What defense should I start this week? (Week 1)
The Week 1 expert consensus for team defenses, with each defense's best and worst expert rank and how many leagues it is rostered in — so you can see which top-12 units are likely still available.
Week 1 · 2026 season · Consensus updated September 9 at 6:11 PM EDT
Top-12 defenses likely on your waiver wire
- #10 Tennessee Titans· 12% rostered
| # | Defense | Consensus | Best | Worst | ROS # | Rostered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1.2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 76% |
| 2 | Los Angeles Chargers | 2.5 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 51% |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4.0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 73% |
| 4 | Los Angeles Rams | 5.4 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 88% |
| 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | 5.5 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 87% |
| 6 | Seattle Seahawks | 6.5 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 97% |
| 7 | Denver Broncos | 7.3 | 4 | 17 | 4 | 98% |
| 8 | Houston Texans | 8.4 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 98% |
| 9 | Baltimore Ravens | 9.7 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 67% |
| 10 | Tennessee Titanslikely available | 10.9 | 2 | 19 | 27 | 12% |
| 11 | Detroit Lions | 11.2 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 60% |
| 12 | Minnesota Vikings | 12.3 | 7 | 28 | 8 | 66% |
| 13 | Dallas Cowboyslikely available | 13.3 | 8 | 22 | 22 | 26% |
| 14 | Buffalo Billslikely available | 13.5 | 8 | 24 | 16 | 30% |
| 15 | New York Jetslikely available | 15.1 | 5 | 22 | 31 | 4% |
| 16 | Green Bay Packerslikely available | 15.7 | 7 | 25 | 14 | 27% |
Expert consensus and ownership data via FantasyPros · rostered % is the ESPN + Yahoo average
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
- What defense should I start in Week 1?
- Start the highest-ranked defense you have on the consensus board above, and if yours ranks outside the top 12, stream: the table flags the top-12 units rostered in half of leagues or fewer — those are the ones likely sitting on your waiver wire.
- Is it worth streaming defenses every week?
- Usually yes. Defense scoring is driven by matchup (sacks, turnovers, points allowed) more than by the unit's talent, so the consensus reshuffles every week and a mid-tier unit with a great matchup often outscores an elite one with a bad one. Rostering two defenses is rarely worth the bench spot; picking up the best available each week is.
- How is this list built?
- It is the FantasyPros weekly expert consensus for DST — the average rank across contributing experts — with each unit's best and worst expert rank, its rest-of-season rank, and the share of ESPN and Yahoo leagues where it is rostered. Nothing here is a projection of ours.