Fantasy Football Kicker and Defense Streaming Options for Week 1

Kicker and defense are the two fantasy football positions with the most variance from week to week and year to year in terms of top performers. Offensive players will have huge weeks and carry teams to fantasy wins, but nothing is quite as random as a defense going off for nearly 30 points in a dominating effort or a kicker who gets six field goals, four of them from 40 or 50 yards.

It is an accepted practice to wait until the last two rounds to draft your fantasy defense and kicker. I'm OK saying the last three rounds if you can get an expected top defense in that third-to-last round before the run starts; your final bench spot isn't going to be affected much by that point. Taking those positions in the middle rounds, though, is seen as a waste because there is so much turnover in the top 10 fantasy scorers at those positions each season.

Look at the past two years of defense fantasy scoring: According to point totals from FantasyPros, only two defenses that scored in the top 10 in 2023 repeated that feat in 2024. The Buffalo Bills dropped from DEF3 to DEF8, and the Pittsburgh Steelers rose from DEF8 to DEF4. It's a little better between 2022 and 2023, as five teams repeated top-10 finishes, but at least half of those top teams churn every year. It's too hard to guess who is going to get luckiest with turnovers and D/ST touchdowns, which is what drives fantasy scoring.

The same is true for kickers: Brandon Aubrey was the top kicker in fantasy in both 2023 and 2024, but Cameron Dicker was the only other kicker to finish in the top 10 in fantasy scoring in both seasons. It's too random to know who will get the most field goal attempts, and guessing which teams will get close enough to score without finding the end zone is a fool's errand.

Because of all this, conventional wisdom says to wait until the end to pick your defense and kicker and stream those positions most of the season unless you luck into a team/player that keeps excelling, which happens every year. If you are going to stream, it starts in Week 1, and that makes knowing your favorite options important before you draft.

Let's go through some of the best D/ST and kicking options for the first week (or two) of the regular season and who owners can look to draft if they are planning to go the streaming route. This will be based on a lot of assumptions and stats from 2024; it's all we really have. The options below are meant to help you hit the ground running at the most fungible positions. I'm looking only at teams/players being picked outside the top 10 at their position.

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Defense/Special Teams Streamers

Arizona Cardinals

• Week 1 Opponent: at New Orleans Saints
• Week 2 Opponent: vs. Carolina Panthers

Arizona is my favorite early-season streamer. I think the Saints are going to be the worst offensive team in football this season, so why not go after them early? Some people are buzzing around the Panthers, but they have been one of the worst teams for both seasons of Bryce Young's career, and while he looked better in the second half of last season, this is still a squad that lacks high-level talent.

The Cardinals have also spent a few years adding defensive talent that raises both their floor and ceiling. Darius Robinson and Walter Nolen III were first-round picks on the defensive line, and this year's second rounder, cornerback Will Johnson, was projected as high as a top-10 pick but fell due to injury concerns. They signed pass rusher Josh Sweat to a rich contract after he put together 33 sacks in the past four seasons in Philadelphia.

They also signed veterans Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson, among others, and have built a defense that has both depth and possible top-line talent. I wouldn't be surprised to see this team finish in the top 10 in defensive fantasy scoring, and that could start as early as the first few weeks.

They play the 49ers in Week 3, a team we expect to have a better offense, but San Francisco is without multiple players due to injury and offseason exodus, so that could look like a much better matchup when the time comes. Week 4 is against a Seattle team that swapped quarterbacks to Sam Darnold, who we have seen as a below-average QB until last year. The Titans and their rookie quarterback come to town in Week 5. This could be a long-term option.

Cincinnati Bengals

• Week 1 Opponent: at Cleveland Browns
• Week 2 Opponent: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

This is a scary one. Cincinnati was worse than average in terms of points per game, passing yards per game, and rushing yards per game allowed last season. The secondary was porous and doesn't look much different from a personnel standpoint. The pass rush was already short, and they are still without Trey Hendrickson because of a contract dispute; first-round pick Shemar Stewart also missed a lot of offseason work because of his own contract standoff.

Internal progression could be expected, but this is likely to be a below-average defense based on the initial on-paper look. This is more about the matchups. The Browns are another group who could fight for worst in the league and a team we will likely look to target often. The Jaguars have a new offensive head coach and reason to think they can look better than last year, but we won't know how Liam Coen's system will translate to a team with less talent (he came from Tampa Bay), so that could be another good matchup.

I'm not excited about counting on Cincinnati's D, but the matchups are right if you're looking to stream, especially in Week 1.

Miami Dolphins

• Week 1 Opponent: at Indianapolis Colts
• Week 2 Opponent: vs. New England Patriots

This is another defense with a clear weakness, as the defensive backfield has been decimated by injuries, trades, and free agency losses since last year. Minkah Fitzpatrick was brought in, but that came at the expense of Jalen Ramsey. More guys have been lost to injury, and there is a ton of inexperience on the depth chart, both in terms of young players and guys new to the Miami system.

We're looking more at the matchups here again. Indianapolis announced that Daniel Jones will be their starting quarterback, a fact that must make opponents feel confident. Jones had one good season in six tries with the Giants and is a low-ceiling player. He can be competent, but that's not something to fear. The Colts are also dealing with a reworked offensive line after losing multiple starters, so Miami's good pass rush (including players like Chop Robinson, Bradley Chubb, and Zach Sieler) could cause chaos.

New England has added a lot of talent to one of the most barren rosters in football over the past two years, and young quarterback Drake Maye showed flashes last year. They are still short on skill talent, and Maye probably will still feel growing pains, so the Patriots could be an appealing target also.

Kicker Streamers

We'll go quicker in this section, as kickers are often dependent on so many other things. I'm looking for guys on offenses that could be above average and playing against defenses we expect to be subpar.

Cam Little, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Week 1 Opponent: vs. Carolina Panthers
• Week 2 Opponent: at Cincinnati Bengals

Even if you don't pay attention to the preseason, you probably heard about Little making a 70-yard field goal. He's unlikely to make another one from that range, but by showing he can hit long kicks, Little will probably get more chances to attempt those kicks, meaning more potential fantasy points. If they are near mid-field, Little will be on the minds of the coaches when they hit fourth down.

Carolina gave up more points than any other team last season, and I don't expect them to be much better on that side of the ball. We talked above about Cincinnati's defensive woes in 2024, and even if you use the Bengals as a streamer, it's still not a bad play to go with Little against them in Week 2.

Chad Ryland, Arizona Cardinals

• Week 1 Opponent: at New Orleans Saints
• Week 2 Opponent: vs. Carolina Panthers

Back to the Cardinals, they are playing two teams that I expect to be among the worst in football. Ryland was a fourth-round draft pick by the Patriots a few years back, so he was regarded coming out of college. After a horrible rookie season with New England, he hit 87.5% of his field goals last year and missed just one extra point, so it seems like he's a guy that can be counted on. Both games will also be in domes, a nice little cherry on top.

Daniel Carlson, Las Vegas Raiders

• Week 1 Opponent: at New England Patriots
• Week 2 Opponent: vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Carlson has been a top-10 fantasy kicker in four of the past five seasons, including K10 last year. The Raiders upgraded their offense by bringing in Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty, and they have the makings of a possible above-average team on that side of the ball (though the defense is another story).

The matchups aren't great here; this is more about a guy who has been successful and is part of a potentially good offense. Carlson is another kicker who was drafted relatively high (fifth-round pick in 2018) who was given up on by his first team (Minnesota) after a rough start but has looked much better since those early struggles.