2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses


These 2011 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 2011 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2011 Fantasy Football mock drafts and other material. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.

Updated 9/1


I don’t believe in drafting fantasy defenses until the final couple of rounds. In every fantasy draft, someone always reaches for a defense way too early. 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 2011 fantasy defense rankings:

  1. Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 11.
  2. New England Patriots. Bye: 7. (Dolphins Week 1)
  3. Green Bay Packers. Bye: 8.
  4. Detroit Lions. Bye: 7.
  5. Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 7.
  6. Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 5.
  7. New York Jets. Bye: 8.
  8. Chicago Bears. Bye: 8.
  9. San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 7. (Seahawks Week 1)
  10. Cleveland Browns. Bye: 6. (Cincinnati Week 1)
  11. Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 6. (Carolina Week 1)
  12. San Diego Chargers. Bye: 8. (Minnesota Week 1)
  13. Buffalo Bills. Bye: 7. (Kansas City Week 1)
  14. New York Giants. Bye: 7.
  15. Denver Broncos. Bye: 6.
  16. Houston Texans. Bye: 11.



  17. St. Louis Rams. Bye: 5.
  18. Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 5.
  19. Washington Redskins. Bye: 5.
  20. Miami Dolphins. Bye: 5.
  21. Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 6.
  22. New Orleans Saints. Bye: 11.
  23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bye: 8.
  24. Oakland Raiders. Bye: 8.
  25. Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 9.
  26. Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 8.
  27. Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 11.
  28. Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 6.
  29. Tennessee Titans. Bye: 6.
  30. Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 9.
  31. Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 7.
  32. Carolina Panthers. Bye: 9.



Rotating Fantasy Football Defenses:

As I said, I love to rotate fantasy defenses based on matchups. Click on the link to read more about it.

I’ve identified this teams as probable crappy offenses you can go against:

  • Cincinnati Bengals – Andy Dalton’s a rookie who overthrows his receivers.

  • Seattle Seahawks – This offense is awful. Why is Tarvaris Jackson still starting?

  • Carolina Panthers – Cam Newton isn’t ready to be an NFL passer yet.

  • San Francisco 49ers – Alex Smith stinks.

  • Miami Dolphins – Is Chad Henne really going to start another season?

  • Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings have major offensive line issues.

  • Kansas City Chiefs – Matt Cassel is really going to regress this season because Charlie Weis is gone. Also, the offensive line isn’t very good.

    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.



    More 2011 Fantasy Football Articles:
    2011 Fantasy Football: Home

    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings:
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 9/1 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 6/26 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Downloadable Spreadsheets - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Dynasty Rookie Rankings - 8/27 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Auction Values - 8/27 (Walt)

    2011 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
    2011 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 150 Traditional - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 150 PPR - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 150 Touchdown - 9/8 (Walt)

    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Real League Draft - 8/31 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Fake Mock - 8/25 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Experts Draft - 8/25 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Forum 2-QB Mock - 7/21 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Mock Draft Scenarios - 7/17 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Auction: Mock PPR Auction - 7/14 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Forum PPR Mock - 7/7 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Forum Mock - 7/3 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Four-Man PPR Draft - 6/19 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Draft: Fox Sports - 5/5 (Walt)

    2011 Fantasy Football Articles:
    2011 Fantasy Football Injury Reports: Week 2 - 9/18 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings: Week 2 - 9/18 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Week 2 Add/Drop - 9/13 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Training Camp Stock - 9/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Start Em, Sit Em - 9/6 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Preseason Stock - 9/3 (Walt)
    2011 Preseason Recap and Fantasy Football Notes - 9/3 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Preseason Targets - 9/3 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Late-Round Sleepers - 9/1 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Round-by-Round Strategy - 9/1 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Value Comparison - 9/1
    2011 Fantasy Football: Must-Have Players - 8/24 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Busts, Players to Avoid - 7/25 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 7/24 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 7/23 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Various League Strategy - 7/18 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Three-Dimensional Running Backs - 7/16 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: ADP Analysis - 7/15 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: First-Round Bust History - 7/10 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 7/9 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 7/4 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Analysis - 7/1 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 6/18 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 6/12 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football Mailbag - 6/5 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Stock Up (Draft) - 5/6 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Stock Down (Draft) - 5/6 (Walt)
    2010 Fantasy Football: Buy Low - 4/8 (Walt)
    2011 Fantasy Football: Defense Strategy - 4/8 (Walt)
    Running Backs with Most Carries - 4/8 (Walt)






    NFL Picks - Oct. 30


    2025 NFL Mock Draft - Oct. 30


    NFL Power Rankings - Oct. 28


    Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4




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