November 10, 2016

Bill's fantasy football rankings for Week 10 defenses (DEF) -- streamers, starts, sits and D/ST waiver wire pickups to add. His Week 10 (2016) tiers and ranks for all NFL defenses.

Editor's Note: Through eight weeks, Bill is the second-ranked expert overall for DST on FantasyPros.com, so you know you can trust him. This man has been nailing his defenses!

Below are RotoBaller's Week 10 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target at the end of your 2016 drafts for Week 10 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 10.

Any and all _____ or ______ questions can be answered by the rankings--whoever I have ranked higher is who I would start. 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 10 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 10 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 10, RotoBallers!

Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 10 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

Week 10 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

Teams on bye: Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Indianapolis Colts

Tier 1 Defenses

1. Kansas City Chiefs (@ CAR)
2. San Diego Chargers (vs. MIA)
3. Arizona Cardinals (vs. SF)
4. Minnesota Vikings (@ WAS)

I struggled mightily with this tier, but ultimately I gave the top spot to the Chiefs thanks to a matchup against the Panthers, who are currently tied for second in the NFL in giveaways. The Kansas City pass rush has been subpar for most of the season, but the ball-hawking secondary simply makes turnovers happen. It's a fool's errand to try and predict defensive touchdowns, but I could definitely see someone taking one back for six in this matchup.

The Cardinals DST has been a bit lackluster over the last few weeks, but with an extra week to prepare and a matchup at home against the still-bad 49ers on deck, I'm putting my faith in Arizona. The loss of Tyrann Mathieu will be felt for sure, but this is too good a matchup to ignore.

Tier 2 Defenses

5. Baltimore Ravens (vs. CLE)
6. Carolina Panthers (vs. KC)
7. Philadelphia Eagles (vs. ATL)
8. Denver Broncos (@ NO)
9. Seattle Seahawks (@ NE)

The Panthers backed up their ridiculous outing against the Cardinals with another rock-solid effort against the Rams in Week 9. With 12 sacks in the last two weeks, I'm a believer. There's no telling whether or not the Chiefs will be at full strength on offense (Alex Smith should be back but no firm word on Spencer Ware yet), so I think the Panthers will continue to roll in Week 10.

There are a lot of top defenses in the second tier this week, mostly because they all have brutal matchups. The Broncos have to journey to the Superdome and try to slow down the seemingly-unstoppable Saints offense, which is one of the tallest orders in the NFL. The Seahawks might have THE tallest order in the NFL, as they'll have to stop Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Gillette Stadium. I would argue that neither defense should ever be benched, but this is the week to consider it for both.

Tier 3 Defenses

10. Washington Redskins (vs. MIN)
11. Chicago Bears (@ TB)
12. Houston Texans (@ JAX)
13. Los Angeles Rams (@ NYJ)
14. Atlanta Falcons (@ PHI)

The Redskins will have had an extra week to figure out ways to steamroll the Vikings godawful o-line, and considering they had at least three sacks in each of the last four weeks before their Week 9 bye there is a ton of fantasy upside to be had. There is very little risk here--the Redskins should be the top streaming option this week.

The Falcons DST has been a walking, talking, tackling conundrum in the last month. They've had three or more sacks in each of the last three weeks, but they've also given up at least 28 points in each game. The Eagles offense has floundered since Carson Wentz's red-hot start, and the rookie is actually turning the ball over at a pretty healthy clip, so I have faith in the Falcons to post a usable fantasy score in Week 10.

Tier 4 Defenses

15. New England Patriots (vs. SEA)
16. New York Jets (vs. LA)
17. New York Giants (vs. CIN)
18. Miami Dolphins (@ SD)
19. Cincinnati Bengals (@ NYG)
20. Green Bay Packers (@ TEN)