December 11, 2024
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2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses

Walt6 mins

These 2016 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings will be updated often throughout the summer, so make sure you check back from time to time. Also, be sure to check out my other 2016 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2016 Fantasy Football mock drafts and other material. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.

Updated 5/X


I don’t believe in drafting fantasy defenses until the final couple of rounds. Someone always reaches for a defense way too early in every fantasy draft. I prefer to grab as many running backs and receivers as possible, and then wait on a defense in the final round. I then play matchups with my defenses. I’ll explain this later, but here are my brief 2016 fantasy defense rankings, which will be much different than most publications because of my matchup strategy:

  1. Carolina Panthers. Bye: 7. (Week 1 Broncos)
  2. Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 9. (Week 1 Patriots w/o Brady)
  3. Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 5. (Week 1 Dolphins)
  4. Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 9. (Week 1 Jets)
  5. Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 5.
  6. Houston Texans. Bye: 9.
  7. Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 6. (Week 1 Titans)
  8. Los Angeles Rams. Bye: 8. (Week 1 49ers)
  9. Denver Broncos. Bye: 11.
  10. Buffalo Bills. Bye: 10.



  11. New York Jets. Bye: 11.
  12. Oakland Raiders. Bye: 10.
  13. Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 4. (Week 1 Browns)
  14. New England Patriots. Bye: 9.
  15. Detroit Lions. Bye: 10.
  16. Green Bay Packers. Bye: 4.
  17. Chicago Bears. Bye: 9.
  18. Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 5.
  19. Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 8.
  20. Miami Dolphins. Bye: 8.
  21. Washington Redskins. Bye: 9.
  22. San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 8. (Week 1 Rams)
  23. New York Giants. Bye: 8.



  24. Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 7.
  25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bye: 6.
  26. Tennessee Titans. Bye: 13.
  27. San Diego Chargers. Bye: 11.
  28. Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 8.
  29. Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 10.
  30. Cleveland Browns. Bye: 13.
  31. Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 11.
  32. New Orleans Saints. Bye: 5.


Rotating Fantasy Football Defenses:

As I said, I love to rotate fantasy defenses based on matchups. I’ve identified several teams as having probable crappy offenses that you can go against (note that this list will change after the 2016 NFL Draft:


Terrible Offenses:

  • Cleveland Browns – The Browns will be an automatic play-against. Their starting quarterback is fumbling machine Robert Griffin.

  • Denver Broncos – Two words: Mark Sanchez.

  • San Francisco 49ers – Chip Kelly is definitely no offensive genius. But even if he were, he’d have major problems generating anything with Blaine Gabbert/rookie quarterback throwing to Torrey Smith as a top weapon while being protected by a horrible line. The 49ers are a disaster.




    Bad Offenses:

  • Los Angeles Rams – Jared Goff is a raw quarterback who doesn’t have any receiving help outside of Tavon Austin. If the Rams didn’t have Todd Gurley, they’d be in the horrible section.

  • New York Jets – I’ll remove the Jets from this list if Ryan Fitzpatrick re-signs (never thought I’d say that.) Their quarterback situation right now is a disaster.

    That’s just a preliminary list. If a quarterback goes down and his backup sucks, that team will obviously be added. I’ll rank all the fantasy defenses each week during the regular season, so make sure you check back for that.

    It’s also worth noting that you can luck into landing a great defense using this strategy. Five years ago in one league, I picked up the 49ers early because they had a matchup versus rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. They were doing so well that I just decided to keep them, but always signed another defense if San Francisco matched up against a potent offense. The same happened with Carolina in one of my leagues last year.





    More 2016 Fantasy Football Articles:
    Fantasy Football Rankings

    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings:
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/7 (Walt)
    Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings - 8/30 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/7 (Walt)
    Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings - 8/30 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/7 (Walt)
    Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings - 8/30 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/7 (Walt)
    Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings - 8/30 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 6/15 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 6/15 (Walt)
    Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings - 5/13 (Walt)
    Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/13 (Walt)
    Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/27 (Chet)



    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: PPR - 9/1 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Video - 8/31 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Real Draft - 8/29 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Standard - 8/25 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 2-QB - 8/25 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Video - 8/24 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: PPR - 8/18 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Video - 8/13 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Standard - 8/11 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Standard - 8/4 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Video - 8/4 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: PPR - 8/2 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: PPR - 7/28 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 7/21 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football: MFL 10 Draft - 5/13 (Chet)



    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football PPR Rankings - 8/26 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Spreadsheets - 9/7 (Walt)

    2016 Fantasy Football Articles:
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    2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator - 9/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 9/4 (Walt)
    2016 NFL Preseason Recap, Fantasy Football Notes - 9/2 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Preseason Stock - 9/2 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Preseason Quarterback Targets - 9/2 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Targets - 8/31 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Busts - 8/31 (Walt)
    Fantasy Football Auction Advice - 8/24 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Strategy Guide - 8/18 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Daily Fantasy Preseason Week 2 Streaming Options - 8/18 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Draft Queue: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends - 8/17 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Draft Queue: Quarterbacks and Running Backs - 8/16 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Training Camp Notes - 8/10 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Wide Receivers to Avoid - 8/6 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Running Backs to Avoid - 8/5 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football Notes - 7/26 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Late-Round Wide Receiver Targets - 7/21 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Late-Round Running Back Targets - 7/19 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football ADP Values - 7/14 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: C.J. Anderson Profile - 7/7 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Favorite MFL Players - 6/29 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: 2016 NFL Draft Fallout: Chip Kelly - 6/23 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Marvin Jones Profile - 6/22 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Devin Funchess Profile - 6/15 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football 2-QB Draft - 6/9 (Chet)
    Fantasy Football Beginner's Guide - 6/7 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Running Back Drafting and ADP - 6/3 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Quarterback Drafting and ADP - 6/1 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Eli Manning Profile - 5/25 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Jordan Matthews Profile - 5/24 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Rookie Dynasty Draft Wrap-up - 5/18 (Walt)
    2016 Fantasy Football: 2016 NFL Draft Fallout - 5/11 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: MFL 10 Quarterback Values - 4/30 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: MFL 10 Wide Receiver Values - 4/28 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Tight End Strength of Schedule - 4/25 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Wide Receiver Strength of Schedule - 4/21 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Running Back Strength of Schedule - 4/20 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Quarterback Strength of Schedule - 4/19 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: MFL 10 - 2/19 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Philip Rivers - 2/16 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football: Quarterback ADP vs. Reality - 2/12 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Fallout: Marshawn Lynch Retires - 2/11 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Fallout: Calvin Johnson Retires - 2/9 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Forecast: Dynasty - 1/21 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Forecast: Tight Ends - 1/19 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Forecast: Wide Receivers - 1/14 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Forecast: Running Backs - 1/13 (Chet)
    2016 Fantasy Football Forecast: Quarterbacks - 1/12 (Chet)






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