The Ultimate Fantasy DST Strategy Guide in Under 10 Minutes

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Ten defenses in two tiers, in under ten minutes. Ian Hartitz starts with the big
five that pretty much everyone agrees on, then draws a hard tier break and gives
you five streamers with soft opening schedules for anyone who refuses to spend a
mid round pick on the position.

THE BIG FIVE

LOS ANGELES RAMS. Fifth in DST scoring last season, and then they added the best
defensive player alive in Myles Garrett, plus Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson
out of Kansas City to fix the secondary. Super Bowl favorites. The one group Ian
would go out of his way for, around Round 10 or 11.

HOUSTON TEXANS. DeMeco Ryans and Vance Joseph line up for 60 minutes and beat
the crap out of you. Lowest blitz rate in the league and second in DST scoring
over the last two years. Rank them first and Ian gets it.

DENVER BRONCOS. Vance Joseph has led the 1st and 4th ranked scoring defenses in
Denver. So loaded that 2025 first rounder Jahdae Barron cannot crack the lineup.
Expect some regression off a great record in one score games.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS. Mike Macdonald has not missed yet: 7th and 2nd in Baltimore,
then 6th and 1st in Seattle. The only thing keeping them out of the top three is
a banged up defensive back room early, Nick Emmanwori included.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES. Vic Fangio has finished 13th, 6th, 7th and 7th in DST
scoring. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis stuffing the middle, Quinyon Mitchell and
Cooper DeJean outside, one of the youngest and cheapest units in football. Would
not be shocked if they go from good to great.

THE OTHER GUYS

BALTIMORE RAVENS. Ian's favorite DST at cost and the best click of the whole
board. Jesse Minter in from the Chargers, Kyle Hamilton and Trey Hendrickson on
the roster, and the schedule gets you through six weeks easy: Colts, Saints,
Cowboys, Titans, Falcons, Browns.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS. Brian Flores goes to bed blitzing and wakes up blitzing, the
highest blitz rate in the league last season. Only reason they are not a big six
is front line turnover, with Jonathan Greenard and Javon Hargrave gone and Caleb
Banks among three straight front seven draft picks.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS. Losing Jesse Minter is not ideal, but Derwin James leads a
unit that added Khalil Mack and Dalvin Tomlinson. The real draw is Cardinals in
Week 1 and Raiders in Week 2.

DETROIT LIONS. The biggest leap of faith in real life terms, but Aidan
Hutchinson gets pressure and is back from a devastating injury. Saints then
Bills to open, then Jets, Panthers and Cardinals before the bye.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS. They get Deshaun Watson and the Browns in Week 1 at home
in Duval County, and that is basically the whole pitch. Probably Ian's survivor
pick too. Fair warning that last year's takeaway heavy defenses tend to regress.

Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all in the draft kit, linked at the
top of this description.

Timestamps:
0:00 The plan
0:40 Rams
1:36 Texans
2:51 Broncos
3:27 Seahawks
4:01 Eagles
4:52 The tier break
5:24 Ravens
6:04 Vikings
7:00 Chargers
7:19 Lions
7:57 Jaguars
8:32 The whole top ten