Updated Fantasy Football Defense Rankings 2024: Best D/STs, top sleepers and breakouts in fantasy drafts

Vinnie Iyer

Updated Fantasy Football Defense Rankings 2024: Best D/STs, top sleepers and breakouts in fantasy drafts image

Defense/special teams is the most fickle and unpredictable position in fantasy football. But that doesn't mean you should ignore it in leagues where it is a weekly starting spot in your lineups.

DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: 2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet

Depending on your league's scoring format, the defenses that deliver in real NFL performances on the field, don't often translate to being top fantasy units. Points allowed still come into play in most leagues, but most have done away with yardage allowed.

2024 PPR RANKINSG
Top 250 Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | K

Two keys to consistency are the two biggest statistical defensive plays: sacks and takeaways. A prolific pass-rushing team whose pressure helps the back end produce is ideal.

Talent at every level helps, but takeaways created is a major variable for every team, every year. Then comes a bit of randomness in how the turnovers are turned into touchdowns. The additional layer comes in whether there is extra scoring potential from the return game.

2024 POSITION TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY
QB | RB | WR | TE  | D/ST

Some schemes and styles of personnel are more conducive to stuffing the stat sheet and making a defense a fantasy football force. Considering all that, here are Sporting News' D/ST rankings for the 2024 season.

2024 FANTASY AUCTION VALUES (PPR & STANDARD)
Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | D/ST | K

Fantasy Football Defense Rankings 2024: Best D/STs, top sleepers

RANKTEAMBYE
1New York Jets12
2Baltimore Ravens14
3San Francisco 49ers9
4Cleveland Browns10
5Pittsburgh Steelers9
6Dallas Cowboys7
7Buffalo Bills12
8Kansas City Chiefs6
9Houston Texans14
10Minnesota Vikings6
11New Orleans Saints12
12Indianapolis Colts14
13Chicago Bears7
14Detroit Lions5
15Las Vegas Raiders10
16Cincinnati Bengals12
17Philadelphia Eagles5
18Jacksonville Jaguars12
19Miami Dolphins6
20New York Giants11
21Green Bay Packers10
22Los Angeles Chargers5
23Tampa Bay Buccaneers11
24New England Patriots14
25Atlanta Falcons12
26Tennessee Titans5
27Washington Commanders14
28Los Angeles Rams6
29Denver Broncos14
30Seattle Seahawks10
31Carolina Panthers11
32Arizona Cardinals11

Three best sleepers

Detroit Lions: The Lions added some depth to complement Aidan Hutchinson in the pass rush, and their new cornerback duo of Carlton Davis and rookie Terrion Arnold upgrade their playmakers outside.

Los Angeles Chargers: Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter are bringing the Michigan mentality to L.A., and there are some pieces on every level who can jell better and more quickly than they did under Brandon Staley.

Los Angeles Rams: The Rams are building their defense well with Kobie Turner and Byron Young and now have added Braden Fiske, Jared Verse and Kamren Curl to raise the playmaking quotient.

2024 FANTASY SLEEPERS
QB | RB | WR | TE

Three breakouts to watch

Minnesota Vikings: Adding Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman in free agency are nice upgrades in an active scheme under Brian Flores.

Chicago Bears: Montez Sweat was a late-season catalyst for Matt Eberflus, and re-signing Jaylen Johnson was huge for helping to provide bigger impact.

Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles took a big playmaking hit minus Jonathan Gannon and their personnel transition last season, but adding Bryce Huff and then getting much more of Georgia stars Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith will be a boost. The secondary also has more pop with defensive backs rookie Quinyon Mitchell and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who is returning after a year in Detroit.

Vinnie Iyer

Vinnie Iyer Photo

Vinnie Iyer, has been with TSN since 1999, not long after graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He has produced NFL content for more than 20 years, turning his attention to full-time writing in 2007. A native of St. Louis, Mo. but now a long-time resident of Charlotte, N.C. Vinnie’s top two professional sports teams are Cardinals and Blues, but he also carries purple pride for all things Northwestern Wildcats. He covers every aspect of the NFL for TSN including player evaluations, gambling and fantasy football, where he is a key contributor. Vinnie represents TSN as host of the “Locked On Fantasy Football” podcast on the Locked On network. Over his many years at TSN, he’s also written about MLB, NBA, NASCAR, college football, tennis, horse racing, film and television. His can’t-miss program remains “Jeopardy!”, where he was once a three-day champion and he is still avid about crossword puzzles and trivia games. When not watching sports or his favorite game show, Vinnie is probably watching a DC, Marvel or Star Wars-related TV or movie.