There are plenty of rankings for QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs in fantasy, like our own excellent Fantasy Life consensus rankings. Defenses and special teams (DSTs) generally don't get nearly the same amount of attention and love from the fantasy football community as their offensive counterparts.
There are two key reasons for this:
- DSTs join kickers as two positions that are phased out of the starting lineup for some leagues.
- The DST position is a lot more difficult to predict on a year-to-year and weekly basis.
DST scoring drivers like sacks, fumbles, and INTs simply aren’t all that sticky from year to year. If anything, you’re better off simply targeting DSTs that will face weaker schedules.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that squads like San Francisco and Dallas will likely (again) finish among the league’s highest-scoring teams at the DST position, but those defenses will cost you a mid-round pick instead of a cheaper but still serviceable DST typically available in the final two rounds of drafts.
The aforementioned 49ers and Cowboys DSTs join the Eagles, Patriots, Bills, Jets, Jaguars, Chiefs, and Dolphins as the only units boasting top-200 ADPs in high-stakes NFFC drafts.
Feel free to grab the 49ers or Eagles DSTs – in that order – if available in the final two rounds of your drafts. They are both really good at football and have the top-two easiest schedules for the first four weeks of the 2023 season, so you could definitely rely on either all throughout the month of September.
However, there's some risk for the following DSTs to open the season with some tough matchups in Weeks 1 and 2:
- Cowboys vs. Giants and Jets
- Patriots vs. Eagles and Dolphins
- Bills vs. Jets and Raiders
- Jets vs. Bills and Cowboys
- Jaguars vs. Colts and Chiefs
- Chiefs vs. Lions and Jaguars
- Dolphins vs. Chargers and Patriots
Luckily, scholars like you are reading this article, and I have the five best DSTs to target currently being drafted outside of the top-200 overall picks. These DSTs listed below can supply at least two high-upside weeks to start the season before you have to head to the waiver wire.
As always: It’s a great day to be great.
New Orleans Saints
- Week 1: vs. Titans (19.25 implied points)
- Week 2: at Panthers (21)
- Week 3: at Packers (21.75)
- Week 4: vs. Buccaneers (17.75)
- Week 5: at Patriots (22)
- Week 6: at Texans (19)
A ridiculously easy schedule to start the season allows drafters to keep the Saints defense until a Week 7 matchup against the Jaguars, and even that game is in the Superdome.
After the Week 7 game against Jacksonville, New Orleans gets two more theoretically great matchups against the Colts and Bears before having to go on a tough road trip to Minnesota and then a Week 11 bye.
Dec 18, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder (4) but it called back for a fack mask penalty during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
The league’s reigning ninth-ranked scoring defense managed to perform rather exceptionally in 2022 despite inconsistent offensive performance and injuries to their high-priced secondary starters, CB Marshon Lattimore and S Marcus Maye.
It’s not guaranteed that this group will continue their dominant defensive performance from last season after losing DL Marcus Davenport, David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle, and Kentavius Street in free agency. However, the 2023 schedule does the Saints some serious early-season favors. New Orleans deserves to be the first DST off the board after the 49ers and Eagles.
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Week 1: vs. 49ers (22.25 implied points)
- Week 2: vs. Browns (21.25)
- Week 3: at Raiders (21.5)
- Week 4: at Texans (18.5)
The Steelers' first two matchups of the year aren’t exactly layups, but home dates against Brock Purdy, an unproven second-year QB coming off elbow surgery and Deshaun Watson, who struggled mightily in his return to football in 2022, aren't terrible. Stomaching those first two weeks does lead to some level of nirvana in Weeks 3 and 4 against ever-immobile Jimmy Garoppolo as well as rookie C.J. Stroud and the ever-impotent Texans offense.
Helping matters is the reality that this defense is absolutely loaded with talent. The league’s reigning 10th-best scoring defense deserves a medal for how they performed last season even with T.J. Watt having missed seven games.
Pittsburgh allowed opponents to crack 20 points just once in Watt’s 10 healthy games in 2022, and the Steelers didn't allow any opponent to score more than 16 points against them over the final seven weeks of the season.
Key contributors like CB Cameron Sutton, S Terrell Edmunds, LB Devin Bush, and LB Myles Jack left in free agency or remain on the open market, but the team did bring in CBs Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan while also signing former Cardinals EDGE Markus Golden. Don’t expect this defense to be the problem if Mike Tomlin’s stretch of .500 or better seasons were to somehow come to an end in 2023.
