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Late-round D: Arizona

Posted Jul. 11 at 06:18 AM

The Cardinals have been a fashionable sleeper pick for the playoffs in recent years, although that hasn't panned out for them yet. But in fantasy terms, they might be a very nice sleeper in one respect: defense/special teams.

Seven teams have ranked among the top 10 fantasy defenses in each of the last two years. Six of those teams aren't surprising, and will likely be among the first defenses drafted in almost every league: San Diego, Minnesota, New England, Chicago, Dallas and Green Bay. The seventh is Arizona, and they'll probably be available in the last round of most drafts. They're only 17th in our rankings right now, but if you look at the numbers there's only 2/10ths of a point separating the No. 10 defense on our board, Indianapolis, from the Cardinals. Not much difference.

The season-ending fantasy defense rankings from the last two seasons are presented below. Top-10 fantasy defenses in both years are in bold.

07   06   Team
 9     7   Arizona

32   19   Atlanta
23     1   Baltimore
16   12   Buffalo
29   17   Carolina
 3     2   Chicago
17   20   Cincinnati
21   26   Cleveland
 8   10   Dallas
17   16   Denver
 7   27   Detroit
10     4   Green Bay
13   29   Houston
15   30   Indianapolis
12   25   Jacksonville
26   22   Kansas City
27    8   Miami
 4     5   Minnesota
 2     9   New England

19   28   New Orleans
 5   24   NY Giants
24  21   NY Jets
28   18   Oakland
30    6   Philadelphia
20   13   Pittsburgh
 1     3   San Diego
30   23   San Francisco
 6   14   Seattle
21   15   St. Louis
13   31   Tampa Bay
11   11   Tennessee
24   32   Washington



—Andy Richardson

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