X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

Week 8 Defense (DEF) Streamers and Starts - 2018 Fantasy Tiers, Rankings

Below are RotoBaller's Week 8 defense tiers and rankings, or which defenses to stream, start and target off the waiver wire for Week 8 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 8. 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 8 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 6 pickup or add. Good luck in Week 8 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.

 

Week 8 Defenses To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings

New for this week: I typically don't recommend rostering two DSTs, but due to popular demand, at the end of the article, I list a few DSTs that will be my top streaming options (i.e. widely available) for NEXT week, so they may be worth adding now before they become hot pickups.

 

Teams on bye: Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons

Tier 1 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Opponent Confidence Rating
1 1 Houston Texans vs. MIA 11.15
2 1 New England Patriots @ BUF 10.95
3 1 Chicago Bears vs. NYJ 10.4

The Texans are home against Brock Osweiler on Thursday night. They're averaging 13.25 fantasy PPG (ESPN Standard scoring) over their last four games and Brock Osweiler is starting for Miami. They're eighth in the NFL in sacks, seventh in takeaways, and the Dolphins have Brock Osweiler under center. I do not believe Brock Osweiler has magically reinvented himself, and he'll be without both Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson. Start the Texans DST this week.

I'm a Bills fan, and I'm going to humbly request you not make me list all the stats/records the Bills are breaking as far as offensive incompetence goes. Just...just start the Patriots this week and be happy, okay? It's either Derek Anderson or Nathan POOTERMAN. You're gonna be fine.

The Bears have now yielded 30+ points in back-to-back weeks, and while you certainly have to cut them a break against the Patriots, the fact that they combined for one total sack in the last two games is enough to raise the eyebrows a bit. I expect the Bears to right the ship against Sam Darnold and the Jets, especially considering that the rookie is coming off the worst performance of his young career. To be fair, two of his three interceptions banged off his receivers' hands, and there are plenty of health issues throughout the Jets offense right now. Still, Darnold turned the ball over four times against the Vikings and is averaging well over an interception per game. If you held on through the Pats game, now is the time to fire the Bears back up.

Tier 2 Defenses

Advertising
Rank Tier DST Opponent Confidence Rating
4 2 Philadelphia Eagles @ JAC 9.8
5 2 Arizona Cardinals vs. SF 9.25
6 2 Washington Redskins @ NYG 8.65
7 2 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. CLE 8.5
8 2 Indianapolis Colts @ OAK 8.15

The Eagles have been disappointingly average so far in 2018, but I have a ton of confidence in any defense facing the Jaguars right now. Blake Bortles was benched for Cody Kessler mid-game last week, and while it looks like Bortles will get another crack at it next week, you have to feel good about any defense facing this offense right now. The Jaguars are currently second in the NFL in turnovers, and that should be a total the Eagles can add to this week.

The Cardinals were embarrassed by the Broncos offense on Thursday night, and while I'm not dismissing that game outright, I don't believe that was a true reflection of this defensive unit. In the four games prior to that, they averaged 9.25 fantasy PPG on the strength of nine takeaways and 13 sacks, so there's certainly talent and upside enough on this team. A home matchup against C.J. Beathard and the 49ers is ideal, as they've been hemorrhaging fantasy points to opposing DSTs in recent weeks. The Cardinals will be one of the top streaming options this week for me.

The Colts did NOT disappoint against the Bills on Sunday, and they find themselves in another favorable matchup this week against a rebuilding Raiders team that just traded away it's top vertical threat in Amari Cooper. Derek Carr has been positively terrible this year, and the Raiders are also without Marshawn Lynch for at least this week. Believe it or not (I didn't until I checked), the Colts are tied for fourth in the NFL in sacks as of this writing (21) and third in takeaways (15), and are suddenly a regular streaming option (depending on the matchup, of course).

Tier 3 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Opponent Confidence Rating
9 3 Baltimore Ravens @ CAR 7.45
10 3 San Francisco 49ers @ ARI 7.1
11 3 Kansas City Chiefs vs. DEN 6.65
12 3 Miami Dolphins @ HOU 6.2
13 3 Seattle Seahawks @ DET 5.95

A week after the Ravens demolished Marcus Mariota and the Titans with 11 sacks, they matched up against one of the NFL's top offenses and did...exactly what I figured they'd do. One sack, one fumble recovery, 24 points allowed. It's a great reminder that although a defense might be rolling/talented, this is an offense-heavy league, and thinking a DST is going to somehow magically stop run-and-gun offenses like the Chiefs, Saints, and Patriots are foolish.  This week is NOT one of those weeks, however, and the Ravens have some legit fantasy potential against Cam Newton and the Panthers, who are 26th in the NFL in total offense.

The Chiefs DST has two great outings (Week 5 vs. JAC, Week 7 vs. CIN) sandwiching a TERRIBLE outing (Week 6 at NE) in their rearview mirror. They are significantly better home than away, and as I mentioned earlier, I'm chalking that Denver offensive explosion up to Thursday Night Football Shenanigans™. The Chiefs should be able to harass Case Keenum enough to force at least one turnover, and the offense will certainly provide them with excellent field position all night. The Chiefs should act as an excellent deep-league streamer this week.

