I get it, defenses are lame. Every year in almost every league I find myself streaming a defense and putting my defensive faith into the void.
Aside from the big dogs, it’s so much more worth it to stream weekly than to pay up in drafts. It’s frustrating to have to dig into weekly defensive ranks and checking your leagues to see if they’re available. That’s what this article will help relieve. I’m mostly releasing these post-waivers on Thursdays or Fridays in case you didn’t get a DST you wanted.
I’ll be highlighting my top projected defenses who are also below 35% ownership in ESPN leagues. I know ownership varies between host sites but ESPN has the highest amount of leagues, so I’m rolling with it.
My projections are based on Vegas odds, defensive and offensive player projections, starters, and positional matchups! Let’s get started.
DAL Cowboys – 26.7% ESPN Ownership
Opponent – NYG
My favorite stat of the 2020 season: the New York Giants have scored fewer touchdowns than games played. You read that right. After four games played, the Giants have only scored three touchdowns. The Cowboys defense hasn’t been stellar either, but if there’s an offense to pick up the slack against it might as well be New York (both New York teams, really, but in this case, it’s the Giants).
CLE Browns – 12.6% ESPN Ownership
Opponent – IND
The Colts have scored just seven offensive touchdowns, good for 30th in the league. The Browns defense currently leads the league in takeaways with 10 and this game has the fourth-lowest over/under of the week. I expect this to be a low-scoring game and the Browns defense will certainly benefit.
HOU Texans – 5.9% ESPN Ownership
Opponent – JAX
Not only has Jacksonville allowed the most sacks this season, but Houston is currently eighth in blitz percentage. The Texans DST has had a rough start to the season but they’ve also had the hardest schedule. I don’t expect any team to face the Chiefs, Ravens, and Steelers back-to-back-to-back and look like a good team. This is a turnaround week for Houston with a new head coach (a defensive coach, too) and an easier opponent in Jacksonville.
