Fantasy Football: Top Defense & Special Teams Rankings

Fantasy Betting – 2009 Ranking The Top 15 Fantasy Football Defenses

Fantasy Football Draft Guide – Cheat Sheets & Player Rankings

Are you in the market for fantasy football draft info? Or Defense / Special Teams Rankings + DST cheat sheets for your 2009 fantasy draft?

Pre-season is nearly upon us, so for the next few weeks we encourage you to be checking out our fantasy football draft guide for all your rankings and analysis for the upcoming league drafts that your going to be participating in.

Before you make your NFL Week 1 odds picks, warm up with a little fantasy football analysis, and today, the focus is on the defenses. Most of the attention goes to flashy offensive stars, but the old adage is “defense wins championships”, and you can’t go wrong with a good defense, on the field or in your fantasy league.

1. Pittsburgh: The Super Bowl champs led the league in defense thanks to the best linebacking corps in the league, powered by Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison. The Troy Polamalu marshals the secondary, so there’ll be no drop-off there. Expect another great season from this unit, which should make them the Super Bowl favorites in your offshore sportsbook.

2. Washington: The Redskins made the signing of the offseason by snagging Albert Haynesworth from Tennessee, adding to an already-formidable defense. Laron Landry is in line to be the next great NFL safety, with a combination of ball-hawking ability and bone-jarring hitting. DeAngelo Hall is back for his first full season with the Redskins.

3. New York Giants: The Giants were fifth in defense last year, and they’ve got a healthy Osi Umenyiora back to terrorize quarterbacks. Online NFL betting players will see a boatload of sacks from the Giants this year, and the secondary is great at giving the front four extra time to get upfield.

4. Baltimore: The Ravens finished second to the Steelers in defense, but this year will be a transition as longtime coordinator Rex Ryan left to coach the Jets, and he took Bart Scott with him. Still, with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis on the field, the Ravens will still be competitive enough to be one of your sports picks on a weekly basis, especially with the sixth-easiest schedule.

5. Dallas: Keith Brooking comes from Atlanta to join Bradie James as one of the best inside-linebacking duos in the league, while DeMarcus Ware has full license to try and beat his total of 20 sacks from last year. There is no more Roy Williams in the secondary, but Ken Hamlin and Gerald Sensebaugh are capable replacements.

6. Minnesota: The Vikings led the league in rushing defense, and they’ll have Pat and Kevin Williams in the lineup while their drug suspension is being appealed. The Vikings will have to replace the veteran knowledge of Darren Sharper in the secondary, which could allow teams to throw even more since they can’t run on the Vikings.

7. Chicago: The Bears were an uncharacteristic 21st on defense last year, but a lot of that may have come down to the ineptness of the offense, which left the defense on the field for far too long at times. The acquisition of Jay Cutler should actually help this unit out as mucg as the offense. Any team with Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs shouldn’t be as bad as the Bears were last year.

8. New England: Anyone want to make a bet that Shawn Springs, left for dead in Washington, comes to the Patriots and has a Pro Bowl-caliber year? Even gambling software wouldn’t go against the Patriots, even while replacing Ellis Hobbs and Mike Vrabel. Jerod Mayo has Defensive Player of the Year potential.

9. San Francisco: With Mike Singletary at the helm, you can wager that the 49ers will play hard on that side of the ball, at least. They were 13th in defense last year, led by Patrick Willis, who was second in the league in tackles. The secondary has some injury questions to Nate Clements and Michael Lewis, meaning Mark Roman may have to stay in town despite requesting a trade.

10. Philadelphia: Not seeing Brian Dawkins in the secondary will be strange, meaning Quintin Demps will have big shoes to fill. Having Hobbs in the secondary helps, but the defensive line needs someone to pressure the quarterback other than Trent Cole.

11. Tennessee Titans: Losing Haynesworth puts a wealth of pressure on Kyle Vanden Bosch and Javon Kearse, who could miss the beginning of the year with a knee injury. However, Keith Bullock is still a run-stopper on the outside, and their secondary is very underrated, which means sportsbook betting players shouldn’t count them out.

12. Cincinnati: While the Bengals’ football odds won’t be that great, they should have a solid defense as last year’s unit was 12th in the league. Resigning Rashad Jeanty and Brandon Johnson was big, while Chris Crocker also re-upped and will have more responsibility from his free-safety position.

13. Miami: Jason Taylor is back in town, and he may be moved back to the outside-linebacking position, meaning quarterbacks can’t just worry about Joey Porter, who should see less double teams. The signing of safety Gibril Wilson could be a major coup.

14. Indianapolis: The Colts were 13th in defense with Bob Sanders injured for most of the season. The front seven is tight, led by ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney, but the Colts need Sanders healthy to boost their Super Bowl odds.

15. San Diego: The Chargers fell to 25th without Shawne Merriman, but the sack machine is back and healthy from his knee injury. Corners Antonio Cromartie and Quentin Jammer should benefit from having Merriman back as the Chargers got no pass rush, often leaving their corners on an island. This is never good for a team’s football betting odds.

Don’t agree with our rankings? Comments below are welcome…give us your rankings!!!!

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