2023 Fantasy Football DST Rankings

What will offense look like for CHI, IND, GB, CLE?

Matthew Berry, Connor Rogers, and Jay Croucher analyze the preseason play of Justin Fields, Anthony Richardson, Jordan Love, and Sam Howell, and predict what their corresponding teams might look like this season.

Fantasy football draft season is kicking into gear, which means we're all searching for rankings in order to help us with our drafts or collect insights to modify our own rankings. Yet, far too often defensive rankings get overlooked.

Yes, I'm going to be talking about defenses here, but don't click away.

Last year, there were six defenses that averaged over eight points a game according to FantasyPros scoring. In per game scoring in half PPR formats, that's about equal to what you got from Javonte Williams , D’Onta Foreman , Elijah Mitchell , George Pickens , and Drake London .

Now, I'm not suggesting you draft defenses ahead of players like those mentioned above, but I am saying that a well-chosen defense can help you as much in your weekly matchup as some of those high-upside bench options. As such, we need to be focusing on the defenses we're drafting and adding and not treat it as an afterthought.

Below you'll find my first pre-season DST rankings for the 2023 fantasy football season. These rankings are based on my BOD rankings formula (which I described in detail here in my intro article for our online Rotoworld Draft Guide), this year's schedule, and offseason personnel changes. My BOD rankings favor teams who have strong pressure rates and turnover rates rather than just stingy yards allowed units, so check out the Rotoworld Draft Guide to see my exact methodology.

Regardless, we have yet to see any of these units actually play meaningful snaps together (yes, I'm including preseason game), so a lot of this is just educated guesses based on past success and projected strength of schedule.

With that out of the way, onto the rankings.

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It's hard not to put the 49ers first. They were a tremendous defense last year and signed Javon Hargrave in the offseason. Hargrave had a career-high 11 sacks last year and could be even better while playing alongside reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and fellow defensive tackle Arik Armstead .

The Eagles looked like they were going to lose one of James Bradberry and Darius Slay but somehow kept both as well as Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham . Then they went out and drafted Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter . This should still be an elite unit.

The Cowboys were a top-tier unit last year, then traded for Stephon Gilmore and drafted Mazi Smith to add strength to the interior of their defensive line. They are a turnover-happy defense that should continue to perform well in fantasy football.

The New York Jets have one of the best defenses in the NFL and fantasy. Last year, they were ninth in pressure rate, seventh in sacks, and fifth in the rate of opponent's drives that ended in a score. They performed poorly when it came to turnovers, but should see improvement from Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed in the secondary.

The Bills defense performed admirably last year given how beat up they were. They will now head into the season with healthy Pro Bowlers Tre’Davious White , Micah Hyde , and Jordan Poyer , which is huge for their secondary. Von Miller is making good progress from his knee surgery and adding Leonard Floyd to help off the edge was a great move. However, they also lost Tremaine Edmunds to Chicago in free agency, which could be a major loss over the middle.

These are all defenses I believe you'll hold for most of the year and start the vast majority of weeks.

Doubt the Patriots at your own risk, but there are some crucial things working against them to start the year. Stud cornerback Jack Jones could be facing discipline from the NFL after a firearms charge, fellow corner Joejuan Williams left in free agency, and New England has a rough schedule to start the season. They might still finish top-10 overall, but it could be a rough start to the year.

The Steelers defense was hurt by the injury to TJ Watt last year, so having him back and healthy makes this a strong unit alone. Yet, Pittsburgh also added cornerback Patrick Peterson and linebacker Cole Holcomb in free agency and drafted Joey Porter Jr. in the first round. We could easily see a Steelers defensive performance of old.

The value of the Chiefs defense often comes thanks to their offense. With opposing teams trying hard to keep up with Patrick Mahomes , the KC defense is able to feast on lots of drop backs and passing opportunities, which leads to sacks and turnovers. Last year, the Chiefs finished eighth in pressure rate and fourth in sacks, but the turnovers weren't there like they have been in years past. This offseason, the team added solid pieces in edge rusher Charles Omenihu , safety Mike Edwards and linebacker Drue Tranquill to remain a solid overall unit.

These are all defenses that I feel could challenge for top 10 status at points during the season; however, they will likely be ones you cycle on and off your roster.

This is a talented Saints defense with Cameron Jordan , Demario Davis , Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye , but they did lose edge rusher Marcus Davenport , linebacker Kaden Elliss , and interior defenders David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle . However, they also signed defensive tackles Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd and used their first two picks on defensive linemen Brian Bresee and Isaiah Foskey , so I still think this could be a strong unit with a really favorable schedule.

