Best defense for Fantasy Football 2025: Steelers' offseason additions move them up draft rankings with new season approaching

The 2025 fantasy football season is getting set to kick off and most leagues will host their drafts in the coming weeks. It's important for all managers to have a specific strategy for every position on their roster in order to give their team the best possible chance of winning a championship.

Most of the focus entering draft season is often focused on the offensive players, but defenses also play a crucial role in determining the outcome of weekly matchups. Many league formats will use the defensive team option in their scoring settings, giving managers the opportunity to own an entire NFL team's defense for their rosters.

The Denver Broncos were the highest-scoring fantasy football defense last season and top the positional rankings again for this year. They led the NFL in sacks with their aggressive defensive style and are expected to use a similar approach for the 2025 season. This gives them arguably the safest floor of any defensive unit, especially when factoring in their massive homefield advantage.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are another intriguing option to consider in 2025 fantasy football drafts. They already ranked fourth last year in fantasy points per game among defenses and this was before they made significant upgrades during the offseason. This includes adding Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey to their defensive secondary, theoretically giving them more scoring opportunities by generating turnovers.

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Several sleeper options are available this year at a cheaper price tag than some of the clearly top options. This includes the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their elite potential to record sacks and turnovers. These are the most important factors in determining upside for fantasy defenses, creating high ceilings for opportunistic units.

Managers who land a productive defense in the 2025 fantasy football drafts can gain an edge over the rest of their league. Here's where all 32 NFL teams stack up in this year's positional rankings.

Defense Rankings for 2025 Fantasy Football

Denver Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Philadelphia Eagles
Minnesota Vikings
Buffalo Bills
Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams
Detroit Lions
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets
Chicago Bears
Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers
New York Giants
Washington Commanders
New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns
Miami Dolphins
Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Tennessee Titans
Cincinnati Bengals
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers

About the author

Adam Hulse is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with 4 years of experience. He is also the host of the podcast "Sports Talk with Adam Hulse."

Adam studied Communications at Villanova University and played American football at Pop Warner and as a high school Freshman. His favorite team are the Dallas Cowboys, and if Adam could lay his hands on a time machine, he would love to witness their glory years from the 1990s. The Cowboys' 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX is his favorite Super Bowl of all time.

Given his affinity for 'America's Team,' Adam's favorite players of all time include Emmitt Smith. Michael Irvin, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Adam takes a lot of pride in his work, which naturally culminates into insightful content for his readers, performance analysis being his forte. When not writing about football, Adam spends a time on his podcast.

Know More

Steelers Fans! Check out the latest Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule and dive into the Steelers Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Adam Hulse