Proceed with Caution: Defense
New Orleans: There are weak spots in a few areas that they’re going to need younger players to step up in. And they won’t have the always reliable Brees to take the pressure off of them this year. It’ll be extra difficult on the unit if Winston/Hill struggle to keep the offense moving along. I’d slide them down your board just a little bit.
LA Chargers: For the last two years I’ve jumped on the LAC defense train and for the last two years I’ve been embarrassed to be a part of that group. They always seem to be dealing with injuries and with Melvin Ingram (provided he doesn’t end up resigning) and Casey Hayward gone it’ll be a little tougher to trust them when it comes to fantasy football.
Miami: The ability for them to follow up what they did last season with an encore presentation is hard to see. Last year they had 14 forced fumbles, and 18 interceptions (10 of which came from one player). That’s not going to be easy to replicate. Not to mention they did their damage with a rag-tag group of underdogs and castoffs. I mean seriously they had names like Eric Rowe, Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Andrew Van Ginkel and Jerome Baker playing significant roles for them and they finished as a top five fantasy defense! I won’t knock you for making them the only defense you draft cause Brian Flores is clearly some kind of wizard, but I would take a step back and think about it if you’re actually considering taking them before the final two rounds of your draft.
