Fantazzle Fantasy Football Games - 2009 Defense/Special Teams Rankings

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Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams – Overall
I’m actually one of those guys who think that Defense/Special Teams (ST) should not be overlooked. It all depends on your league’s point system. If you have a pretty standard point system, then its not as important, but if you use a point system where points allowed are a big factor, then I usually focus on them in the early teens. This year is a little different because I feel there are a lot of defenses out there that drafters are sleeping on and you can get really late. So I have basically been drafting Def/STs like most fantasy football players given the depth.

I recommend that you either get an elite Def/ST (Tier 1 or T1) or you get two Tier 2/3 if you have enough bench spots to do so. I’d usually rather have two Def/ST than two TEs given the trash you usually end up with for that second tight end and how big matchups can be for Def/ST. Its easier to play matchups for Def/ST than any other position out there especially if you are a casual player. Are you going to spend time figuring out how the Panthers defend against a #2 WR playing in a west coast offense? If so, thats great and you may not want two Def/ST. But what about if you have the NYJ who are playing NE and GB who plays Detroit. I think its an obvious situation there that you can exploit having two choices.

Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams Scoring
Standard. 6pts TD; 1pt sack; 2pts INT; 2pts Fumble Recovery; 2pts Safety;

10pts Shutout; 7pts 2-6 pts allowed; 4pts 7 to-13 pts allowed; 1pt 14-17 pts allowed; 0pts 18-21 pts allowed; -3pts 22-27 pts allowed; -5pts over 28 pts allowed

TIER 1 Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams
1 Baltimore Ravens - Full disclosure: I’m a Ravens fan. I still love their playmaking abilities.
2 Pittsburgh Steelers
3 Minnesota Vikings - Great Def/ST for leagues that have a focus on points allowed.
4 San Diego Chargers – Sleeper pick. They were so bad last year, drafters are forgetting that injuries were the reason.

TIER 2 Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams
5 New York Giants – Another good Def/ST for points allowed leagues.
6 Tennessee Titans – Going to be much worse w/out Haynesworth.
7 Washington Redskins – Going to be much better w/ Haynesworth.
8 Philadelphia Eagles – Dawkins will be missed.

TIER 3 Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams
9 Green Bay Packers – Raji’s injury scares me, but they should be much better this year against the run.
10 New York Jets – I see a lot of low scoring games for the Jets under Rex Ryan.
11 Chicago Bears – Overrated especially w/out Devin Hester returning kicks. Ridiculous…

TIER 4 Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams
12 Dallas Cowboys – Very disappointing last year and not sure they did much to improve.
13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – TB has always been a top 10 defense…so I could be off on this projection.
14 Miami Dolphins
15 Arizona Cardinals
16 Atlanta Falcons – They got a great D, but they are too vanilla for fantasy football.
17 Carolina Panthers – See Atlanta.
18 Indianapolis Colts – If Bob Sanders is healthy all year, this ranking will be wrong.
19 Jacksonville Jaguars – Getting old plus they are a bad defense in fantasy football.
20 New England Patriots

Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams – Conclusion
I think I have San Diego in every league I’m in this year. Its crazy how much they have dropped. Last year they were ~20th. 2007, they were #1 and 2006 they were #4. They should be back at those levels. I think Albert Haynesworth is such a huge difference maker that Tennessee backers will be disappointed and Washington backers will be pleasantly surprised. The Redskins are a great sleeper pick along with Green Bay who will be much improved against the run (which was their only weakness last year).

Take care,

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