Defense/special teams is one of the positions in fantasy football that you simply don’t put a ton of thought into…until it’s time to make a pick!
We do the research here at Pro Football Network to make sure that you can walk into your draft confident that you’re going to build the best fantasy football lineup possible! With that in mind, here are my top 32 DST options for fantasy football in 2023.
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Which DST Should You Draft in Fantasy Football?
Be sure to check out Yates’ other positional rankings: QB | WR | RB | TE | K
1) San Francisco 49ers
2) Buffalo Bills
3) Dallas Cowboys
4) Philadelphia Eagles
5) New England Patriots
6) New York Jets
7) Denver Broncos
8) Baltimore Ravens
9) Kansas City Chiefs
10) Cincinnati Bengals
11) Pittsburgh Steelers
12) Miami Dolphins
13) New Orleans Saints
14) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
15) Washington Commanders
16) Cleveland Browns
17) Los Angeles Chargers
18) Indianapolis Colts
19) Green Bay Packers
20) Los Angeles Rams
21) Jacksonville Jaguars
22) Carolina Panthers
23) New York Giants
24) Tennessee Titans
25) Seattle Seahawks
26) Minnesota Vikings
27) Detroit Lions
28) Arizona Cardinals
29) Chicago Bears
30) Houston Texans
31) Atlanta Falcons
32) Las Vegas Raiders
Top DSTs To Draft in 2023
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles went into the NFL Draft with already one of the best defensive units. Yes, they lost Javon Hargrave in the middle of the defensive line to San Francisco via free agency, but Philadelphia is still loaded across the board.
Nolan Smith did this against a tackle from Ohio State who stands at 6’8” 374 lbs. 😳
The potential for Smith is sky high ⏫pic.twitter.com/c5PjylRecp
— DIE-HARD 🦅 Fans (@Eaglesfans9)
Yet, they still added Jalen Carter (arguably the best prospect in the draft without considering his off-the-field woes), and Nolan Smith, who could be a top-10 edge rusher in the league within two to three years. This defense is special, and they’re going to rack up fantasy points in 2023.
Washington Commanders
Once you’re outside of the top-10 DST options in fantasy football drafts, your attention should turn to streaming the position. Washington — who has an incredible defensive line — gets to go up against the Arizona Cardinals offense in Week 1.
Arizona’s offense will either be starting Joshua Dobbs, who was just acquired a week ago, or rookie QB Clayton Tune. There’s a solid chance that Washington finishes the week as the DST1 overall.