Fantasy Defense Leaderboard Week 16: Who starts, sits at D/ST in fantasy football
No one is amused by last week’s series of postponements and player inactivity, but if there’s one fantasy football position that is likely to benefit, it’s D/ST. When key attacking players are eliminated – particularly attacking midfielders and midfielders – suddenly there are more D/STs. Our Week 16 Fantasy Defense Ranking already has a slew of potential streamers, so it’s going to be a week with no shortage of viable options for your starting decisions.
Eagles (vs. Giants), Chargers (vs. Texans), Bengals (vs. Ravens), 49ers (vs. Titans), Saints (vs. Dolphins) and Seahawks (vs. Bears) are all owned by about 50% tournaments and there are certain matches this week. The Saints are the most adventurous, but they always have more of an advantage at home. Even the consistently excellent Colts (@Cardinals) are not widely owned and despite a tough game, they proved they can produce in any match.
WEEK 16 STANDARD RATINGS:
Midfielder | Run back | Wide receiver | Tight ending | Kicker
If you really want to trust the stats, you can use both sides of the game Lions-Falcons and Jaguars-Jets. None of these D/STs have done much this year (though the Lions and Jets are both about to have big weeks coming up), but all have top 10 matches. If we had to pick one, the Jets have the edge, but it’s worth noting that the Jaguars played a bit better last week without Urban Meyer calling out shots, and the Lions have been better lately too. However, you would have to be desperate (or in a very deep league) to consider one of these units with so many other potential streamers available.
WEEK 16 PPR RANKING:
Midfielder | Run back | Wide receiver | Tight ending | Kicker
Aside from being a solid week for streamers, it’s been a good week for some of the most reliable defences. The Cardinals (vs. Colts) have the most unsettling matchup between the top D/STs, but they can still start because Carson Wentz is so prone to mistakes. If Arizona can force Indianapolis into more passing situations than New England did last week, they could still pay off despite how mediocre they look in a high-profile game against Detroit. The Steelers (@ Chiefs) and Ravens (@ Bengals) are still heavily owned but look set to be away this week.
More D/ST options will likely appear throughout the week, especially if any QB shows up on the injured/COVID list. This can also work the other way around, if a team’s defense is destroyed by ailing players. Track all the updates and get ready to hit the free dealer wire. You can have a solid D/ST, but there can also be a better option. At this point in the season, every point matters.
Note: We’ll be updating this D/ST leaderboard throughout the week, so check back for the latest analysis and player movements.
Fantasy Defense Leaderboard Week 16: Who starts, sits at D/ST in fantasy football
Places | Player |
first | Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ CAR |
2 | Buffalo Bills @ NE |
3 | Philadelphia Eagles vs NYG |
4 | Miami Dolphins @ NO |
5 | Dallas Cowboys @ FIRE |
6 | Los Angeles Rams @ MIN |
7 | Green Bay Packers vs. CLE |
8 | New England Patriots vs. BUF. The Patriots’ defense was beaten by a ferocious Colts attack last week, but we know Buffalo doesn’t have the manpower to do so. If they did, they would have done it in a bad weather game against New England in Week 13 when the Pats had two sacks, a takeaway item, and limited Buffalo to 10 attack points. As long as Josh Allen drops back to get past his usual amount, New England will make enough plays to pay off like a fantasy starter. With overall consistency and a big playing advantage, the Pats still have a good ceiling. |
9 | Charger Los Angeles @ HOU. Davis Mills has stabilized the ship for the Texans in recent weeks, as the team scored 43 hit points while allowing only two sacks and one takeaway. This is where context matters, though: Houston is playing Seattle and Jacksonville. The Chargers aren’t a great fantasy D/ST, but with plenty of lessons from the past three games (eight in total) plus nine sacks, they should be able to bug rookie QB and have a fantastic day. solid image. |
ten | Kansas City Heads vs. PIT. For all of the Steelers’ attacking problems, they decide to stay in the middle of the road when it comes to conceding imaginary points to the defence. In the past three games, Pittsburgh has let in nine covers but brought in just one while averaging 22.3 offensive points per game. However, the Chiefs continued torturing criminals, forcing multiple spins in six consecutive games. However, the Chargers were able to move the ball over them last week, which we haven’t seen in a while, and they don’t allow any sacks. Maybe that’s largely due to Chris Jones (subs/COVID) being dropped, but either way it could be another game where Kansas City was just average with a simple foul. is to triple and lose a lot while finding the way to 17 points . Kansas City has high ceilings and solid floors, so there’s no reason to stay away from it, but just knowing Pittsburgh can be disappointing in many ways. |
11 | Indianapolis Colts @ ARI |
twelfth | Arizona Cardinals vs. IND |
13 | Cincinnati Bengals vs BAL |
14 | San Francisco 49ers @ TEN |
15 | New Orleans Saints vs. MIA |
16 | Seattle Seahawks vs. SPEND |
17 | Denver Broncos @ LV |
18 | Pittsburgh Steelers @ KC |
19 | New York Jets vs JAX |
20 | Atlanta Falcons vs. DET |
21 | Las Vegas Raiders vs. DEN |
22 | Tennessee Titans vs. SF |
23 | Jacksonville Jaguars @ NYJ |
24 | Baltimore Ravens @ CIN |
25 | Cleveland Browns @ GB |
26 | Detroit Lions @ ATL |
27 | Chicago Bears @ SEA |
28 | New York Giants @ PHILIPPINES |
29 | Carolina Panthers vs TB |
30 | Minnesota Vikings vs. LAR |
thirty first | Washington football team @ DAL |
32 | Houston Texas vs. LAC |