The Ultimate Fantasy DST Strategy Guide in Under 10 Minutes
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
10 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 26, 2026
Published
Wed, August 26, 2026
2
Player insights
2
Players mentioned
Topics
Daniel JonesDeshaun Watson
Player analysis
Player insights
Daniel Jones
NegativeMatchup9:09
Ian Hartitz identifies the Week 1 matchup against Daniel Jones as a favorable spot for the Ravens defense, noting it is his first game back from an Achilles injury.
Insight pageDeshaun Watson
PositiveMatchup13:24
Ian Hartitz highlights the Jacksonville Jaguars defense as a strong Week 1 target specifically because they are facing Deshaun Watson and the Browns, implying a favorable matchup for the defense.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Today I'm breaking down the ultimate DST
0:03defense and special team strategy in
0:05fantasy football land ahead of 2026
0:07drafts. Hopefully we'll be done in the
0:09Chris 10 minutes going through the top
0:11five big units that pretty much everyone
0:13agrees on. But if you're too cool to be
0:15using an earlier mid round pick on the
0:16position I do have some streamers who
0:18should be available for you with some
0:20pretty nicy opening schedules. And with
0:22that, let's get into it with our big
0:24five. And again, not really
0:26controversial. We look at the ADP across
0:28different sites. You're going to see all
0:29these groups in it for good reason. We
0:31like the defensive play callers. We like
0:33the overall rosters and these groups
0:34were top 10 very much so last season in
0:37EPA allowed per play success rate and
0:39points per game allowed. So, I'm going
0:41with my number one DST though as the Los
0:44Angeles Rams guys. Again, already pretty
0:46great last season. They finished fifth
0:48in DST scoring. And what did they do? I
0:50don't know. Added the best defensive
0:52player alive in Miles Garrett and maybe
0:54the second best one alive at least for
0:55the last decade or so in Aaron Donald.
0:58So again, incredible makeover on the
1:00defensive line, unless we forget, they
1:02invade the Kansas City Chiefs for Trent
1:03McDuffy and also Jaylen Watson even
1:06earlier in the offseason to help fortify
1:08what was a secondary need. Super Bowl
1:10favorites were expecting this team to be
1:11awesome for me. The Los Angeles Rams
1:13check the most boxes and are accordingly
1:16the group I would be willing to go out
1:17of my way for to land first in fantasy
1:19drafts at some point. And I would say
1:23round 10, round 11, first 50 or so wide
1:26receivers, 40 RBs,
1:2912 quarterbacks, 12 tight ends. I'm not
1:32usually an early DST guy, but if I am
1:34going to go out of my way for him, it
1:35would be for someone like the Los
1:36Angeles Rams. My number two DST is going
1:38to be the Houston Texans. Demeco Ryan's
1:40bunch. Plays like literally a bunch of
1:43dudes on rabies. Shout out Castle for
1:45doing that back in the day at Blue
1:47Mountain State. But man, they literally
1:49line up for 60 minutes. They don't
1:51blitz. They have the lowest mark in the
1:52league and they just beat the crap out
1:54of you again and again and again. So,
1:56it's a great roster. If you guys wanted
1:57to actually rank them first, like a lot
1:59of sites do have them, I would get it.
2:00For me, the difference though between
2:01the Houston and Los Angeles just kind of
2:03came down to the fact that we are
2:05expecting the Rams to be quite a bit of
2:07a juggernaut this year. If the Texans
2:09slid, weren't very good on offense, put
2:11their defense in constantly bad
2:12positions, it would make a little bit of
2:14sense. But again, they're awesome. I do
2:16have a stat actually called Havoc where
2:18it's it's a pretty cool stat, guys. I
2:19kind of found it in the college football
2:21circles back in the day. So, I want to
2:23say maybe it was Bill Connley that came
2:25up with it originally, but I've applied
2:26it to the NFL. It's percentage of plays
2:29where defense gets a pressure tackle for
2:30a loss, forced fumble, interception, or
2:32pass breakup. You know, havoc divided by
2:34a total number of plays. Houston last
2:36year number one in the NFL. Seahawks and
2:39Broncos were tied for second. Jaguars
2:41and Chargers rounded out the top five.
2:43So, again, feeling very good about this
2:45defense. They've ranked fifth and second
2:46in DST scoring these last two years. Got
2:48to love you some Houston Texans. DST
2:51number three is going to be the Denver
2:53Broncos, everyone. So, still got Vance
2:55Joseph, you know, leading the cause over
2:57there. And this defense is so loaded
2:59that their literal 2025 first round
3:01pick, Jotty Baron, who had a pick six in
3:03the preseason, can't even crack the
3:05starting lineup. So, we're expecting
3:07some level of regression. They were so
3:09good in one-score games last year. I
3:10think that's the main reason why their
3:12win total is sitting at just nine and a
3:14half. But really good roster. We believe
3:15in Vance Joseph. He's actually led the
3:17first and fourth ranked scoring defenses
3:19in Denver in terms of DST. And yeah,
3:22feeling very, very good about this team
3:23overall. They are my third favorite DST
3:26to draft here in fantasy football land.
3:28Number four though, I got the Seattle
3:29Seahawks, guys. Mike McDonald hasn't
3:31missed yet at the NFL level. Okay, he
3:33had two years in Baltimore running that
3:35defense. His DSTs were seventh and
3:37second, and then since taking his
3:38talents to Seattle, sixth and first. So
3:41only issue here and the only reason I
3:42don't have him higher is just some of
3:44these injuries going on early season
3:46specifically with Nick Eman and Warary.
3:47But man overall just tough to poke any
3:50holes and really the Shawn McVey of
3:52defensive coaches and obviously the
3:54Super Bowl winners for a reason were
3:55able to lean on that incredible defense.
3:57So Seattle Seahawks DST4 for me if you
4:00wanted to rank them higher who am I to
4:01disagree? DST5 and this is where I would
4:04go ahead and draw a tear break is going
4:05to be the Philadelphia Eagles. Vic
4:08Fangio, one of the greatest defensive
4:09masterminds of his generation. He is
4:11ranked 13th, sixth, seventh, and seventh
4:14in DST scoring over the course of the
4:16last four, five years. He was in Denver,
4:18then I think he had a year off, and then
4:20he was in Miami, and then he's been
4:21seventh back-to-back years in Philly.
4:24Despite having one of the youngest
4:25defensive rosters in football, guys,
4:27like you do look at some of the money
4:28being thrown around two defenses
4:30overall, Eagles are down there with the
4:31Dolphins as the cheapest units because
4:33they still have all these guys on their
4:35rookie contracts. But man, Jaylen Carter
4:37and Jordan Davis, you know, stuffing up
4:38the middle. They lost Jaylen Phillips,
4:40but they added Jonathan Greener from the
4:41Vikings. Also still got that awesome
4:43quarterback duo and Quinan Mitchell and
4:45Cooper Dejine. So Vic Fanjo pulling this
4:48pulling all the strings. Would not be
4:49shocked if the Eagles take a leap from
4:51good to great on the defensive side of
4:53the ball this year. Again though, those
4:55are the big five. Pretty much everyone
4:57knows it. And if you are in a league
4:58where all of a sudden someone takes that
4:59first DST and then everyone else stops
5:01stops uh you know starts I should say
5:03hopping on the train maybe you want to
5:05wait maybe you're too cool to take one a
5:07little bit early. These would be the
5:08next five guys that I am trying to
5:10prioritize who again depending on the
5:11provider actually are not being drafted
5:13sometimes but have again a combination
5:15of hopefully being at least good in real
5:18life. We got some blue chippers. We got
5:20play callers we don't hate and again
5:22that early season schedule really is
5:23just looking good. The Baltimore Ravens,
5:26my favorite DST at cost out there, okay,
5:28because we brought in Jesse Mentor from
5:29the Chargers. We got Kyle Hamilton, Trey
5:31Hendrickson, it was a group last year,
5:33seemingly every year they just kind of
5:35ask Kyle Hamilton to change his job at
5:37mid-season to plug whatever hole they
5:38happen to have. He fixes it and they
5:40absolutely ball out the rest of the way.
