We are now in the fourth 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 4 DEF rankings.
Top 32 Fantasy Defense Rankings
1) San Francisco 49ers (vs. NE)
2) New York Jets (vs. DEN)
3) Tennessee Titans (at MIA)
4) Dallas Cowboys (at NYG)
5) Kansas City Chiefs (at LAC)
6) Pittsburgh Steelers (at IND)
7) Las Vegas Raiders (vs. CLE)
8) Cleveland Browns (at LV)
9) Chicago Bears (vs. LAR)
10) Houston Texans (vs. JAX)
11) Miami Dolphins (vs. TEN)
12) Indianapolis Colts (vs. PIT)
13) Baltimore Ravens (vs. BUF)
14) Seattle Seahawks (at DET)
15) New Orleans Saints (at ATL)
16) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. PHI)
17) Cincinnati Bengals (at CAR)
18) Minnesota Vikings (at GB)
19) Buffalo Bills (at BAL)
20) Atlanta Falcons (vs. NO)
21) Arizona Cardinals (vs. WAS)
22) Philadelphia Eagles (at TB)
23) Los Angeles Rams (at CHI)
24) Detroit Lions (vs. SEA)
25) Green Bay Packers (vs. MIN)
26) Denver Broncos (at NYJ)
27) Jacksonville Jaguars (at HOU)
28) New England Patriots (at SF)
29) Los Angeles Chargers (vs. KC)
30) New York Giants (vs. DAL)
31) Carolina Panthers (vs. CIN)
32) Washington Commanders (at ARI)
The Top Defenses To Start in Week 4
Houston Texans (vs. JAX)
Remember, there is no such thing as a good defense. There is only bad offense. When choosing a fantasy defense, we care far more about the ineptitude of the opposing offense than the actual caliber of the defense we are starting.
The Texans are not a bad defense. But as we saw last week, they are not going to hold up against a good offense. Well, it doesn’t get much easier than getting to face Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars look like a defeated team. Doug Pederson has emerged as the favorite for the first coach to be fired. Therefore, it is not much of a surprise that the Jaguars have been the sixth-most advantageous matchup for opposing defenses in fantasy.
We saw the Texans at home against a team with poor quarterback play two weeks ago. They were one of the highest-scoring Week 2 defenses, picking apart Caleb Williams and the Bears’ turnstyle offensive line.
The Texans have 13 sacks and three interceptions this season. Lawrence has taken at least three sacks every game. The Jaguars have scored 17, 13, and 10 points in Weeks 1-3, respectively. This is as good of a matchup as it gets.
Las Vegas Raiders (vs. CLE)
I know. You started the Raiders against the Panthers last week because you didn’t believe Andy Dalton was going to come off the bench at 36 years old and become Peyton Manning reincarnated.
It was a perfect storm of unfortunate events with the Raiders coming off a huge upset victory over the Ravens and the Panthers being motivated by the QB change. This Raiders defense isn’t that bad.
As bad as it seems to get torched by Dalton, we still need to attack weak offenses. Even at his current age, Dalton is still vastly superior to the quarterback the Raiders get to feast on this week.
Deshaun Watson has been the worst quarterback in the NFL this season by a number of metrics. It’s been a long time since Watson resembled a capable NFL starter. The only reason he hasn’t gotten benched is because that would entail the Browns admitting they made a franchise-crippling mistake.
Remember the running joke of the sheer volume of Browns quarterbacks we’ve seen since the year 2000? There are so many that it’s a legitimate challenge to name them all. What if I told you that, through three weeks, Watson was the worst one?
Deshaun Watson's EPA per dropback in Weeks 1-3 is the worst for any Browns (!!) quarterback to start a season since at least 2000. pic.twitter.com/Y3lEuku4db
— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) September 23, 2024
The Browns have been the fourth-best matchup for opposing fantasy defenses. Fire up any defense facing Watson for as long as he remains the starter.