Best DST Streaming Options For Week 15 Fantasy Football: Chargers, Raiders, Bengals
Ted takes a look at the top streaming defense options for Week 15's fantasy football slate.
Last week was a rough week for defense streaming, as the New York teams finally took revenge after we profitably picked on them all season. Of my four picks, the two playing teams based in the Big Apple (Texans and Packers) both struggled, as did the Patriots on Thursday. Hopefully, you picked the Vikings, who completely shut out the Raiders in one of the ugliest games of the season.
If you picked one of the other three, and it hurt your playoff chances, my apologies. Hopefully we can bounce back this week with some great picks in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Unfortunately, pickings are surprisingly slim even with all 32 teams playing, as a lot of the best matchups are taken by teams already rostered in over 50% of leagues (although some, like the Colts and Falcons, are barely above that threshold, so check your wire). Of the widely available teams with good matchups, most have putrid defenses that are hard to trust, but we will just have to plug our noses and pick some. This is also the part of the season where weather starts to become a factor. It's hard to know as of now, but keep an eye out as we approach Sunday for any games that are projected to be impacted. Let's get started!
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Week 15 Fantasy Football Defense Streaming Options
Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders
This is what I'm talking about when I mention putrid defenses in great situations. The Chargers' defense is one of the worst in the league. But the Raiders just scored zero points in a game without weather concerns in the year 2023. They are almost certain to be missing Josh Jacobs for this Thursday night matchup, leaving them even more starved for playmakers than they already were. Regardless of whether it's Aidan O'Connell or Jimmy Garoppolo under center, I think we can expect this to be a low-scoring affair, with at least a few sacks and hopefully a turnover or two as well for LA. Rostered in just 33% of leagues, our DST Projections have the Chargers as the 13th-best option for this week.
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Let's quickly flip the table around and take a look at the other side of what projects to be another low-scoring Thursday night matchup (although we saw how that went last week). Justin Herbert is out for the season following an injury to his thumb, so the Chargers will be starting former NDSU quarterback Easton Stick. It's possible Stick joins the growing list of surprisingly competent backup quarterbacks but my rule of thumb (sorry Justin Herbert) is to assume backup quarterbacks are terrible until proven otherwise. In his limited debut on Sunday, Stick racked up an 11.1% PFF turnover-worthy play rate, by far the worst of any QB with at least 20 dropbacks. Obviously, this is a very small sample size, but it's certainly not a good sign. Given that the Chargers were already hovering right about average with Herbert doing his best to will them to victory, the downgrade to Stick is enough to make this a matchup worth targeting. Our DST Projections agree, ranking the Raiders, who are available in nearly 90% of leagues, as the DST10 for this week.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings might be missing their QB1, WR1, and RB1 on Sunday. Even if Justin Jefferson suits up, he will likely be catching passes from Nick Mullens. As a 49ers fan, I know very well that Nick Mullens is not someone who should strike fear into your heart. His career numbers don't look too terrible, but they look a lot worse when you consider the QB-friendly environment of the Shanahan offense he produced them in. Putting all that aside, the Vikings' offense just managed to put up a grand total of three points on 11 drives against the Raiders. The Bengals' defense has let us down before, but even they should be able to manage a solid performance in this matchup. Our DST Projections have them as the ninth-best defense for this week, and you should be able to grab them in most leagues, as they are just 12.5% rostered.
Fade: Los Angeles Rams vs. Washington Commanders
Defenses playing the Commanders were a staple of this column in the early weeks of the season, but I haven't targeted them in weeks, and you shouldn't either. The reason why is simple: Where he was once taking sacks at a truly unprecedented rate, Sam Howell has turned a corner. In Weeks 1-7, the man I was calling Sammy Sacks averaged nearly six a game on an absurd 34.5% pressure-to-sack ratio. He has now cut that number in less than half, taking sacks on just 15.8% of his pressured dropbacks over the last six games for an average of just 3.0 sacks a game.
Without the absurd sack numbers of the early season, a matchup with the Commanders is an unexciting matchup with one of the league's pass-happiest offenses that actually ranks above average in yards per game. The Rams' defense is also nothing special, as they rank just 23rd in DVOA. However, they seem to be one of the most popular streaming defense options for this week. According to our Fantasy Assistant, they lead the position in Expected Waiver Interest (a measure of how likely a player is to be picked up off waivers in a given week), and FantasyPros' Expert Consensus has them ranked as the DST12. Considering Howell's improvements of late, I disagree, and would avoid the Rams' defense unless you are truly desperate.
Week 16 Look Ahead
If you have a bye or just want to stay one step ahead, here are some low-owned defenses with good matchups that you can stash now for Week 16:
- Denver Broncos (18.6% Rostered) vs. New England Patriots
- Washington Commanders (11.5% Rostered) @ New York Jets
- Detroit Lions (40.6% Rostered) @ Minnesota Vikings
