Defense/Special Teams

Tier 1:             Seattle, San Francisco

Tier 2:             Houston, Chicago, Denver, Cincinnati

Tier 3:             New England, Baltimore, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Miami, Arizona, Green Bay

Tier 4:             New York Giants, Tampa Bay, New York Jets, Cleveland, Atlanta, Dallas

Tier 5:             Minnesota, Washington, Carolina, San Diego, Kansas City

* Teams in bold are those that I expect to outperform their average draft position based on current ADP.

Analysis:

Each season you have strong defensive units along with weaker ones, and this season is no different. Seattle and San Francisco lead the rankings, and the Ds listed through tier 3 are all fine as your top option.

In terms of strategy, it really comes down to the scoring system in your league, as scoring systems for defenses tend to vary greatly among leagues. Typically you will want to select your defenses late, and as a general guideline, I would make sure that the QB, RB, WR and TE positions are taken care of prior to selecting a D (at least for the QB, RB and WR positions, you should have a solid backup in place as well before selecting a QB). But, if your league places a high emphasis on D points, then this plan is subject to change.  Know your leagues scoring system well. I would select D over kickers in virtually any league.

Finally, a quick rapid-fire note as to why I think each team in bold has a good chance to outperform its ADP:

Cincinnati:                  The Bengals defense had a strong season in 2012, with Geno Atkins leading the way. No reason not to see improvement in 2013.

Baltimore:                  Don’t be distracted by the number of changes made on D this season. Ozzie Newsome injected some much needed youth into the D, and it should be improved from last year’s Super Bowl season.

Miami:                        Miami has quietly been building a strong D, and look for this unit to take the next step this season. 

Neema Hodjat is the fantasy sports expert for RealGM.  He can be reached via email at nhodjat@gmail.com and followed on twitter at @NeemaHodjat.