We are now in the second week of the fantasy football season. As always, it is crucial to know what players are the preferable starts. Taking player talent, performance, and matchup into account, here are my Week 2 DEF rankings.
Top 32 Fantasy Defense Rankings
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1) Dallas Cowboys (vs. NO)
2) Baltimore Ravens (vs. LV)
3) San Francisco 49ers (at MIN)
4) Pittsburgh Steelers (at DEN)
5) Los Angeles Chargers (at CAR)
6) New York Jets (at TEN)
7) Cleveland Browns (at JAX)
8) Seattle Seahawks (at NE)
9) Philadelphia Eagles (vs. ATL)
10) Indianapolis Colts (at GB)
11) Houston Texans (vs. CHI)
12) New England Patriots (vs. SEA)
13) Kansas City Chiefs (vs. CIN)
14) Chicago Bears (at HOU)
15) Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. CLE)
16) Atlanta Falcons (at PHI)
17) Washington Commanders (vs. NYG)
18) Denver Broncos (vs. PIT)
19) Green Bay Packers (vs. IND)
20) New Orleans Saints (at DAL)
21) Tennessee Titans (vs. NYJ)
22) Buffalo Bills (at MIA)
23) New York Giants (at WAS)
24) Detroit Lions (vs. TB)
25) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at DET)
26) Miami Dolphins (vs. BUF)
27) Cincinnati Bengals (at KC)
28) Minnesota Vikings (vs. SF)
29) Los Angeles Rams (at ARI)
30) Las Vegas Raiders (at BAL)
31) Carolina Panthers (vs. LAC)
32) Arizona Cardinals (vs. LAR)
The Top Defenses To Start in Week 2
Houston Texans (vs. CHI)
We definitely don’t want to read too much into what happened in Week 1. There were historically low levels of offense. We should expect much more scoring in Week 2.
At the same time, we can read into individual player performance. There were several quarterbacks who struggled mightily. Arguably no one was worse than No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams.
Now, this is not to say Williams is going to be a bust or anything like that. He will probably be fine. It just make take some time. While Williams figures out that NFL defenses are much smarter and much faster than college defenses, fantasy managers should look to start defenses against him.
It’s a minor miracle that Williams wasn’t intercepted last week. He somehow also only took two sacks. Williams also completed a mere 14 passes for 93 yards. It was about as poor of a debut as he could’ve had, aside from the fact that the Chicago Bears won the game.
The Houston Texans were able to sack Anthony Richardson twice and pick him off once. On Sunday night, Williams could be in for a tough evening as a road underdog.
Indianapolis Colts (at GB)
The Indianapolis Colts do not exactly have a great defense. They are coming off a game in which they scored 27 points and lost because their defense couldn’t drop C.J. Stroud and the Texans. Well, Week 2 is a whole different ball game.
The Colts are on the road, which is not ideal. But they get a Green Bay Packers team that will be without Jordan Love.
The Packers are going to start Malik Willis for what I imagine will be the first and only time this season. There are 96 quarterbacks on NFL rosters (including emergency third QBs). I would rank Willis 97th. It truly blows my mind that he is on an NFL roster, let alone starting a football game that counts.
The Colts should be able to control this game. If they get a lead and Willis has to throw, we could see a medley of sacks and turnovers. It could get ugly.
Willis has started three games in his career. He’s thrown a total of 67 passes. His next touchdown pass will be his first. I don’t think it comes this week (or ever). Fire up the Colts with confidence.