
Kansas City (at Jacksonville)
We don’t associate the Chiefs with good defense, but they were still a good D/ST play at times last year, and they could be improved under new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Nick Foles plays on the bold side of the quarterback spectrum, and he might need to dial that up even further to stay with Patrick Mahomes II, which would increase the chances of a big mistake or two in the name of overcoming a second-half deficit.
A Look Ahead: @OAK BAL @DET - If the Chiefs hit this week, we’ll stick with them in Week 2.
Cleveland (vs Tennessee)
Not nearly enough ink has been given to the Browns pass rush overhaul this offseason. Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon have been added to a line that already featured one-man wrecking crew Myles Garrett and ascendant defensive tackle talent Larry Ogunjobi. The Titans will be without Taylor Lewan and this offense is generally a bet to underachieve in any given week. The Browns fans will be as excited as they’ve been an opener in 20 years and could create a feeding frenzy.
A Look Ahead: @NYJ LAR @BAL - If they hit and Sam Darnold struggles Week 1, we could stick with the Browns D/ST
Week 2 Preemptive Pickups
- Carolina (vs Tampa Bay)
- Dallas (at Washington)
- New England (at Miami)
