Posted on September 2nd, 2008Top Fantasy Defenses & Special Teams
We are only ranking 12 teams because most leagues consist of 10-12 teams and I do not advocate drafting a backup defense. With that being said, these rankings assume that there are points awarded for teams special teams. If your league does not include special team stats, please feel free to remove Chicago from the 3 spot and put them at 12. (Yes, I feel Devin Hester is that good.)
Fantasy Defenses & Special Teams Rankings for 2008:
1. Minnesota
2. San Diego
3. Chicago
4. Pittsburgh
5. New England
6. Indy
7. Jacksonville
8. Dallas
9. NY Giants
10. Baltimore
11. Tampa Bay
12. Seattle
Sleeper:
There is no question that Minnesota should have a dominating defense this year but the sleeper award will go to Jacksonville. I almost picked the Jets but I remember years ago when the Redskins signed multiple stars on the defense (D. Sanders, B. Smith, etc). It takes a great defense at least a year to gel so I'm going with a team with a bit more consistency. Led by their fiery coach Jack Del Rio, this unit manages to be a top 10 defense every year, and figures to get better with early picks Quentin Groves and Derrick Harvey. As for special teams, I like any team with Jones-Drew returning kickoffs and Northcutt returning punts.
Bust:
With the retirement of Strahan and the injury to Osi, the free agent departures of Mitchell and Wilson, you have to figure the Giants will be hurting. But it's really not the players that made this defense so special at the end of the year as much as it was having the best defensive coordinator in the league, Steve Spagnuolo. Therefore, I suspect New York will still have one of the better defenses in the league. New England, however, is due for a slide. All this team seems to do is load up on offensive players and lose defensive players. Their front line is in their prime, led by Richard Seymour. The linebacking crew is all 30+ and if not for the 1st round gift from S.F. this year, they'd have the oldest linebacking group in the league: Adalius Thomas is 31, Mike Vrabel is 33, Teddy Bruschi is 35. Junior Seau has retired (finally) and Victor Hobson was just cut. That means the first round pick from S.F., Jarod Mayo, is looking like the starter. As for the secondary, all they do is lose guys via free agency - Ty Law, Asante Samuel, etc. and even when they bring in a new guy via free agency, John Lynch, he's let go a short time later. The secondary is currently led by soon to be 37 year old Rodney Harrison. I believe age and annual loss of talent will show more this year than any other for this once great defense.
