Investing heavily in defense in fantasy football drafts is a lousy allocation of resources, especially in leagues that don’t feature strict roster move limits. Sure, the Texans should pile up sacks and turnovers in 2026. At the same time, on any given week, a defense hosting a backup quarterback could give Houston a run for its money in scoring fantasy points.
Instead of investing a meaningful pick on a defense, gamers should use that pick on an offensive player and stream defenses. With lookahead lines, thoughtful gamers can prepare to draft a defense late or stream one in leagues that don’t require drafting a full lineup. Instead, draft a backup running back or wideout in a position battle to see how things shake out before the season.
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Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Streaming Defenses
The following suggested defenses have a D/ST10 average draft position (ADP) or later.
Multi-Week Early Defenses to Target
Los Angeles Chargers: vs. ARI, vs. LV
The Chargers are at home for their first two games in 2026. They’re 10.5-point favorites against the visiting Cardinals in Week 1 and 9-point favorites against the visiting Raiders in Week 2.
The Chargers will need to adjust to losing defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, but the Cardinals have an unimpressive collection of quarterbacks, headlined by Jacoby Brissett. The veteran quarterback sat out organized team activities (OTAs) because he was dissatisfied with his contract, but he’s the expected starter, with Gardner Minshew and Carson Beck behind him.
The Raiders will be led by either crusty veteran Kirk Cousins or rookie Fernando Mendoza in his first or second career start. If the game script goes according to the betting odds, the hosts will have an opportunity to pin their ears back against the Cardinals and Raiders in obvious dropback situations.
Baltimore Ravens: at IND, vs. NO, at DAL, vs. TEN
The Ravens are Jesse Minter’s new home after the organization hired him as their new head coach. He had successful stints as the defensive coordinator for the Wolverines on their National Championship run and with the Chargers for two years.
Baltimore’s defense added Maxx Crosby via a trade Trey Hendrickson in free agency, and there’s optimism about Nnamdi Madubuike returning after having his 2025 season cut short by a neck injury that required surgery. Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton and others are incumbent chess pieces for Minter to work with.
The defense could have a dreamy run to strut its stuff early. Baltimore alternates road and home games for the first four weeks, but they’re favored in their first four games. The Ravens are 3.5-point favorites in Week 1, 7.5-point favorites in Week 2, 2.5-point favorites in Week 3 and 9-point favorites in Week 4.
I didn’t look beyond the first four weeks for any teams, as injuries and attrition can make even the best defenses less appealing in fantasy leagues. The landscape can change enough by Week 5 to make looking that far ahead moot.
Green Bay Packers: at MIN, at NYJ, vs. ATL, at TB
Sadly, Micah Parsons shouldn’t be expected to be ready for any of Green Bay’s first four games. Nevertheless, the Packers are 1.5-point favorites in Week 1, 6-point favorites in Week 2, 7.5-point favorites on Thursday Night Football at home in Week 3 and 1.5-point favorites in Week 4.
Three of Green Bay’s first four games are road tilts, but they’re favored in all four games. In addition, their only home game in that stretch falls on a short week, another hurdle the visiting Falcons must clear. The Packers will have a rest advantage over the Buccaneers in Week 4 since Tampa Bay plays on Sunday in Week 3.
Week 1 Defenses to Target
Detroit Lions vs. New Orleans Saints: DET -7.0/48.5
The Lions are 7-point favorites at home in Week 1, and a matchup against Tyler Shough could be helpful for their defense’s scoring, namely if Shough is stuck in a negative game script.
According to the Fantasy Points Data Suite, among 45 quarterbacks with at least 125 dropbacks in the regular season in 2025, Shough was tied for 32nd in sack rate (8.2%). Shough also threw six interceptions and lost two fumbles in 11 games (nine starts), and he didn’t have any turnovers on his three snaps in Week 3, per Pro-Football-Reference.
Tennessee Titans vs. New York Jets: TEN -2.5/38.5
Before the 2025 season, there was optimism about Geno Smith being a sizable upgrade at quarterback for the Raiders. Pete Carroll as head coach, along with Chip Kelly calling plays, also generated optimism among some folks. Las Vegas was a dumpster fire last year, and Smith was a significant part of the problem.
Among 45 quarterbacks with at least 125 dropbacks in the regular season, Smith was tied with Brady Cook for last in sack rate (10.6%) and 38th in turnover-worth-throw rate, per the Fantasy Points Data Suite.
Smith threw 17 interceptions and lost one fumble in 15 starts. Are Aaron Glenn and Frank Reich really the answers to get Smith back on track, or is the 35-year-old quarterback cooked?
The Titans can test Smith in Week 1 as favorites in Tennessee. Moreover, Robert Saleh has some pieces on his defense, including the newly highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history, Jeffery Simmons. He’s a presence in the middle of Tennessee’s defensive line.
