DFS NFL DST Coordinator: Week 4

Welcome back to the crapshoot that is trying to pick the right defenses in DFS. Identifying which position players are going to score touchdowns is tough enough, but trying to hit on the few defenses that are going to find the end zone is damn near impossible. Sure, there are other ways for defenses to score points, and there are defesnes that have a higher floor. But to have a big day, you need your defenses to score. But we'll look for those higher floor defenses in good matchups and try to get our money in with the best hand and then let the gods take it from there.

Premium Options

Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers - Instead of splitting these two teams up and then writing essentially the same thing twice in two paragraphs, I'll just hit the same beats once. According to the Football Outsiders DAVE rankings, which mix their preseason projections and performance to date, the Cards and Panthers are both top four defenses. That's obviously good. According to Vegas, the opponenets of the Cards and Panthers, the Rams and the Buccaneers, both have bottom four projected team totals this week. That is also good. And according to 4for4.com's schedule-adjusted matchup statistic, their opponents are the third and fourth most fantasy-friendly matchups for opposing defenses. Good, good, good. Now, they're among the more expensive defenses, so they can't be called values or anything. But if you'd like to pay for the top options, these would be your best bets.

Value Options

Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills - Again, splitting these teams up and discussing them separately would be reptitive. They are both top 10, but not quite top five, defenses according to DAVE, and they each have a good but not great mathcup. Vegas thinks Cincy has a middling matchup against Kansas City as the Chiefs have a projected team total that is only slightly lower than average, and the Chiefs have only been a slightly above average fantasy matchup for opposing defenses. Vegas likes Buffalo's matchup with the Giants a bit more than Cincy's with the Chiefs, but the Giants have been a below average fantasy matchup for opposing defenses so far. These are good but not great defenses, with good but not great matchups, so they're more a roll of the dice.

Bargain Options

Philadelphia Eagles - Just one bargain option here because the Eagles are such a nice bargain. The Eagles rank fifth in the DAVE rankings so far. Their performance to date only ranks 12th in the league, but FO obviously thinks they have more potential. Even if they don't, they've already proven to be an above average defense. They have a very good matchup against the Redskins who have a below average team total in Vegas and who have been a top ten fantasy matchup for opposing defenses so far. Kirk Cousins is still rocking a 4.5 percent career interception rate (league average was 2.5 percent last year), so the Iggles may well get their hands on some picks.