In a couple of leagues I jumped and drafted a defense early: the Jaguars, the Rams, the Chargers. But sometimes those defenses got away from me, and there was a run, and I ended up with a later one -- or in a couple of cases, didn't draft one at all. In those leagues, I will be a-streaming.
I'm a fan of streaming defenses. I know there are some people who'd rather draft one early, leave them in the lineup, and not think about the position all year. But I feel like virtually every week, there will be some lightly regarded defense -- maybe a couple -- who are available on waivers who have a choice matchup and sneak into the top 10 of the rankings. So that's the route I'll go in some leagues.
You can do it with kickers, as well. Most notably, I want kickers from teams I am confident will win, and I also like kickers playing at home. They get an advantage from generally being favored to win, and they're comfortable with their turf and whatnot.
It's a little early to have run all the defensive rankings for Week 1, but at a glance I'm looking at a few different possibilities for the opener, probably available in the majority of leagues.
Detroit. The Lions are at home against the Jets, who will have Sam Darnold making his first career start. Regardless of who they face they have an all-pro returner in Jamal Agnew (pictured), so there's that. And then they're facing a team who might quite reasonably struggle on offense, fall behind, and have to start forcing some things, leading to opportunities for turnovers.
N.Y. Giants. The Giants are at home against the Jaguars, and things might go badly for their offense. But a small part of me thinks this one could go badly for the Jaguars, too. Blake Bortles struggled in the preseason, he's on the road against a Giants team that has some talent on offense. If Beckham or Barkley hits a big play early and the Jaguars fall behind, Bortles could start forcing some things.
Washington. They're on the road, which I tend to try and avoid. But they're in Arizona, which is starting a brand new quarterback in a brand new offense, and he's an immobile guy working behind a bad offensive line.
Cincinnati. Another road team, but they're on the road against a Colts team that has offensive line and running back injuries, and Andrew Luck playing his first game in nearly two years. The Bengals have some defensive talent, and enough offensive playmakers that they could get a lead and give Indy some problems with their pass rush.
Cleveland. This is well down the list, OK? I don't buy the Browns as a playoff team. But I do know they'll be better this year, and they very clearly have some talent on the defensive side of the ball, with Myles Garrett poised for a year two leap. They're at home against Pittsburgh, which presumably is getting LeVeon Bell back from his preseason sabbatical, but there might be some offensive rust and timing issues to work out. In general Cleveland has been competitive in its home games with the Steelers, and this looks like a nice spot for them to do so, maybe collecting some sacks and turnovers along the way.
I also considered the Falcons, on the road against Nick Foles and the Eagles, and both ends of the Titans-Dolphins game. We'll see what the numbers say when the Weekly comes out. But if I needed to pick up somebody off waivers in the next couple of days (and I do), these are the defenses I'd be looking at first.