Dan Adams

[QB List @TheQBlist]

🚨 PL Pro is FREE through tomorrow! Check it out to get all of the incredible benefits of being a PL Pro member at Pitcher List, PLUS an ad-free experience on QB List. More details at the link in Nick's tweet! 👇

[Ryan Reynolds @RyanReynoldsNFL]

Fantasy Football Defense Rankings 2026

1. Houston Texans
2. Seattle Seahawks
3. Los Angeles Rams
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Denver Broncos
7. Indianapolis Colts *
8. New England Patriots
9. Minnesota Vikings
10. Los Angeles Chargers **
11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12. Detroit Lions

Houston Texans: One of the league’s best edge rush duos paired with a strong backend gives Houston the potential to finish as the NFL’s best defense. For fantasy their first four games are not great matchups, but from that point on their season is littered with plus matchups, with 9 games against average or worse offensive lines. My biggest concern with the Texans, apart from their tough start, is their offense could be bad enough to hurt their defense.

Seattle Seahawks: Seattle is another high-performing pass rush with a strong secondary. The Seahawks also start the year with three pretty strong matchups, before a five-game run against high-caliber offenses. From there Seattle has an up and down schedule, with very tough games in the fantasy playoffs in Week 15 and 16 against the Eagles and Rams.

Los Angeles Rams: The Rams swapped Jared Verse for one of history’s best edge rushers in Myles Garrett, raising the ceiling of an already appealing unit. If Aaron Donald returns, and he’s still Aaron Donald, that inside/ out duo becomes an unsolvable problem. The Rams first half schedule is filled with a number of smash sports, mixed with some high-quality offensive lines. The second half of the year, particularly the fantasy playoffs, doesn’t give me a ton of enthusiasm matchup wise. However, this group’s front four has the potential to be the league’s best, making them one of the few matchup proof defenses in the league and the end of what I’d call the Tier 1 defenses.

Pittsburgh Steelers: I considered ranking the Steelers second given their first half schedule, paired with exceptional matchups in Week 16 vs Carolina and Week 17 at Tennessee. I have them as a Tier 1A defense for fantasy purposes.

Philadelphia Eagles: Strong start against Washington and Tennessee, where I’d then plan to stream someone else against the Bears and Rams. Ultimately the Eagles are a strong pass rush team, with a Hall of Fame caliber defensive coordinator.

Denver Broncos: I’m not crazy about Denver’s first six games, apart from Week 2 vs. Jacksonville, but the second half of the season is much better for a Broncos defense that has been among the league’s best for several years now.

Indianapolis Colts: I’m sure I’ll be higher than consensus on the Colts, but I don’t really care about consensus. Top 10 fringe front four, with what could be an elite secondary, with Lou Anarumo at defensive coordinator. Specifically, Anarumo getting Sauce Gardner (who Indy way overpaid for) could pay some real dividends this year given the way Anarumo gameplans. Anarumo is a big reason why I’ll be above consensus on the Colts defense. The other thing I love about the Colts is they get 9 games against below average offensive lines, including fantasy playoff matchups in Week 15 against the Titans and Week 17 against what could be a reeling Browns team. I like Indy in tournaments with deep benches, because no one is going to target them given their first two matchups, where they have some real long-term viability if you pair them with an early season streamer. One caveat with the Colts is they are a different team without DeForest Buckner, he’s the lynchpin.

New England Patriots: Mike Vrabel teams have excellent, overachieving defenses, period. He’s the driving force much more than New England’s defensive roster, for me. The schedule is a mixed bag, where I’d probably rather not play the Patriots defense in roughly half their games, which is why I don’t have them higher.

Minnesota Vikings: I’m not crazy about their talent level, but Brian Flores is the best defensive play caller in the league and that alone makes Minnesota a viable option, especially against young quarterbacks and weak offensive lines. The Vikings schedule is better late, so they’d pair nicely with someone like the Steelers.

Los Angeles Chargers: Home games against the Cardinals and Raiders to start the season is why the Chargers are on this list, and they pair beautifully with the Colts in that regard. That said, Jessie Minter created a ton of margin last season for what is an average at best group of defensive talent. LA doesn’t have a noteworthy pass rush, and truth be told I think both of these games have sneaky shootout potential if the drop off from Minter to O’Leary is significant. I don’t have any problems playing the Chargers defense over the next two weeks, but good chance I’m less excited about it than most.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I think you could play the Bucs in six of the first eight weeks of the season. After that, I’m only looking at Week 12 vs Carolina and Week 16 at Atlanta. Given that, Tampa has a good looking front four and Todd Bowles has his moments as a defensive play caller, especially against weaker opponents.

Detroit Lions: I have no real confidence in the Lions defense, but they have a wonderful schedule. If you’re drafting the Chargers for the first two weeks, pairing them with the Lions for the next three isn’t a bad plan. That said, to be absolutely clear, I have very little enthusiasm for Detroit’s defensive roster, this is almost entirely schedule driven.

On my radar:

Titans: I don’t really care for Saleh as a head coach given what happened with that Jets team, but he is a very good defensive play caller and I’d argue he had his best year last season in that regard, given the injuries SF had. You also get a fringe top-10 pass rush with Tennessee. My concern here is, do I want a defense of a team that I’m not sure will win 7 games?

Giants: The Giants have dynamic edge rush talent and their linebacker group gives them optionality to dial up some exotic blitzes. The key here is can this new coaching staff get significantly more out of this secondary? If they can, the Giants can be a top-10 defense, although teams with good lines/ running games will be the bane of New York’s existence this season.

49ers: SF was ravaged by injuries last year, and they lost their play caller this offseason. However, Raheem Morris is a solid DC and SF has a fringe top-10 pass rush, with a real headliner in Nick Bosa. The 49ers have bad matchups in Week 1 and 4, with great ones in Week 2 and 3.

General methodology: Roster strength, long-term viability, playable weeks, early season schedule, and fantasy playoff schedules drive my rankings, which are built more on tiers I reality than a list.

Personally, depending on roster size, I tend to keep one defense for the whole season, while strategically streaming someone else in certain weeks. I also understand line play matchups, what certain defensive play callers will try to do against certain opponents, etc, so I have a radically different approach than most to defenses.

I will try to update this for next weekend as well if this post gets good enough engagement.

[QB List @TheQBlist]

🔗: https://t.co/dueQZPse0B

[Ryan Heath @RyanJ_Heath]

Today’s the day! Anatomy of a League Winner is here!

Last year, 18 players mattered in fantasy football.

I studied the past nine seasons to develop an optimal position-by-position draft strategy, and identify the 18 players I think will ascend THIS year.
https://t.co/AZQmJvwXEK

[QB List @TheQBlist]

🚨🚨🚨Top 300 Rankings are LIVE!!!🚨🚨🚨 @GMenJay takes you through his top 300 players for 2026 with just over a month to go before the season starts. Link below!

[Jakob Sanderson @JakobSanderson]

Hey everyone! We got a brand new episode of The Long View out this morning. I raise up my top disagreements w/ @YardsPerGretch's projections, and then we lay out the state of the RB position in 2026 Fantasy Drafts.

https://t.co/qytf6NCgjc

[Jakob Sanderson @JakobSanderson]

I have always loved my conversations with Ben over the years and we're quite excited to formalize that into a new project!

The Long View will have weekly discussion episodes about ball, including our first show on the evolution of NFL offensive strategy and formations

[Cody Main @cmain7]

https://t.co/2jeVAOEE9M

[Adam Levitan @adamlevitan]

Have talked a ton about preventive health on the Solo Pods.

If you ever connected with that, or if you’re interested in it, suspect you’ll want to listen to this one.

Also, please listen or watch the whole show — don’t just read the first part of the title. I’m actually going to be fine, no need to worry.

https://t.co/B2oJkhbzYf

[John Clark @JClarkNBCS]

Why would LeBron James want to get caught up in this?

[Ryan Heath @RyanJ_Heath]

It's here!

Playcalling has a massive impact on fantasy football. Simply picking players on the most efficient offenses creates an edge.

I evaluate ALL 18 new playcallers (and more!) by tendencies and cheat-code usage. TONS of fantasy takeaways inside!
https://t.co/HkflMdnCZT

[Zain Dhanani @DhananiZain]

Personnel packages are sticky when OCs change teams:

[Ben Gretch @YardsPerGretch]

I just published a piece about the most important thing in the world to me: RB air yards

[NBABase @TheNBABase]

The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to emerge as a strong suitor for LeBron James due to the Tyrese Maxey connection, per @WindhorstESPN

Maxey, who shares the same Klutch Sports agency as LeBron, is viewed as a major recruiting tool for Philly.

[QB List @TheQBlist]

Time for a check-in on Best Ball draft prices! In this edition, Adam (@adamnardelli) covers two players to avoid and two players to target at their current best ball ADPs.

https://t.co/TMX0nXejgx

[Ryan Heath @RyanJ_Heath]

Drafted a 2 early QBs team with @JakobSanderson on our best ball episode that just dropped!

Jakob had some great takes in here. Make sure you watch and sub to the channel!
https://t.co/22GwyTddf6

[Ryan Heath @RyanJ_Heath]

I’m not a doctor and I only read the abstract because the study is paywalled.

But from what that gives on their methods, I don’t think this study is very applicable to fantasy football, or cuts against the concerns many have regarding fibula fractures.

Here’s why 👇

[Jacob Gibbs @jagibbs_23]

Terrance Ferguson is the epitome of a hidden gem.

Year 1 was quiet statistically, but there are flashes throughout his film of an ability to win at all levels of the field.

[Ryan Heath @RyanJ_Heath]

Full transparency - Lamar's injuries are a lot more explanatory to me than this. The trend isn't as clean by ANY/A or passing efficiency in general.

Also, the actual % rate didn't nosedive that much from 2024 to 2025, it's more that the rest of the league caught up.

But if Doyle does run more play action/catches the offense back up, that's still a good thing! Just thought this was interesting.

[Brett Ford @FadeThatMan]

Awesome pod with @GMenJay, @TooMuch_Brian and Nick Beaudoin! Check out @TheQBlist for more. https://t.co/Hic0FmcIud