Top 32 fantasy football D/STs for 2025

Welcome to the 2025 NFL and fantasy football season. We’re back and we are ranking defenses and special teams for your fake football teams. Going into this season we have a strong group of D/STs to choose from, but as usual, there is very little predictability when it comes to fantasy D/STs. The Broncos D/ST led the league last year in fantasy points and the odds of them repeating are slim. No matter how confident you are that a defense is going to smash this year, you are probably wrong. Sure, they may be good. They could hold opponents to the fewest points in the league, but that doesn’t mean they’ll put up huge fantasy points.

One way I like to look at my D/ST is to think of using them in month long intervals. If your D/ST plays the Ravens, Lions, Bills and Eagles to start the season, you are in for a world of hurt. Of course no team has that tough a schedule, but those are four teams I would not play a D/ST against unless their backup QB was starting. So, trying to get a team with a weak schedule for the next handful of games is a good way to think about the fantasy position.

Arizona Cardinals — @Saints, vs. Panthers, @49ers, vs. Seahawks

Commanders — vs. Giants, @Packers, vs. Raiders, @Falcons

49ers — @Seahawks, @Saints, vs. Cardinals, vs. Jaguars

Patriots — vs. Raiders, @Dolphins, vs. Steelers, vs. Panthers

Rams — vs. Texans, @Titans, @Eagles, vs. Colts

These aren’t all smash games for their D/STs, but, they do make for a weak set of opponents compared to other teams. And, you don’t have to keep these teams, as we want to use the waiver wire when needed. The good thing about looking at the situation four games at a time, is that if you draft one of these teams, you know on average you’re going to be in a good situation. And if the waiver wire gets picked over and you miss out on a good streamer, you likely won’t be stuck with an awful matchup.