How much stock should be placed in last year when choosing a fantasy defense? This question seems most pertinent when looking at Kansas City, which finished last year as the No. 2-ranked fantasy defense (1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, 6 for TDs). The odds of repeating that seem remote.
No defense has experienced as much turnover this offseason as Kansas City. Actively: they've cut or traded some of their best, most productive -- fantasy, anyway -- players. They've still got Chris Jones (pictured) and his 15.5 sacks from last year. But that's about it.
Kansas City traded linebacker Dee Ford (13 sacks) and safety Eric Murray (1 interception) last month. They cut Justin Houston (9 sacks) and Eric Berry. Gone in free agency are Allen Bailey (6 sacks), Steven Nelson (4 interceptions) and Ron Parker (2 interceptions). Five of those players started the AFC Championship game.
They also canned defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, replacing him with Steve Spagnuolo. Now, Spagnuolo's impressive NFL resume included running the Giants defense that spoiled New England's perfect season a decade ago. But his second go-around with the Giants a couple of years ago wasn't as good, and he was out of football completely in 2018.
Last year Kansas City tied for 1st in sacks and 7th in takeaways, helping it to that No. 2 fantasy finish. But Kansas City didn't cling to that since only the Bengals allowed more total yards and only nine teams allowed more points. Kansas City ranked last in pass defense and 27th against the run. So it blew up that No. 2 fantasy defense.
It may look odd to move them out of the top 10 in fantasy defenses for 2019, but that's where they're sitting in the preliminary rankings. Hope that the charges against return man Tyreek Hill don't amount to anything, or they'll likely fall even further.
With that defensive lineup, and with Sutton running things, Kansas City has been the league's best defense for takeaways the last four seasons. Over that span, they've had 6 more than any other team, keying their fantasy value. But probably best to look at that as just a bit of trivia -- not much continuity to think that will continue in 2019.
| TAKEAWAYS, 2015-2018 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | Tot |
| Kansas City | 29 | 33 | 26 | 27 | 115 |
| Carolina | 39 | 27 | 21 | 22 | 109 |
| LA Rams | 26 | 18 | 28 | 30 | 102 |
| Philadelphia | 26 | 26 | 31 | 17 | 100 |
| Arizona | 33 | 28 | 21 | 16 | 98 |
| Denver | 27 | 27 | 17 | 27 | 98 |
| Buffalo | 25 | 18 | 25 | 27 | 95 |
| LA Chargers | 20 | 28 | 27 | 20 | 95 |
| Tampa Bay | 23 | 29 | 26 | 17 | 95 |
| Washington | 26 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 95 |
| Baltimore | 14 | 28 | 34 | 17 | 93 |
| New Orleans | 22 | 21 | 25 | 24 | 92 |
| NY Giants | 27 | 25 | 19 | 21 | 92 |
| Seattle | 22 | 19 | 25 | 26 | 92 |
| New England | 21 | 23 | 18 | 28 | 90 |
| Pittsburgh | 30 | 23 | 22 | 15 | 90 |
| Indianapolis | 25 | 17 | 20 | 26 | 88 |
| Minnesota | 22 | 27 | 19 | 20 | 88 |
| Houston | 25 | 17 | 16 | 29 | 87 |
| Chicago | 17 | 11 | 22 | 36 | 86 |
| Oakland | 25 | 30 | 14 | 17 | 86 |
| Green Bay | 22 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 84 |
| Miami | 16 | 25 | 15 | 28 | 84 |
| NY Jets | 30 | 12 | 20 | 20 | 82 |
| Jacksonville | 18 | 13 | 33 | 17 | 81 |
| Cincinnati | 28 | 20 | 14 | 18 | 80 |
| Atlanta | 23 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 80 |
| Cleveland | 21 | 13 | 13 | 31 | 78 |
| Detroit | 18 | 14 | 32 | 14 | 78 |
| Tennessee | 19 | 18 | 21 | 17 | 75 |
| Dallas | 11 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 72 |
| San Francisco | 12 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 59 |
--Andy Richardson