There's a lot to be said for reliability in fantasy football. Everyone doesn't have to be a star, but the fewer that totally go bust, the better. In the realm of fantasy defenses, your best bets over the past four seasons to be steady performers both hail from the NFC West.
Using a scoring system that gives fantasy points for sacks (1), turnovers (2) and defensive or special teams touchdowns (6), the Cardinals and Rams have both finished in the top 10 in each of the last four seasons. That's impressive -- no other fantasy defense has done so more than twice. The NFC West's other two teams, Seattle and San Francisco, are both included in that group (though San Francisco is trending the wrong way, finishing last in fantasy points last season).
Many scoring systems have a points allowed component, and these rankings don't take that into account. Seattle, in particular, would grade out higher in such systems. But this gives you a sense of what -- based on the last four years -- are the most reliable fantasy defenses in sack- and turnover-driven scoring systems.
Fantasy defense rankings over the last four seasons are presented below, sorted by total number of top-10 finishes.
FANTASY DEFENSE RANKINGS, 2012-2015 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Top 10s |
Arizona | 9 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 4 |
St. Louis | 10 | 3 | 5-6 | 9 | 4 |
Buffalo | 21 | 7 | 3 | 23 | 2 |
Carolina | 20 | 5 | 12-13 | 2 | 2 |
Chicago | 1 | 8-9 | 22 | 30 | 2 |
Cincinnati | 6-8 | 4 | 26 | 15 | 2 |
Denver | 3 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 2 |
Houston | 6-8 | 32 | 2 | 12 | 2 |
Kansas City | 32 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 2 |
New England | 2 | 11 | 5-6 | 14 | 2 |
Philadelphia | 30-31 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Pittsburgh | 27 | 26 | 7 | 6 | 2 |
San Francisco | 4 | 18-19 | 8-9 | 32 | 2 |
Seattle | 6-8 | 2 | 18-21 | 13 | 2 |
Dallas | 26 | 10 | 14-16 | 31 | 1 |
Green Bay | 14-15 | 19-21 | 4 | 17-18 | 1 |
Indianapolis | 24 | 16-17 | 18-21 | 10 | 1 |
Miami | 25 | 24-25 | 9 | 27 | 1 |
Minnesota | 12-13 | 22-23 | 14-16 | 7 | 1 |
San Diego | 4 | 31 | 28 | 29 | 1 |
Tennessee | 5 | 24-25 | 27 | 24-26 | 1 |
Washington | 12-13 | 13 | 29 | 8 | 1 |
Atlanta | 22-23 | 27 | 24 | 28 | 0 |
Baltimore | 14-15 | 19-21 | 17 | 24-26 | 0 |
Cleveland | 16 | 16-17 | 14-16 | 24-26 | 0 |
Detroit | 29 | 22-23 | 12-13 | 21 | 0 |
Jacksonville | 28 | 28 | 18-21 | 20 | 0 |
New Orleans | 17 | 29 | 31 | 22 | 0 |
NY Giants | 11 | 18 | 18-21 | 11 | 0 |
NY Jets | 18-19 | 30 | 30 | 17-18 | 0 |
Oakland | 30-31 | 19-21 | 32 | 19 | 0 |
Tampa Bay | 22-23 | 14 | 23 | 16 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson