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Is your championship matchup still going on? Below are RotoBaller's Week 17 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target off the waiver wire for Week 17 of the NFL and fantasy football season.
Our weekly tiered defense rankings are a guide to making waiver wire pickups to improve your lineups, and to decide which defenses to start, sit, target, avoid or stream for Week 17. Starting the right defense every week can be a difference-maker. Below we have broken out our defense rankings into tiers with analysis on each matchup. Some of these Week 17 defenses have good matchups and are not widely owned, representing fantasy scoring opportunities if they are available on your league's waiver wire for a Week 17 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 16 RotoBallers!
New for this year: Confidence Rating - since every league's DST scoring is different, projections don't make a ton of sense. The confidence rating is a guideline for how much more I like one team over another instead of a straight point projection. A zero means "do not start," then the confidence rises from there. Initial rankings do not factor in Monday Night Football stats. Ranks may be re-evaluated after that game.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best NFL Series, MLB Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
Week 17 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings
So here's the thing with these Week 17 rankings: they're likely going to change throughout the week. As teams declare stars or even entire starting units out, given that many of the games this week will be meaningless for standings and playoff position, the defensive outlooks will shift.
For example, if the Saints come out and admit that they're resting Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram and Michael Thomas, the Panthers DST is going to become a pretty appealing streaming option. Likewise, if the Cowboys decide that it's not worth risking the health of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith, I'm not going to feel as great about the Cowboys defense.
My rankings will likely shift all the way through Sunday, but what you see below is how they sit as of Wednesday afternoon.
Tier 1 Defenses
| Rank | Tier | DST | Opponent | Confidence Rating |
| 1 | 1 | Houston Texans | vs. JAC | 9.65 |
| 2 | 1 | Seattle Seahawks | vs. ARI | 9.45 |
| 3 | 1 | Baltimore Ravens | vs. CLE | 9.1 |
Tier 2 Defenses
| Rank | Tier | DST | Opponent | Confidence Rating |
| 4 | 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | @ WAS | 8.75 |
| 5 | 2 | Los Angeles Chargers | @ DEN | 8.5 |
| 6 | 2 | Los Angeles Rams | vs. SF | 8.15 |
| 7 | 2 | Chicago Bears | @ MIN | 7.75 |
| 8 | 2 | Dallas Cowboys | @ NYG | 7.2 |
Tier 3 Defenses
| Rank | Tier | DST | Opponent | Confidence Rating |
| 9 | 3 | New England Patriots | vs. NYJ | 6.85 |
| 10 | 3 | Washington Redskins | vs. PHI | 6.5 |
| 11 | 3 | Buffalo Bills | vs. MIA | 6.35 |
| 12 | 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | vs. CIN | 6.15 |
| 13 | 3 | Tennessee Titans | vs. IND | 5.8 |
Tier 4 Defenses
| Rank | Tier | DST | Opponent | Confidence Rating |
| 14 | 4 | Kansas City Chiefs | vs. OAK | 5.5 |
| 15 | 4 | Indianapolis Colts | @ TEN | 5.35 |
| 16 | 4 | Miami Dolphins | @ BUF | 5.15 |
| 17 | 4 | Jacksonville Jaguars | @ HOU | 4.6 |
| 18 | 4 | Denver Broncos | vs. LAC | 4.35 |
| 19 | 4 | Minnesota Vikings | vs. CHI | 3.65 |
Tier 5 Defenses
| Rank | Tier | DST | Opponent | Confidence Rating |
| 20 | 5 | Atlanta Falcons | @ TB | 3.15 |
| 21 | 5 | New Orleans Saints | vs. CAR | 2.8 |
| 22 | 5 | Green Bay Packers | vs. DET | 2.25 |
| 23 | 5 | New York Giants | vs. DAL | 1.8 |
| 24 | 5 | Cleveland Browns | @ BAL | 1.35 |
| 25 | 5 | Carolina Panthers | @ NO | 1.1 |
More Weekly Lineup Prep
Check out RotoBaller's famous fantasy football draft sleepers and waiver wire pickups list, updated regularly!
Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.
