December 13, 2016

Bill's fantasy football rankings for Week 15 defenses (DEF) -- streamers, starts, sits and D/ST waiver wire pickups to add. His Week 15 (2016) tiers and ranks for all NFL defenses.

Are you still alive, RotoBallers? Below are our Week 15 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target at the end of your 2016 drafts for Week 15 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 15.

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 15 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 15 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 15, RotoBallers!

Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 15 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

Week 15 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

Tier 1 Defenses

1. Seattle Seahawks (vs. LA)
2. Minnesota Vikings (vs. IND)
3. Baltimore Ravens (vs. PHI)
4. Miami Dolphins (@ NYJ)

The Dolphins are the only unusual name in the top tier for Week 15, and it's entirely due to their matchup against the lowly Jets. Bryce Petty looked...well, "serviceable" is a strong word, but he managed to gain some yards against the 49ers. The Dolphins are a much more capable defense than the 49ers, so there should be turnovers a-plenty. They've forced 16 turnovers in their last seven games, so they're a no-brainer stream against the Jets.

Tier 2 Defenses

5. Buffalo Bills (vs. CLE)
6. Kansas City Chiefs (vs. TEN)
7. Philadelphia Eagles (vs. BAL)
8. Atlanta Falcons (vs. SF)
9. Denver Broncos (vs. NE)

The far-out forecast for the Bills/Browns game next week looks pretty crappy. The Browns under RG3 didn't look any better than their previous iterations, and in what will likely be a 10-3 clunker the Bills should get some gift turnovers. Add that to the fact that the Browns lead the leagues in sacks allowed and you've got a terrific streaming option for the playoffs.

The Patriots are one of maybe five teams that would keep the Broncos out of the top tier. This is one matchup where you have to think long and hard about streaming another team if you want to keep your season alive. At this point in the season you might be hard-pressed to find a good streaming option available, and the Broncos do still post the best pass-rush in the NFL. If you're looking for safety, keep your Broncos locked-in--if you're looking for upside, look elsewhere.

Tier 3 Defenses

10. Oakland Raiders (@ SD)
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (@ CIN)
12. Detroit Lions (@ NYG)
13. New England Patriots (@ DEN)

The Steelers have quietly become a streamable DST option in the last month or so, averaging 9.67 ESPN standard fantasy points per game since their Week 8 bye. A big part of the improvement has been the pass rush led by Ryan Shazier. In Week 15 they'll get the Bengals, who have allowed 36 sacks on the season (and just allowed four to the Browns in Week 14). If you're looking for an off-the-radar streaming option, the Steelers could be your answer.

Speaking of the Patriots, they've had some cupcake matchups the last few weeks (@ SF, @ NYJ, and vs. LA). Things won't be quite so easy against the Broncos in Week 15. Trevor Siemian has thrown for 330+ yards in each of his last two games, and while it isn't always pretty he can move that offense along every now and then. The Patriots have just six total turnovers since Week 3, but they do have 13 sacks in their last four games. Denver's offensive line is top-10 in sacks allowed, so there is some modest upside here, but temper your expectations. The ceiling is very low.

Tier 4 Defenses

14. Green Pay Packers (@ CHI)
15. Chicago Bears (vs. GB)
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@ DAL)
17. New York Giants (vs. DET)
18. Arizona Cardinals (vs. NO)
19. Cleveland Browns (@ BUF)

Where on Earth did the Bucs come from? After back-to-back thrashings at the hands of the Raiders and Falcons in Weeks 8 and 9, the Tampa Bay DST has rattled off five straight great games, averaging 14.4 standard points per game. They look positively unstoppable, but if there is any offense that can make a fantasy DST useless for a day, it's the Cowboys. If you're positively desperate you can hope that they continue their recent run of takeaways, but I'm not betting my fantasy season against Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, plain and simple.

'Member a bit ago when I was talking about the Bills and Browns playing in a cold weather clunker? It goes both ways. The Bills offense has been brutal since their Week 10 bye, and a large part of that has to do with Tyrod Taylor. In that time frame, the mobile quarterback has averaged just 188 yards per game through the air even with the return of Sammy Watkins. The Bills are now tied for second in the NFL in sacks allowed, and as I mentioned before the Browns were able to get to Andy Dalton four times this past Sunday. The odds of the Browns ACTUALLY going 0-16 are pretty low, and this feels like the kind of game they could pull off, as bad as Buffalo has been lately. It takes a particularly gargantuan pair to start the Browns DST in a fantasy playoff game, but this is my official statement of belief that they finish in the top-16 in DST scoring in Week 15. Write it down.

Tier 5 Defenses

20. Carolina Panthers (@ WAS)
21. Houston Texans (vs. JAX)
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (@ HOU)
23. Washington Redskins (vs. CAR)
24. San Diego Chargers (vs. OAK)