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.
- 2026 Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer
- Best Fantasy Football Rankings
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 |
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