Browns D/ST or Raiders D/ST: Who Should You Start?

Preliminary board

2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.

Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.

Start the Browns — the lineup-share and projection edges are too wide to ignore.

Browns D/ST is started in more leagues (started rank 10 to 27) and projects 4.9 to the Raiders's 4.8. the Raiders's edge is the opponent total, 19.3 to 24.0 opponent implied points. The gap is narrow.

Browns D/ST

D/STCLEvs JAX

Projected Points

Sit

Raiders D/ST

D/STLVvs MIA

Projected Points

Start

Why Browns D/ST

Sit

Sit — a bottom-tier defensive matchup this week (No. 17): Vegas has JAX at 24 points, and 4.9 pts projected vs JAX.

  • JAX's offense gives up 3.4 sacks and 1.1 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
  • Vegas has JAX at 24 points as 7.5-point favorites.
  • Over-started: 52% of leagues have them in, 10th among defenses, against a No. 17 matchup.

Why Raiders D/ST

Start

Start — the No. 18 defensive matchup this week: 4.8 pts projected vs MIA.

  • MIA's offense gives up 2.9 sacks and 1.4 turnovers a game (2025), near league average.
  • Vegas has MIA at 19.3 points as 3-point dogs.
  • Under-started: only 1% of leagues have them in, 27th among defenses, against a No. 18 matchup.

Head-to-head stats

MetricBrowns D/STRaiders D/ST
Projected points
Projection rankProj.DST17Proj.DST18
Started in52% of leagues1% of leagues
Opponent sacks allowed / game3.4(2025)2.9(2025)
Opponent turnovers / game1.1(2025)1.4(2025)
Opponent implied total24.019.3
Home / awayAwayHome

Signal breakdown

  • 4.9 vs 4.8 projected PPR pointsBrowns D/ST +
  • Started rank 10 vs 27 (52% vs 1% of leagues)Browns D/ST +
  • 3.4 sacks / 1.1 TO vs 2.9 sacks / 1.4 TO per game allowedBrowns D/ST +
  • Opponent implied 24.0 vs 19.3 pointsRaiders D/ST +
  • Away vs HomeRaiders D/ST +

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