Fantasy football 2019 tier defense rankings
By Bill Pivetz
If you play in leagues deeper than 10 teams, these defenses are going to be available to you towards the end of your fantasy football draft.
Seattle
The Legion of Boom is no more. Richard Sherman is in San Francisco. Earl Thomas is in Baltimore. Michael Bennett is in New England. The defense gave up 21.7 points and 347 yards per game.
They have a tough start to the season, facing the Steelers, Saints and Rams in their first five games. Things don’t get better towards the fantasy playoffs with the Eagles, Rams, Panthers and Vikings on their schedule.
Philadelphia
The Eagles defense is going to have a tough start to the season with the Falcons, Lions, Packers ans Vikings. In the second half, however, they face the Dolphins, Giants (twice) and the Redskins. If you’re looking for a playoff streamer, they are your team.
The defense allowed 21.8 points and 366.2 yards per game with 44 sacks and 10 interceptions. The team is full of playmakers, especially in the trenches. The secondary is still a question mark,
Dallas
With 39 sacks, nine interceptions, 329.2 yards and 20.2 points per game, they were a good option last year. The Cowboys have a surprisingly good start to their season with the Giants, Redskins and Dolphins as their first three matchups.
Looking towards the back half of their schedule, the Cowboys face the Bills, Bears, Rams and Eagles, which could be tough to rely on for the playoffs.
Buffalo
The Bills offense is still building up and could drain a lot of clock throughout the season. They were second in yards and 18th in points per game. Facing the Dolphins and Jets twice a season helps their fantasy value.
The Bills also face the Giants, Titans and Redskins in the middle weeks. They are a matchup play in 10-team leagues and fringe starter in deeper leagues.
New England
With Tom Brady under center and a top-five defense will likely lead to a Super Bowl win. The defense finished seventh in points allowed and 21st in yards per game with 30 sacks and 18 interceptions.
They are lucky they get to face the Bills, Dolphins and Jets in six games this season. Though, outside of that, the Patriots have some tough matchups with the Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys and Browns.
The Patriots offense scores a lot, usually, that opposing offenses will have to play catchup which leads to turnovers.
Denver
Things have changed since the Peyton Manning-led team days. They still recorded 44 sacks and 17 interceptions with Von Miller leading the way with 14.5 sacks.
If you are going to draft a defense just for the first week, the Broncos defense should be at the top of the list. With Antonio Brown dealing with foot and helmet issues, the Raiders are worth streaming against.
New Orleans
The Saints were known as a top offense. But, over the last season and a half, the defense has stepped up. They recorded 49 sacks and 12 interceptions with 22.1 points per game.
A Week 1 matchup against the Texans could prove to be favorable as Deshaun Watson was sacked 62 times last season. For the fantasy football playoffs, the Saints face the 49ers, Colts and Titans in Weeks 14-16.