Fantasy Football Defenses to Target in Drafts (2026)

NFL teams are beginning summer practices and the NFL preseason is here! Now is the time to prepare for your fantasy football drafts. We’ll have you covered with our Defense (DST) fantasy football draft rankings and Fantasy Football Draft Kit to help you dominate your leagues. And be sure to sync your league to practice with fast and free fantasy football mock drafts. Let’s dive into a few defenses our fantasy football analysts love to target in drafts.

Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Defenses to Target

Fantasy Football Defenses to Draft

Last year, the Jaguars were the DST9 in fantasy points per game as they surprised many people (including myself). They gave up the fifth-fewest net yards per attempt, the fifth-fewest yards per carry, and forced the second-most interceptions. Travis Hunter could give this defense a big boost at corner if he plays there in a full-time capacity in 2026. Losing Devin Lloyd, Andrew Wingard, and Greg Newsome could sting, but this defense still has enough talent to be a top 12 fantasy defense this season.
– Derek Brown

The Chargers will take on the Arizona Cardinals and the Las Vegas Raiders to start the year. Best schedule for any DST. Draft them and start the Bolts with confidence through the first two weeks of the 2026 season.
– Andrew Erickson

The Chiefs have the third-easiest schedule to start the year (easiest through first four weeks). Gives ample time for Patrick Mahomes to be brought up to speed (also has a bye in Week 5) and for the defense to prove it’s worth. KC added to its defensive line this offseason but lost key secondary pieces, suggesting they face a surplus of pass attempts in 2026. They also finished 30th in opponent fumbles and last in non-offensive TDs (0). Week 1 is at home versus Denver, followed by matchups versus Indy, Miami and Las Vegas.
– Andrew Erickson

The Lions have the easiest schedule in the NFL (specifically through the first 5 weeks of the season). With them also due to experience positive injury regression on the defensive side of the ball, they are an easy sleeper DST to snag with your last pick. Generated the 4th-most passes defended last year (but just 13 interceptions) and a top-10 defense according to DVOA. Also dropped the second-most interceptions (9).
– Andrew Erickson

Fantasy Football Draft Rankings: Defenses

Here are our latest Defense (DST) Fantasy Football Draft Rankings from our consensus of fantasy football experts. You can find the latest Defense (DST) rankings here and sync your league for specific advice.

RK	TIERS	PLAYER NAME	TEAM	BEST	WORST	AVG.	STD.DEV	ECR VS. ADP
1	1	Houston Texans	HOU	1	3	1.3	0.6	0
2	1	Denver Broncos	DEN	1	5	2.9	1.1	1
3	1	Los Angeles Rams	LAR	1	11	3.3	1.7	-1
4	1	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	2	6	3.4	1	0
5	2	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	3	10	5.3	1.2	0
6	2	New England Patriots	NE	4	27	8.1	3.6	0
7	2	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	4	25	8.6	3.5	1
8	3	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	3	18	8.7	2.4	-1
9	3	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAC	6	18	8.8	2.5	1
10	3	Los Angeles Chargers	LAC	6	19	10.3	2.4	1
11	3	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	6	19	10.7	2.7	-2
12	3	Green Bay Packers	GB	9	22	13.2	2.9	4
13	3	Kansas City Chiefs	KC	10	22	14.1	2.4	2
14	4	Detroit Lions	DET	9	19	14.6	2.1	-2
15	4	Cleveland Browns	CLE	5	24	15.1	4.2	-2
16	4	Buffalo Bills	BUF	11	22	16	2.5	-2
17	4	San Francisco 49ers	SF	12	28	18.5	3.2	1
18	4	New Orleans Saints	NO	8	25	18.8	3.8	4
19	4	Atlanta Falcons	ATL	15	30	19.3	3	2
20	4	Indianapolis Colts	IND	10	25	19.9	2.7	4
21	4	Chicago Bears	CHI	13	31	20.4	4.2	-2
22	4	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	1	30	21.2	5.9	-5
23	5	New York Giants	NYG	16	28	22.7	2.9	-3
24	5	Carolina Panthers	CAR	15	32	23	3	2