2015 Fantasy Playoff Rankings
To maximize your chances of winning a fantasy championship, you need to exploit every edge to have an advantage over your opponents. Over the next three weeks, you and your opponents will be debating which skill position players you should start. But are you thinking about defense?
If you haven’t, it’s OK – I’ve done the work for you. I won’t share my secret formula, but below is a table that shows each team’s:
Projected fantasy points for the entirety of the fantasy playoffs (weeks 14-16)
Projected weekly rank
Projected average weekly rank
If you want to play around with the chart, be my guest. However, I’ve done that work for you, too. In this article, you’ll find the answers to:
What do I do if I have a current top-10 DST?
I can only pick up one DST for the playoffs. Who should I get?
I actually have 2 roster spots available. What is the best playoff DST combination?
Hey, I’m cool and I’ll just stream DSTs. Who are the best DSTs for each week?
Get ready to maximize your fantasy defense!
| Rank | Team | Total FP | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Avg Rank |
| 1 | 34.77 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 5.3 | |
| 2 | 33.36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.3 | |
| 3 | 33.23 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 6.7 | |
| 4 | 32.16 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 9.7 | |
| 5 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 6.7 | |
| 6 | 29.02 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8.7 | |
| 7 | 28.74 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 10.3 | |
| 8 | 25.35 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 11.3 | |
| 9 | 25.17 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 10.3 | |
| 10 | 24.92 | 11 | 7 | 19 | 12.3 | |
| 11 | 24.45 | 14 | 19 | 5 | 12.7 | |
| 12 | 24.19 | 22 | 4 | 12 | 12.7 | |
| 13 | 23.98 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10.7 | |
| 14 | 23.34 | 28 | 15 | 3 | 15.3 | |
| 15 | 22.61 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 15.7 | |
| 16 | 21.95 | 21 | 9 | 14 | 14.7 | |
| 17 | 21.73 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 15.7 | |
| 18 | 21.32 | 24 | 18 | 7 | 16.3 | |
| 19 | 20.07 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 17 | |
| 20 | 19.62 | 19 | 25 | 8 | 17.3 | |
| 21 | 19.18 | 25 | 20 | 10 | 18.3 | |
| 22 | 18.58 | 13 | 30 | 16 | 19.7 | |
| 23 | 18.36 | 8 | 24 | 30 | 20.7 | |
| 24 | 18.24 | 17 | 21 | 22 | 20 | |
| 25 | 17.45 | 16 | 23 | 26 | 21.7 | |
| 26 | 15.8 | 23 | 28 | 24 | 25 | |
| 27 | 15.74 | 29 | 17 | 29 | 25 | |
| 28 | 14.76 | 31 | 26 | 23 | 26.7 | |
| 29 | 14.68 | 27 | 29 | 27 | 27.7 | |
| 30 | 12.76 | 26 | 32 | 28 | 28.7 | |
| 31 | 12.75 | 30 | 27 | 31 | 29.3 | |
| 32 | 9.62 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 31.7 |
Current top 10 DSTs [the_ad_group id=”2499″]
The following 10 teams are currently in the top 10 in standard scoring leagues. I’ve laid out their playoff recommendation (HOLD – keep this team or DROP – time to find a new DST) and any additions to maximize your DST spot for the playoffs.
If any of the below teams are available in your league, grab them immediately (minus NY Giants).
Carolina
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: New England, Pittsburgh, Minnesota for week 15
Denver
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Buffalo, Houston, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit for week 16
Seattle
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Green Bay, Cleveland, Philadelphia for week 14
Kansas City
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Pittsburgh, Minnesota for week 15
NY Giants
- Playoff Recommendation: DROP
- Optimal Adds: Use recommendations in the next section
Cincinnati
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: NONE
Arizona
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Green Bay for week 14, Houston/Buffalo/Detroit/Tennessee for Week 16
Philadelphia
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD – borderline top 10 DST each week of fantasy playoffs
- Optimal Adds: Any top 5 projected DST for a given week (e.g. Houston for week 16)
St Louis
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Buffalo, Houston for week 16
Tampa Bay
- Playoff Recommendation: HOLD
- Optimal Adds: Buffalo/Houston/Philadelphia/Detroit/Tennessee for week 16
So You Don’t Have a Top 10 DST…
[the_ad id=”58837″]Before you go any further, if New England or NY Jets are available on your waiver wire, pick them up now. These two teams are currently not in the top 10 of standard scoring leagues but are projected to be top 10 DSTs in the fantasy playoffs.If those two teams aren’t available (and no current top 10 teams are available), if you don’t have the roster space for two DSTs, and/or if you cannot make waiver claims in your fantasy playoffs, the top team to grab is …
The Buffalo Bills
The Bills are projected to be the 11th best DST for the final three weeks of the fantasy season with matchups versus Philadelphia, Washington, and Dallas.
Before the season started, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to target three NFC East offenses. However, Philadelphia and Washington are top-5 in giveaways and Dallas, well, they have Matt Cassel.
Do you have room for 2 DST roster spots?
If so, here are the best combinations to pick up for weeks 14-16:
- Pittsburgh & Green Bay (Avg Weekly Rank: 7.0)
- Pittsburgh & Buffalo (Avg Weekly Rank: 7.7)
- Houston & Green Bay (Avg Weekly Rank: 7.7)
- Pittsburgh & Cleveland (Avg Weekly Rank: 8.0)
- Pittsburgh & Philadelphia (Avg Weekly Rank: 8.3)
- Philadelphia & Green Bay (Avg Weekly Rank: 8.3)
- Houston & Cleveland (Avg Weekly Rank: 8.7)
Streamers?
If you have the ability to pick up free agents in weeks 14-16, here are the top additions for each week. If you go this route, you can actually have a top-5 defense each week of your fantasy playoffs!
Week 14
- Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas (Projected Rank: 5)
- Cleveland Browns vs. San Francisco (Projected Rank: 8)
Week 15
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver (Projected Rank: 4)
- Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago (Projected Rank: 9)
Week 16
- Houston Texans at Tennessee (Projected Rank: 3)
- Buffalo Bills vs. Dallas (Projected Rank: 5)
- Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco (Projected Rank: 7)
- Tennessee Titans vs. Houston (Projected Rank: 8)
- Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington (Projected Rank: 9)
In Conclusion
You have A LOT of options for your DST in the fantasy playoffs. Don’t sit around and be content with one defense! Sure, it may only gain you a point or two, but every point is crucial when you’re competing for a championship.
If you have any specific DST questions, tweet me at @BrianJesterFF and I’ll be sure to help you out.
Brian has been playing fantasy football for 16 years and commissioned his first fantasy league at age 12. When he’s not writing about sports, you can find him playing every daily fantasy sport and participating in high stakes fantasy football contests. Brian won more than 1,000 NFL contests on FanDuel last season and has won multiple league championships in the Footballguys Player Championship contest. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Brian usually spends his winters agonizing over Terrapins basketball. When the weather is warmer, Brian is known for his receiving prowess in flag football leagues on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
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Rodolfo
December 21, 2015 at Monday, December,21
Does your Buffalo ranking change with Moore under center? Have Pats but can’t decide between Buffalo or Lions DST.
Great article.
Joseph
December 7, 2015 at Monday, December,7
Does your secret formula look at the whole season stats or is weighted? Reason I ask is KC plays Baltimore in week 15 and when I think Schaub I think pick 6 as opposed to Flacco who was Qb for the first 11 weeks.
Thanks,
Joe