Simmons played the majority of snaps in 14 games last year. The Titans allowed only 4.01 yards per carry and had an NFL-high 48.1% stuff rate in those games. If Simmons can gum up Gang Green’s rushing attack, it will put increased pressure on Smith to carry the offense, awarding the Titans with ample sack and turnover opportunities in Week 1.
Week 2 Defenses to Target
San Francisco 49ers vs Miami Dolphins: SF -10.5/46.5
The 49ers are double-digit favorites at home against the visiting Dolphins in Week 2. Malik Willis is an intriguing quarterback who has flashed potential in his limited opportunities with the Packers over the past two years. Still, the Dolphins are bereft of skill-position talent beyond running back De’Von Achane.
Willis had a career-best 7.89% sack rate last year, but his career sack rate is 13.89%, and he posted a 12.90% sack rate for the Packers in 2024. According to Pro-Football-Reference, a 7.89% sack rate would have ranked 24th among 34 qualified passers last season, and 10.93% was the highest.
Thus, Willis’ career sack rate and his 2024 rates would have been the worst among qualified quarterbacks last year, and even his career-best sack rate was below average. The 49ers can stack sacks if the offense stakes out a large lead, as the game’s spread suggests they will.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns: TB -6.5/40.5
The Browns don’t have a quarterback on their roster who isn’t a tantalizing matchup for Tampa Bay’s defense in Week 2. According to StatHead, among 74 quarterbacks with at least 125 pass attempts since 2023, Deshaun Watson is 72nd in sack rate (11.44%), Shedeur Sanders is 63rd in sack rate (9.79%) and Dillon Gabriel is 60th in sack rate (9.31%).
Todd Bowles will almost certainly send the heat. According to Pro-Football-Reference, the Buccaneers were fourth in blitz rate (29.6%) in 2025. Unsurprisingly, the Browns’ three quarterbacks are terrible against the blitz.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), among 44 quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks against the blitz in the 2024 regular season, Watson was 22nd in PFF passing grade and 43rd in pressure-to-sack rate (28%).
Among 42 quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks against the blitz in the 2025 regular season, Sanders was 34th in PFF’s passing grade, 37th in turnover-worthy play rate (6.2%) and 18th in pressure-to-sack rate (16.3%).
Gabriel was 39th in PFF’s passing grade, 33rd in turnover-worthy play rate (4.9%) and tied for 35th in pressure-to-sack rate (25.0%).
Maybe Todd Monken can coax more out of Cleveland’s quarterbacks, but the Buccaneers will likely have plenty of opportunities to pin their ears back and rattle off sacks and turnovers against the Browns in Week 2.
Streaming Rules of Thumb
1. Target Home Favorites
Targeting favorites is a fairly obvious move for gamers streaming defenses. A defense with a lead will have more opportunities to face quarterbacks in obvious dropback situations than one playing an offense with the lead. However, it’s even more beneficial to snag a favorite that’s at home.
A rowdy crowd can make it difficult for opposing offenses to hear their snap counts and get plays in on time. Thus, there’s an increased likelihood of a trailing offense committing a false start, tipping off when they’re going to snap with a silent count or taking a delay of game if they have hiccups getting a play in or a snap off.
2. Use Rest Advantages & Short Weeks to Your Advantage
A team that plays on Thursday one week and on Sunday the following week has a rest advantage over a team that plays on consecutive Sundays.
The team with extra rest has more time to prepare for their opponent and to treat banged-up players. Teams coming off a bye will also have a rest and preparation advantage over teams that played in the previous week.
3. Sack-Taking & Turnover-Prone Quarterbacks Are Steaming Gold
Sacks and turnovers are often quarterback stats. Gamers trying to decide what defense to stream should access Pro-Football-Reference to see which quarterbacks have high sack and turnover rates.
4. Exploit Bad Pass-Protecting Offensive Lines
Quarterbacks aren’t always to blame for sacks. Bad offensive lines that allow quick pressures can make even sack-averse quarterbacks take sacks at an uncharacteristically high rate.
Useful tools for determining which offensive lines are doing a poor job of pass blocking include PFF pass-blocking grades and ESPN’s pass-block win rates.
Additionally, offensive lines dealing with injuries, namely cluster injuries, are excellent targets for streaming defenses.
5. Creating Havoc is Important
Logging sacks, turnovers and defensive touchdowns is more important for D/ST scoring than keeping the opponent off the scoreboard in standard-scoring formats.
Defenses that generate a high number of sacks, turnovers or both are more appealing streaming options than those that don’t.
6. Terrible Weather Equals Unexpected Streaming Options
Gamers shouldn’t overreact to weather forecasts. Modest rain or snow isn’t likely to completely quiet an offense or lead to an overabundance of sacks and turnovers.
Having said that, sustained high-speed winds can impact field goals and passing. When precipitation is added to the mix, the weather can lead to more turnovers.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.