Bear witness to the devastation before you: Nico Collins’ hamstring; DJ Moore’s shoulder; DeZhaun Stribling’s ankle; Jordan Mason’s…thumb. Fallen soldiers strewn about. Josh Allen, basically, stands alone there against the horizon, a monolithic silhouette of a great fantasy-scoring colossus. We are at war, friends, and the next-man-up mentality is becoming as ironclad a platitude for fantasy managers as it is for coachspeak and player-parroting to the media. Here already in Week 2, most of us are desperate for value and edge.
Happy Fantasy Friday once more, friends. I’m back with the Five Lists of Five: Week 2 edition. Helmets on. Back to marching.
For the newly-ordained: Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five fantasy D/STs for fantasy football Week 2. Here are my other offerings in this edition:
- Top five must-start wide receivers for fantasy football Week 2
- Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 2
- Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 2
- Top five fantasy football players to stash ahead of NFL Week 2 (TK)
Fantasy football Week 2: Top five D/STs to start
San Francisco 49ers D/ST (vs. Dolphins)
Miami converted only two third downs against Las Vegas—a bad defense, for the record—and Malik Willis took five sacks despite his elusiveness. His legs consistently failed to rescue him when his first read disappeared behind the defense. San Francisco, with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw back at LB, can make a nightmare out of that initial read, and give its rush time to arrive.
The 49ers held the Rams to a 62.8 passer rating, third-lowest in the league; Willis finished at 66.9. He may still break contain or find Caleb Douglas downfield, but San Francisco can concede occasional gains, bend not break, stockpile sacks, etc.
I’m projecting three to five sacks, a takeaway or two, as a 49ers lead should force Willis into some bad decisions. San Francisco is my first streaming addition, with its offense helping create the passing downs its defense wants.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers D/ST (vs. Browns)
Tampa Bay blitzed Joe Burrow on 40.5% of his opening-week dropbacks but pressured him on only 24.3%. Cincinnati protected well, and Burrow released the ball before Todd Bowles’ extra rushers could arrive. Deshaun Watson has struggled far more against those blitzes.
Across 97 such dropbacks since 2024, Watson has averaged 4.39 YPA with a 66.8 passer rating. Jacksonville also sacked him five times in the opener, burying Cleveland before he collected late passing yards.
Bowles still needs his rushers to finish, but I’ll accept some late completions for repeated chances to attack Watson while Cleveland chases. I’m projecting three or four sacks and a takeaway. Tampa gets my streaming start, with the anticipated lead creating passing downs rather than requiring every blitz to work.
Kansas City Chiefs D/ST (vs. Indianpolis Colts)
Jonathan Taylor just rushed for 98 yards against Baltimore, but Indianapolis managed only 251 total yards, with Daniel Jones throwing for 166. Which means that no teams really need to erase Taylor to make Jones uncomfortable. Enter the Chiefs.
They just held Bo Nix to 131 passing yards, and Denver only converted two conversions on 12 third downs. Indianapolis arguably blocks the run better than Denver, or at least did last week, but their struggles sorting Baltimore’s blitzes give Kansas City another way to disrupt possessions.
Mansoor Delane practiced fully Thursday after leaving the game on Monday; Chris Jones remained limited, and Alec Pierce missed Indianapolis’ practice. With a sufficiently healthy Chiefs front, I’m projecting two to four sacks and a takeaway. I’d stream Kansas City for a game in which Kenneth Walker helps build the lead and Daniel Jones must answer through the air for the first time back since his rehab.
New York Jets D/ST (vs. Green Bay Packers)
Jordan Love threw for 387 yards against Minnesota while completing half his 42 attempts and taking four sacks. They need lots of protection work this week as they prepare to face Gang Green.
The Jets just opened with three sacks and held Tennessee to 68 rushing yards. Similar early-down stops would let New York attack Love on third-and-long, regardless if Golden or Christian Watson gets loose elsewhere.
Joseph Ossai and Minkah Fitzpatrick missed Thursday’s practice. Will McDonald logged limited work with an ankle issue. Provided a fully-healthy edge group, I’d stream the Jets and expect around three sacks against Love. A takeaway would be welcome, but we know the Jets have trouble with that.
Carolina Panthers D/ST (at Atlanta Falcons)
Carolina just allowed 59 points to the Bears, so I’m hardly celebrating its defense. But it’s a bounce-back spot for sure. Atlanta’s decision Friday to start Cooper Rush again gives me a better reason to consider the Panthers than anything they accomplished against Chicago.
Rush threw two interceptions against Pittsburgh and completed zero passes under pressure, per Next Gen Stats. Six of his 12 completions went to receivers behind the line of scrimmage. Should the Panthers just cover those outlets and force third-and-long, it’ll make Rush find receivers beyond the sticks, which he’s no good at. We just want to avoid letting Bijan Robinson manufacture yards underneath.
Robinson could make that plan miserable, which keeps Carolina fifth rather than near the top. I’d pencil in two or three sacks and a takeaway, with an anticipated Panthers lead forcing Rush into more downfield throws.
