Much like kickers, fantasy owners just can’t get enough of defenses.
The only problem is that team defenses, once again much like kickers, are overrated.
The top four fantasy defenses in the preseason were Seattle, Buffalo, St. Louis and Houston.
By season’s end, only Seattle and Houston were ranked in the top-six for overall defense, and they were ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.
It wouldn’t be much of an issue had fantasy owners waited on the Seahawks, Texans or those other teams. The biggest issue, though, is that fantasy owners still take defenses too high.
The Seahawks entered the season with the highest average draft position of 64, much higher than their ranking of 142. The Bills had an ADP of 77, while the Texans were 80th, despite their overall rankings of 161 and 169, respectively.
The Rams had an ADP of 94, despite a ranking of 168.
The reason why these teams are ranked so much lower than their ADP is that good defenses can be found later in the drafts, and much like kickers again, not many points separate the top defenses from the middle-tier defenses.
Denver led all defenses in points with 175. The Redskins finished 12th with 131 points. That’s only a difference of 44 points, which equates to only a 2.75-point differential per week.
With only one defense starting per week, that’s minuscule compared to the differential in other positions where multiple players start or there’s a vast gap in talent, i.e. quarterbacks.
Here’s our breakdown of the best and worst values for defenses in fantasy football for 2015.
Best value
Kansas City Chiefs
There was little fanfare circulating around the Chiefs, especially after such a bad start to 2015. Then the defense got it together, once again showing that patience pays off…most of the time.
Kansas City entered the season ranked 14th among defenses, according to Fantasy Pros, which bases its rankings on the opinions of several experts across multiple platforms.
The Chiefs were ranked 231st overall, with an ADP of 169, which was far lower than the defenses we talked about earlier.
For the price tag of their ADP, the Chiefs delivered, with one point less than Denver for the season, giving them the second-most points among fantasy defenses.
Worst value
Buffalo Bills
This could be filled by a number of teams, but the Bills took the cake on bad value for defenses.
The Bills were supposed to be a magnet for fantasy points with Rex Ryan as the head coach. That’s why Buffalo was ranked second entering the season with an overall ranking of 161.
Fantasy owners got on board, giving the Bills an ADP of 77. By the end of the season, we doubt the Bills were on many fantasy rosters.
Buffalo finished 19th in fantasy points with only 98 points, a far cry from its preseason predictions.
Good value
Pittsburgh Steelers
This is why fantasy football doesn’t always mirror actual football.
The Steelers were one of the worst teams against the pass this season, but in terms of fantasy points, Pittsburgh was a top-10 fantasy defense.
Pittsburgh finished seventh in fantasy points this season with 145 points, a much better number than what was expected in the preseason.
The Steelers entered the season ranked as the 25th-best defense with an ADP of 205.
Bad value
Baltimore Ravens
Usually the Ravens are a good bet to be a solid defense.
However, some issues arose last season with their secondary, so experts were cautious about Baltimore’s defense this season ranking it 11th among defenses.
The public gave Baltimore an ADP of 135, 86 spots higher than its overall ranking of 221.
The Ravens didn’t justify its ADP, though, finishing 24th overall with 93 points.
Baltimore was so bad at times on defense that it turned in negative points two different times during the season.
Good value
Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota’s value is especially high since the public didn’t drink any Kool-Aid on the Vikings’ chances at having a solid defense this season.
Minnesota finished eighth in fantasy points this season with 139, but that’s not what has us most excited about the Vikings’ value.
Minnesota was ranked 252nd overall entering the season, going off as the 19th-best defense. The general public wasn’t buying the Vikings, putting their ADP at 221, only 31 spots higher than their overall ranking.
The New York Giants, which finished nine spots lower than Minnesota, was ranked five spots lower than Minnesota entering the season, but its ADP was 23 spots higher than Minnesota.
Bad value
Miami Dolphins
Ranked as the seventh-best defense and with an ADP of 130, 74 spots higher than its overall ranking of 204, the Dolphins entered 2015 with high expectations.
That quickly vanished on both ends, and the defense was just one of several fantasy positions that disappointed this season.
Miami finished 22nd in fantasy points with 94, far lower than the expectations to begin the season.
The Dolphins were so bad on defense, they scored in negative points twice and tallied zero points once.
