Best Ball: Should You Draft a Defense and When?
The good news: in most best ball formats, you don’t draft a defense at all.
Underdog Fantasy and DraftKings Best Ball have no D/ST slot. You draft offensive skill players only. Defense doesn’t exist in those formats.
Some best ball leagues on ESPN, Yahoo, or Sleeper include a D/ST slot depending on league settings. If yours does, read on. If not, this article doesn’t apply — use every pick on offensive players.
Confirm Your Format First
| Platform | D/ST slot? |
|---|---|
| Underdog Fantasy | No — skip defense entirely |
| DraftKings Best Ball | No — skip defense entirely |
| ESPN best ball | Depends on league settings — check roster requirements |
| Yahoo best ball | Depends on league settings — check roster requirements |
| Sleeper best ball | Configurable — check your specific league |
How Best Ball D/ST Scoring Works
The algorithm automatically starts your highest-scoring D/ST each week. This changes the entire strategy:
- You only need one viable defense — not two
- You can’t stream matchups (roster is locked)
- A consistent-but-low-ceiling defense scores the same floor every week — it won’t give you the big weeks that move the needle
Which Defense to Draft: Decision Guide
Step 1: Round targeting. Draft defense in Rounds 12–15. Never earlier. The opportunity cost of an early defensive pick is a skill player who could produce big weeks.
Step 2: Target upside, not consistency. In best ball, you need boom weeks (20+ point defensive performances with sacks, turnovers, defensive TDs), not reliable 8–10 point floors. A defense that consistently scores 9 points every week never has the big week that boosts your best ball score.
Step 3: Evaluate each defense candidate with these criteria:
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Pass rush | Multiple edge rushers with double-digit sack potential → high weekly upside |
| Turnover rate | Top-10 takeaway rate from prior season → repeat turnovers correlate year to year |
| Defensive TDs | Teams with multiple pick-six and scoop-and-score opportunities per season |
| Schedule | 4–5 games vs. bottom-10 offenses → more weak-offense matchups = more high-upside weeks |
| Avoid: Consistent but low-ceiling | A defense that scores 7–9 every week never wins you a best ball week |
Step 4: Check the schedule for your target weeks. If your tournament advances based on specific scoring weeks (mid-season, late-season), look at which defenses face the weakest offenses in those windows.
Draft One Defense, Not Two
In redraft, managers often stream two defenses week-to-week based on matchups. In best ball, that’s impossible — your roster is locked.
But you also don’t need two defenses. The algorithm starts your highest scorer. If you draft two, one becomes a permanent backup that almost never starts. That backup pick could have been a late-round WR with ceiling upside.
Draft one defense. That’s the entire strategy.
Quick Decision Guide
My format has no D/ST slot: → Skip defense entirely. Use every pick on offensive players.
My format has a D/ST slot: → Draft one defense in Rounds 12–15 → Target upside (sacks + turnovers + defensive TDs) over consistency → Check their schedule for favorable matchups in your tournament’s key weeks
For the complete best ball draft strategy, see: Underdog Fantasy Best Ball Strategy Guide. For bye week coverage planning, see: Best Ball: How Bye Weeks Work.