Fantasy Football 2022: Week 1 defense rankings

Did you opt to go with a dominant defense in your fantasy football draft? Or did you decide to wait it out and play the week-to-week streaming game? With the start of the NFL season finally upon us, our analysts take a look at the Week 1 defensive landscape to help fantasy managers with their lineup decisions.

The San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos are clearly among the top plays of the week thanks to matchups against questionable offenses in the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks, respectively.

[Week 1 Fantasy Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST | Kickers]

If you're looking to add a defense off the waiver wire, the Cleveland Browns are only rostered in 21 percent of Yahoo leagues, yet our analysts think they have top-10 potential against former teammate Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers. The Browns could also have multi-week appeal with matchups against the New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons in the weeks to follow.

The Tennessee Titans defense is available in over 60 percent of leagues and are another team with a solid matchup against the visiting New York Giants. Daniel Jones has never been shy about turning over the ball, so if you need to make an add with upside, the Titans make a lot of sense.

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Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a highly touted unit when it comes to full season defensive rankings, is tougher to trust in a Sunday night matchup on the road against the Dallas Cowboys offense.

The opening week of the season always produces surprises, so lean on our defense rankings below to get the sit-start advice you need to get off to a winning start to the season:

2022 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ - Expert Consensus Rankings