Defenses are often overlooked in fantasy football drafts, and for good reason. There’s very little year-to-year predictability, and you can stream the position. That is absolutely the strategy you should implement. And you don’t have to wait until Week 1 to stream your defense. You can draft it.
Since the most critical factor in a good fantasy defense is the caliber, or lack thereof, of the opposing offense, we want to target defenses with favorable matchups. During your fantasy drafts, the best defenses to draft are the ones with strong early-season matchups. Here are the defenses I am targeting in my fantasy leagues that still have the position.
Which Defenses Offer the Best Early-Season Matchups for Fantasy Football 2025?
When I started playing fantasy football, I thought drafting a good defense was the way to go. But after a few seasons, I learned that fantasy points on defense have more to do with bad offenses than good defenses.
Sure, it’s better to have a strong defense than a weak one. But the most important thing is who they’re playing. A bad defense against a weak offense is usually a better fantasy play than a top defense against a potent offense.
We’re usually not great at predicting which defenses will finish at the top. The best ones often come off the waiver wire. That’s why the only thing I focus on when drafting a defense is the early-season schedule.
Ideally, you want multiple matchups against struggling or rookie quarterbacks. Here are the defenses you should be targeting in drafts this year.
1) Denver Broncos
(vs. TEN, at IND)
I almost left the Denver Broncos off this list. The goal here is to avoid paying up for defenses. You should never draft one before the last two rounds of a snake draft or spend more than $1 in an auction.
That said, the Broncos were the No. 1 fantasy defense last year — by a good margin. They averaged 1.2 points per game more than the next-best unit. That’s a big gap in fantasy terms. There’s always someone in your league who overpays for a top defense based on last year’s stats.
Pat Surtain bait & sink on a smash concept out of Tampa 2 pic.twitter.com/4ilFCI9aOg
— Football Digest (@FoootballDigest) July 6, 2025
But if the Broncos fall to you at the right price, they offer the best possible start. They open at home against rookie QB Cam Ward, who will be making his first career start on a Titans team expected to be near the bottom of the league. Then they hit the road to face either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. I expect Denver to be the top fantasy defense heading into Week 3.
2) Miami Dolphins
(at IND, vs. NE)
The Miami Dolphins weren’t a bad defense last year, even if they don’t have the fantasy reputation of a top-tier unit. They finished seventh in total defensive EPA.
This season, they start with the same shaky quarterback combo mentioned above in Indy. Then they face Drake Maye and the Patriots. Maye could be fun to watch, but the Pats still don’t have many weapons on offense.
Looking ahead, if you can stomach a likely dud in Week 3 at Buffalo, Miami becomes a great option again in Weeks 4 and 5 — against the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. They’re usable in four of the first five weeks.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers
(at NYJ, vs. SEA, at NE)
The Pittsburgh Steelers land at No. 3 primarily because of the Week 2 game against Seattle, which isn’t a great matchup. Still, they’ll be at home, and I think they’ll cause problems for Sam Darnold.
They open against last year’s starter, Justin Fields, now in New York. Fields might still put up fantasy points, but he could also give the ball away. In Week 3, they face Maye and New England.
Like the Broncos, the Steelers are a legitimately good defense. That means they could be more expensive than you’d like in drafts.
Every T.J. Watt pressure (54), sack (11.5) and run stuff (15) from the 2024 NFL season. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/m04ytBASkg
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) July 18, 2025
The matchups aren’t quite as soft as Denver or Miami, but the Steelers could still be a top-tier unit early. They’re a safe pick for the first three weeks before you may need to pivot.
4) Arizona Cardinals
(at NO, vs. CAR)
I think the Panthers will be better this year. Bryce Young looked more comfortable after being benched, and the team added Tetairoa McMillan to give him a true WR1. Still, Carolina isn’t exactly scary.
As for Week 1, here’s a little preview for our upcoming streaming column: we’re going to be targeting the Saints.
New Orleans’ quarterback room includes 26-year-old second-round rookie Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener. They don’t have any prime-time games this year — a pretty clear sign that expectations are low.
The Arizona Cardinals’ defense wasn’t very good last year, but as we’ve said, that’s not a huge deal when the opposing offense is worse. The Cardinals can give you two useful weeks right out of the gate.
5) San Francisco 49ers
(at SEA, at NO, vs. ARI, vs. JAX)
We are merely two years removed from the San Francisco 49ers being one of the best defenses in the NFL. Last season was a disaster with injuries running rampant across the team. It essentially torpedoed their season.
Despite ranking 26th in PFSN’s 2025 defense rankings, “there are certainly pieces in place to return this team to average, if not better, on this side of the ball.”
San Francisco gets to open on the road against the Seahawks, who will be debuting Sam Darnold, who took 48 sacks last season. After that, they get a road game against what many expect to be the worst offense in football.
They follow that up with consecutive home games against Kyler Murray and Trevor Lawrence. Those aren’t the best matchups, but both quarterbacks have been prone to mistakes in the past. You can certainly do worse than gambling on the 49ers to have a resurgence in 2025.
6) New England Patriots
(vs. LV, at MIA, vs. PIT, vs. CAR)
It’s a new era in New England. Mike Vrabel takes over as head coach, bringing a defensive background. This should be a much-improved New England Patriots team and one that makes fewer mistakes.
As a caveat, the Patriots rank No. 30 in our defense rankings. So, this is certainly one of the riskier propositions. But they do have a relatively favorable slate to open the season.
The Raiders will be better under Geno Smith and Pete Carroll, but this still projects to be a bottom-half offense, and it’s their first game under their new regime.
The Dolphins have one of the league’s worst offensive lines, which gives the Patriots a decent sack floor.
MORE: Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
The Steelers are starting a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers and are not a high-powered offense. While the Patriots are unlikely to fill up the stat sheet in this one, they probably won’t give up a bunch of points.
By Week 4, we’ll have a good idea as to whether the Panthers are taking a step forward. Either they have and you don’t start the Patriots, or they haven’t and we get to attack a struggling Bryce Young.
