NFL Defense vs Position Rankings 2026-27

Fantasy points allowed to tight ends by every NFL defense • recently

Week 1 baseline: built from the 2025-26 regular season (last 8 games weighted). These ratings update onto 2026-27 data automatically as games are played.
QB RB WR TE
●Elite Matchup (Target)
●Good Matchup
●Average
●Tough
●Avoid

Best TE Matchups (Most Points Allowed)

#1 Cincinnati Bengals 21.1 FPA
#2 Arizona Cardinals 17.8 FPA
#3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17.1 FPA

Toughest TE Matchups (Fewest Points Allowed)

#32 Buffalo Bills 8.0 FPA
#31 Philadelphia Eagles 8.5 FPA
#30 Minnesota Vikings 9.4 FPA
Rank Team DK FPA FD FPA vs Avg 2025-26/G 2026-27/G L4 ('25) Targets Rec Rec Yds Rec TD 20+ Rec Trend
1
Cincinnati Bengals
21.1
 17.1
+7.7
21.6 — 10.7 9.7 6.8 86.3 0.83 1.23
2
Arizona Cardinals
17.8
 14.6
+4.4
17.0 — 25.0 8.4 6.4 70.7 0.74 0.90
3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
17.1
 13.8
+3.7
16.0 — 25.4 7.9 6.1 61.0 0.78 0.42
4
Pittsburgh Steelers
16.7
 13.4
+3.3
16.8 — 18.8 8.4 6.3 65.3 0.64 0.69
5
Miami Dolphins
16.5
 13.3
+3.1
16.7 — 17.4 8.4 6.4 66.3 0.42 0.89
6
San Francisco 49ers
16.0
 12.6
+2.6
15.1 — 16.9 8.9 6.1 60.7 0.63 0.58
7
Washington Commanders
16.0
 13.3
+2.6
16.1 — 15.3 6.8 5.1 61.4 0.72 0.73
8
New York Jets
15.5
 12.6
+2.1
15.3 — 23.0 7.7 5.7 58.8 0.53 0.62
9
Indianapolis Colts
15.3
 11.9
+1.9
16.1 — 14.6 8.4 6.0 69.9 0.30 0.77
10
Tennessee Titans
15.0
 12.0
+1.6
14.3 — 17.1 7.2 5.5 58.0 0.58 0.70
11
Denver Broncos
14.5
 11.3
+1.1
13.8 — 11.9 8.8 6.0 61.4 0.36 0.60
12
Seattle Seahawks
14.2
 11.1
+0.8
14.9 — 9.5 8.2 5.9 60.9 0.33 1.03
13
Detroit Lions
13.9
 11.1
+0.5
13.8 — 19.7 7.9 5.3 56.0 0.45 0.63
14
Jacksonville Jaguars
13.9
 10.7
+0.5
15.0 — 10.0 8.5 5.9 55.3 0.38 0.55
15
New England Patriots
13.7
 10.5
+0.3
14.2 — 12.1 7.9 5.7 55.3 0.33 0.55
16
Carolina Panthers
13.5
 11.0
+0.1
13.7 — 12.0 6.8 5.0 58.6 0.40 0.77
17
Houston Texans
13.5
 10.5
+0.1
12.6 — 22.2 7.7 5.5 48.6 0.51 0.51
18
Cleveland Browns
13.1
 10.4
-0.3
12.8 — 13.3 7.4 5.3 55.1 0.22 0.52
19
Los Angeles Rams
12.7
 10.0
-0.7
13.1 — 12.4 7.4 5.4 44.9 0.37 0.40
20
Chicago Bears
12.4
 9.7
-1.0
13.1 — 10.0 7.3 5.5 49.0 0.33 0.61
21
Dallas Cowboys
11.9
 9.4
-1.5
12.3 — 9.7 6.6 5.1 50.6 0.28 0.43
22
New Orleans Saints
11.9
 9.3
-1.5
12.5 — 11.7 7.4 5.1 49.6 0.30 0.52
23
Green Bay Packers
11.3
 8.7
-2.1
12.1 — 8.4 7.1 5.2 43.0 0.30 0.28
24
Kansas City Chiefs
11.3
 8.6
-2.1
11.2 — 11.9 6.2 5.0 47.2 0.24 0.58
25
Atlanta Falcons
11.2
 8.8
-2.2
10.3 — 17.4 6.7 4.6 52.9 0.19 0.74
26
Baltimore Ravens
11.1
 8.7
-2.3
11.4 — 12.4 6.7 4.7 44.3 0.24 0.49
27
New York Giants
11.1
 8.6
-2.3
11.5 — 9.8 6.3 4.6 47.5 0.25 0.66
28
Los Angeles Chargers
10.6
 8.5
-2.8
10.5 — 7.8 5.7 4.2 43.8 0.33 0.36
29
Las Vegas Raiders
10.3
 8.2
-3.1
10.1 — 14.2 5.8 4.2 37.7 0.39 0.37
30
Minnesota Vikings
9.4
 7.4
-4.0
10.7 — 2.5 6.1 4.0 38.5 0.26 0.33
31
Philadelphia Eagles
8.5
 6.5
-4.9
8.3 — 7.5 6.2 4.0 29.4 0.27 0.21
32
Buffalo Bills
8.0
 6.6
-5.4
7.6 — 8.4 4.7 2.7 30.4 0.27 0.37

How These Ratings Work

FPA (Fantasy Points Allowed)

Every player game is scored with official DraftKings and FanDuel scoring (including DK yardage bonuses), then the position group is totaled per game. Higher FPA means a softer defense to target.

Season Blend

It's Week 1, so today's rankings are built from the full 2025-26 regular season with extra weight on each defense's final eight games. As 2026-27 games are played, the ratings shift onto current-season data automatically.

Moving Averages

The 2025-26/G, 2026-27/G, and L4 columns show the raw windows feeding the rating, so you can see exactly why a defense ranks where it does.

vs Average and Trend

vs Avg compares a defense to the league mean for the position (13.4 FPA for TEs). The trend arrow flags defenses drifting softer or tougher over their last four games.

Defense vs Position FAQ

What is NFL Defense vs Position (DvP)?

Defense vs Position measures how many fantasy points and raw stats each NFL defense allows to a specific position (QB, RB, WR, TE). It is built from real box scores: every player at that position who faced the defense, summed per game and averaged.

How are fantasy points allowed calculated?

We score every player game with official DraftKings and FanDuel scoring, including DraftKings 100-yard and 300-yard bonuses, then total the position group per game. FPA is the per-game average of those totals.

Which defenses allow the most fantasy points to quarterbacks?

Current softest matchups for QBs: Dallas Cowboys (24.0 FPA), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (22.2 FPA), New York Jets (20.7 FPA).

Which defenses allow the most fantasy points to running backs?

Current softest matchups for RBs: New York Jets (30.4 FPA), Arizona Cardinals (28.4 FPA), Washington Commanders (28.0 FPA).

Which defenses allow the most fantasy points to wide receivers?

Current softest matchups for WRs: Dallas Cowboys (39.7 FPA), Indianapolis Colts (37.4 FPA), Detroit Lions (37.1 FPA).

How is this different early in the season?

It's Week 1, so today's rankings are built from the full 2025-26 regular season with extra weight on each defense's final eight games. As 2026-27 games are played, the ratings shift onto current-season data automatically.

Put These Matchups to Work

Pair the softest defenses with our NFL weekly projections, attack them in the DFS lineup optimizer, or shop the numbers on the player props board. Check the weekly schedule to see who draws each matchup next.