Fantasy Football Rankings: Top Five Defenses To Start In Week 5 Of Season

By now, you probably have a good idea of whether your fantasy football team is worth investing in or is total garbage.

If it’s the latter, then you should just go ahead and give up. But if you think you’ve got a shot, then it’s time to start putting in that extra effort.

Step No. 1: Take your defense seriously.

Sure, fantasy football is all about the studs — you know, the Mike Evans’ and Patrick Mahomes’ of the world. But getting value from your defense could mean the difference between winning and losing on a weekly basis.

With that said, let’s look at the five defenses you should start in Week 5:

New England Patriots (at Washington Redskins)
Who’s starting at quarterback for the Redskins? Is it Case Keenum (bad), Colt McCoy (bad) or Dwayne Haskins (jury still out, but bad for now)?

Honestly, it doesn’t even matter. The Patriots will dominate this game regardless of who is under center for Washington. Start fantasy’s premier defense as you normally would.

Chicago Bears (at Oakland Raiders — in London)
The Raiders have looked surprisingly competent this season, but we’re still not buying in. Even if they win this game, there’s no way they score more than 17 points. The Bears — particularly a motivated Khalil Mack — should do what they usually do: rack up sacks and force turnovers.

Tennessee Titans (vs. Buffalo Bills)
The Titans’ defense actually is decent, and Tennessee is set to host Josh Allen (or Matt Barkley, if the former can’t go due to a concussion) and a Bills offense that just showed how inept it really is. We don’t expect Buffalo’s offense to look quite as bad as it did against New England, but we still expect a struggle. The Titans are an ideal streaming option this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars (at Carolina Panthers)
Kyle Allen has turned some heads, but the Panthers QB still lost three fumbles and took three sacks last week against the Houston Texans. The Jags’ defense isn’t what it once was, but it still should have a great day against a sloppy offense.

Philadelphia Eagles (vs. New York Jets)
The Eagles either will get Sam Darnold and his massive spleen or Luke Falk and his borderline CFL skills. In either case, we expect the Eagles defense to have a great fantasy day. This perhaps is the best run-stopping unit in the NFL, which should allow Philly’s iffy secondary to play with more confidence.

Click for our sneaky Week 5 waiver wire pickups at each position >>