A Look Back: My 2019 Streaming D/STs

In 2019, I wrote a weekly column for @DFF_Redraft giving QB, TE, and D/ST streamers each week of the fantasy season. To qualify as a potential streamer, a player needed to be 40% owned or less, according to ESPN’s ownership percentage data. Scroll to the end of this story for links to each D/ST article if you’d like to take a look back at my past work.

In this three-piece series, I’m looking back at how I did with predicting each category of streamer.

Part 1: Quarterbacks

Part 2: Tight Ends

Now, in this part, it’s time to look at the D/STs. In the table below, the first streamer and second streamers are as I listed them in my article. Then, the weekly finish tabs show how the D/ST scored on the week in ESPN standard D/ST scoring. Since many D/STs score the same number of points each week, it’s challenging to give them a ranking as there are many D/STs tied with the same score. The average column displays the average score of the two D/STs each week, and the bottom row represents the seasonal average.

First, it’s essential to give some context as to how D/ST units performed on the year to compare my performance to those numbers. Oddly enough, my first streaming choice performed far, far worse than my second choice. If my first streamer were a D/ST unit, it would have finished as the D/ST20, which is admittedly pretty terrible. However, if you just followed my second streaming option, that would have been the D/ST3 on the season, behind only the Steelers and the Patriots.

The fairest way to evaluate my articles is to take an average of 7.34 points per recommendation. That score would have been the D/ST9 if spread across the entire 2019 season, so I was able to average finding a D/ST unit inside the top-10. Overall, I find that result rather impressive considering that I limited myself to only D/STs that were under 40% owned.

As always, I believe that streaming a D/ST each week instead of blinding locking into one specific unit is the best strategy. Even the Steelers and Patriots D/STs both had multiple down weeks. Specifically, the Patriots had a relatively predictable run. They started the season playing against a bunch of weak offenses and were far and away the #1 D/ST after eight weeks. However, they then struggled in a five-game stretch against the Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Texans, and Chiefs. They scored no more than seven points during that time and averaged 4.4 fantasy points per game.

Overall, the biggest takeaway is to play the matchups without getting carried away. Even though the opposing offense is more important than the actual D/ST, playing terrible real-life defenses often didn’t work out for me. For example, trying to start the Redskins in Week 16’s fantasy championship may have been a bit of a stretch even though they played the Giants that week. The Giants torched them for 41 points, and the Redskins completely busted as a D/ST. Other terrible defenses like the Jets, Texans, and Panthers also failed to pay off as streamers throughout the season. Going into 2020, I will remember to take a more balanced approach and to give a bit more credit to the team I’m choosing, factoring slightly less on the offensive opponent.  

Thanks for reading this article. You can find me on Twitter at @DFF_Justin. I love to interact with anyone in the community, so reach out at any time! I take fantasy questions and help with all formats, so keep sending those questions my way.

2019 D/ST Streamer Archive: Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16, Week 17