Fantasy Football Rankings 2011: Defenses 2.0

There will officially be football played this year, which means your fantasy football draft is coming up sooner than later. It’s time to get your fantasy football rankings together, and at The Sports Cannon are doing our best to help you bring home that league championship. We’re on our second run of fantasy football positional rankings now and although some names remain the same, others have risen and fallen in the rankings. You can see each player’s previous ranking next to their current rank.

How we rank ‘em: There are a number of factors that go in to our fantasy football rankings. We have to look at coaching schemes, the supporting cast, strength of schedules and injury concerns.

The whirlwind that will be free agency will surely change the dynamic of the NFL and Fantasy Football season. For now we can only speculate that certain players will re-sign with their current teams. Most, however, are bound for a new city and fresh game plans. We can’t sufficiently predict their 2011 value without knowing who they are playing for, so their current rankings are based solely on their athletic capabilities paired with their previous fantasy successes.

So without further ado, we present the “Thank God There Is Football” Fantasy Football Rankings 2.0.

1 (1) Green Bay Packers

No change here, the Packers have one of the easiest fantasy defense SOS and one of the best sack attacks in football.

2 (2) Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are right in line with the Packers, but have yet to figure out the Patriots so Week 8 is there only real concern as a fantasy defense.

3 (7) New York Jets

Bart Scott can't wait for two a days, but unfortunately they won't be happening. The best fantasy defenses are the ones that blitz often. Not many blitz more than Rex Ryan.

4 (6) Chicago Bears

The Bears defense and special teams will take a hit like every other unit with the league's new special teams rules. We still like their chances for some TD returns as long as Devin Hester is suiting up.

5 (3) Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens had an uncharacteristic year on defense last season. Maybe the age factor is starting to set in, or its just that Ed Reed missed the first six games. Posting eight interceptions in ten games is unbelievable, so imagine how much better the Ravens' value will be with Reed playing the full 16.

6 (9) New England Patriots

The Pats will be relying on Jermaine Cunningham to ignite their pass rush, especially if Tully Banta-Cain isn't healthy.

7 (5) Philadelphia Eagles

There are lot of justifiable concerns over the Eagles' value if they fully change to the Cover 2. Were keeping our eyes on this unit in the preseason to see if they're worthy of top-10 consideration.

8 (8) New York Giants

Perry Fewell did a good job saving the Giants pass defense last year, so another year at the helm means the unit should be even better. Especially with talented rookie Prince Amukamara on the roster.

9 (14) San Diego Chargers

The Chargers benefit from a weak division and it showed in the fact that they were tenth best in points allowed last season. They need to get to the QB more often if they want their 3-4 to survive, however.

10 (11) Dallas Cowboys

We believe it when a defensive coordinator with the last name Ryan says he can fix a defense.

 

See the entire rankings here

Nick Sero is a fantasy football writer for TheSportsCannon.com. You can get all of your news, rankings, cheat sheets and more at TSC, or receive up-to-the-minute news by following us on Facebook and Twitter for up to the minute NFL Free Agency updates.