(08/29/2022)
Here are the fantasy football tiers for team defense and special teams as well as the tiers for kickers.
In all honesty, if you play in a league that uses DSTs and kickers, please wait until the last two rounds to select them. One thing to consider is this: there are solid defenses in the AFC West, but the offenses they will be facing are going to be elite. I would be hesitant to rely on one of those DSTs week in and week out. Let us begin.
Defense and Special Teams
Tier 1–good (1-6)
- Buf DST
- NO DST
- TB DST
- SF DST
- Ind DST
- GB DST
This group has good potential, and they usually have a few teams in their division that do not scare you offensively.
Tier 2–the solid (7-10)
- LAR DST
- NE DST
- Bal DST
- Pit DST
There are some solid, consistent DSTs here.
Tier 3–the okay? (11-20)
- Dal DST
- Phi DST
- Cin DST
- Mia DST
- Den DST
- LAC DST
- KC DST
- Was DST
- Ari DST
- Cle DST
Okay, so at this point, you may consider streaming with these teams. Three AFC West DSTs show up. They may actually have good DST, but beware of that division.
Kickers
You should not overthink this. Ideally, you want kickers on dome teams that have the following traits: a good offense that somewhat struggles to run the ball, a good defense that will keep its offense from trying to play catch-up, and a defense that forces turnovers (which causes shorter fields for the offense). After that, go for kickers on good offenses, period (unless your offense is coached by Brandon Staley, who believes kicking field goals on 4th down is as archaic as Blockbuster Video). Could these kickers wind up kicking more extra points than field goals? Maybe, but there is more consistency there. You could try to pursue kickers that accrue a larger percentage of their points from field goals, but there is some risk there, as offenses that are heavily reliant on field goals may have some inherent offensive issues. If that already flawed offense has a bad week, it could mean bad news for your kicker. There is nothing worse than seeing a zero next to your starting kicker’s name.
Tier 1–the good (1-6)
- Tyler Bass, Buf
- Justin Tucker, Bal
- Ryan Succup, TB
- Harrison Butker, KC
- Matt Gay, LAR
- Evan McPherson, Cin
Tier 2–the dependable (7-13)
- Daniel Carlson, LV
- Brandon McManus, Den
- Matt Prater, Ari
- Jake Elliot, Phi
- Robbie Gould, SF
- Rodrigo Blankenship, Ind
- Dustin Hopkins, LAC (he would be higher if not for Staley)
Tier 3–the buyer beware (14-19)
- Greg Joseph, Min
- Jason Saunders, Mia
- Chris Boswell, Pit
- Brett Maher, Dal
- Will Lutz, NO
- Mason Crosby, GB
Tier 4–the streamers (20-26)
- Randy Bullock, TN
- Graham Gano, NYG
- Greg Zuerlein, NYJ
- Younghoe Koo, Atl
- Cairo Santos, Chi
- Jason Myers, Sea
- Ka’imi Fairbairn, Hou