Fantasy Defense Tiers 2022: D/ST rankings, sleepers, fantasy football draft strategy

The D/ST position in fantasy football is wildly misunderstood. Some owners overvalue it and draft a defense way too early, effectively rendering the pick completely devoid of value while robbing themselves of vital depth elsewhere. Others disregard the position entirely, doing little to no research and just grabbing the highest-projected available defense from week to week. But in fantasy, just as in life, success comes from finding a balance. Heading into the season, a good way to find that happy medium is breaking down our 2022 fantasy defense rankings into tiers in order to devise the best draft strategy.

The elite defenses from the previous season should never be regarded like the top-tier players at other positions. For one thing, it’s impossible to predict which squad will finish in the top five of D/ST fantasy points from year to year, never mind No. 1. As we will remind you plenty this preseason, no team has ever scored the most D/ST fantasy points two years in a row since FantasyPros started collecting data (2002).

2022 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex

Another reason to avoid springing too early for a defense: There’s no real positional scarcity to speak of with D/ST in fantasy. It’s not as if owners clamor to get depth at D/ST — most people just grab one late in the draft and utilize the rest of their roster spots for offensive depth.

2022 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Top 200 | Superflex

So, why freak about it? You’re going to get better value if you wait to grab an above-average-but-not-necessarily-elite squad. And honestly, the drop-off in production between tiers is usually negligible.

2022 FANTASY SLEEPERS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | One from each team

Dallas came out of nowhere to lead the fantasy world with 180 points last season. The Cowboys had 23 points more than New England, which equates to 1.35 more points per game. The Patriots scored 1.29 more points per game than Miami and New Orleans, who tied for No. 5. The Dolphins and Saints averaged 0.88 more points than Green Bay at No. 10. You get the point — even if you do successfully guess the best defenses, you’ve only marginally improved your team over the majority of your competitors.

2022 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers | Overall

Predicting the top defenses also happens to be as easy as guessing lottery numbers, by the way. As we mentioned, no defense has ever gone back-to-back as the top-scoring D/ST in fantasy. Quite often, defenses with the earliest ADPs at the start of the year look completely different than the final D/ST leaderboard after Week 17. Let’s dive deeper.

2022 RANKINGS TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs

Look at the top six D/ST by ADP at this time last year:

Now take a look at the highest-scoring D/STs between Week 1 and Week 17 of the 2021 season.

Notice anything? Each of the first six defenses drafted last year — often as early as the ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds (depending on league size) — failed to finish in the top six in scoring at the position. The average fantasy output by those first six squads with the highest ADPs: 101.5. That’s 33.5 points lower than the team that finished sixth best in ‘21 and 78.5 points lower than the No. 1 D/ST.

You could have bagged a positional advantage without even sacrificing an early pick, whether you waited until the last three rounds, like we so often suggest, or maybe you did the extra research to find a strong sleeper. You also could have employed a full-season streamer strategy, like the kind of strategy Survivor Pool entrants devise each year.

No matter your strategy, it’s imperative to have one for every position in fantasy football. To truly be prepared, you’ll want to have a concrete idea of which D/STs yield the most value and at which levels. The tier system works perfectly for this kind of research — especially for defenses. Plain and simple, Tiers 1 through 5 can be viewed as preseason grades of A, B, C, D, and F.

Just remember: Acing D/ST doesn’t hold nearly as much weight as acing RB, WR, TE, and QB. Nobody wins a scholarship off an A in health but Ds in the rest of their courses. Grab the B or C, and focus on getting straight As on the rest of your draft report card.

We'll continue to update the rankings below throughout the preseason, so check back for updates.

DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2022 fantasy cheat sheet

2022 Fantasy D/ST Tiers: Who are the best fantasy football defenses?

Tier 1:

You’ll rarely hear a Sporting News writer advocate for being the first to pick a D/ST — it’s just bad practice, and it generally results in a ton of lost value. But if you’re going to be one of the misguided members of your league to grab a defense early, you better make sure it’s a strong one. You can’t get much better than this pack.

Buffalo seems to get better each year thanks to good roster construction and continuity between defensive head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Josh Allen and the offense controlling the time of possession all season never hurts either.

Dallas has done a complete 180-degrees flip from its woeful defensive run a few years back. Reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons has already established himself as one of the best defenders in the game, and stud cornerback Trevon Diggs is an interception and run-back machine. The ‘Boys might not lead the league in fantasy points for a second-straight year — that has never happened in the 21st century — but they also shouldn’t regress out of Tier 1 if their core stays healthy.

Tampa Bay and San Francisco both have stacked defenses and should be much healthier for the start of the regular season. These teams both rack up sacks and takeaways when healthy – two important elements of a top-tier D/ST.

These squads all have great schedules for D/ST — if you combined the 2021 win-loss records of all 17 of each of their opponents, you’d have a collective winning percentage of .471. The Cowboys, specifically, have the second-easiest schedule in football, as their opponents had a collective .452 winning percentage last season.

If you’re gonna buck the advisable trend and grab a D early, grab a great one with an even greater road – just don’t do it before Round 11 in a 12-team league. Chances are, at least a couple of these D/STs will be gone by then, but that’s fine. There are other good-to-great options in the next tier.

2022 CONSISTENCY RATINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end

2022 Fantasy Draft Strategy: When should you draft a defense?

Tier 2:

Ahh, the much more comfortable route. You’ll notice this tier contains six D/STs, so owners in 10-team leagues can basically just pick the best remaining unit from the top two tiers (unless someone goes nuts and grabs multiple defenses, which is fine because you can be the one throwing the roses over their fantasy casket).

