October 31, 2024
Premium Users get access to ad-free content on Debacled | Check-In.
Headlines

2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses

Walt7 mins

These 2012 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 2012 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2012 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 2012 fantasy defense rankings, which will be much different than most publications because of my matchup strategy:

  1. Houston Texans. Bye: 8. (Dolphins Week 1)
  2. Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 7. (Browns Week 1)
  3. Detroit Lions. Bye: 5. (Rams Week 1)
  4. Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 10. (Seahawks Week 1)
  5. Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 11. (Jaguars Week 1)
  6. Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 7.
  7. Green Bay Packers. Bye: 10. (49ers Week 1)
  8. Chicago Bears. Bye: 6.
  9. Buffalo Bills. Bye: 8. (Jets Week 1)
  10. San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 9. (Packers, Lions Weeks 1-2)
  11. New York Giants. Bye: 11.



  12. Denver Broncos. Bye: 7.
  13. Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 4.
  14. New England Patriots. Bye: 9.
  15. Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 8.
  16. Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 6. (Vikings Week 1)
  17. Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 11. (Cardinals Week 1)
  18. Washington Redskins. Bye: 10.
  19. Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 8.
  20. New York Jets. Bye: 9.
  21. Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 5.
  22. Tennessee Titans. Bye: 11.
  23. Cleveland Browns. Bye: 10.
  24. Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 4.
  25. Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 7.
  26. San Diego Chargers. Bye: 7.
  27. Miami Dolphins. Bye: 7.
  28. St. Louis Rams. Bye: 9.
  29. Oakland Raiders. Bye: 5.
  30. Carolina Panthers. Bye: 6.
  31. New Orleans Saints. Bye: 6.
  32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 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:

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

  • Cleveland Browns – Brandon Weeden is the quarterback, and his best receiver is Greg Little. I’ll be playing against the Browns quite frequently.

  • St. Louis Rams – The Rams can’t pass protect for Sam Bradford. Steven Jackson is over the hill. The receivers are unproven. Otherwise, everything’s terrific.

  • Seattle Seahawks – Matt Flynn is an unknown. What is known is that Seattle’s offensive line sucks.

  • Miami Dolphins – Matt Moore played well last year, but now he won’t have Brandon Marshall to throw to, which will completely bog down Miami’s offense.



  • Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings won’t score many points if Adrian Peterson is out.

  • New York Jets – Mark Sanchez loves throwing interceptions to 300-pound defensive linemen. This unit will struggle until Tim Tebow becomes the starter.

  • San Francisco 49ers – Alex Smith isn’t very good, and there’s a good chance Randy Moss and Perrish Cox will destroy the locker room following a probable 0-2 start.

  • Arizona Cardinals – Kevin Kolb struggled last year, and there’s no reason to think things will be any different now.

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Josh Freeman regressed last season. There’s always a chance he’ll bounce back though.

    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. Last year 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 2012 Fantasy Football Articles:
    2012 Fantasy Football: Home

    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings:
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 6/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 6/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Downloadable Spreadsheets - 9/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Auction Values - 7/28 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings (Re-Draft) - 5/6 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings (Dynasty) - 5/6 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Playoff Rankings - 1/2 (Walt)
    Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings - 12/27 (Walt)
    Week 17 Fantasy Football Injury Reports - 12/27 (Walt)
    Week 17 Fantasy Football Start Em, Sit Em - 12/27 (Walt)
    Week 16 Fantasy Football Start Em, Sit Em - 12/20 (Walt)
    WalterFootball.com $1,000 Contest on FanDuel.com - 11/4

    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Traditional Scoring - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: PPR Scoring - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Touchdown Scoring - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: 2-QB Format - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Traditional Scoring PRINTABLE - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: PPR Scoring PRINTABLE - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Touchdown Scoring PRINTABLE - 9/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: 2-QB Format PRINTABLE - 9/4 (Walt)

    2012 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
    2012 Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft - 8/23 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/16 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum 2-QB PPR Mock Draft - 8/9 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Auction Mock Draft - 8/2 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum PPR Mock Draft - 7/27 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum 2-QB Mock Draft - 7/17 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum Standard 14-Team Mock Draft - 7/12 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum PPR Mock Draft - 7/6 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum Touchdown-Format Mock Draft - 7/4 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum Standard Mock Draft - 7/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum PPR Mock Draft - 6/22 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Forum Mock Draft - 6/14 (Walt)
    The Four-Man PPR Fantasy Mock Draft - 5/18 (Walt)

    2012 Fantasy Football Articles:
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock: Training Camp, OTAs - 9/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Preseason Stock - 8/31 (Walt)
    2012 NFL Preseason Recap, Fantasy Football Notes - 8/31 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football: Quarterback Targets - 8/31 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football: 20 Sleepers - 8/28 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football: Round-by-Round Strategy - 8/21 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Busts - 6/5 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Sleepers (Early-Middle Rounds) - 6/5 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football All-Value Team - 5/26 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Quarterbacks - 5/8 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Running Backs - 5/8 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Wide Receivers - 5/8 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Quarterbacks, Tight Ends - 4/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Running Backs - 4/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Wide Receivers - 4/3 (Walt)
    2012 Fantasy Football: First-Round Bust History - 2/17 (Walt)
    Running Backs with Most Carries - 2/17 (Walt)




    NFL Picks - Oct. 30


    2025 NFL Mock Draft - Oct. 30


    NFL Power Rankings - Oct. 28


    Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4




    Injured/injury risk
    Potential bust
    Potential sleeper
    Rank higher in touchdown leagues
    Rank lower in touchdown leagues
    Rank higher in PPR (points per reception) leagues
    Rank lower in PPR leagues

    • Related News