Well, coming down to these last two positions I decided to lump them together into one post, for one simple reason: You should not be drafting these positions until the very late rounds. As for Kickers… do not bother taking one until round 15, if at all. That is correct, it is acceptable to not draft a kicker and just pick one up right before the first game starts. As for Defenses, in recent history the consensus number 1 fantasy defense has finished as the best fantasy defense only once. This was the Chicago Bears very early in the millennium. Injuries are far too difficult to predict when selecting ENTIRE DEFENSES and makes reaching to take one on draft day way too risky. Steelers owners from last year can attest to the fact that one injury can turn your round 8 draft pick into a complete bust. Last year the 49ers were typically not even drafted and yet they were the highest scoring.
Defenses
This year, we should see a break in the trend I discussed above because with Darrelle Revis on the field the Jets are an unbelievably dominant defense. I do not expect much production from the special teams unit for our purposes, but Gang Green’s defense is that good (when healthy). Even with that said you still need to see the Jets fall to around the 9th round to take the risk on grabbing them. My FAVORITE defense to draft this year is San Diego, their schedule through week 6 is as follows: @ KC, vs. JAC, @ SEA, vs. ARI, @ OAK and @ STL. None of these teams are going to have stellar offenses and the Chargers have a solid defense. The reason this pick is so valuable is because you have a top 10 defense through the first 6 weeks, then since you waited till round 14 to draft these guys you have no problem dropping them to pick up whatever defense is playing against a terrible offense. Check my full rankings here, but wait for a defense to fall to the very late rounds before you bother to jump on one just because your other positions are filled.
Kickers
Sigh, listen guys, I know I rank Nate Kaeding as my number one kicker, but that is a gut instinct. Philip Rivers is a field general that does not need an elite receiver to put up big numbers and score points. However there will be times that drives will falter due to dropped passes, etc. and Kaeding will have to kick a FG instead of an XP. Regardless of anything you may read Kickers are what the last round is for. Wait till then and take the best guy left on my rankings!
Sleepers
Steelers, Bengals, Chargers and Colts.
Busts
Giants, Patriots and Bears.
Sebastian Janikowski