Like we’ve already been preaching, the scoring leaderboards for the D/ST position look different every single year. Variables always come into play, like injuries, roster changes, schedules, opponents’ improvements or setbacks, and coaching. The drop between the collective per-game scoring average of the Tier 1 teams and the Tier 2 teams is minuscule. So, pick a D that has the most upside, the best schedule, or the greatest number of positive offseason additions.

Denver should be solid, in real life and in fantasy land. The Broncos allowed the third-fewest points last season thanks to strong passing and red-zone defense. Bradley Chubb's right ankle injury and Von Miller's departure to L.A. hurt their sack numbers, but Chubb will be back for Week 1. This will be a motivated bunch with one of the better home-field advantages and a middle-of-the-pack strength of schedule.

New England and Indy seem like perennially solid defenses, always finding a way to make some noise in fantasy. The Pats have ranked within the top 12 every season since 2018. The Colts ranked No. 1 in turnover percentage in 2021, which always fuels fantasy goodness. Miami has a strong pass-rush and a secondary with big-play ability. The Rams still have Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, a combo that will always help L.A. crack the top 10. The Saints round out the list, thanks to the addition of safety Tyrann Mathieu and the fact they already finished fourth in scoring defense and seventh in total yards allowed last season.

Grabbing one of these defenses in the early teens makes sense, but, again, D/ST can be a week-to-week proposition, so don’t pass up a key handcuff or legit sleeper who could provide more overall value throughout the course of the season. You can still find a solid D/ST in the next tier.

2022 FANTASY DRAFT STRATEGY:
Snake drafts | Auctions | Dynasty | Best ball | IDP

Fantasy Defense Rankings Tiers: Sleepers & breakouts

Tier 3:

If you’re in a 12-team league or deeper, you’ll be paying attention to this third tier. All of these squads have some upside but also some causes for concern. There exists a high probability that if you draft most of these D/STs, you’ll be streaming a different one within a few weeks. (See Tier 4 for more on this strategy.)

But that’s fine. You might just strike season-long gold with one of these mid-tier defenses, or you might strike gold until they face a tough matchup. At that point, you can go find a better option without wasting a semi-valuable pick in the 13th or 14th round. Countless fantasy championship runs have been forged through season-long D/ST streaming. It’s truly an art.

Baltimore ranked 26th in fantasy points last season, but injuries also ravaged the Ravens from just about every angle of its depth chart. Expect positive regression. The same can be said for the Chargers, who acquired three-time All-Pro Khalil Mack to torment offensive lines with Joey Bosa. The Bolts also added former Patriot cornerback and pick-magnet J.C. Jackson to a (hopefully) healthy secondary.

Then there’s the wild-card defenses. Philly added pass-rusher Haasan Reddick and cornerback James Bradbury, but it might not have enough to fully turn around the league’s 18th-ranked scoring defense and sixth-worst takeaway team. Arizona lost Chandler Jones and Jordan Hicks and has a very young secondary around Budda Baker. Kansas City lost Tyrann ‘Honey Badger’ Mathieu. The Steelers have a healthier unit than they did in a disappointing ‘21 campaign, but they’ll also be on the field a ton given Pittsburgh’s QB situation.

Cleveland always has a high-sack ceiling with Myles Garrett and company, and it starts the season against the likes of the Panthers, Jets, Steelers, and Falcons. That’s a four-week stream for anyone doing their homework and waiting on D/ST. Sure, the Browns offense will be a mess early on without Deshaun Watson — and their secondary has a lot of holes — but those four opponents will make this defense look elite.

Fantasy D/ST Rankings Tiers: Deep sleepers, streamers, & stayaways

Tier 4:

You should generally be avoiding this grouping unless you’re fully committed to mapping out a season full of matchup-based defensive streams. One tip if you’re going that route: strategize one week ahead at all times. If you have decently-sized rosters, use one of your bench spots to house the best defense for the following week(s). You always want to grab a D/ST when a) they’re free agents as opposed to on waivers and b) when there’s less competition for them.

For instance, you draft Washington in the penultimate round since they open the season against Jacksonville and Detroit. Before the second weekend, you stash one of the stronger defenses for the following week. In Week 3, Cincinnati faces the Jets, Minnesota hosts the Lions, and Chicago welcomes Houston. That’s three streamable plays, and you didn’t have to waste FAAB or waiver priority. Then in Week 3, you can do the same thing with the Bears ahead of their Week 4 meeting with the Giants.

If you’re planning to stream D/STs based on matchups all year, other under-the-radar options with favorable early-season schedule include Carolina (vs. CLE, @NYG, vs. NO), Cleveland (@CAR, vs. NYJ, vs. PIT, @ATL), and Philadelphia (@DET, vs. MIN, @WAS, vs. JAX).

Sometimes your leaguemates don’t pick up on this strategy until well into the midseason. Sometimes they realize what you’re doing, but don’t care enough to do the research you’re doing. In any case, finding positional edges over your opponents remains vital to your fantasy success.

Tier 5:

These are the troubled defenses with very little upside outside of the occasional stream. If Tier 4 is kids occasionally being sent to detention, Tier 5 is expulsion and summer night school. You simply can’t risk gambling on a bottom-tier D/ST until it gives you a reason to start believing in it.

Follow every team at least a little bit, crunch the numbers, and stay on top of the position all year, and you’ll be able to easily outproduce the opposition at the most misunderstood and misplayed position in fantasy.