November 21, 2024
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2013 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses

Walt7 mins

These 2013 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 2013 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2013 Fantasy Football mock drafts and other material. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.

Updated 6/3


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 2013 fantasy defense rankings, which will be much different than most publications because of my matchup strategy:

  1. Houston Texans. Bye: 8. (Week 1: Chargers; Week 2: Titans)
  2. New England Patriots. Bye: 10. (Week 1: Bills; Week 2: Jets)
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 5. (Week 1: Titans)
  4. St. Louis Rams. Bye: 11. (Week 1: Cardinals)
  5. Washington Redskins. Bye: 5. (Week 1: Eagles)
  6. Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 10. (Week 1: Jaguars)
  7. Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 12.
  8. San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 9.
  9. Denver Broncos. Bye: 9.
  10. Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 12.



  11. Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 8.
  12. Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 8. (Week 1: Raiders)
  13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bye: 5. (Week 1: Jets)
  14. Miami Dolphins. Bye: 6. (Week 1: Browns)
  15. Chicago Bears. Bye: 8.
  16. Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 5.
  17. New York Jets. Bye: 10.
  18. Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 9.
  19. New York Giants. Bye: 9.
  20. Green Bay Packers. Bye: 4.
  21. Buffalo Bills. Bye: 12.
  22. Cleveland Browns. Bye: 10.



  23. Detroit Lions. Bye: 9.
  24. Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 11.
  25. Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 12.
  26. Tennessee Titans. Bye: 8.
  27. Carolina Panthers. Bye: 4.
  28. Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 6.
  29. New Orleans Saints. Bye: 7.
  30. Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 9.
  31. San Diego Chargers. Bye: 8.
  32. Oakland Raiders. Bye: 7.


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:


Terrible Offenses:

  • Jacksonville Jaguars – Note to Blaine Gabbert: Quarterbacks aren’t supposed to close their eyes before they throw the football.

  • Oakland Raiders – This Oakland squad might be one of the worst teams in NFL history.

  • Philadelphia Eagles – Philadelphia’s starting quarterback is a turnover machine. Play against him every week until he gets injured.

  • San Diego Chargers – Philip Rivers looks like he’s in major decline, though that could just be his offensive line. Either way, playing against San Diego’s offense is something you’ll want to do quite often.

  • Tennessee Titans – Jake Locker was responsible for 11 interceptions and four lost fumbles in 11 games this past season. He doesn’t take care of the football.




    Bad Offenses:

  • Arizona Cardinals – Carson Palmer can be a turnover machine, while the offensive line is still a mess.

  • Buffalo Bills – The Bills have some play-makers on offense, but E.J. Manuel could make tons of mistakes as a rookie.

  • Cleveland Browns – Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell both stink, but the Browns can use their running game to limit turnovers.

  • Kansas City Chiefs – Alex Smith tends to limit his turnovers, but he’s still incredibly mediocre. Dwayne Bowe tends to fumble a ton as well.

  • New York Jets – Geno Smith is a raw rookie with accuracy issues. The right tackle situation is still 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. Two 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.





    More 2013 Fantasy Football Articles:
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    2013 Fantasy Football Rankings: RUNNING BACKS - 9/4 (Walt)
    2013 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/4 (Walt)
    2013 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/2 (Walt)
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    2013 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings - 5/5 (Walt)
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