The last time we saw the Seahawks, they were abusing Derek Carr and the Raiders in London. They'll return from the bye against Matt Stafford and the middling Lions offense in a game that has me holding out hope for a decent DST fantasy day. The Lions are 12th in the NFL in both total yards per game and points per game, and they've certainly got play-makers all over the field (looking at you, Kerryon Johnson and Kenny Golladay). The bigger issue here is that Stafford has been extremely careful with the ball this season. Not including his Week 1 meltdown against the Jets, Stafford only has one other interception on the season and hasn't thrown any in his last three games. His line has held up this year, allowing just 10 total sacks through six games. The Seahawks will need to force turnovers if they're going to score fantasy points, and I simply don't trust them to do that--especially on the road. They're just outside the streaming conversation for me this week.

 

Tier 4 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Opponent Confidence Rating
14 4 Carolina Panthers vs. BAL 5.2
15 4 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. PHI 4.65
16 4 New York Jets @ CHI 4.2
17 4 Cincinnati Bengals vs. TB 3.5

The Jaguars disappointed the hell out of me last week, notching just one sack and zero turnovers against a banged-up Deshaun Watson. Their offense certainly did them no favors, but this defensive unit simply isn't the fantasy juggernaut they were last year. Still plenty of talent, but they are far from a "set-it-and-forget-it" DST. Despite being second in the NFL in yards allowed per game, they're tied for 29th (!) in the NFL in takeaways and 13th in sacks, and that simply won't do when considering fantasy DSTs. In a matchup against a red-hot Carson Wentz and the Eagles, I'm looking elsewhere.

The Jets matchup represents an interesting conundrum--on the one hand, Mitch Trubisky turns the ball over pretty often. He's still a young QB, mistakes happen, and the Jets are one of the most prolific defenses in the NFL at FORCING turnovers (15). However, they're also 20th in the NFL in yards allowed per game and 17th in points per game, and Trubisky has been putting the ball in the end zone. Therefore, the upside here is pretty low IMO. If I can put on my projection hat for a minute, I'm picturing a game in which the Jets get two turnovers but also allow 28+ points, ultimately leaving them on the waiver wire for me this week.

 

Advertising

Tier 5 Defenses

Rank Tier DST Opponent Confidence Rating
18 5 Detroit Lions vs. SEA 2.95
19 5 Los Angeles Rams vs. GB 2.7
20 5 New York Giants vs. WAS 2.25
21 5 Cleveland Browns @ PIT 1.95
22 5 Oakland Raiders vs. IND 1.4
23 5 Minnesota Vikings vs. NO 1.1

 

Looking Ahead to Week 9...

  • Dolphins (vs. NYJ)
  • Cowboys (vs. TEN)
  • Broncos (vs. HOU)
  • Raiders (@ SF)

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.




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

test publish 5 mins in future

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Updates for Aaron Rodgers

Warning: Undefined array key "amp_post_template_footer" in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, null given in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 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... Read More


derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL DFS Prop Picks for Monkey Knife Fight - Monday Night Football

Welcome to NFL Monday Night Football, where we have two games scheduled between the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills.  Monday's games mean our friends at Monkey Knife Fight are offering some fantastic props for us to play once again! The good people at Monkey Knife Fight offer some... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 2 Updates for Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, D'Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram

Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 2, as of September 17. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 2 including D'Andre Swift, Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, J.K. Dobbins, and more. The fantasy football season may be just getting underway,... Read More


michael pittman jr. fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL WRs: Week 2 Updates for Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Allen Lazard, Julio Jones

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season and the Saturday edition of our WR injury reports! Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for wide receivers in Week 2 as of September 16th. The injury statuses for various NFL wide receivers are up in the air for Week 2, including Michael... Read More


justin herbert fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports for QBs: Week 2 Updates for Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones

Below you will find our updated fantasy football injuries report for quarterbacks in the days before Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as of Friday, September 16. There are a few NFL QBs dealing with injuries, including Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. Being up-to-date on NFL injury news can give... Read More


Trey Lance - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 2

Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

Week 2 NFL Pick Em Selections for No House Advantage

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is underway and that means our friends over at No House Advantage have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. No House Advantage is a unique DFS prop picks site where you do not have to play against the house to... Read More


Wide Receiver Matchups to Target in Week 2: Greg Dortch, Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk

Week 1 made some things come to light as we got some clarity on some murky situations. Unfortunately, many of our WR targets for DFS last week were victims of this. Robert Woods finished the game with one reception for 13 yards, as the Titans used the rookie receivers much more than him. Brandon Aiyuk... Read More


Carson Wentz - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Thunder Dan's NFL Betting Picks for Week 2: Top NFL Player Props Bets

Football season is back! Whether you like to bet game totals, sides, or player props, I have something in here for you, and try to cover a little bit of everything! This year, I started my own free sports betting newsletter, and the good people here at RotoBaller are allowing me to share my picks... Read More


Fantasy Football IDP Injury Reports For NFL Defensive Players: Week 2 Updates for T.J. Watt, Jamal Adams, Jalen Thompson, Ed Oliver

T.J. Watt owners, you know the feeling... I had T.J. Watt in my home league last season. He was constantly checking out of games early with nagging minor injuries, but he must have led every IDP manager who started him to the playoffs. I went back to the well and drafted him early this year.... Read More