This is it! We are less than two weeks away from NFL games! I know quite a few fantasy football drafts will be happening this Labor Day weekend, so now is the time to get my first D/ST article ready. Last year, I hit a good run towards the end of the year on undervalued D/ST streamers. This year, I want to start off with three team D/STs that I like for the first four weeks of the season. These will be three D/STs outside of the top 10 average rankings from Sleeper, FantasyPros, and ESPN. With that in mind, here’s their average Top 10:
- Buffalo Bills
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- San Francisco 49ers
- New Orleans Saints
- Los Angeles Rams
- Indianapolis Colts
- Green Bay Packers
- Baltimore Ravens
- Dallas Cowboys
- New England Patriots
I think the most surprising in the top 10 is the Packers. Seeing them at 7 is shocking considering Sleeper had them at 9 and FantasyPros at 11. The Cowboys and Patriots being down at 9 and 10 is a bit surprising, but believable, given that they finished 1st and 2nd last year. However, I don’t know the last time a team D/ST finished back-to-back D/ST1 in fantasy football. Think back to the “Sacksonville” Jaguars of 2017 or the Bears in 2018. It’s always easy to follow the numbers in season than it is to project during the preseason.
Three Targets Outside the Top 10
- Denver Broncos – Average Rank 12
- Broncos Country, Lezz’ride! While most D/ST streamers I look to draft will have three or four weeks of good matchups, the Broncos have what could be the two best matchups Weeks 1 and 2. A rematch game for Russell Wilson against the Seahawks, followed by them hosting the Texans could mean great things for the Broncos D/ST. Weeks 3 and 4 are less than great matchups with the 49ers and Raiders. The argument can be made for both. The Niners have a first year starter at Quarterback with a depleted offensive line. The Raiders just have a bad offensive line especially after cutting a first round Offensive Tackle.
- Cleveland Browns – Average Rank 15
- The Browns get to start their season against the Baker Mayfield-led Panthers, the Jets with who knows who will be the starting Quarterback, the Steelers with a QB committee, and then Falcons in Week 4. All four teams have major questions around their starting Quarterback or the efficiency of said QB. While the Browns are also without their starting QB for 11 games, the defense should be able to win them these four games. If anything, they will be a slugfest with some big plays on both sides. Week 1 against the Panthers will be a good sign of how the Browns D/STs will do. If Baker feels pressured and gives up a couple of interceptions, we know this D/ST will be effective in fantasy football.
- Philadelphia Eagles – Average Rank 16
- I have come to accept the fact that I am slowly becoming an Eagles fan. I love what they’ve done on offense and Jalen Hurts is one of my favorite fantasy football QBs. Not to mention that their defense helped me out quite a lot last year! After doing nothing but improve their starters and depth on defense, they get my vote of confidence. Plus, starting your season with matchups against the Lions, Vikings, Commanders, and Jaguars is sure to be good. In your normal D/ST scoring leagues, the Eagles could see three weeks of double digit points in the first four. I will be targeting them in all my drafts with D/STs.
Inside the Top 10
I also want to look at which D/STs inside the top 10 that I am either higher on or lower on than the ranks for the first four weeks. My rule of thumb is to never leave your fantasy football draft thinking, “I will start this D/ST every week from now till the end of the year.” There are two main reasons that statement is wrong: Bye Weeks and Ignorance. Of course every team has a Bye week. The ignorance comes from thinking that you are drafting the number one, without a doubt, absolute best D/ST of the season. Every team will have a bad matchup. Everyone should stream a D/ST at some point. Even the number 1 overall D/ST last season (The Cowboys) had three weeks with less than 5 fantasy points.
The rankings I compiled had some teams that could be great on the course of the season, but have awful starts. The Buccaneers are the best example. Four high powered offenses in the first four weeks. Cowboys, Saints, Packers, and Chiefs sound like an outright awful start for any D/ST. All four of those games are sure to be shoot outs and great for other fantasy football positions, but not for the Bucs D/ST.
The Cowboys start off against the Bucs and Bengals, but then get the Giants and Commanders. Last year, the Cowboys put up a total of 75 fantasy points in their four matchups against those two teams. That’s an average of 18.75 fantasy points per game. If you were to draft two D/STs (Please don’t do that. It’s usually a waste of roster space), then the Cowboys are a great D/ST to go with after starting with the Colts or Broncos and their easy Weeks 1&2.
Summary
As we get closer to fantasy football season, keep in mind the D/ST you draft. Look at their first two to four weeks. Don’t be the first to draft a D/ST. Never take multiple D/STs! Most of all, be prepared to cut ties with any D/ST you roster for a better options the next week. This year, I’ll be coming back with my Weekly D/ST Streamers articles. I’ll keep track with them the same way I did last year. Good luck this fantasy season and may the Streams always flow your way!
Hunter Greene
Hunter started writing for The League Winners in the summer of 2021. Hunter has been playing fantasy football for about a decade, starting in middle school. Now he’s a professional landscaper and avid Colts and Purdue fan.