Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC)

Photo: Bob Donnan, USA Today Sports

There are a couple of common approaches to addressing the team defense position in fantasy drafts.

• Draft a top defense fairly early.
• Draft a couple of defenses fairly late with the intention of streaming your way to production that is on par with a top defense.

Well, actually, there is another common approach. Draft a mediocre defense, drop it when it underproduces, and hate the team defense position all season long.

Let's avoid that third approach.

Going After a Top Defense

Simply put, you're in the wrong place for a top defense. But we have multiple avenues for you to take here.

• Use the Draft Dominator. With it, you'll be able to get fully customized rankings. You'll know exactly which top defense you should target.
  
  
• Go straight to our Defensive Team rankings. These are customized, but you'll get a general feel for which defenses are highly rated.

If you're having trouble deciding on a top defense or you want one with an easy schedule, take a moment to check out our SOS for defenses.

Now, let's find a DTBC.

Starting-Level Defenses

If we have a DTBC, that means we won't be taking an early defense. And that means we won't start the season with a single starting-level defense.

• Pittsburgh Steelers - 123.1
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 120.4
• Washington Football Team - 118.3
• Los Angeles Rams - 117.0
• New England Patriots - 112.2
• San Francisco 49ers - 109.6
• Kansas City Chiefs - 109.5
• Baltimore Ravens - 107.8
• Los Angeles Chargers - 106.5
• Miami Dolphins - 106.1
• Chicago Bears - 105.4
• Indianapolis Colts - 105.0
• Denver Broncos - 103.5
• Buffalo Bills - 103.2

Beat the Dolphins

The goal of creating a DTBC is to compete against starting-level defenses. To get a Top 10 unit, we need to outscore the Miami Dolphins.

Let's beat the Dolphins.

Finding DTBCs

Finding the right committee will be based on three things:

• Bye week compatibility - This seems obvious, but your two defenses can't have the same bye week.
• Projected fantasy points scored - Defenses projected to score more fantasy points this season will generally rank higher in the list of possible committees.
• Strength of schedule - Defenses with easier opponents will generally rank higher in the list of possible committees.

So let's get to it.

Looking through the 137 possibilities, a whopping 90 of them are projected to beat the Dolphins. And three of them are projected to beat the Steelers.

Yes, tons of quality options with a good deal of variety.