The Packers have always had an above-average fantasy defense, finishing last year seventh in pressure rate and 3rd in turnover rate. This offseason, they added solid pieces to the defensive line with Lukas Van Ness , Colby Wooden , and Karl Brooks so I think the sack numbers will tick up to match the pressure rate.

The Commanders have an elite defensive front and get a healthy Chase Young back this season. Even with Young missing a chunk of the season last year, they finished eighth in pressure rate, 10th in sacks, and seventh in the rate of opponents' drives that ended in a score. They drafted solid cornerback Emmanuel Forbes to help shore up the secondary, but this pass rush is what will make this unit go.

There is still talent on this Broncos defense with Patrick Surtain II, Randy Gregory , and Frank Clark , but they now have to play a whole season without Bradley Chubb . That's concerning considering last year they finished 23rd in pressure rate and 21st in sacks last year. Being stingy with points and yards is great, but if you're not getting sacks and turnovers (Broncos finished 20th in turnover rate) then you're not helping fantasy teams much.

The Chargers defense has really underperformed of late given the talent they have, but maybe this is the year they put it together? Adding Eric Kendricks should help a linebacker corps previously led by talented young players like Kenneth Murray . I also really liked Daiyan Henley in this draft and think he can bolster this unit.

Miami made some eye-catching moves by drafting cornerback Cam Smith , signing safety DeShon Elliott , and trading for Jalen Ramsey . Unfortunately, he tore his meniscus in training camp and needed surgery. While he will only miss a few weeks, we don't know how rusty he'll be when he comes back and he's already coming off of a season where he allowed a 98.6 passer rating and was beaten on a few big plays. The biggest knock on Miami was their inconsistent pass rush last year, which ranked 18th in pressure rate and 13th in sacks.

Seattle had some strong young defensive pieces last year, like cornerback Tariq Wooten, which helped them finish 10th in turnover rate and 12th in sacks, but they gave up too many big plays and points. Seattle did make a few solid movies in the offseason by adding defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones, defensive back Julian Love , and drafting the consensus top cornerback in Devon Witherspoon . There remain some holes in the middle of the defense, but this could be a better unit than last year.

A few of these defenses could work their way into regular rotation on your fantasy teams this year, but they carry a bit more risk and I view them more as streamers only going into the season.

The Browns disappointed on defense last year, and the pairing of Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney never quite lived up to expectations. However, Cleveland made a few key moves to strengthen their pass rush this year, signing defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and edge rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and then a trading for edge rusher Za’Darius Smith. They then drafted nose tackle Siaki Ika and edge rusher Isaiah McGuire , but they now need their secondary to step up and take away the big plays.

The Bengals added some good talent in the draft with edge rusher Myles Murphy , cornerback D.J. Turner, and safety Jordan Battle. That's good for a team that finished 12th in pressure rate last year, but they were also 29th in sacks, 12th in turnover rate, and 19th in the rate of opponents' drives that ended in a score. That strikes me as just an average defensive unit for fantasy.

The Lions added key pieces to their secondary in Chauncey Gardner-Johnson , Emmanuel Moseley and Cameron Sutton . Plus they will continue to see growth from last year's stud rookie Aidan Hutchinson , but there is still work to be done on this unit.

Houston showed some promise last year but was consistently put in a bad spot by their offense. They now brought in new head coach DeMeco Ryans , who ran the 49ers' defense over the last two seasons. Ryans and company drafted Alabama defensive lineman Will Anderson with his first pick, and they added Jimmie Ward in free agency. I think this defense will just get better and I could easily see streaming them at timed during the season.

The Rams were a disaster last year with just Aaron Donald to lead the defense, finishing 28th in pressure rate, 22nd in sacks, and 30th in the rate of opponents' drives that ended in a score. Now they will without Leonard Floyd and Jalen Ramsey , and the offense should continue to struggle with Cooper Kupp hurt again and Matthew Stafford on the downside of his career. It's hard to view the Rams as an elite unit anymore.

It's hard to see playing any of these defenses this year.

The Falcons made some big moves on defense this offseason, signing safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackle David Onyemata , then trading with Detroit for former No. 3 overall pick Jeffrey Okudah. Unfortunately, Okudah hurt his ankle in training camp and despite Arthur Smith saying Okudah will be back "in the early part of the season," there is still enough uncertainty there to impact their ranking.

Chicago added the aforementioned linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and less-heralded linebacker T.J. Edwards , but this still feels like a unit that lacks major upside. However, the improvements to the offense and continued growth of Justin Fields could conceivably put the defense is fewer short field situations.