Most years, fantasy football defenses are boring and interchangeable.
You draft one in the late rounds and plug them in your lineup for a few weeks.
Then when they're bye week hits, you drop them and replace them.
There is some correlation between actual good NFL defenses and the top fantasy defenses, so in general, you should draft fantasy defenses that are actually good at football.
However, it turns out that NFL defenses have a lot of turn over year to year, much more so than offenses.
Things like defensive schemes, play calling and coaching changes can have major changes in defensive performance from one year to the next.
How Many Points Does a Fantasy Defense Score?
While the typical scoring categories for defenses are interceptions, sacks and fumbles, the most high scoring factor is touchdowns scored by the defense.
Touchdowns are more likely with a defense that generates a lot of interceptions and fumbles, but they are very difficult to predict and are somewhat rare.
However, every few years or so, there will be a fantasy defense that scores a ton of touchdowns and becomes an actual fantasy asset.
So it can be tempting to draft a defense early in your draft, but you MUST resist the urge to do so.
On the whole, it's difficult to predict when a defense will break out for fantasy and you're better off drafting other positions instead.
What's the best defense for fantasy football?
With that background, let's get into the actual top fantasy defenses.
Because news changes and injuries happen, the top defenses for fantasy football this year are always changing.
We keep a list of the top projected fantasy defenses here:
That list is updated every morning to reflect news and other changes that could impact a fantasy defense.
When to draft a defense in fantasy football?
Now that you know what the best defenses are in fantasy football, the second important question to answer is WHEN to draft them.
Defenses are difficult to predict from year to year and also tend not to score too many points.
Our average draft position (ADP) data can show you when you should draft each defense.
I recommend waiting until your last 2 or 3 draft picks to draft a defense. It's better to load up on depth at other positions first.
Here is the full list of when you can expect each defense to be drafted:
Conclusion
Now that you know what the best defenses are and when to draft them, you are well on your way to a solid fantasy draft.
Stock up on the other positions, get a solid defense late, and you'll have a great draft.
