The fantasy football playoffs are here and bye weeks are over. This is like an early holiday for fantasy football managers who are streaming the defense position.
A few of the top-scoring defenses of the season do get great matchups in Week 15, which definitely stings, but the wealth of options available on the waiver wire still makes this a good week for those of us looking for a new starter every week based on matchups.
Here are the three best streaming defenses available on the waiver wire in at least 50% of ESPN fantasy football leagues for Week 15.
Fantasy Football Streaming Defenses Week 15
1. Baltimore Ravens (@ NYG) — 51.9% Available
The Baltimore Ravens are probably the best fantasy football defense of Week 15 regardless of the share of leagues they're rostered in. So the fact that you can grab them on the waiver wire in the majority of leagues is something you can't afford to ignore.
The New York Giants are having an all-time dumpster fire season, and that has been gold for opposing defenses in fantasy football. Since moving on from Daniel Jones they've allowed 10, 17 and 10 fantasy points to their opponents' defenses. And those three defenses are units that rank 19th, 22nd and 24th in scoring on the season.
So that means "defense against the Giants", despite being roughly a bottom-10 unit for the season, is averaging 12.3 fantasy points per game. There's no actual defense averaging that many this season.
The Ravens haven't been a great defense for fantasy by any stretch, but they're a fine real-world unit (10th in PFF's overall defensive grade). There's no reason to doubt their ability to beat up the Giants and take full advantage of this matchup.
2. New York Jets (@ JAX) — 57.8% Available
Like every other aspect of the team, the New York Jets defense has disappointed this season. But their wildly inconsistent play has lent itself to some strong fantasy football upside — scoring 11-plus points on five occasions. In the right spot, they can absolutely do some damage.
And of course, "the right spot" is pretty much the Jacksonville Jaguars' nickname at this point.
While Mac Jones somehow cooked the Houston Texans a couple of weeks ago, he’s thrown a combined 5 interceptions across his three starts for the Jaguars, giving up 13, 10 and 9 fantasy points to the defense he’s faced.
We talked about it last week when highlighting the Titans as a top streaming option — it's worth continuing to pick on Mac Jones for as long as he's starting.
3. Washington Commanders (@ NO) — 70.4% Available
Coming off a bye week, the Commanders are available in about 70% despite ranking in the middle of the pack at the position for fantasy scoring in 2024. And as we usually see with top streaming options, they've got a matchup that can elevate any middle-of-the-pack defense into top-10 status.
The New Orleans Saints are expected to be without Derek Carr, and FanDuel Sportsbook has Washington as a 7.5-point favorite.
That means they'll likely be playing with a big lead, forcing either Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener into a ton of obvious passing situations. That is, of course, the perfect recipe for sacks and turnovers.
New Orleans gave up an absurd 16.3 fantasy points per game in the three weeks Carr missed earlier this season (with no fewer than 12 to any of those three opponents), and even a Washington defense that has largely struggled of late should have zero issues continuing the trend.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fantasy Football Streaming Defense/DST to Target in Week 15.
