3 FanDuel Defenses to Target in Week 9

Picking a defense can be an overlooked part of playing daily fantasy football on FanDuel. It makes sense, too, as D/STs rarely produce huge outputs.

However, we still need to give a lot of thought to which defense we roster, and there's definitely an edge to be had if you hit on a D/ST.

With that in mind, here are three defenses to have on your radar for this week's main slate.

All betting odds come from the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cleveland D/ST

FanDuel Salary: $4,700

The Cleveland Browns have featured one of the league's best defenses, ranking second in numberFire's adjusted defensive ratings. However, this hasn't led to fantasy points, with the unit generating the 14th-most points through seven games. Cleveland's D/ST has finished in the bottom half of weekly rankings in three of the last four games.

Why could this change in Week 9? The Browns will face the Arizona Cardinals, who have numberFire's 12th-worst offense and 6th-worst schedule-adjusted passing game. Arizona's run game has been the unit's clear strength as it holds the sixth-best mark in adjusted run offense. However, Cleveland's run defense has been stingy, ranking sixth in adjusted run defense.

The Cardinals also rank 22nd in ESPN's pass block win rate. Of course, the Browns feature one of the league's premier pass rushers, Myles Garrett. Despite drawing the second-highest double-team rate (28.0%), Garrett has the top pass rush win rate among qualifying players in the NFL (32.0%).

According to FanDuel Sportsbook's Defensive Player of the Year odds, Garrett is a co-favorite with the Dallas Cowboys' Micah Parsons to win Defensive Player of the Year (+200). Our Aidan McGrath broke down the DPOY market earlier this week.

Against Arizona's susceptible pass blocking, Garrett could be poised for a monster outing.

Kyler Murray could make his season debut this week, but he hasn't played since Week 14 of last season. Murray would likely show rust. If it's not Murray, rookie Clayton Tune would likely start. Either way, it's unlikely that the Cards' passing attack will suddenly turn into a world-beater.

With a salary of $4,700, the Browns' defense could be worth a play. Cleveland has the highest projected fantasy output this week (9.4 FanDuel points), per numberFire's weekly fantasy projections.

New York Giants D/ST

FanDuel Salary: $4,000

Week 9 offers several intriguing defenses that could provide excellent value in DFS. The New York Giants are one of those teams as they take on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Of course, the Raiders have blown it up, firing coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. That's a shocker -- McDaniels has yet another short stint as a head coach. He went 11-17 with the Denver Broncos in the 2009 and 2010 seasons and went 9-16 in the 2022 and 2023 seasons in Las Vegas. This was likely McDaniels' last shot at being a head coach.

After recording only 126 passing yards in Week 8's 26-14 loss against the Detroit Lions, the Raiders saw enough of Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback, naming Aidan O'Connell as the starting signal-caller. Las Vegas is likely doomed either way as Garoppolo has an expected points added per dropback (EPA/DB) of -0.13 while O'Connell is at -0.19 over a small sample.

So far, I've just ragged on Las Vegas. Why could New York's D/ST be a good play?

Facing off with a dysfunctional offense is good enough; the Raiders are the league's eighth-worst offense by numberFire's metrics. Additionally, the Giants' defense has finished among the top six in fantasy weekly rankings in three of the last four games.

They've generated 4 interceptions across the previous 4 games and 10 sacks over the last 2 games. Dexter Lawrence has been an absolute monster and totaled an absurd 15 pressures in Week 8.

Las Vegas averages the third-most giveaways per game (2.0) and allowed six sacks in last week's loss.

The Giants are plenty viable and come at a modest salary.

Minnesota D/ST

FanDuel Salary: $3,600

The Minnesota Vikings' defense has scored the eighth-most fantasy points, yet they continue to have a low salary in DFS. This week, the Vikings visit the Atlanta Falcons, who have numberFire's seventh-worst offense.

Atlanta's passing attack has continued to stumble with the 10th-worst mark in schedule-adjusted passing offense. They elected to bench Desmond Ridder, who has a -0.20 EPA/DB. Taylor Heinicke will step into the starting role after throwing for 175 passing yards in Week 8.

Minnesota's D/ST has finished among the top-13 defenses in weekly scoring in 4 of the last 5 games. The unit has snagged 5 picks over the last 3 games, and Heinicke tossed 21 interceptions over 25 games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The pass rush could also feast; the Falcons have allowed the 3rd-most sacks (26) and rank 25th in pass block win rate. Meanwhile, the Vikings have totaled 10 sacks over the last 3 games, and Danielle Hunter leads the league with 10.0 sacks.

Generating turnovers and pressure on the quarterback could yield success for Minnesota's defense.

Looking to build some NFL DFS lineups? Head over to FanDuel’s daily fantasy football lobby to see all the offerings for this week's slates.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.