Rotating D/ST is a more and more common strategy in fantasy as offenses improve year over year. Injuries will both help and hurt defensive matchups. Plus as bye weeks continue, it’s imperative to make sure you trot out a strong defense. Don’t lose your matchup because of a poor defensive output. You might also win a week you might otherwise have lost because of your defense. With all of this in mind, today we’ll look at the top Week 7 DST streamers.
Week 7 features a half dozen teams on bye weeks with Carolina, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, the New York Jets, and Tennessee all with the week off. Between the Cowboys and the Jets, those are a couple of strong defenses teams have been relying on nearly weekly. All options listed below will be rostered in 50% or fewer of Fantasy Leagues.
Week 7 DST Streamers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I think in light of Todd Bowels being the least aggressive offensive coach in football we forget he’s a brilliant defensive coach. It’s shown in fantasy this season with eight or more points in all but two contests where they faced the Eagles and Lions. Mich of Tampa’s defensive core is still intact from their Super Bowl run and it shows on Sundays. This week they play a Falcons offense featuring Desmond Ridder who has struggled with turnovers of late which makes for a great matchup for Tampa Bay.
Las Vegas Raiders
Lots of reasons to love streaming the Raiders this week. For starters, they’re playing the Chicago Bears. In fact, the Chicago Bears starting quarterback just field won’t be playing this week. The Las Vegas Raiders have played really solid defensive football up to this point in the season. Outside of an abysmal Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, the Raiders DST has scored five-plus points in four out of five matchups. Max Crosby has been playing like a man possessed all season expect him and the Raiders to feast on Bear this Sunday.
New York Giants
The Giant’s offensive woes this season have overshadowed the fact that the defense has gotten increasingly better of late. Bobby Okereke has turned into a weekly playmaker for the Giants and Kevin Thibodeaux is performing at a higher level. Plus don’t look now but Deontae Banks is looking like a dark horse candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Couple this with the Giants playing a Commanders offense, that’s been spotty throughout the season, and it should make for a favorable matchup for the Giants. After facing Miami and Buffalo in back-to-back weeks, Washington might appear to be playing in slow motion.
Green Bay Packers
Lots to like about the Green Bay Packers DST this week. They’ve got the Denver Broncos offense which has looked downright ugly at times this season. The Packers seem to thrive in those games this year, scoring 11 or more points in three out of five contests. They’re also fresh off a bye, so they’ve got an extra week to watch film of Russell Wilson in Sean Payton’s offense. Or film of Russell Wilson doing whatever this is.
Houston Texans
Desperate times call for desperate measures so I try to find one of the other alternatives I listed above first. However, similar to the Bears, the Raiders will likely also be relying on their backup quarterback this week. How do we trust 38-year-old Bryan Hoyer to put out a strong offensive performance? This is less a bet on the Bears’ defense as it is a bet against the Raiders’ offense sans Garoppolo.
Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty