Fantasy football rankings:Top 32 D/STs for Week 2

The NFL season now has a week of football in the bank, so it’s time to move on to Week 2 and see what delights it has to offer. Week 1 should be able to help us decipher Week 2, but I’d still rather have a month or two of games before relying too much on just one week. But, for D/STs, it is good to start looking at how well or poorly quarterbacks/offenses are playing.

The Top 5 fantasy D/ST’s in Week 1 faced Cam Ward, Tua Tagovailoa, JJ McCarthy, CJ Stroud, and Bryce Young. These quarterbacks weren’t the only reason the opposing D/STs put up good fantasy points, but they weren’t good enough to overcome the overall poor play from their team and themselves. Ward played well enough for a rookie on the road, but the Broncos defense in Mile High is going to be tough this season. McCarthy played great, as he led his team back to win, but a pick-six was great for the Bears’ D/ST. Tagovailoa and the Dolphins were downright awful. At this point, I’m streaming D/STs against them until they prove otherwise. Stroud’s offensive line once again did not help him, especially against a good Rams defensive line. This could be a recurring theme, so targeting the Texans’ offensive line may be a good strategy moving forward.

The biggest point spreads are my go-to for D/STs, as we want the team we’re facing to be forced to drop back to throw over and over again. Those drop backs can end in sacks, strip sacks and interceptions — the meat of D/ST goodness.

Jaguars at Bengals (49.5)
Commanders at Packers (48.5)
Bears at Lions (47.5)
Chargers at Raiders (46.5)
Eagles at Chiefs (46.5)

Ravens (28.5)
Lions (26.5)
Bengals (26.5)
Bills (26.3)
Packers (26)

Seahawks at Steelers (39.5)
Buccaneers at Texans (42.5)
Broncos at Colts (42.5)
49ers at Saints (42.5)
Rams at Titans (42.5)

Browns (17)
Seahawks (18.5)
Titans (18.5)
Panthers (19)
Saints (19)

Browns at Ravens (-11.5)
Bills (-7.0) at Jets
Panthers at Cardinals (-6.5)
Bears at Lions (-5.5)
Giants at Cowboys (-5.5)
Rams (-5.5) at Titans

The Broncos sacked rookie Cam Ward six times and forced to fumbles. The Rams defensive line should be able to put similar pressure on the rookie, while Matthew Stafford and company should be able to get a lead as 5.5-point favorites on the road.

The Dolphins have strong playmakers on the team, but they are missing too many pieces outside of those playmakers. And, Tagovailoa continues to have trouble handling pressure. The Patriots defense didn’t play as well as I expected, as Geno Smith lit them up through the air, but they did sack him four times and they might have Christian Gonzalez back this week. If they can get to Tua, they will have a good shot at turnovers.