Let’s continue with our Week 2 rankings by looking at the top defenses for the coming week:
- Houston Texans – at Jacksonville
- New England Patriots – vs. Arizona
- New York Giants – vs. Tampa Bay
- Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Cleveland
- Dallas Cowboys – at Seattle
- Pittsburgh Steelers – vs. New York Jets
- Baltimore Ravens – at Philadelphia
- San Francisco 49ers – vs. Detroit
- Oakland Raiders – at Miami
- Detroit Lions – at San Francisco
- New York Jets – at Pittsburgh
- Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Baltimore
- San Diego Chargers – vs. Tennessee
- Washington Redskins – at St. Louis
- Chicago Bears – at Green Bay
Thoughts:
- Mario Williams who? The Houston Texans opened the season by allowing just 10 points, forcing 3 fumbles (recovering 1), intercepting 3 passes and had 3 sacks. Taking on the Jaguars, how can you not put them atop these rankings?
- With the potential of Darrelle Revis missing the game against the Steelers due to a concussion, the Jets defense could struggle on the outside. Considering Pittsburgh has Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, you would think they would quickly take advantage of the opening. We’ll have to monitor the news, but for now I am ranking the Jets as if Revis isn’t playing.
- The New York Giants defense didn’t look so good in Week 1, but the Buccaneers are not the Cowboys. I would expect a big rebound from them this week.
- Are the Raiders a dominant defense? Of course not, but the Dolphins simply may be that bad in 2012. I would definitely use them as a defensive streamer if you are going that route.
- After shutting down the Giants in Week 1, we have to like the Cowboys revamped secondary. Considering the Seahawks have an offense that is far less daunting, Dallas’ defense is looking like an above average play in Week 2.
Make sure to check out our Week 2 rankings:
I’m streaming and both CIN and OAK are available. Do your rankings suggest that you buy CLE as a worse team than MIA? Or the CIN defense has more potential than OAK? Which do you think has a higher floor this week? thanks!
I like Cincinnati’s defense better and would go with them. They have potential value long-term.
I’m thinking of streaming Oakland Defense this week and dropping Russell Wilson. The defense I drafted is Eagles although I don’t buy into the Ravens offense like everyone else is. I still dont trust Flacco. Would you go with Oakland over Eagles D? And I also have Vick, Im a lil nervous with him vs Ravens. I have Wilson and Locker as my backups. Im thinking Vick is still better than my other options. Finally I have Rice, McFadden, and Spiller. Which 2 would you recommend? Im leaning towards Rice and Run DMC. Any input would be great. I over manage every week and always wind up pulling a Plaxico and shooting myself in the foot.
I’m in a 10-team league where the Jets DEF/ST is unowned. Would you pick them up for the long haul? Or, would you suggest streaming defenses? Or, as a third option, would you drop a backup TE (Greg Olsen in my case, Hernandez is my starter) to keep the Jets but also maintain a second DEF/ST spot for streaming during those matchups that don’t favor the Jets? Thanks!
If I can ask a second question, a bizarre thing happened today in this same 10-team league…someone dropped Dez Bryant. Currently, at WR I have AJ Green, Harvin, Maclin, and Lloyd. Also at RB, I have Demarco, Richardson, Doug Martin, Kevin Smith, and Peyton Hillis. You cannot roster more than 9 RBs/WRs, and we start 2 RBs, 2 WRs, and 1 Flex (standard league); who would you drop for Dez? Thanks again!
lots of wrs….
Cobb
julio Jones
Jordy Nelson
Torrey Smith
Antonio Brown
Reggie Wayne
Kenny Britt
need to start 3 – jones and nelson are top 2 but having trouble with a third…..
Cobb makes an interesting play since jennings is banged up…
I have Bengals and 49ers defense. Who should I go with this week? Stafford is my qb.
Professor:
I’m in a Std scoring league with 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 FLEX (WR/RB)
Here is my roster:
QB M Ryan/ J Cutler
RB C Johnson/ F Jackson/ B Green-Ellis/ D Brown/ B Tate
WR M Colston/ B Lloyd / A Brown/ T Smith / M Lloyd /R Cobb
TE J Graham
K J Hanson
DEF Cincy
I’m thinking of starting The Law Firm and Johnson at RB and Brown as my Flex as well as going with Brandon Lloyd and Marcus Floyd at WR.
However, I am tempted to get Cobb, Brown and Smith in as Jennings is hurt Brown may be going against a Revisless Jets D and the way Flacco is tossing the rock…
Thanks in advance for the help!
Paul Partyka – I would go Oakland’s defense, as I am a believer in Baltimore’s offense. As for the QB, Vick clearly is the better option. However, do you have someone else to drop over Wilson? While I like Locker, Wilson could ultimately be the best option as a backup. And yes, definitely Rice & McFadden (though that’s a good situation to be in).
Randy – I always prefer to have a set option, so I would go with the Jets (though be prepared to stream someone else if the matchup calls for it). For example, this week if Revis isn’t playing I wouldn’t be sure to utilize them if you have another player to drop (like Olsen, as I am assuming there are plenty of TE on waivers).
Randy #2 – I would drop Hillis for him in a heartbeat.
muddy cleat – You have plenty of options for sure. I’d probably go Wayne, with Smith as my second choice. While Cobb is interesting, he also could put you in a rather big hole early in the week. With the other options you have, I would go with the “safer” option.
jason – I’d go with the Bengals
Roll Tide – I agree with the RB decision. For the WR I would rank them Colston, Brown, Lloyd, Smith, Cobb (though the top four are all close). Donald Brown is right there as well, so he is a fine choice as FLEX considering he’s the RB. When it’s close, I always lean towards the RB
Thanks for helping me out earlier! If I can ask one more question, do you like Dallas or Cincy defense more long term? I was thinking Dallas until I saw their two respective upcoming schedules. Thanks again!
I do like Dallas’ defense better overall, but it probably would be a week-to-week thing depending on the matchup. If you are pairing one with the Jets, I would look to overlay the schedules and see who has the better matchup in the week’s you aren’t using NY (i.e. when they face New England)
I picked up Oakland D, and yea I dropped Wilson. I’m not sure if anyone will pick him up so I can get him back if I need to. The only other drop I had was Jaquizz Rodgers, although I like him to much and he will take over Turner’s starting gig soon, plus the return yardage is nice bonus. But then the problem for me is that I will have 4 good rbs with only 2 starting spots. Rice, Run DMC, Spiller, and Rodgers. One more question though Mr. Professor, Would you start Crabtree over Stevie Johnson this week? I’m rolling with Colston and Dez Bryant for sure, however my 3rd WR spot, I’m torn between Johnson or Crabtree.
I don’t really trust the 49ers passing game, so I would go with Johnson. The 49ers have other options, meaning Crabtree is no guarantee to get looks, and is more of a running offense.
Also do you have a kicker ranking? I drafted Hartley, Saints kicker, but they score to many tds so I dont get the field goal opportunities. Therefore I dropped him this week for Cundiff. Do you recommend streaming kickers all year with good matchups or is it better to just ride one all year long?
It really depends on the situation. I happen to like Hartley, but I do like Cundiff better for Week 2 (the rankings are at http://rotoprofessor.com/football/?p=5177). It depends, but I have no problem streaming.
Prof -
Who should start at D? The Patriots at home or Texans on the road – a western team with an early east coast start.
Thx
I love Houston’s defense, no matter where they are playing (especially against Jacksonville). I can’t recommend benching them.