Fantasy football 2019 tier defense rankings
By Bill Pivetz
These five teams could finish in the top five and are the “start and forget” types of fantasy football defenses.
Cleveland
The Browns front office made a lot of moves on both sides of the ball to make themselves competitive this season. We know what they did on offense but the defense is underrated. Along with Myles Garrett, the team added Sheldon Richardson and traded for Olivier Vernon.
The defense allowed 408.3 yards and 24.5 points per game with 37 sacks, 17 interceptions and 14 fumbles. With Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown out of the division, the Ravens changing things up at quarterback and the Bengals still relying on Andy Dalton, the Browns defense could be a solid late-draft pick.
Houston
The Texans defense would be in the next tier if everyone stayed healthy. The combination of JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney in the front seven will give opposing quarterbacks nightmares. They recorded 43 sacks, 15 interceptions, 14 fumbles and scored four touchdowns.
The AFC South is a question mark. The Colts will be a tough offense to stop. The Titans need to find out what they have in Marcus Mariota and the Jags have a new signal caller in Nick Foles. If they suffer any major injuries, feel free to drop this defense.
Baltimore
The Ravens offense is undergoing a big switch, going from Joe Flacco to the run-first quarterback Lamar Jackson. They also brought in Mark Ingram to shore up the running game. The defense may be the weaker of the two sides this season.
No C.J. Mosley. No Eric Weddle. No Terrell Suggs. No. Za’Darius Smith. The defense has a lot of new pieces to work into the mix. I still believe in the coaching staff to get these players up to par. Adding Earl Thomas does help filling in some of the holes.
They are just above a streaming pick for me.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers are known for their offense with Philip Rivers under center but the defense is on the come up. Losing defensive end Joey Bosa for half the season did not help matters. The squad finished 14th in fantasy scoring.
With a healthy defense heading into this season, they are a defense worth drafting. They have talent at almost every position. The Broncos and Raiders are in flux so those are four games with easy matchups.
They also face the Jaguars, Vikings and Raiders in the fantasy playoffs.
Minnesota
According to FantasyPros, the Vikings D/ST finished as a D/ST1 each of the past five seasons. They have a great shot to repeat that this season. They easily pressure the quarterback, recording 50 sacks last season, and create turnovers with 12 interceptions and eight fumbles.
Though, looking at their schedule, there are a couple of games you may want to look elsewhere. Facing the Chiefs and Packers (twice) could lead to some high-scoring games. As a 13th-round pick, you could do a lot worse on defense.