Best DST Streaming Options For Week 7 Fantasy Football: Browns, Commanders, Giants
Last week went great, as all three of my suggestions scored at least eight points. When streaming defenses, that’s about as solid a floor as we can ask for. Hopefully, we can keep it going this week, which has some good matchups and one potential rest-of-season option that’s available in most leagues.
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Week 7 Fantasy Football Defense Streaming Options
Cleveland Browns @ Indianapolis Colts
While they do have a good matchup with the Gardner Minshew-led Colts this week, this suggestion is for more than just Week 7. The Browns' defense is off to a historic start, by pretty much any metric. Through six weeks (five games, since they already had their bye, which is another plus for adding them, by the way) they rank first in:
- DVOA, with -29.3%, nearly twice as good as the Ravens' second-best 16.6%
- Yards Allowed with a minuscule 200.4 per game, 60 fewer than the next-best team
- Yards Per Play with 3.8, 0.2 clear of second place and 0.7 clear of third
- Percentage of Drives Ending In Scores with an absurd 18.8%, over 5% clear of second
- EPA Per Play with -0.25, over 30% ahead of second
- Success Rate Allowed with 31.2%, 7% ahead of second
... you get the picture. Despite this incredible start, the Browns are rostered in just 44% of leagues, thanks to having their bye and a theoretically brutal matchup with the red-hot 49ers in back-to-back weeks. According to our Fantasy Assistant, they do have an Exepcted Waiver Interest EWI of 33%, but most sites are projecting them below several other options available on waivers, so you should be able to snag them if you make them a top priority on waivers.
If you do land them, they should make it worth your while. The Browns currently rank just 13th in total fantasy points, but they are seventh in points per game. This is despite them having been hugely unlucky when it comes to turnovers, ranking third-to-last in the league with just 0.8 forced per game. This is partially because they have been so dominant that teams haven't had the chance to run many plays against them, but it's also just variance. Their 10.1% sack rate is the second-highest of any team, and their 28.1% pressure rate is fifth: turnovers are coming.
If the Browns can add positive turnover regression to their elite floor (the fewest points they’ve scored all season is six), they could be a set-and-forget defense. They proved last week against the 49ers that they can handle elite offenses, and they don’t really have any terrible matchups the rest of the way. Baltimore, the Rams, and Jacksonville are their toughest matchups, but as long as they’re playing like this I would happily trust this unit against all three of those teams. Making this even better, they finish the season with matchups against the Bears, Texans, and Jets in the fantasy playoffs. Try to land the Browns this week; if you do, you might not need this article anymore.
Washington Commanders @ New York Giants
Let’s get back to the more classic streaming options with the Commanders, who should be able to take advantage of a matchup with the floundering Giants. They are rostered in just 21% of leagues, and our Week 7 Projections have them as the third-best option at the position.
Sacks are the most predictable way for a defense to rack up fantasy points, and the Giants have allowed an average of seven sacks per game over the last three weeks. The Commanders are well-prepared to keep that going, as they rank eighth in the NFL with 3.17 sacks per game … which puts into perspective how terrible the Giants have been in allowing 21 in three outings.
To go along with sacks, Daniel Jones ranks sixth-worst among qualified QBs with a 3.8% Turnover Worthy Play Rate, according to PFF. Jones is also partially responsible for the abysmal sack numbers, with the league’s second-worst pressure-to-sack rate. With that in mind, this matchup may actually be slightly less good if Jones is ruled out and the Giants roll out Tyrod Taylor again … but I’m not exactly scared of being lit up by Tyrod Taylor. Either way, the Commanders should have a solid outing against the team that has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing defenses so far.
New York Giants vs. Washington Commanders
If the pickings on your league’s wire are particularly bare, consider heading to the other side of this matchup for a low-rostered option. The Giants’ defense, which is rostered in under 2% of leagues, is the 13th-highest-projected team in our Week 7 Rankings.
Big Blue’s defense isn’t one of the league’s most talented units or even one of its most mediocre units, but even they should be able to muster a solid outing against Sam “Sacks” Howell, who is the only QB worse than Jones with an absurd 33.7% pressure-to-sack rate. When combined with a struggling offensive line, that has resulted in the Commanders allowing a whopping 5.67 sacks per game this season.
The Giants should also get an opportunity or two for a turnover, as Howell has tossed six picks in six games in 2023, as well as one in his only start in 2022. The Commanders are also tied for sixth in the league with four lost fumbles. This one could blow up, but at home in a dream matchup is exactly the kind of streaming defense we want to target.
