Updated Defense/Special Teams rankings for 2021 fantasy football leagues

The 2021 NFL regular season is one week away and that means you probably have a fantasy football draft coming up. And if you are in a league that uses a slot for defense and special teams, you’ll need to figure out what team to chuck in that slot.

My strategy is to either grab a team with a good matchup to start the season and then pick up defenses off the waiver wire or take a little bit of a gamble on a team I think might play better than they did last season. I don’t want to pay up for a team that dominated last season, as those fantasy points aren’t on the table waiting for you to draft them.

2021 Fantasy Football rankings: D/ST

I like the Browns, Patriots and Broncos as teams to target this season, but I also won’t be starting them against the Chiefs or Bills or Buccaneers. That means you’ll need to play the waiver wire game at some point. The Steelers are a great defense, but I rather not start them against the Bills in Week 1. The Jaguars are an awful defense, but they face the Texans Week 1 and they will be cheaper than dirt.

If you are in a league where waivers are limited, then go ahead and grab the Rams or Steelers, but otherwise, I’m flip=flopping between whoever is playing the worst quarterbacks going.