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Matt's top team defense (D/ST) fantasy football starts for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Follow these fantasy football D/ST starts when setting lineups and win more.
Kickoff of the 2025 NFL season is just days away, which means it's time to put the finishing touches on your fantasy football rosters!
RotoBaller analyst Matt Donnelly drops his MUST START D/ST units for Week 1 of the season. Get these dynamic defenses in your lineups now! Win MORE in 2025 with RotoBaller!
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Week 1 D/ST Fantasy Football Must Starts
Matt Donnelly drops his top Defenses for Week 1 of the 2025 fantasy football season:
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Defense (D/ST) Fantasy Football Rankings
You can also check out our team's full fantasy football D/ST rankings below:
| D/ST Tier | D/ST Rank | D/ST Name | Position |
| 1 | 1 | Denver Broncos | DST |
| 1 | 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | DST |
| 1 | 3 | Baltimore Ravens | DST |
| 1 | 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | DST |
| 2 | 5 | San Francisco 49ers | DST |
| 2 | 6 | Minnesota Vikings | DST |
| 3 | 7 | Kansas City Chiefs | DST |
| 3 | 8 | Buffalo Bills | DST |
| 3 | 9 | Los Angeles Chargers | DST |
| 3 | 10 | Houston Texans | DST |
| 4 | 11 | Detroit Lions | DST |
| 4 | 12 | Dallas Cowboys | DST |
| 4 | 13 | New York Giants | DST |
| 4 | 14 | Seattle Seahawks | DST |
| 4 | 15 | New York Jets | DST |
| 5 | 16 | Cleveland Browns | DST |
| 5 | 17 | Los Angeles Rams | DST |
| 5 | 18 | New England Patriots | DST |
| 5 | 19 | Chicago Bears | DST |
| 5 | 20 | Green Bay Packers | DST |
| 5 | 21 | Indianapolis Colts | DST |
| 5 | 22 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | DST |
| 6 | 23 | Arizona Cardinals | DST |
| 6 | 24 | Atlanta Falcons | DST |
| 6 | 25 | Washington Commanders | DST |
| 6 | 26 | Carolina Panthers | DST |
| 6 | 27 | Las Vegas Raiders | DST |
| 7 | 28 | Jacksonville Jaguars | DST |
| 7 | 29 | Cincinnati Bengals | DST |
| 7 | 30 | New Orleans Saints | DST |
| 7 | 31 | Miami Dolphins | DST |
| 7 | 32 | Tennessee Titans | DST |
Who Should I Draft Tool
Use this free tool to compare team defenses against each other, or other players drafted in similar places. You can also see the Who Should I Draft tool here.
2025 Player Decisions. Today's focus in on specific team defenses like Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers. These are some common searches for 2025 fantasy football drafts.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to draft...
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections and more.
Recent Improvements For Who Should I Draft? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Draft? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your 2025 fantasy football drafts. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research, and update it constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players that are ranked.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2025? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our for team defenses:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
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