Defenses (DEF) to Start in Week 2: Fantasy Tiers & Rankings

Aroldis analyzes which defenses (DEF) to sit or start, and provides his Week 2 rankings and tiers for all of the NFL defenses. Starting the right defense in fantasy football can be a game changer.

For those of you fantasy owners out there who are streaming defenses, RotoBaller has got you covered with around-the-league analysis of the Week 2 matchups.  Week 2 is the beginning stretch of the regular season, so you’ve got to stay on top of the matchups for that early season push!

Throughout the season I want to concentrate on teams that fantasy managers will be able to claim off of waivers or grab from the free agency pool, so I'll be skipping over some of the obvious choices.

Editor’s Note: if you're looking to improve those rosters, our fantasy football waiver wire pickups list is a daily updated running list of waiver adds and analysis for all NFL positions.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
• Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Week 2 Defenses: Tiers & Rankings

Tier 1: Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints

The Saints are one of the most underrated defenses in the league this year with Rob Ryan's scheme gaining momentum in his second year, and with the Browns offense still in flux this looks like a good bet.

The Houston Texans are coming off a game against Washington in which they only gave up six points, but it against Washington. I expect more of the same this week against Oakland, and even though Clowney's injury certainly hurts their defensive line, look for the Texans to take advantage of the rookie QB and perpetual mediocrity of Oakland.

Tier 2: Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers 

Tier two is a mixed group of teams with potential upside, and just good match-ups. In Tampa Bay's case, it's a little bit of both. They're slightly underrated in my opinion, and they're going up against the St. Louis Rams this week who didn't do a whole lot against a lackluster Vikings defense in week one.

The Jaguars are playing against Washington, who's still trying to figure out their identity. Jacksonville looked pretty damned good in the first half against the high-flying Eagles, showing some upside. On the flip side, Washington is a decent play this week as well against the lowly Jaguars.

Even though Pittsburgh is coming off a game in which they let up entirely too much yardage against a division foe in Cleveland, they match up extremely well against the Baltimore Ravens who look to be struggling to find their offensive identity as well.

Rounding out the second tier, Green Bay going up against the New York Jets looks to be another juicy match-up if Geno Smith continues his rookie trend of bi-polar weekly performances. The Packers are coming off a game in which they gave up 36 points to the defending champion Seahawks, and will look to rebound in a big way against a much weaker offensive opponent.

Tier 3: San Francisco, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders

San Francisco just keeps on taking hits to their defense, losing Chris Culliver to a concussion in Sunday's contest against the Cowboys, and their match-up against the Bears isn't all that enticing.

The Ravens are going up against divisional foe's in the Steelers, but after Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell's huge game against another divisional defensive team in Cleveland, I'm not all that keen on bashing on the Steelers offense. Detroit's match-up against Carolina isn't all that appealing, but with Cam's rib injury keeping him out of week one, he may not be at 100% for the game against the Lions.

Suh & Co. should be able to disrupt a hindered Cam if the run threat is compromised. Tennessee will face the Dallas offense of which much was made of new coordinator Scott Linehan, but Romo looked lost against the Niners. These struggles may continue for the first few weeks of the season, and if they do it could be the recipe for a juicy defensive match-up.

Miami and Buffalo face each other in week two, and despite the Dolphins high offensive output against the Patriots, I expect somewhat of a defensive battle in this one with both teams struggling offensively. The Raiders are up against Houston this week who looked better than I expected in week one, but it was against Washington.

Tier 4: Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys

The fourth tier is for deeper leagues, or fantasy managers who are starting to get desperate. Cleveland will face Drew Brees and the Saints, and while the Browns may have the secondary to do well against them, I wouldn't count on a low scoring game from New Orleans.

Chicago will take on the 49ers who quadrupled their offensive production from the entire preseason in week one, expect this one to be a shootout. Carson Palmer still has what it takes to shred the Giants revamped secondary with the Cardinal's offensive weapons in their showdown.

Philadelphia will find themselves in another high scoring affair against Andrew Luck and the Colts who will look to bounce back from a weak showing against the Broncos. Chip Kelly will be able to exploit weaknesses discovered by Peyton Manning, only emphasized by the fast-paced Eagle offense.

The Falcons, coming off a thrilling overtime victory over the division rival Saints, find themselves up against Hue Jackson's new look Bengal's offense. While they only scored one touchdown in week one, they were moving the ball and consistently getting first downs throughout the game. The Cowboys look to be one of the league's worst defensive teams once again, and playing on the road against Jake Locker and the Titan's underrated receiving core doesn't bode well for fantasy purposes.

Tier 5: New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers

As we reach the bottom of the barrel, we see a common denominator here, going up against dominance. The New York Jets face off against Aaron Rodgers and the Packer's offense, and will get picked apart with their secondary being their biggest weakness.

Alex Smith's counterpart will be Peyton Manning in Denver. The Vikings play the New England Patriots with a healthy Gronk. And the Chargers go up against the dominance of the defending super bowl champs. These are only options in very deep leagues, or where every other team is hoarding two or more defenses.