November 1, 2016

Bill's fantasy football rankings for Week 9 defenses (DEF) -- streamers, starts, sits and D/ST waiver wire pickups to add. His Week 9 (2016) tiers and ranks for all NFL defenses.

Below are RotoBaller's Week 9 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target at the end of your 2016 drafts for Week 9 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 9.

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 9 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 9 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 9, RotoBallers!

Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 9 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

Week 9 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

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

Teams on bye: Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals

Tier 1 Defenses

1. Minnesota Vikings (vs. DET)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (vs. JAX)
3. Seattle Seahawks (vs. BUF)
4. Philadelphia Eagles (@ NYG)

A lot of the usual names here, but I will point out that I strongly debated the top spot this week. Ultimately the Vikings earn the top rank because of their insanely consistent high floor, but this week the Chiefs have more upside. Fantasy points aside, something is seriously wrong with Blake Bortles' mechanics, and as long as he continues to struggle there will be fantasy goodness for his opponents. Multiple turnovers are extremely likely.

Tier 2 Defenses

5. Denver Broncos (@ OAK)
6. San Diego Chargers (vs. TEN)
7. Carolina Panthers (@ LA)
8. Miami Dolphins (vs. NYJ)
9. Dallas Cowboys (@ CLE)

The Panthers DST looked just as fierce on Sunday as they did on their way to the Super Bowl in 2015. They annihilated the Arizona offensive line on the way to eight sacks and a marginal stopping of David Johnson. They could be in for a very similar outing against the Rams in Week 9, who will be coming off a bye. Case Keenum looked terrible against the Giants in London, and the Panthers should be able to harass him into oblivion.

The Cowboys don't have a ton of upside, but they've allowed fewer than 20 points in four of seven games and there is virtually no chance the Browns run up the score. With that said, Josh McCown looked pretty solid for most of his Week 8 return, and the Cowboys simply don't pile up the counting stats. They're a good streaming option for a week with six teams on a bye, but temper your expectations.

Tier 3 Defenses

10. Atlanta Falcons (@ TB)
11. St. Louis Rams (vs. CAR)
12. Baltimore Ravens (vs. PIT)
13. New York Giants (vs. PHI)

The Rams defense has not performed up to expectations in 2016, but they've had a number of tough matchups and played short-handed on multiple occasions. I like their chances to put it together to some extent coming out of the bye against the Panthers, despite Carolina coming off a big win in Week 8. Everyone they need to get some real penetration on Cam Newton should be healthy, and it never hurts to have Tavon Austin looming in the kick return game.

I may be too high on the Ravens, but in a home game against what I have to assume is a less-than-100% Ben Roethlisberger I like their chances to put up a decent fantasy day. IF Big Ben returns in Week 9, he'll be coming back in the earliest possible time frame from a meniscus repair, and there's no way he'll be mobile enough to escape the capable Ravens pass rush. That offense is still miles better with him than Landry Jones though, so the Ravens' DST has a low ceiling.

Tier 4 Defenses

14. Detroit Lions (@ MIN)
15. Green Bay Packers (vs. IND)
16. Buffalo Bills (@ SEA)
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (@ BAL)
18. New York Jets (@ MIA)

The Packers are the best run-stopping team in the NFL, but in Week 9 they need to figure out how to stop Andrew Luck and the explosive Indianapolis passing game, which just received a boost with the return of Donte Moncrief. The Colts' offensive line is one giant walking, talking set of saloon doors so the Packers DST will likely tally 3-4 sacks, but I don't have any faith they can slow down the air attack. This one could be a shootout.

You've gotta be pretty desperate to use the Jets, but there are 20-team leagues out there, right? They're the hottest mess in football, but the Jets can at least hang their hat on their run defense (fourth in the NFL). Jay Ajayi is now the engine driving the Miami offense, and you can bet the Jets will focus on making sure he doesn't break 200 yards on the ground again. However, they are the 27th-ranked passing defense, and even Ryan Tannehill should be able to hang 250 yards on them through the air.