Washington has added Josh Norman, and that's a nice get; he's one of the league's very best cornerbacks. Their defense should be better, and it's reason to have increased interest in their fantasy defense, as well.
You might be surprised to learn that Washington was actually pretty good already, in fantasy terms anyway. Last year they had a bottom-5 defense in terms of yards allowed, at 381 per game (28th). But they were better than that in points allowed (17th), and a lot better in typical fantasy scoring systems.
Washington had the 8th-ranked fantasy defense in leagues giving 1 point for sacks, 2 points for turnovers, and 6 points for defensive and special teams touchdowns. In TD-only scoring, they were 7th. Only six teams had more total touchdowns (blocked kicks, kick returns, and fumble and interception return touchdowns).
Now they've added Norman, and of his 4 interceptions a year ago, he brought back 2 of them for touchdowns. That's twice as many as Washington had a year ago.
Total defensive and special teams touchdowns in 2015 (Blocked Kick, Kick, Fumble and Interception Return, and Total) are shown in the table below.
| DEFENSIVE AND SPECIAL TEAMS TDS, 2015 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BK | KR | FR | INT | Total |
| Arizona | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Denver | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| NY Giants | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Washington | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Indianapolis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Seattle | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Baltimore | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Jacksonville | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Miami | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| St. Louis | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| New Orleans | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Dallas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Green Bay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| New England | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| San Diego | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NY Jets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson