Does the Seahawks' late surge mean people were right to spend an early pick on them?
With one game left in the season, the No. 1 defense/special teams unit in our rankings is the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks' defense took a circuitous route to this point; after a slow start to the season, they've put up double-digit fantasy points in five straight games, and now sit behind only Buffalo, Philadelphia, Houston and Detroit in season-long point total.
Some might look at that and say that it vindicates an early draft pick spent on the Seahawks in the preseason. After all, in the fantasy playoffs, when things matter the most, the Seahawks have been just about as good as anyone, and that's where you make your money.
The flip side of that, though, is that the Seahawks struggled so much early in the year, and such an early pick had to have been spent on them, that people who drafted the Seahawks likely didn't even reach the playoffs. On top of that, it's true that the Seahawks' last five weeks have been their best of the season. They've put up 64 fantasy points in that span. St. Louis and Buffalo, meanwhile, have put up 65 apiece.
If I had to guess right now, I'd say the Seattle defense will once again be the top fantasy defense in 2015 rankings. Based on their overall performance this year, I doubt the unit will be as overdrafted as it was this year, but I could see people looking at how they've closed the season - especially if they are strong in the playoffs - and diving on them early again.
I'll drive it into the ground again next preseason, but don't. You'll regret it. The time to take a defense is the second-to-last round of your draft, right before the kicker. Always has been, always will be.
Let's go to the rankings:
Defense/special teams rankings, Week 17
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)
| Rank | Consensus | Opponent | DK | DC | JD | SK |
| 1 | Seattle Seahawks | STL | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Houston Texans | JAC | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Baltimore Ravens | CLE | 4 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
| 4 | New England Patriots | BUF | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | Miami Dolphins | NYJ | 12 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | San Francisco 49ers | ARI | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | Denver Broncos | OAK | 5 | 3 | -- | 4 |
| 8 | Minnesota Vikings | CHI | 17 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| 9 | Indianapolis Colts | @TEN | 3 | 15 | 10 | 15 |
| 10 | Green Bay Packers | DET | 23 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| 11 | New York Giants | PHI | 13 | 13 | 9 | 13 |
| 12 | Arizona Cardinals | @SF | 21 | 8 | 12 | 9 |
| 13 | Buffalo Bills | @NE | 20 | 12 | 8 | 12 |
| 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | @NYG | 8 | 11 | 25 | 11 |
| 15 | Dallas Cowboys | @WAS | 11 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| 16 | Detroit Lions | @GB | 9 | 16 | 20 | 16 |
| 17 | St. Louis Rams | @SEA | 10 | 19 | 19 | 18 |
| 18 | Kansas City Chiefs | SD | 24 | 17 | 18 | 14 |
| 19 | Cleveland Browns | @BAL | 14 | 24 | 13 | -- |
| 20 | Jacksonville Jaguars | @HOU | 16 | 18 | -- | 19 |
| 21 | Cincinnati Bengals | @PIT | 15 | 25 | 17 | 25 |
| 22 | New York Jets | @MIA | 22 | -- | 14 | -- |
| 23 | Carolina Panthers | @ATL | 19 | 22 | -- | 21 |
| 24 | San Diego Chargers | @KC | 18 | 23 | 24 | 24 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh Steelers | CIN | 25 | 20 | -- | 20 |
| -- | Oakland Raiders | @DEN | -- | -- | 16 | -- |
| -- | New Orleans Saints | @TB | -- | 21 | -- | 22 |
| -- | Atlanta Falcons | CAR | -- | -- | 21 | -- |
| -- | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NO | -- | -- | 22 | -- |
| -- | Washington | DAL | -- | -- | 23 | -- |
| -- | Tennessee Titans | IND | -- | -- | -- | 23 |
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1xLvnkM
No comments:
Post a Comment