The prevailing thought when selecting a defense for fantasy purposes is to wait until the end of the draft before addressing the position. Stocking up on offensive skill positions first is suggested especially with the move towards “streaming” defenses.
These are a few defenses that finished outside the top-20 last season that have the potential to make a move upward and are definitely “streaming” options throughout the season.
The Jaguars showed an immediate determination to improve their defense by signing defensive end Calais Campbell. who was considered one of the top defensive players in free agency. Coming off an 8-sack season Campbell’s presence immediately improves a young Jacksonville defensive front that now includes Malik Jackson (6.5 sacks), Yannick Ngakoue (8 sacks) and Dante Fowler (4 sacks).
The biggest beneficiary could be Fowler, as offensive lines will have to sell out to try and contain the 6-foot-7, 290-pound Campbell. Fowler has to work on playing more disciplined football and Campbell should play a role in a mentor capacity as well. Look for Jacksonville to easily surpass the 33-sack total the team amassed in 2016. This defensive line getting after the quarterback will also help to bolster what was a woeful secondary last season.
Jacksonville managed just 7 interceptions last season, which was dead last in the league and certainly didn’t help the unit’s fantasy value. They acquired both safety Barry Church and cornerback A.J. Bouye via free agency to address the secondary problems. Bouye graded out very highly according to PFF and will join third-year corner Jalen Ramsey, who had a pair of interceptions and a touchdown last season.
A main reason the Jaguars should take a step up for fantasy purposes is their schedule. In the first seven weeks of the season they face five teams with quarterback issues. In Week 1, they take on a Texans offense led by either Tom Savage or rookie Deshaun Watson. Week 3 brings in a Baltimore team led by Joe Flacco, who has yet to participate in training camp, and Week 4 is a matchup with the Jets, who will have quarterback issues even if they definitively know their starter.
In Weeks 6-7, they face a Jared Goff-led Rams offense and a Colts offense that will hopefully have Andrew Luck under center but will likely still have health questions. In the all-important Weeks 15-16, Jacksonville will face the Texans once again and the 49ers. Those matchups could bring Jaguars D/ST owners a few championship trophies.
We stay in the AFC South, where the Titans will improve defensively for a lot of the reasons mentioned above due to a fantasy-friendly schedule. They get to face Blake Bortles twice and he has been a turnover machine the last two years, with 45 total turnovers. Tennessee will also face the Texans and their shaky quarterback situation twice, as well as the Colts and whatever version of Andrew Luck is on the field.
The Titans also addressed a porous secondary by acquiring cornerback Logan Ryan and safety Johnathan Cyprien via free agency. While Cyprien will help in stopping the running game, Ryan should help to improve a secondary that allowed 269.2 yards per game while also bringing big-play potential. Since 2013, Ryan has posted 13 intercetions along with 3 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. Rookie Adoree’ Jackson out of USC will also have the chance to contribute as quarterbacks look to pick on him as he stands at only 5-10. Jackson has blazing speed and athleticism and put up 5 interceptions for the Trojans in 2016.
The Titans also addressed an already-potent pass rush by signing Erik Walden, who posted a career-high 11 sacks last season. While Walden graded out poorly overall in 2016 according to PFF, he does bring depth as a rotational player that can bring pressure from both the left and right edge. Walden will join edge rushers Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo who combined for 20.5 sacks last season. The Tennessee defense will definitely bring more big-play potential to the 2017 campaign with the chance to surpass the 40 sacks and 12 interceptions the unit put up last year.
The key to the Lions stepping up from a fantasy perspective is really quite simple. Ziggy Ansah will need to enter the season healthy. Ansah suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 1 last season and while he missed only three games he was clearly hampered in the games he did suit up for. After racking up 14.5 sacks in 2015 Ansah would finish with just a pair of sacks last season. The Lions would put up merely 26 sacks for the year; only the Oakland Raiders had fewer, with 25.
With Ansah struggling, offenses took advantage of a Lions defense that couldn’t generate pressure by abusing a pass defense asked to cover players for too long. Detroit would allow 33 touchdown passes. Once again, only one team (Cleveland) was worse, at 36. The Lions aggressively attacked the defensive side of the ball in the draft with six of their nine selections being defenders.
Their top two selections — linebacker Jarrad Davis and cornerback Teez Tabor — will have big roles on the defense. The Lions lacked the athleticism and speed on defense last season to cover tight ends or running backs and were often abused in the short passing game. That is no longer the case, as both Davis and Tabor are solid in coverage, which will lead to big-play opportunities for the youngsters. Second-year defensive end Anthony Zettel has been having a strong training camp and could be the bookend to Ansah that the Lions have lacked.
The injury to Kerry Hyder dampens my hopes for this defense a bit but it is still a young unit on the rise. The schedule is not nearly as friendly to Detroit as the aforementioned AFC South teams but they do get the Bears twice and the Cleveland Browns at home this season.
The Bengals defense is another example of a team that will benefit from players being healthy once again as well as a favorable schedule out of the gate. After struggling with knee, foot, and concussion issues, Vontaze Burfict has entered training camp healthy, which is great news for Cincinnati’s defense. A healthy Burfict brings big play potential as he’s put up 4 interceptions, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble over the past two seasons. Burfict will turn 27 in September and anchors a linebacking corps that brought in Kevin Minter to replace Rey Maualuga.
The defensive line features interior pressure from tackle Geno Atkins, who posted 9 sacks a year ago as well as edge rushers such as Carlos Dunlap and the 21.5 sacks he’s put up in the last two seasons. The Bengals added pass-rushing defensive end Jordan Willis from Kansas State to finally have an edge threat starting opposite Dunlap. The pressure this unit brings will help a secondary that accounted for 13 of the team’s 17 interceptions last year.
The schedule is very friendly to the Bengals early as they face teams with quarterback issues in Baltimore, Houston, and Cleveland. Due to a back issue, Joe Flacco is not expected to play in the preseason and will be making his first start against the Bengals. He’s likely to be at least a little rusty. In their two meetings, last season the Bengals sacked Flacco 5 times and had a pair of interceptions. Meanwhile, Cleveland and Houston are struggling to find their starting quarterbacks and could both end up with rookies under center.
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