Stash Defenses At Least 3 Weeks Before The Playoffs Start

          For most of the season, it doesn’t make sense to carry more than one defense, except if you’re going to stash an elite defense on your bench to avoid dropping them on their bye.

          Early in the season, having depth at the skill positions is just more important than rostering a second defense, for two reasons: it gives you depth at harder to replace positions in the event of an injury, and it allows you to acquire bench talent to use as trade bait.

          But, as we approach the fantasy playoffs, having extra depth becomes less and less valuable. With fewer games left, there’s a lower chance that one of your starters gets hurt. You can get away with having just one or two solid backup(s) at each skill position, whereas it might take having two or three solid backups at each skill position in order to feel secure in the earlier stages of the season.  

          The trade deadline is also a major turning point. Since you’ll no longer be able to use your bench depth as trade assets once the deadline passes, it starts to make more sense to stash a second defense than it does to acquire a 3^rd or 4^th RB or WR, or a 2^nd or 3^rd QB or TE.

          The fact that the pool of available skill players dries up towards the end of the season only exacerbates the point. At the beginning of the season, adding a second defense can mean having to forgo adding an immediate impact player, but, by Week 10, there are very few skill players left who can provide an immediate impact, which means that the opportunity cost of adding a second defense is significantly less than what it was earlier in the year.

          Week 9 or 10 is the perfect time to stash a second defense for the playoff run because it’s late enough in the season that you won’t have to forgo adding an impact player, and there is enough time left to stay ahead of the game. 

          You can be sure that other teams are going to try and stash defenses too. If you wait until Week 13, or until the fantasy playoffs begin, most of the defenses with the best playoff matchups will have already been snatched up. Teams who feel secure about their playoff chances aren’t likely to wait until just before the playoffs to stash a second defense – they’re likely to do it a week or two before. So, in order to stay ahead of them, you should be looking to stash a second defense three, four, maybe even five weeks before the fantasy playoffs begin, if you’re able to.

          The goal is to find a defense that has a good matchup during the week(s) when your other defense has a bad one. Some of the defenses with solid playoff matchups this year, who may be available in your league, are:

(Matchups listed Week 14, 15, 16)

Green Bay (WAS, CHI, @MIN)

Philadelphia (NYG, @WAS, DAL)

Houston (DEN, @TEN, @TAM)

Kansas City (@NE, DEN, @CHI)

New York Giants (@PHI, MIA, @WAS)

New York Jets (MIA, @BAL, PIT)

          An injury/benching to a starting QB over the next few weeks could also push a few more available defenses into this discussion as well. So keep an eye out if you’re unable to secure one of the defenses listed above.