BEST Defense for Fantasy Football 2024 | Fantasy Football Advice

Intro Matt shaf and Shane ham of draft shars.com here to talk through some of the best fantasy defenses for 2024 and when I say that we're not just running through the rankings from the website in nearly all formats looking at the full season projections is just the wrong way to approach a Fantasy Defense we still do project out the full season for all of these defenses of course because you have do that's just how the projections work and that used to be how we displayed the team defense rankings in the draft waren but we have changed that and to understand why Shane I think it's informative to look at some of the top defenses in our default site rankings and who they're playing early in the season we'll get more into those matchups soon but the top six currently if you just look at our default team defense rankings are Dallas Philly Indianapolis the Jets New England and Cleveland now all those defenses I think will probably be worthwhile at some point this season but if we look at their week one matchups we've got Dallas at Cleveland where Dallas is not favored Philly is home against Green Bay which last time we saw the Packers on offense they were fairly scary Indies is against Houston not even favored at home I don't want to put my defense up against that Houston offense to start the season jets are at the 49ers Patriots are at Cincinnati Cleveland's against Dallas and we're going to talk more about them in a few minutes but those matchups are why we're not just projecting the full season and drafting them that way right we want to actually face good matchups even if it means playing a lesser real life defense and I think that's a mistake that a lot of new fantasy players make is uh you know I know the Eagles defense is good so draft them well you don't want to be facing that Green Bay offense week one I love the change that we've made and I think it makes it so that you can stream a defense you can set yourself up for Success early in the season and continue following along and making the best choices on front I had somebody actually email in last night to ask why we had the eagle so high and I was like well there's two parts of that first of all this is why I think that the Philly defense will be better in fantasy than it was last year and the second part I wanted to say like but it really doesn't matter that's not the full truth but that's the condensed version because the best defense is not one that I want to have in my lineup all season long last year's top defense almost never is this year's top scoring defense we want to play the matchups and that's why we made the change that we've alluded to it is trust factor and we have added that to the draft war room this year we apply it to team defenses specifically and what it does for that position is when your War Room recommends defenses it takes into account those early matchups and by the way those recommendations are going to come late in your draft probably after somebody maybe two somebody's in your league have already drafted their defenses what trust Factor does is like I said take into account those early matchups it'll knock a defense down for a bad spot like the Jets at the 49ers in week one you obviously don't want to start them against San Francisco it'll also boost a defense for a good matchup and what we're going to do specifically on this video is highlight some of those early season targets if you want fantasy football advice for all areas of your draft not just defense um and for various fantasy football formats make sure that you subscribe to the draft sharks YouTube channel you'll get notified whenever we drop something new that's going to be several times a week from here through the end of the regular season we've got mock drafts we've got sleepers we've even got IDP content up there in season we'll talk stuff like waivers trade targets much more we appreciate all the support that you give us here on the channel Shane let's get Week 1 streaming defenses to those week one options now which are defenses that we're recommending inside the draft W room and you've already posted an article with these top five options so why don't you hit me with the first one from your list the top option from my list is the New Orleans Saints who are at home against the Carolina Panthers in week one we saw the Panthers as the worst offense in the League last year and and they're projected to be a little bit better they're 30th in implied point total in Vegas uh but the saints were a pretty solid defense all around they have a good secondary they have good Personnel pretty good depth so not only are you getting a team that could you know limit the Panthers to a small amount of points but also get those turnovers now after the Panthers the Saints have the Cowboys and the Eagles may not necessarily be the best options but uh if you're going to stream every week then I think the Saints are a pretty good option you know Vegas has them favored by Five Points the Panthers carry the second lowest implied total four week one Saints not a defense that's going to excite me for the season but I agree the matchup is good and especially at home and really all all these top five that we have are home defenses and that is generally a good Target because teams tend to Faire better at home you want to take a favorite team you want to take a team that is favored to win by more because it's more likely to put that opponent into a position where it's you