These 2018 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 2018 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2018 Fantasy Football mock drafts and other material. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.
Updated 8/21
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 2018 fantasy defense rankings, which will be much different than most publications because of my matchup strategy:
- Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 9.
- Los Angeles Rams. Bye: 12.
- Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 10.
- Los Angeles Chargers. Bye: 8.
- Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 9.
- Houston Texans. Bye: 10.
- Denver Broncos. Bye: 10.
- Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 10.
- Carolina Panthers. Bye: 4.
- Chicago Bears. Bye: 5.
- Buffalo Bills. Bye: 11.
- Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 8.
- Tennessee Titans. Bye: 8.
- New Orleans Saints. Bye: 6.
- New York Giants. Bye: 9.
- Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 9.
- Washington Redskins. Bye: 4.
- Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 12.
- Miami Dolphins. Bye: 11.
- Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 7.
- Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 9.
- New England Patriots. Bye: 11.
- Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 8.
- Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 7.
- Detroit Lions. Bye: 6.
- San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 11.
- New York Jets. Bye: 11.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bye: 5.
- Cleveland Browns. Bye: 11.
- Oakland Raiders. Bye: 7.
- Green Bay Packers. Bye: 7.
- Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 9.
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 2018 NFL Draft:
Terrible Offenses:
Bad Offenses:
It’s also worth noting that you can luck into landing a great defense using this strategy. Several 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 2018 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/5 (Walt)
Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings - 8/29 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/5 (Walt)
Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings - 8/29 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/5 (Walt)
Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings - 8/29 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/5 (Walt)
Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings - 8/29 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 8/21 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 8/21 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 8/21 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/18 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 9/1 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/30 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/27 (Walt)
Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft - 8/23 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/22 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/16 (Walt)
Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft - 8/9 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 8/2 (Walt)
Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft - 8/1 (Chet)
Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft - 7/26 (Walt)
Fantasy Football 2-QB Dynasty Draft - 5/25 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Spreadsheets - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Articles:
2018 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Busts - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Mid-Round Values - 9/5 (Walt)
2018 NFL Preseason Game Recaps - 8/31 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Preseason Games - 8/31 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football Notes - 8/31 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Quarterback Preseason Targets Tracker - 8/30 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football D/ST Drafting - 8/28 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football ADP Values: Running Backs - 8/16 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Round-by-Round Strategy Guide - 8/15 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football ADP Values: Quarterbacks - 8/15 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Tight Ends to Target - 8/9 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football - PPR Draft Strategy: Rounds 1 and 2 - 7/27 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football: Doug Baldwin's Value - 7/25 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football: Chris Hogan's Value - 7/18 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football: Alvin Kamara's Value - 7/16 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule: Tight Ends - 7/11 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule: Wide Receivers - 7/6 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule: Running Backs - 7/5 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule: Quarterbacks - 7/4 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Tight Ends Better Than ADP - 6/29 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Wide Receivers Better Than ADP - 6/28 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Target Shares - 6/22 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Points Per Game - 6/13 (Chet)
2018 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator - 6/2
2018 Fantasy Football Value Players - 5/25 (Chet)
2017 Fantasy Football Quarterback Look-Back - 1/28 (Walt)
2018 Fantasy Football: Running Backs with the Most Carries - 1/28 (Walt)
NFL Picks - Dec. 11
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
NFL Power Rankings - Dec. 9
2026 NFL Mock Draft - Nov. 29
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
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Injured/injury risk
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Potential bust
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Potential sleeper
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Rank higher in touchdown leagues
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Rank lower in touchdown leagues
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Rank higher in PPR (points per reception) leagues
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Rank lower in PPR leagues
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