What Is D/ST in Fantasy Football?

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D/ST in Fantasy Football? A Beginner’s Guide

If you’re new to fantasy football, you likely know that you’re going to put a lot of emphasis on offensive stars. After all, the Christian McCaffreys and CeeDee Lambs of the world are the ones putting up huge stats, making the highlight-reel plays and scoring all the touchdowns.

But fantasy football is about more than just that, and there are points to be found elsewhere — including on the other side of the ball. There are plenty of rules, settings and strategies to sift through, but as you learn more about the game, be sure to get familiar with every position in your starting lineup, even the oft-overlooked D/ST.

What Is D/ST in Fantasy Football?

D/ST stands for Defense/Special Teams. In most — but certainly not all — fantasy football leagues, you’ll start a whole NFL team’s defense and special teams unit. It’s a standard roster setting across all platforms, including on Sleeper.

For example, on a given week you may have the Minnesota Vikings in your lineup, and you’ll get credit for certain plays that happen on the defensive side of the ball and during kick returns in their game. 

Kickers are separate from D/ST, so field goals and extra points will not be attributed to D/ST units. Keep reading on for precisely what kinds of plays do pertain to D/ST in fantasy football.

What Is IDP?

Some leagues will go beyond entire defensive and special teams units and incorporate IDP, which stands for Individual Defensive Players. That means that in addition to drafting offensive players, managers will pick individuals among defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs. Just like quarterbacks and receivers, the individual defensive players will also account for fantasy points based on certain plays that they make.

IDP is a feature that is available on Sleeper for leagues that want to go that route. The Sleeper App offers a number of ways to customize IDP settings.  

Fantasy Football Defense Points: How Scoring Works

Defensive scoring is customizable across all leagues and could differ greatly from group to group. Generally speaking, though, points are able to be earned for defensive touchdowns, special teams touchdowns, sacks, interceptions, safeties, blocked kicks and fumble recoveries, while a D/ST’s total tally will go down depending on how many points it concedes in a game.

Some leagues can get awfully granular and dole out points for things such as tackles for loss or take away points for yardage conceded, but those are not standard fantasy stats and should be decided by the commissioner and league as a unit. IDP scoring differs as well.

In terms of an example of what D/ST scoring usually looks like, this is a typical list:

  • Sack: 1 point
  • Interception: 2 points
  • Fumble recovery: 2 points
  • Safety: 2 points
  • Blocked kick: 2 points
  • Defensive TD: 6 points
  • Kick return TD: 6 points
  • 0 points conceded: 10 points
  • 1-6 points conceded: 7 points
  • 7-13 points conceded: 4 points
  • 14-20 points conceded: 1 point
  • 21-27 points conceded: 0 points
  • 28-34 points conceded: -1 point
  • 35+ points conceded: -4 points

Further reading: How Fantasy Football Scoring Works

When to Draft a Defense in Fantasy Football

There’s always someone in your draft who will go for the supposed top defensive unit somewhere in the middle rounds, but you should resist being that manager. Wait until the last two rounds to take your D/ST (and take your kicker in the other of the last two rounds). There’s so much unpredictability and volatility at the position, and even the best units can have off days or simply manage to not rack up the points-making plays while a supposedly subpar unit can exploit a great matchup and put up a big day.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, and some years there are D/ST units that are forces of nature. They are so hard to pinpoint, though, and those teams don’t usually materialize until the season has started, well after your draft. 

You’re better off streaming with the schedule — meaning, add and drop defenses based on the best matchups each week. And if along the way you wind up stumbling into a rather consistent unit, or one that has a run of great matchups in a cluster on the schedule, then hold onto that group and ride it. 

See also: Fantasy Football Draft Strategy

D/ST Frequently Asked Questions

What is “special teams” in football?

Special teams refers to the kicking units — so those who operate on kickoffs, punts and field goals. As it relates to fantasy football, placekickers (the ones who kick extra points and field goals) are separate entities. But any returns for touchdowns or turnovers that occur on kicking plays will be credited to that team’s D/ST.

Why are D/ST drafted as a team and not as players?

It’s not a certainty that your league will do this, so make extra sure of the roster and scoring settings before drafting your team. But one reason why D/ST units are drafted as all-encompassing entities by team is to consolidate rosters and draft length and to ease the burden on fantasy managers on a weekly basis.

It’s hard enough trying to assess the matchups for the offensive skill positions and determining which of those players are in line for a good week. Once you start incorporating defensive players, whose weekly stats aren’t as regularly or naturally consumed by fans, that’s an undertaking that could get out of hand, especially for the more casual manager.

Why do D/ST units get credit for kick-return TDs and not individual players?

That is a setting that should be customizable in your league, for what it’s worth. But the fact is, there are so few kick returns for touchdowns in the current era, and those who do wind up taking it to the house are typically undrafted and unowned players in fantasy. There are very few startable wide receivers and running backs in fantasy who wind up returning kicks for their teams.

The argument for crediting those TDs to D/ST units would be to ensure that those scores, however rare they may be, don’t go into the ether and are at least attributable to a unit that is far more likely to be rostered in your league.

Play Fantasy Football and DFS on Sleeper

Now that you’ve mastered the nuances of D/ST, take your new-found knowledge to Sleeper and join a season-long fantasy football league. You can do so by signing up on the website or downloading the app to start playing fantasy football and experiencing all the benefits and unique features only Sleeper offers.

Sleeper also offers paid-entry daily fantasy sports contests such as Sleeper Picks, where you can win cash prizes by choosing whether you think players will exceed or fall short of their projections.