These 2020 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 2020 Fantasy Football articles, including sleepers, busts, tons of 2020 Fantasy Football mock drafts and other material. Follow me @walterfootball for updates.
Updated 4/5
I don’t believe in drafting fantasy defenses until the final couple of rounds. In fact, I usually don’t even draft a defense, opting instead to select as many sleepers as possible and then eventually adding a defense the Saturday of Week 1.
Someone always reaches for a defense way too early in every fantasy draft. Don’t be an idiot like that. There’s a new top defense every year. Plus, you can play matchups with defenses. I’ll explain this later, but here are my brief 2020 fantasy defense rankings, which will be much different than most publications because of my matchup strategy:
- San Francisco 49ers. Bye: 11.
- Baltimore Ravens. Bye: 8.
- Pittsburgh Steelers. Bye: 8.
- Buffalo Bills. Bye: 11.
- New England Patriots. Bye: 6.
- Denver Broncos. Bye: 8.
- Chicago Bears. Bye: 11.
- New Orleans Saints. Bye: 6.
- Cleveland Browns. Bye: 9.
- Los Angeles Chargers. Bye: 10.
- Philadelphia Eagles. Bye: 9.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bye: 13.
- Minnesota Vikings. Bye: 7.
- Indianapolis Colts. Bye: 7.
- Washington Redskins. Bye: 8.
- Dallas Cowboys. Bye: 10.
- Seattle Seahawks. Bye: 6.
- Los Angeles Rams. Bye: 9.
- Kansas City Chiefs. Bye: 10.
- Las Vegas Raiders. Bye: 6.
- Tennessee Titans. Bye: 7.
- Houston Texans. Bye: 8.
- New York Jets. Bye: 11.
- Arizona Cardinals. Bye: 8.
- New York Giants. Bye: 11.
- Atlanta Falcons. Bye: 10.
- Green Bay Packers. Bye: 5.
- Detroit Lions. Bye: 5.
- Cincinnati Bengals. Bye: 9.
- Carolina Panthers. Bye: 13.
- Miami Dolphins. Bye: 11.
- Jacksonville Jaguars. Bye: 7.
Rotating Fantasy Football Defenses:
As I said, I love to rotate fantasy defenses based on matchups. I’ll identify several teams as having probable crappy offenses that you can go against once the schedule releases.
Terrible 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 2021 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 8/19 (Walt)
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/9 (Walt)
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/8 (Walt)
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/8 (Walt)
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 5/2 (Walt)
2021 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 5/2 (Walt)
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2021 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
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NFL Picks - Dec. 13
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
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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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