Fantasy Football Sleeper Defenses 2023 Potential DST breakouts draft-day steals
Fantasy Football Sleeper Defenses 2023 Potential DST breakouts draft-day steals
Blog Article
Ready for a bold statement? The D/ST position in fantasy football has become an unofficial litmus test for managerial competence. Those who do the bare minimum when researching defenses probably won't go anywhere. Those who reach too early for a D/ST probably have little to no grasp of the concept of value. The ones who come here to find the best sleeper defenses? Those are the true winners.In my four most recent fantasy championship titles, I sealed the deal with D/STs that I either (a) picked in the last three rounds of the draft or (b) added from the waiver wire. In a handful of succe sful years, I pinpointed the best streaming defense for the first month and then strategized which free agent D I would proactively add before my drafted D/ST's streamer value diminished.2022 STANDARD RANKINGS:Long story short, have a damn plan, Stan or get off the bus, Gus. No need to discu s much just know thatstarting position on your fantasy team deserves effort, andmanager who mails in the D/ST position will have a difficult time contending for a championship. So, let's do this work!As we always say, sleepers aren't nece sarily the last 10 at the position to be drafted. The sleepers of each position are the ones who we project to significantly exceed their average draft position (ADP). So, even if it's a D/ST being drafted in the early teens who we view as a top-eight value, he's a sleeper in our eyes.Scheduling obviously plays a big part when we're pinpointing our sleepers. But recent acquisitions, coaching changes, and injured studs returning to health are also factors that heavily weigh into our sleeper decision-making. Remember: We're not drafting a D/ST we need to devote our loyalty to all season the waiver wire and trade market are there for a reason so think "big picture" with your full-year strategy. If you're going for it all, aim to have a solid D/ST starter all 16-17 weeks.Lets get to our sleepers. The following eight D/STs stand out to us as significantly better values than their ADPs suggest, and could help your team bring home the bacon in the fantasy championships.DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Baltimore Ravens (ADP: 237)We've been seeing some major fantasy football sites and brilliant fantasy minds ranking Baltimore in the DST12 through DST18 range. What in the world!? We have the Ravens ranked sixth, right at the beginning of tier two after the Bills and Cowboys.Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen are a formidable linebacker duo in this 3-4 defense, and a healthy Rock Ya-Sin and Marlon Humphrey should rack up plenty of interceptions. This squad racked up 48 sacks and 25 takeaways last season en route to its final ranking as DST7.So, why are people fading the Ravens? Because Marcus Peters left? He's 29, hasn't played 15-plus games since 2019, and he had one pick last year. Losing Peters didn't seem to hurt this D Sterling Brown Jersey last season it racked up 15 standard D/ST points in Weeks 15 and 16 without the star cornerback.Baltimore has a great 2023 schedule, with home dates against the Texans and Colts in two of its first three weeks and visits to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Tenne see in Weeks Jrue Holiday Jersey 4, 5, and 6. The Ravens also draw the Rams in Week 13, which could be a crucial late-season boost for fantasy managers hoping to improve their playoff positioning.You can sleep on John Harbaugh and Mike Macdonald's defense if you want, but we can't find six defenses we like better than Baltimore. The Ravens shouldn't be a sleeper, but with an ADP of 237 they're our D/ST sleeper of the year.New York Jets (ADP: 246)Many fantasy analysts have the Jets outside their top 10 D/STs, but we're listing them seventh with a top-five ceiling. It doesn't hurt that Gang Green has 2022 Rookie of the Year cornerback Sauce Gardner, nor does having a defensive-minded head coach in Robert Saleh. Oh, and let's not forget that New York allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL last year (18.6/game)There's also the fact that Aaron Rodgers should be aimprovement over the QB committee that was Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Joe Flacco last season. Better, more consistent offense