I don’t blame drafters for not wanting to deal with loaded 49ers and Browns offenses in Weeks 1 and 2, but the Steelers DST should still be usable in those matchups before moving onto bonafide layups in Weeks 3 and 4 against the Raiders and Texans.
Washington Commanders
- Week 1: vs. Cardinals (17 implied points)
- Week 2: at Broncos (22.5)
The first game yields a likely matchup against either Colt McCoy or someone named Clayton Tune, and Week 2 will be another good matchup against the league’s reigning 32nd-ranked offense. This is all drafters will get, as Week 3 against the Bills and Week 4 against the Eagles will likely be nightmare matchups for the Washington DST that should be avoided at all costs.
Of course, this is a truly talented defense, boasting a bevy of former first-round picks across their defensive line in Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen. The Commanders also used both of their top-50 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft on secondary help in the form of CB Emmanuel Forbes and DB Jartavius Martin.
Jan 1, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young (99) pressures Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) during the first half at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
There’s little reason to believe that the league’s reigning seventh-ranked scoring defense won’t finish as a top-10 group once again in 2023.
The tiebreaker between Washington compared to the next two DSTs listed below really just comes down to that juicy Week 1 matchup against what sure looks like the single-worst team in the entire NFL, the Cardinals.
Denver Broncos
- Week 1: vs. Raiders (20.5 implied points)
- Week 2: vs. Commanders (19)
Back-to-back home matchups against a statue-esque pocket passer in Garoppolo, who's also coming off foot surgery, and an unproven second-year signal-caller in Sam Howell are a mouth-watering start to 2023 for the league’s reigning eighth-ranked defense in EPA per play.
The Broncos defense was rather awesome last season despite their offense’s atrocious performance. Only one offense scored 20 points or more against Denver in regulation last year over the first 10 games before the wheels began to really fall off under Nathaniel Hackett.
It’s far from guaranteed that new defensive coordinator and former head coach Vance Joseph will be able to lift this unit up to quite the same heights, and losing stud DL Dre’Mont Jones in free agency isn’t ideal. Still, rising star CB Patrick Surtain II and company still possess more than enough collective talent to at least take advantage of these early-season matchups at Mile High, where the Broncos have won 17 of their last 21 games in September over the past 10 years.
Atlanta Falcons
- Week 1: vs. Panthers (20 implied points)
- Week 2: vs. Packers (20)
The Falcons handed out big money in free agency to the likes of S Jessie Bates, DL David Onyemata, LB Kaden Elliss, and DL Calais Campbell.
Sep 26, 2021; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) is sacked by Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (97) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
These additions in free agency bolstered an already stout Atlanta defense. Factoring in Arthur Smith’s willingness to run the ball and an overall weak NFC South division, it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see this Falcons defense take a big step forward in 2023.
At a minimum, drafters should feel good about opening up the season with a pair of home matchups against Bryce Young and Jordan Love. Perfect weather in a dome isn’t always ideal, but facing such inexperienced QBs sure is.
Honorable mentions
Don’t panic if you fail to get one of our top-seven DSTs that guarantee you at least two weeks of goodness. Here are a few honorable mentions to consider at DST in 2023.
The Ravens (vs. Texans), Vikings (vs. Buccaneers) and Seahawks (vs. Rams) all have home matchups in Week 1 against reigning bottom-eight scoring offenses. The Jaguars (vs. Colts) also figure to be one of highest-ranked DSTs in Week 1; just realize that they have to face Patrick Mahomes and company in Week 2.
And while the Cowboys don’t exactly start off the season with ideal matchups, facing the Giants in New York before squaring off with Aaron Rodgers and company in Jerry World, Dallas still has a ton of talent on defense. They're a fine option for the first couple of games, and then they get much softer matchups against the Cardinals and Patriots in Weeks 3 and 4.
A similar sentiment is true for the Bills, who have to deal with the Jets and Raiders in the first couple of weeks before getting a far easier matchup against the Commanders in Week 3.
The Packers defense is full of former first-round draft picks and may very well have to carry this team in 2023. Starting off the season with matchups against the Bears and Falcons isn’t too shabby, although they just missed the list due to the reality that both contests will be away games.
The Bears’ reigning 32nd-ranked scoring defense should be a bit better in 2023, but it’s tough to objectively be too excited about the group. Still, desperate drafters can rest on getting the Packers and Buccaneers during the first two weeks of the season, with the Week 1 matchup against Green Bay at home in Soldier Field.
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