Kansas City has locked up safety Eric Berry with a long-term deal, and by doing so without tagging him, it has the option of applying the fantasy tag to tackle Dontari Poe. Retaining those two players, particularly Berry, makes it very likely this will again be a top-10 fantasy defense. Maybe top-5.
Three times in the last four years, Kansas City has finished as a top-5 fantasy defense (rankings based on 1 point for sacks, 2 points for turnovers, 6 points for defensive and special teams touchdowns). The lone exception? 2014, which Berry missed the vast majority of due to first an ankle injury and then a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma.
He's not the only key player to this defense's fantasy value, but he's a big part of the secondary. Poe is one of the league's better tackles, although it's a defense with some holes (it ranked in the bottom 10 defending the run last year, for example). Fantasy performance, though, is sound.
Kansas City Defense rankings, in interceptions, takeaways and fantasy performance, over the last four years are shown below. They were No. 1 in all three categories last season Big difference in 2014, when Berry missed 10 games.
| KANSAS CITY DEFENSE, RANKINGS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| INTs | 3rd | 30th | 2nd | 1st |
| Take | 2nd | 30th | 5th | 1st |
| FF Pts | 1st | 25th | 4th | 1st |
Will Kansas City tag Poe, though? The deadline is today, so we'll find out soon enough.
--Andy Richardson