means le s field time for the defense, which translates to fresher legs, heightened motivation, and increased health and durability.Here's why the Jets might slip in your draft and wind up becoming a steal at DST7 or later: Their first-half schedule. New York opens the season against the Bills, Cowboys, Patriots, Chiefs, Broncos, and Eagles and draws the Giants and Chargers out of their Week 7 bye. That's a murderer's row of offenses, and it wouldn't surprise us in the least if the majority of managers avoided the Jets at all costs.We're taking them seventh despite the tough schedule for a few reasons. For one, they finished 2022 as the DST10 despite having a terrible offense and enduring a plethora of injuries. New York put up solid points even in tough matchups, thanks in large part to Sauce's blanket coverage on WR1s and a halfway-decent pa s-rush that should be even better this year.Oh, and look at New York's late-season schedule:vs. Falcons in Wk. 13vs. Texans in Wk. 14@ Dolphinsin Wk. 15vs. Commanders in Wk. 16@ Browns in Wk. 17If Tua Tagovailoa struggles to stay on the field all season again, and Deshaun Watson struggles to get back to the All-Pro form he enjoyed earlier in his career, that's a five-week stretch that could help turn contenders into fantasy champions. You don't have to draft this D/ST but you'd be wise to find a way to obtain it by the middle of the fantasy season.New Orleans Saints (ADP: 258)The Saints make for a perfect second writeup following the Jets, as New Orleans' schedule is the best when New York's is the worst: Weeks 1-6. You could conceivably draft the Saints, enjoy the fruitful results of their phenomenal early-season schedule, and then trade them for the Jets in Week 7 while Gang Green has the bye week (and just stream a waiver D for that one week).Let's look at the start-of-the-season schedule for Who Dat Nation and talk about why we like it so much:vs. Titans in Wk. 1@ Panthers in Wk. 2@ Packers in Wk. 3vs. Buccaneers in Wk. 4@ Patriots in Wk. 5@ Texans in Wk. 6Now take a look at New Orleans' scheduled opponents during fantasy playoff season:vs. Panthers in Wk. 14vs. Giants in Wk. 15@ Rams in Wk. 16@ Bucs in Wk. 17There are some brutal quarterbacks in that 10-game rundown. And terrible QB play yields terrific scoring for above-average D/STs. New Orleans ranked top 10 in scoring defense (20.3 per game) and sixth in sacks (2.8) last season. And as on points out, "Only the Panthers dropped more INTs than the Saints did last season. Positive regre sion is coming."Cleveland Browns (ADP: 267)It feels like we hype the Browns up every year, and every year they underwhelm us. Could this be the season they finally reach their full potential? We think so.For one, you're getting a full season from Deshaun Watson, his first since he got in trouble for his off-the-field antics a couple years back. As we mentioned with the Jets, a better end-to-end offense means a better and more well-rested defense.And welike the high-sack potential that comes with perennial DPOY candidate Myles Garrett and Za'Darius Smith.The Browns also have a high ceiling for takeaways with ball-hawking cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II.Cleveland will most likely continue getting run over by opposing ground games, but the sacks and INTs will more than make up for the yards and TDs allowed. The Browns are a steal at their ADP of 267.Washington Commanders (ADP: 294)Now we're getting into real, honest-to-goodne s sleeper territory. The 'manders have barely squeaked into the top 300 of drafts so far, yet we're targeting them as a decent draft choice. So, what are we thinking?Well, this organization just got sold finally free of the bad juju that comes with being a sociated with Dan Snyder. And Washington wasn't even that bad last year, finishing just one point shy of DST10 thanks mostly to 43 sacks, 18 takeaways, seven forced fumbles, and three defensive TDs.Oh, and lest we forget that the Commanders have No. 1 draft pick Chase Young joining Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat on their terrifying defensive line. This is a young D mistakes will be made but in a deep league, you would be hard-pre sed to find a better option around the ADP territory of 280-300. And look at the first two Malcolm Brogdon Jersey weeks: home against the Cardinals and at Denver. Juicy!
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