So you decided not to draft the Texans, Rams, Seahawks, Broncos, or Eagles defense in your fantasy football league … Welcome to the squad. Here, we’re smart, and we understand that our 10th- or 11th-round running back has more upside than a unit the NFL is actively making rules against.
Here, we appreciate the week-to-week matchup hunt for the unit that won’t lose us a week in fantasy, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll actually get us more than 10 points.
To set the ground rules, I’m looking at defenses that are rostered in less than 25 percent of leagues on Yahoo Fantasy. And here’s the deal: this is Week 1. We’re going to learn a whole lot more about these teams in the next four days, so a lot of this analysis is based on what teams they’re playing and the changes they made this offseason.
I list the defense, who and where they’re playing, the offense’s team total (per DraftKings), and their roster percentage. These are the three defenses you should be targeting in Week 1 if you don’t like your current matchup.
Las Vegas Raiders
- vs. Miami
- Dolphins TT O/U: 17.5 points (second fewest in Week 1)
- Rostered in 7% of leagues
There’s nothing cute about the Raiders defense, and that’s why no one drafted them … But playing the Dolphins in Week 1 is an amazing opportunity for some fantasy value.
They still have Maxx Crosby, which means they still have real talent with their pass rush. Real talent on the pass rush means a real chance for sacks. A real chance for sacks means a real chance for points. On top of that, the Dolphins are not a threatening offense … Like, at all.
Sure, Devon Achane is a super sick running back, but the wide receivers are either third-round rookies or they’re wholly ineffective veterans. On top of that, Malik Willis is their quarterback, and the realest threat he poses is with his legs.
The Raiders spent a solid chunk of change at linebacker this offseason when they signed both Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. Those are two dudes who know what they’re doing, can direct a defense, and limit those rushing yards.
Buffalo Bills
- at Houston
- Texans TT O/U: 21.5 points (10th lowest)
- Rostered in 17% of leagues
The Bills were definitely terrible at stopping the run last year, and they didn’t do a big personnel overhaul that you would’ve thought they might do to fix that business. So that’s not exactly promising in this game, but neither is the Texans’ running game.
Nick Caley is still Houston’s offensive coordinator, C.J. Stroud is still the quarterback, and Nico Collins is still WR1. However, they rebuilt their offensive line for the third straight year. It’s still Aireontae Ersery at left tackle, Ed Ingram at right guard, and Trent Brown (who started in the second half of 2025) at right tackle. But their rookie Keylan Rutledge is at left guard, and their center is Evan Brown … and he hasn’t played center since 2023 with Seattle.
Sure, that’ll probably end up being better than what it looked like at the end of last season, but there are still some pretty glaring weak spots (the interior). It seems downright foolish to think they’re going to come out of the gate firing hot in Week 1.
That’s going to be emphasized in their running game, which they tried to rejuvenate by trading for David Montgomery. He’s a pretty good running back, and his running style should play well with the O-line’s potential shortcomings, but it doesn’t really seem like this is going to be effective with any real consistency.
The only significant changes that the Bills made on defense were signing Bradley Chubb in free agency and hiring Jim Leonhard (Denver’s defensive passing game coordinator) as their new defensive coordinator.
Those two guys are going to change the way Buffalo’s defensive front plays football, not just structurally (they’re moving from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense), but Chubb is going to bring a new level of physicality and versatility to the unit as well.
After this game, they play the Lions, Chargers, Patriots, and Rams … So you’ll be good to drop them.
New York Jets
- at Titans
- Titans TT O/U: 19.5 (6th lowest)
- Rostered in 2% of leagues
It feels gross to throw the Jets defense on a streamer list, but they deserve it in this spot, and it’s purely because they’re playing against a Titans defense that doesn’t have any real developed talent and looked completely disjointed in the preseason …
Did you know that Carnell Tate ran 25 routes in the preseason, was targeted six times, and didn’t catch a single pass?
Cam Ward will develop into a real threat as a passer at some point, but not this early in the season. He’ll take sacks from an old (read: experienced) defense, and he’ll make dumb decisions that the Jets should be able to capitalize on ... And you just know that getting an interception in Week 1 is absolutely a goal for a unit that didn’t have a single one last year.
You have some peaches on you if this is the defense you try to grab … But it might just have the highest ceiling of all these options.
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