know making risky plays taking sacks and potentially throwing interceptions second on this list is Cincinnati Bengals and I know that's a defense that we all like not because it's necessarily going to be a good defense but because of who they're playing in week one and they're playing the New England Patriots who I think are the worst team on paper I I think their implied point total per game in in the season of Vegas is 18 and a half points a game which is the worst in the NFL and the Cincinnati Bengals as well have a really good offense it's a good shot that you have the Bengals up early against the Patriots Bengals are at home like you mentioned before Matt and that means jacobe Brett's GNA have to sling it 30 or 40 times I like that matchup see interceptions happen sacks happen um the Bengals upgraded their interior line the run defense should be a little bit better as well they're another team like the Saints you're probably going to cut bait after week one they're playing the Chiefs in week two you're not going to want that matchup but the Bengals could be the top scoring defense uh in week one and they're pretty much free in every draft yeah I think versus the Patriots is going to be a good fantasy defense for most of the Season as well New England has the lowest implied point total for week one I think that's going to be the case for a lot of the Season we'll see how much of a difference Drake may can make on that front whenever he's ready to take the field for New England which might mean week one certainly a rookie quarterback starting his first game doesn't make the matchup any scarier for that defense the Bears are up next and they've got the Titans who are also among the six lowest implied Point totals for week one there's some potential offensive Firepower for Tennessee but I like Chicago at home against this Titans offense in the first game under the brand new coach we haven't played the games yet and so as you mentioned before mat that's why we're taking some of the Vegas totals here before week one till we figure out what teams are good the Titans could have a decent offense but everything's pointing to know the Bears certainly have a pretty good defense they were a top 10 Fantasy Defense the back end of the season last year now they're at home against the Titans against will Levis new offense coming out DeAndre Hopkins might play but he's battered and bruised he he might not be 100% the Titans offensive line is still very very messy the Chicago Bears could certainly wreak havoc and the Bears offense looks pretty good they could get up early uh similar to the Bengals and and have some chances at turnovers and sacks yeah Bears have also added Talent up front and at the back end so like you mentioned they finished last season as a strong defense I like the spot for them and we'll see what happens will Levis has a wide range of potential outcomes this year that includes a low end we've seen that he can throw interceptions last two among this top five that you can Target as week one defenses Seattle's one I actually drafted in my home League over this past weekend and the Giants so we'll get to them in a minute but what do you like about Seattle's week one Seattle probably has the best early season schedule not only are we talking week one at home against the Denver Broncos Vegas has the Broncos implied 31 first over on the league in points per game at just over 19 so so just ahead of the Patriots not by much we know that we're going to get rookie quarterback B Nick starting his first game in the NFL going out from Denver to Seattle the Seahawks are at home and the Seahawks have beefed up that defense then week two the Seahawks travel to New England to play the Patriots so they're getting potentially the two worst offenses in the league in the first two weeks so if you're uneasy about a just one week for a defense and cutting bait like you would have to do with the Bengals the Bears the Saints and the Seahawks are really nice option that'll carry you through week two yeah and that's why I drafted Seattle and you know if you look at our rankings Seattle doesn't look like a defense that's going to get recommended to you but I waited till late in my draft they pop to the top I like those first two weeks you know if week one goes poorly like goes worse than we're expecting for Seattle then maybe you change the plans for week two but we're going to need to be flexible with these defenses as we go through the season the Giants like I said the last one here I would say easily my least comfortable pick the line for that game is very close you know Sam darnold is generally a quarterback that you want to face but we haven't seen Sam darnold with Minnesota yet and the Vikings do have a pretty good crop of talent around him I think this is a tough one both the Giants and the Vikings it could be a low-scoring game neither defense I think people are thrilled about though the Giants did bring in Brian Burns so I think there's some more pass rush ability with him and Kon Tibido to go after Sam darnold but the Vikings do have a decent offensive line the Giants have a pretty decent early schedule if you're willing to take the risk they're going at the commanders who are 26th in impli point total at the Cleveland Browns who are 18th in impli point total and then the Vikings week one is 22nd with the Giants at home so I don't know if I'd do it but I think it is if you have a deeper League you know a 16 Team league stuff like that I think the Giants could be a