I'm a fan of streaming defenses. I think you have to be. The most opportunistic defense in the world isn't going to get a lot of sacks and takeaways against Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes. Even a marginal defense should get some production against the likes of Daniel Jones, the Dolphins, and the Jets.
If you're planning to stream defenses, you want to keep track of those early-season schedules. I'm generally optimistic about the Saints defense this season, but their first four games are against Tom Brady, Derek Carr, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford. I've recently lowered their season-long projections based on schedule, and if I draft them, I'd want to have a second defense to use in those early weeks against quarterbacks who either don't turn it over often, don't take a lot of sacks, or both.
With the Colts. I like them anyway, but I really like their early-season schedule: Jaguars, Vikings, Jets, Bears. The 49ers play the Jets and Giants early on, while the Bills open against the Jets and Dolphins. If we're streaming defenses, these are ones I like a lot more in September than the Saints.
Table below shows each team's first four games, and I've ordered them in terms of which defense I like best for those contests down to which ones I like least. These are based strictly on matchups -- I'm not saying to draft the Bengals over the Saints. But they might be a more compelling September streamer, based on scheduling.
I experimented with a couple of numerical rankings, but wasn't happy with the results. Ranking them based on what their opponents gave up last year was too kind to teams that face Tampa Bay and Carolina (which had Jameis Winston and Kyle Allen). Totalling the sacks and takeaways allowed by their opponents in those first four games was a mishmash; defenses that faced four average offenses graded out the same as ones that had a two very favorable and two very unfavorable matchup.
So instead, I ranked them subjectively, by number of favorable matchups (my estimation). Defenses with 2 good matchups and no poor matchups show up high; defense with 2 lousy matchups show up low. It's still not perfect. The Chargers, for example, look like a strong Week 1 streamer, matched up with Joe Burrow making his first NFL start. But in Weeks 2 and 4 they face Mahomes and Brady, which skews them low. Pick up the Chargers for just Week 1 if you must, but you don't want to be starting them against Kansas City a week later.
In sum, the Colts, Bills and 49ers look like the best early-season defenses. The Raiders, Saints and Texans look like the worst.
| EARLY-SEASON FANTASY DEFENSES, RANKED | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Wk1 | Wk2 | Wk3 | Wk4 |
| Indianapolis | @JAX | MIN | NYJ | @CHI |
| Buffalo | NYJ | @MIA | LAR | @LV |
| San Francisco | ARI | @NYJ | @NYG | PHI |
| Philadelphia | @WSH | LAR | CIN | @SF |
| Cleveland | @BAL | CIN | WSH | @DAL |
| Jacksonville | IND | @TEN | MIA | @CIN |
| Baltimore | CLE | @HOU | KC | @WSH |
| Seattle | @ATL | NE | DAL | @MIA |
| Denver | TEN | @PIT | TB | @NYJ |
| Pittsburgh | @NYG | DEN | HOU | @TEN |
| Chicago | @DET | NYG | @ATL | IND |
| Atlanta | SEA | @DAL | CHI | @GB |
| Tennessee | @DEN | JAX | @MIN | PIT |
| Cincinnati | LAC | @CLE | @PHI | JAX |
| N.Y. Giants | PIT | @CHI | SF | @LAR |
| Arizona | @SF | WSH | DET | @CAR |
| Washington | PHI | @ARI | @CLE | BAL |
| Dallas | @LAR | ATL | @SEA | CLE |
| Miami | @NE | BUF | @JAX | SEA |
| L.A. Rams | DAL | @PHI | @BUF | NYG |
| Kansas City | HOU | @LAC | @BAL | NE |
| Minnesota | GB | @IND | TEN | @HOU |
| N.Y. Jets | @BUF | SF | @IND | DEN |
| New England | MIA | @SEA | LV | @KC |
| Detroit | CHI | @GB | @ARI | NO |
| L.A. Chargers | @CIN | KC | CAR | @TB |
| Carolina | LV | @TB | @LAC | ARI |
| Green Bay | @MIN | DET | @NO | ATL |
| Tampa Bay | @NO | CAR | @DEN | LAC |
| Las Vegas | @CAR | NO | @NE | BUF |
| New Orleans | TB | @LV | GB | @DET |
| Houston | @KC | BAL | @PIT | MIN |
--Andy Richardson