Welcome, all, to Week 1 of the NFL season and to (hopefully) the start of your fantasy title run. For most of us, draft season has come and gone, and all that’s left is getting those lineups squared away to get us off to that coveted 1-0 start.
As always, I’m back to talk D/ST streamers for this week. Now, you might be thinking: who needs a streamer for Week 1? But while many people draft defenses with early-season matchups in mind, plenty of others look at things through a longer-term lens.
For instance, the Patriots defense is owned in 80% of Sleeper leagues and looks primed for a great season. However, they kick off the season in Seattle on Wednesday night, facing the team that destroyed them in the Super Bowl just seven months ago. Those with New England on their roster, or a handful of other strong defenses in similar situations (Houston, who hosts the Bills in Week 1, or Denver, who plays in Kansas City on Monday night), will likely be in the market for streaming options despite having solid long-term plays in the D/ST spot.
As a refresher, for our purposes, streamers are defined as defenses rostered on Sleeper at less than 50%.
So, if you’re in a tough Week 1 D/ST situation, who should you target? Let’s get into it.
Check Out If You Haven’t: 2026 Fantasy Football Defense (DST) Preview: Top Units To Target In Your Draft & Early Season Waiver Wire
FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 DEFENSE STREAMERS (D/ST)
GREEN BAY PACKERS (16% ROSTERED)
The Packers were one of my favorite selections in my preseason analysis, and considering my other two top picks (Seattle and the Chargers) are too highly rostered to be in streamer territory, they’re a great place to start.
Green Bay had a slightly above-average defense in 2025, even after adding Micah Parsons right before the season. They ended up finishing 12th in total yards, 11th against the pass, and 11th in scoring. They struggled in fantasy-relevant stats however, recording just 36 sacks (T-20th) and 14 turnovers (T-26th) while failing to score a touchdown all season.
Parsons, for his part, had a solid year with 12.5 sacks before tearing his ACL in mid-December, an injury that landed him on the PUP list for the start of 2026. He’ll be absent in Green Bay’s Week 1 contest in Minnesota, as will Rashan Gary, who fled to Dallas in the offseason.
The Packers made a few free agent signings on defense this offseason, most notably inking DT Javon Hargrave and CB Benjamin St-Juste to two-year deals, but their main method of building up this side of the ball was through the draft. Their first-round pick belonged to Dallas as part of the Parsons trade, but they went CB-DT-EDGE in the second, third, and fourth rounds, and heading into draft season were ranked as high as 10th in fantasy projections.
They also lost their defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley this offseason, who went to coach the Dolphins en route to the number one overall pick in 2027, but replaced him with Jonathan Gannon. Gannon was considered one of the league’s top DCs during his tenure with the Eagles, but was canned as Arizona’s head coach after three disappointing seasons.
Gannon’s energy has been a huge talking point of the Packers’ preseason, with players describing him as “turnt up” and applauding the enthusiasm he brings to the practice field each day. We’ll have to see how it translates to the field, but I’d rather have too much energy than not enough.
As mentioned, Green Bay starts the season on the road against Minnesota. Kyler Murray won the starting job for the Vikings after signing there in the offseason, and will start his tenure with his new team against a defense run by the man who coached him for the downward turn of his time in Arizona. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to play well against his old coach, but nothing Murray has done over the past few years has me too afraid of what he’ll bring to the table in Minnesota.
Even if Murray plays well, the Vikings are set to have a very one-dimensional offensive attack after failing to improve a running back room that drove a 23rd-ranked rushing performance a season ago. Aaron Jones may be the oldest 31-year-old on the planet, and he runs like it.
Green Bay is not only a great Week 1 selection, but you can also hold onto them for Week 2 as they stay on the road to face Geno Smith and the Jets. I like the Packers a lot for the start of this year and anticipate their roster rate to go way up as the week continues.
DALLAS COWBOYS (20% ROSTERED)
The Cowboys were one of the worst defenses in the league last year, allowing the third-most yards and over 30 points per game, the highest mark in the league.
