Identifying a breakout defensive unit from year to year is one of the most difficult tasks in the world of fantasy football. You are drafting an entire side of the football instead of individual players.
That being said, I’ve crunched the numbers… watched the tape… and have decided on two defenses you should be targeting in your fantasy football drafts for 2023.
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Top Defenses To Draft in Fantasy Football in 2023
Streaming defenses on a weekly basis isn’t necessarily an approach I oppose in the world of fantasy football. After all, we know the schedule in advance and can simply target bad offenses instead of investing your entire season into one defensive unit.
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However, there are some defenses that are so elite that you can “set it and forget it” on a weekly basis. Here are a couple of those teams I like for the 2023 NFL season.
San Francisco 49ers (ADP: DEF1)
If you are going to be among the first fantasy managers to select a defense, you may as well select the best one.
This San Francisco 49ers unit boasts the best linebacker duo in the league with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, added versatile S Ji’Ayir Brown in the draft to pair with Talanoa Hufanga, and — oh, yeah — don’t forget this defense also has the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Nick Bosa terrorizing opposing QBs.
This unit is still among the most talented in the NFL and well worth the investment of selecting them as the first defense off the board.
Dallas Cowboys (ADP: DEF4)
While the offense tends to steal the headlines in Big D, it’s the defense that makes the Cowboys a serious threat to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.
The addition of Mazi Smith gives the Cowboys’ defense an interior anchor that will make life very difficult for opposing rushing attacks.
Of course, the defense still features LB Micah Parsons, who is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year every time he steps on the field.
Add in one of the best secondary playmakers in the league with Trevon Diggs, and you can see the Cowboys’ defense being even better in 2023.