5:42Love the coach, really big fan of the
5:44talent and the schedule, guys. We're
5:46getting through six weeks easy and
5:47potentially a lot more. Colts in week
5:49one, Daniel Jones first game coming off
5:51the Achilles. Saints in week two at
5:53home. Not a layup, but let's face it,
5:55not a matchup we're overly terrified of
5:56either. Cowboys in week three. That's
5:58the one we're gonna have to stomach
5:59because after that, Titans, Falcons, and
6:02Browns. My favorite DST of the year is
6:04again the Baltimore Ravens. Behind them,
6:06I would be looking at the Minnesota
6:08Vikings, guys. A group that again only
6:10has an ADP as a DST 12 on Yahoo, 17th
6:13over in ESPN. But Brian Flores, that man
6:16goes to bed blitzing and he wakes up
6:17blitzing again, man. easily the highest
6:19ranked defense in terms of blitz rate
6:21last season and caused a lot of problems
6:23for opposing offenses all year round,
6:25particularly some of those younger
6:26quarterbacks. So, I will say the only
6:29reason why I don't the Vikings kind of
6:31included in the big five. I didn't make
6:32it a big six. They just got some
6:34turnover on that defensive line. All
6:35right, Jonathan Greener, Javon Hargrave
6:37are out of the picture. I know Caleb
6:39Banks, they brought them in round one
6:40pick and they actually use each of their
6:41top three draft picks on the front
6:43seven. And again, giving Flores's
6:45ability to just be so creative and, you
6:47know, have different dudes going at all
6:48angles at these quarterbacks. Pause on
6:51that one. But look, I'm giving Flores
6:53and this team the benefit of the doubt
6:54overall. That would be my seventh kind
6:56of priority DST, just behind the Big
6:58Five. And then also again, the Baltimore
7:01Ravens. My eighth favorite DST is going
7:03to be the Los Angeles Chargers. Okay,
7:05losing Jesse Mentor, not ideal, but we
7:07still got the Duran James le unit that
7:09added guys like Khalil Mack and Dvin
7:10Thomas to the front seven. Big thing
7:12here though is the schedule. We get the
7:14Cardinals in week one and the Raiders in
7:16week two before we potentially have to
7:17get back out there on the waiverwire.
7:20The Detroit Lions coming in at number
7:21nine for me. This one is the biggest, I
7:24would say, leap of faith in terms of
7:25thinking they're actually going to be
7:26good in real life. But I do have a lot
7:28of respect for Aiden Hutchinson and all
7:29the pressure he's able to get. Obviously
7:31made life very tough in my house. State
7:32Buckeyes a few years ago, I do not
7:34forget. And he's had a very good NFL
7:36career. Great to see him come back from
7:37that devastating injury. It'd be a lot
7:39cooler if Brian Branch and or Kirby
7:41Josephu could be available at the
7:42beginning of the year, but it's not
7:43looking great. That said, we got the
7:45Saints in week one, the Bills in week
7:47two. That sucks. Maybe we'll find
7:49another one for that game. But after
7:50that, Jets, Panthers, and Cardinals
7:52before their buy. Not too shabby. Again,
7:54if you are waiting for your very last
7:56round to go ahead and get a DST. Last
7:58but not least, maybe it is least because
8:00I am ranking them 10, but the
8:02Jacksonville Jaguars because guess what?
8:04They played the Deshawn Watson and the
8:05Browns in week one. And that's all I
8:07got. Seriously though, they were good
8:08last year, but the Jaguars and the Bears
8:10just lived off takeaways. And we have
8:12seen historically teams that ranked near
8:15the top of that leaderboard tend to
8:16regress a little bit just because it's
8:18hard to be that good year after year,
8:20you know, and some of the balls bouncing
8:21different ways, fumble luck not being
8:23there, yada yada yada. But man, facing
8:25the Browns in week one, how can you not
8:27love that? And they'll be home in Duvall
8:29County, so looking forward to that one.
8:30Probably going to be my Survivor pick as
8:32well. So again, guys, top 10 defenses
8:34I'm targeting. Rams, Texans, Broncos,
8:37Seahawks, Eagles, those are the big
8:39five. Shouldn't be too controversial. If
8:41I'm in a situation, again, top 50 wide
8:43receivers, I got my quarterback, I got
8:45my tight end, I'm just kind of looking
8:46at handcuff running backs anyway. I'm
8:48okay go ahead and spending up on one of
8:50those groups if they are still
8:51available. But I'm not too worried about
8:53it because I really think the Baltimore
8:54Ravens stand out as the best click of
8:56all the DSTs, particularly at cost after
8:59the Ravens, Vikings, Chargers, Lions,
9:01and Jaguars would be my pick. So again,
9:04wanted to get this out there for you
9:05sickos like me who are in some leagues
9:07with some DSTs. If you're not, good for
9:08you. But plenty of us are and I'm going
9:10to continue to try to provide the best
9:12content possible for all parties
9:14involved. So again, fun hanging out with
9:17you guys. Cody and35 rotoire.com
9:19content, ranking, strategy, all that
9:21jazz. Let's go have a great freaking
9:23football season, everyone. Hope you guys
9:25are enjoying the summer. I'm going to
9:26Tame and Paula concert tonight. I can't
9:28freaking wait and I can't wait to
9:30continue providing fantasy football
9:31content all season long as well. So, I'm
9:34Ian Hars.