However, Dallas made some big moves in the offseason; they traded for Rashan Gary, adding a piece to pair up front with Kenny Clark, who they got in the Parsons deal last year, and they signed S Jalen Thompson and CB Cobie Durant to help shore up what was an atrocious secondary last year that allowed the most air yards in the league at over 250 per game.
Dallas also completely overhauled their defensive coaching staff, starting with Christian Parker, who most recently served as a defensive assistant for the Eagles but will now serve as Dallas’ defensive coordinator. Sometimes a few fresh faces and a couple of new people in charge can make all the difference; other times, it does absolutely nothing. Which of those scenarios applies to Dallas in 2026 still remains a mystery.
While Dallas may still be an average-at-best defense and ranked outside the top 20 in most preseason fantasy rankings, they have a great Week 1 matchup against the Giants. New York also underwent a major shift this past offseason, bringing in John Harbaugh as head coach, but they didn’t make many major changes personnel-wise on offense. Jaxon Dart is back under center after a mostly solid rookie campaign, but their offensive line is still injury-prone and unproven, and Malik Nabers remains unconfirmed to play in Week 1 as he recovers from the knee injury that ended his 2025 season.
New York’s preseason win total sits at 7.5, and they may end up with a decent record by the end of the year, but I don’t think they’re ready for a primetime matchup with Dallas’ high-powered offense and much-improved defense. I like the Cowboys to put up solid numbers in this one.
BUFFALO BILLS (10% ROSTERED)
Buffalo had an active offseason as well, firing Sean McDermott and promoting OC Joe Brady to head coach. Brady brought in Jim Leonhard to serve as defensive coordinator, who most recently served as assistant head coach in Denver.
The Bills had a slightly above-average fantasy showing in 2025, scoring about 7 points per game. They boasted the league’s best pass defense but balanced it out with one of the worst run defenses. They were right around the middle of the league in both turnovers and sacks, and slightly above the middle (12th) in scoring defense.
While stopping the run was their major flaw in 2025, Buffalo seemed to focus on strengthening their already-great pass defense in free agency, improving both their pass rush by inking Bradley Chubb to a three-year deal and their secondary by signing S Dee Alford and CB CJ Gardner-Johnson. They also used both of their first round picks to add to their defense, bringing in EDGE TJ Parker and CB Davison Igbinosun, who both project to be part of the defensive rotation right away.
Buffalo kicks off their season on the road in Houston against the Texans, who lost in the AFC Divisional Round to New England to end their 2025 season. CJ Stroud laughably, reportedly, turned down a $50M/year contract in the offseason to bet on himself, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. With the strength of Houston’s defense, even a perfectly average season from Stroud in 2025 would’ve likely led to at least an AFC Championship appearance, but instead, Stroud was awful.
Considering the strength of Buffalo’s pass defense and the weaknesses of Houston’s QB and pass catching group, the Texans will need to run the ball early and often to have a chance of being effective in this matchup. They added David Montgomery from Detroit in the offseason, who is still a back that can make an impact on a game, but he’ll be running behind a bad offensive line that saw some additions in the offseason but still doesn’t project to be great.
Buffalo’s next four contests are all against talented offenses, so they’re a one-week pickup at best, but I like their standing in this matchup.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Las Vegas Raiders (12%): The Raiders have little talent on defense outside of Maxx Crosby, who they tried to trade in the offseason and likely still will, but when facing the 2026 Miami Dolphins, anyone can be a top defense.
Kansas City Chiefs (15%): One of my preseason honorable mentions as well; they made solid additions in free agency (safety Alohi Gilman and DT Khyiris Tonga) and the draft (LSU CB Mansoor Delane) this offseason. They start the season at home on Monday Night Football against Denver.
Tennessee Titans (6%): Tennessee underwent a major overhaul in the offseason; they likely still won’t be good, but they’re facing the Jets, who are once again led by Geno Smith, the 2025 league leader in interceptions. Tennessee may not win a ton of games this year, but this could be one of them.