sneaky pick that could carry you for a couple weeks yeah maybe one to think about in DFS that might be lower played if you look at the week one lines the Vikings have the ninth fewest implied points so it doesn't highlight them as a definite Target for your defense even though they're on the lower end the Cleveland defense was very good Cleveland Browns last year and I mentioned them being ranked high in our default site rankings I think that they can be interesting if they slide if you have to you know take them among the first two three defenses in your league probably not worth it but they could be an interesting one week one that might not be obvious because they're playing Dallas we saw the Cowboys play significantly better especially in terms of scoring on offense at home than on the road last year they're on the road this year they've had CD lamb holding out they have an ugly back field so I would not be at all surprised if the Cowboys start this season sluggishly and present a good match up for that defense in week one Browns are then at Jacksonville in week two against the Giants in week three at the Raiders week four and then at Washington in week five we'll see what that Washington matchup looks like by week five but some definitely good potential spots for Cleveland early this season I think if you're looking for a cheap long-term five weekish option then Cleveland's probably your best bet you know with with Miles Garrett and the defense they have set up you're going to get the sack totals almost weekly for them sometimes that's enough to push you to start a defense you have a really nice floor with Cleveland and the ceiling's high if a team like the Cowboys start turning it over and can't run the football there's a lot that could go wrong and the Browns could end up as a top five Fantasy Defense early in the season any other early season defenses you want to highlight one other Another Week 1 defense one that I like another one that that that you kind of have to hold your nose and take is the Los Angeles Chargers their schedule packs pretty well early they're at home against the Raiders in week one then at home against the Carolina Panthers who we talked about Gardner mshu Bryce young and then they're going to the Pittsburgh Steelers in week three which is you know Russell Wilson George Pickins and not much else in that passing game so um I think the Chargers you know with with with Jim Harbaugh there who always kind of prioritizes the Run game defense it's definitely something they spent some money and some picks on in the in the off season yeah and they weren't good good last year on defense but they have lots of talent over there in the same offseason where they dumped Mike Williams and Keenan Allen they did not dump KH Mack or Joey Bosa despite those guys carrying big contracts as well so that's one I like better than the Giants as an early season defense I think that one could have some real sneaky upside for early season team defense streamers of course what we've been talking about here is the beginning of you streaming defense for the season that's how you should approach the position wherever possible there are some formats that just make hold on to one or maybe defenses score more points so you know the waiver wire is more bare but in general you want to try to stream them we're going to have inseason support of course to help you do that all season long that will include Shane's weekly defense streaming article right yeah uh every week we'll be looking at the schedule we'll look at some of those Vegas totals look at what offenses are doing and which defenses are out there in the waiver wire for you to pick up so if you're not someone's always comfortable dropping your defense every week uh you can just go to draft shars.com and will help you out and get you who you need to pick up and of course it gets easier to read all of those factors as we get into the season and get actual Real Results instead of just the projections that we're all working on at this point the free agent finder also shows projections and matchups two weeks out so if you're not the only one in your league that's trying to stream defenses you might have to just get ahead of the rest of your league get that defense for next week a little bit earlier if you get to the end of your draft and you don't have a worthwhile stash at one of the offensive positions it might not be a bad idea to look ahead there to some of the defenses we've been talking about might not have a good week one spot but maybe good week two week three beyond that you could stash a second defense in your draft where it makes sense where it's deep enough to have room for that we mentioned trust Factor earlier and how it will play into your draft War Room recommendations that's of course our primary focus right now instantly updating projections for things like the jhond Dotson trade that happened Thursday morning other updates of course always coming for injuries trends you know reports that we read out of camp with who's going well or who's going poorly all of it is to make sure that you have the most upto-date numbers when you go to do your draft that synced draft war room will mold to fit your exact League settings and if you haven't gotten access to that Insider info yet there's never been a better time to do it you're GNA want to go to draft sharks. comom SLS subscribe right now you're going to see the best price in draft sharks history we want to be your onfair advantage hey it's the draa sharks