September 29, 2016

Bill's fantasy football rankings for Week 4 defenses (DEF) -- streamers, starts, sits and D/ST waiver wire pickups to add. His Week 4 (2016) tiers and ranks for all NFL defenses.

Below are RotoBaller's Week 4 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target at the end of your 2016 drafts for Week 4 of the NFL and fantasy football season. Our tiered defense rankings are your guide to drafting defenses, making waiver wire pickups/adds to improve your lineups, and to decide which defenses to start, sit, target, avoid or stream for Week 4.

Starting the right defense every week can be a difference-maker, so we have broken out our defense rankings into tiers with analysis on each matchup. Some of these Week 4 defenses have good matchups and are not widely owned, representing fantasy scoring opportunities if they are available on your league's waiver wire for a Week 4 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 4, RotoBallers!

Editor's Note: Be sure to check out FantasyAces DFS contests for Week 4. New users that sign up on Fantasy Aces and make a $20 deposit will receive RotoBaller's full season NFL Premium Pass for free (including Premium DFS), normally a $59.99 value. Expert DFS research, sample lineups, matchup ratings and lots more!

Week 4 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

Tier 1 Defenses

1. Denver Broncos (@ TB)
2. Houston Texans (vs. TEN)
3. Arizona Cardinals (vs. LA)
4. Cincinnati Bengals (vs. MIA)
5. Minnesota Vikings (vs. NYG)
6. Seattle Seahawks (@ NYJ)

The Broncos are the pretty clear top choice for me this week, as they'll visit Jameis Winston and the Doug Martin-less Buccaneers. Winston has already turned the ball over eight times in three games, and the Broncos aren't going to have trouble getting pressure on him.

I'll take this opportunity to apologize directly to the Minnesota Vikings and all those who support them. I have not given them anywhere near enough respect in my rankings to this point, and they certainly showed me last week. This DST leads the NFL in sacks (15), fumble recoveries (four), touchdowns (three) and is tied for second in interceptions (five). The Giants present a challenge on Monday night with both Sterling Shepard and Odell Beckham, Jr. firing on all cylinders, but I'll take the Vikings in primetime.

 
 
Tier 2 Defenses

7. New England Patriots (vs. BUF)
8. Carolina Panthers (@ ATL)
9. New York Giants (@ MIN)
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. DEN)
11. Buffalo Bills (@ NE)

The Panthers have uncharacteristically allowed at least 20 points in every game so far this season, but I actually like their chances against the Falcons offense. This falls under my "start your studs" mantra, but I understand anyone's trepidation considering the Falcons are the number one offense through three weeks. Matt Ryan had almost no success against the Panthers last year (just one TD in two games), and I see that continuing as he faces a pissed-off Carolina front seven.

So which Buffalo Bills defense is the real deal? The one that was reamed by Ryan PickSixTrick on Thursday night in Week 2, or the one that put an absolute hurting on Carson Palmer in Week 3? I'm leaning towards the latter, as the Bills have now looked great on defense in two out of three weeks (13 PA, four sacks in Week 1 @ BAL). They'll get either Jimmy Garropolo or Jacoby Brissett on Sunday at Gillette, and while I don't see the Bills pulling out a victory here I could see it being a 17-13 battle that produces some good DST numbers.

 
 
Tier 3 Defenses

12. Washington Redskins (vs. CLE)
13. Baltimore Ravens (vs. OAK)
14. Oakland Raiders (@ BAL)
15. Detroit Lions (@ CHI)
16. Indianapolis Colts (@ JAX)

I, like many others, was drawn in by the Dolphins' alluring matchup against the Browns last week, and like many others I was marginally disappointed. But oh boy, Terrelle Pryor had other ideas. Nobody ever accused me of being smart, and I'm certainly not learning my lessons. Stream against the Browns, I say! Stream away! Go Washington!

The Colts ranking has everything to do with Blake Bortles' penchant for turnovers. Combine that with the presumed shoddiness that accompanies many London games and the Colts make for a pretty solid streaming option. As long as Indianapolis manages to contain Allen Robinson, I think they'll come away with stream-worthy production.

 
 
Tier 4 Defenses

17. New York Jets (vs. SEA)
18. Kansas City Chiefs (@ PIT)
19. Miami Dolphins (@ CIN)
20. Los Angeles Rams (@ ARI)
21. Dallas Cowboys (@SF)

I don't buy the Chiefs as a top-flight defense despite last week's mauling of Ryan PickSixTrick (that's right Ryan, I'm using that exclusively now in my articles). They've only managed three total sacks through the first three games, and they now have to deal with a returning Le'Veon Bell and a vengeful Ben Roethlisberger. I'm keeping the Chiefs on the bench this week and monitoring them for the upcoming week.

The Dolphins could make for a sneaky deep-league sleeper this week against the Bengals. Cincinnati is currently tied for the league lead in sacks allowed (12) and the Dolphins have had no problem getting pressure on the quarterback so far (nine sacks through three games). Toss in the "Thursday Night Football" hoodoo and this could be a low-scoring schlockfest that benefits both DSTs.