D/ST rankings for your 2024 fantasy football drafts
23/08/2024 14:04
Kate Magdziuk ranks the best defenses for 2024 fantasy football drafts. She also offers up three defenses that could be undervalued.
Though some fantasy leagues have done away with kickers and defenses, there are still plenty of you sticking around for the magic and fun that is the D/ST adventure. Here are my fantasy football defense rankings for the 2024 season and some of the biggest takeaways worth noting in your fantasy drafts.
Best sleeper D/ST options in 2024
There are several top-tier options at defense this year, with the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets topping most analysts rankings. So naturally, if you're looking to acquire one of these defenses, you'll have to spend up.
Just in case you're not looking to invest in a top-tier option at defense, there are plenty of options available to you in the late rounds of drafts. Here are three of my favorite fantasy defenses falling outside of the top-10 options in FantasyPros consensus ADP.
Las Vegas Raiders
Hear me out before you opt to click the big, red shiny "X" right out of this article. The Raiders are in a new era of football under HC Antonio Pierce, and that means we're back to the old-school days of possession-down football... which is usually conducive to some low-scoring, physical matchups that subsequently result in fantasy scoring.
The defense showed out in the second half of last season, once then-interim-HC Pierce took over, allowing a league-low 16.0 points per game in Weeks 9 onward. In that span, they also led the league with four total defensive touchdowns and tied for an NFL-high 3.3 sacks per game.
From Weeks 9-18, they were fantasy football's top-scoring defense averaging 11.3 points per game, and now, they've added prized free agent DT Christian Wilkins into the mix on the defensive line with game-wrecker Maxx Crosby. I'm all in on the value they bring as the 17th defense off the board in consensus ADP.
Houston Texans
The Texans have been quietly building their arsenal of star defenders over the past couple of drafts and free agency periods between Derek Stingley Jr., Jalen Pitre, Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair among others.
They're rated with the fourth-most difficult strength of schedule in 2024 based on their opponents' .526 win percentage last season, but this is a situation where I'll opt to value talent and coaching over schedule when it comes to my fantasy drafts.
Chicago Bears
All eyes are on the Chicago Bears' shiny new offense this year, but there are some encouraging signs that could point to them as a viable streaming defense in the first half of the season. The Bears were a middling defense last season, tied with the Jaguars as the 17th-highest scoring unit in 2023, but with a relatively easy schedule this year and a couple of key contributors in the secondary, they could take a big step forward.
Joining Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker in the secondary this season is free-agent acquisition and former All-Pro safety Kevin Byard III, who should be an upgrade over Eddie Jackson, who allowed a 121.1 passer rating in coverage just last season.
Having just ranked second in turnovers forced (18) last season with the second-lowest scoring drive percentage allowed in the league last year (25.8%), I can get on board with the Bears D/ST at its current ADP of D/ST11.
Fantasy football D/ST rankings
2024 Draft Rankings
| # | Player (Team/Bye) | vs. ECR | vs. ADP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore Ravens BAL (14) | 0 | +1 |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys DAL (7) | +2 | +1 |
| 3 | New York Jets NYJ (12) | -1 | +1 |
| 4 | Miami Dolphins MIA (6) | +6 | +6 |
| 5 | Cleveland Browns CLE (10) | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Buffalo Bills BUF (12) | +2 | +1 |
| 7 | New Orleans Saints NO (12) | +5 | +9 |
| 8 | Las Vegas Raiders LV (10) | +12 | +9 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh Steelers PIT (9) | -3 | -1 |
| 10 | San Francisco 49ers SF (9) | -7 | -9 |
| 11 | Philadelphia Eagles PHI (5) | 0 | -2 |
| 12 | Kansas City Chiefs KC (6) | -5 | -6 |
| 13 | Detroit Lions DET (5) | +2 | +2 |
| 14 | Houston Texans HOU (14) | -5 | -1 |
| 15 | Denver Broncos DEN (14) | +6 | +9 |
| 16 | New England Patriots NE (14) | +6 | +6 |
| 17 | Indianapolis Colts IND (14) | -3 | +4 |
| 18 | Minnesota Vikings MIN (6) | 0 | +7 |
| 19 | Atlanta Falcons ATL (12) | +9 | +9 |
| 20 | Chicago Bears CHI (7) | -7 | -8 |
| 21 | Los Angeles Rams LAR (6) | +6 | +10 |
| 22 | Cincinnati Bengals CIN (12) | -6 | -8 |
| 23 | Green Bay Packers GB (10) | -4 | 0 |
| 24 | Carolina Panthers CAR (11) | +5 | +8 |
| 25 | Jacksonville Jaguars JAC (12) | -8 | +1 |
| 26 | Seattle Seahawks SEA (10) | -2 | -8 |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers TB (11) | -4 | -16 |
| 28 | New York Giants NYG (11) | -3 | -9 |
Kate Magdziuk is an editor and contributor for Yahoo Fantasy and co-host of the Locked On Dynasty Football podcast. She is also the managing editor for Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation's exclusive Pittsburgh Steelers blog. Her previous bylines include Pro Football Focus, NBC Sports Rotoworld and 4for4 Football, among others.
