I don't think I'll be the first fantasy coach to draft a defense this year. At best, I'll probably be the 4th or 5th. Even my favorite choices have flaws, which increased over the past weekend.
The biggest, most disappointing news was from Dallas. DaRon Bland has a stress fracture in his foot and is undergoing surgery that will sideline him for 6-8 weeks. At the outer length of that timetable he'd miss half the season. He's just one player, but that one player led the league with 9 interceptions, 5 of which he returned for touchdowns a year ago, so it's a pretty big deal.
Dallas does, at least, get Trevon Diggs back from injury. Diggs tore his ACL last preseason, but he was the All-Pro corner in the Dallas secondary back in 2021, intercepting a league-high 11 passes and returning 2 for touchdowns. They'll also (potentially) have a top-10 pass rush, with Micah Parson and Demarcus Lawrence (pictured) leading the way. Those guys had 18 of the team's 46 sacks a year ago.
But the secondary, with Bland and Diggs roaming around, has made the Dallas defense a significant fantasy asset the past three years. In that time frame, the Cowboys have 5 more interceptions than any other defense (59, so nearly 20 per year) and 6 more total touchdowns (19, so more than 6 per year). Quite a group to put in a lineup. (Table sorted by total defensive touchdowns.)
| FANTASY DEFENSES, 2021-2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Defense | INTs | TDs |
| Dallas | 59 | 19 |
| Miami | 37 | 13 |
| New England | 52 | 13 |
| Indianapolis | 44 | 11 |
| Philadelphia | 38 | 10 |
| Cleveland | 42 | 9 |
| Arizona | 35 | 8 |
| Jacksonville | 37 | 8 |
| Kansas City | 34 | 8 |
| Las Vegas | 25 | 8 |
| Minnesota | 42 | 8 |
| Atlanta | 30 | 7 |
| Buffalo | 54 | 7 |
| Carolina | 27 | 7 |
| Green Bay | 42 | 7 |
| NY Giants | 39 | 7 |
| NY Jets | 36 | 7 |
| Houston | 47 | 6 |
| New Orleans | 43 | 6 |
| San Francisco | 51 | 6 |
| Seattle | 36 | 6 |
| Washington | 28 | 6 |
| Chicago | 44 | 5 |
| Cincinnati | 43 | 5 |
| Tennessee | 36 | 5 |
| Baltimore | 41 | 4 |
| LA Chargers | 34 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh | 49 | 4 |
| Tampa Bay | 40 | 4 |
| Denver | 39 | 3 |
| Detroit | 39 | 3 |
| LA Rams | 45 | 2 |
One of the other reasonable candidates for a top defense is San Francisco. With them, their strength is pass rush -- their 140 sacks over the past three seasons is more than all but six teams. They lost a couple of pass rushers in the offseason, Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, but added two players who were even more productive in that area last year (Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos). Seemed they'd be fine in that area.
But San Francisco tried the unconventional approach these days of using its starters in the final exhibition game, and both Floyd and Gross-Matos left the game with sprained knees. Those injuries haven't been updated yet, but fair to say their status for the start of the season is in question.
So in the latest update, both Dallas and San Francisco have been downgraded a little. Both are still in the top 5 or 6, depending on scoring system, but they're not the slam-dunk choices they were previously. The Jets are arguably the top defensive choice (and have been since the magazine), but for some reason they traded for Haason Reddick, who the Eagles dealt because he wanted a new contract they didn't want to give him, but are unwilling to give him a new contract. So he's been holding out all summer and is demanding a trade. Jets still look pretty good, but they'd look a lot better if they handled that situation differently.
I know that some leagues have ditched the defensive position. I'm not a fan; I think it's another area of strategy that makes the game fun. But part of that strategy, I think, is waiting to select the 5th or 6th defense off the board, which -- based on recent developments -- might be about as good as the first few defenses that will be selected in most leagues. Cleveland, Houston; those are among the defenses I'll be considering in drafts this week.
--Andy Richardson