LA Rams and 2 Other Must-Start Week 7 Fantasy Football Defenses

These defenses have dominant upside ahead of Week 7 Fantasy Football and must absolutely be started in your lineup.

Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams safety Quentin Lake (37) reacts during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Today, we are all about compartmentalization. In simpler terms, take a problem, categorize the important factors, and find the best possible fits. We are going today with takeaways generated, sacks achieved, opposing sacks allowed, and implied totals. If they meet these categorized and still play poorly, we will blame the coaching... or perhaps we will add coaching — a fifth metric. Perfect! Now, let's dive in to find our best three start's of the week.

LA Rams (@ JAX)

Fantasy Sports On SI Week 7 Ranking: DST9

We have a London game on Sunday morning which definitely favors a defensive effort. I do not have a metric to defend it, but it seems that every London game is a lower scoring with turnovers. This vibe fits the bill. I will be a vibes guy here.

The Rams are 4th in takeaways per game. They are also 4th in sacks achieved per game. The Jaguars are 16th in sacks allowed. I would expect Jared Verse and company to frusrtae Trevor Lawrence quite a bit. Per the FPI, the Jaguars are just the 19th best offense in football. Chris Schula coaches this Rams defense and he has made them into an elite pass rushing unit. He is from the lifelong football family that is the Shula's. He is a match for Liam Coen.

The betting lines have the Rams favored by 2.5-Points with and over/under of 44.5. This implies 21 Points to Jacksonville.

Minnesota Vikings (Vs PHI)

Fantasy Sports On SI Week 7 Ranking: DST14

The highest-graded defenses in the NFL, according to our Defense Impact metric:

🔒 Broncos - 91.0
🔒 Vikings - 88.8
🔒 Texans - 86.4
🔒 Lions - 82.0
🔒 Packers - 81.5
🔒 Browns - 81.1
🔒 Rams - 80.6
🔒 Chiefs - 80.5
🔒 Chargers - 79.7
🔒 Jaguars - 77.7 pic.twitter.com/cQCERvc19d

— PFSN (@PFSN365) October 8, 2025

I love this unit playing at home. US Bank Stadium is among the loudest stadiums in the NFL. The struggling Eagles offense is walking into a tough environment. Meanwhile, the Vikings are off a bye week, fresh and loaded.

Brian Flores is one of the leading head coaching candidates this go around. He has the Vikings as arguably the best unit in the NFL. They rank 9th in takeaways per game and 11th in sacks per game. The Eagles biggest weakness this year has been their offensive line which is 24th in sacks allowed. Jalen Hurts will see pressure, and he is just 13th in QBR under pressure. He should have a hard time rolling out as well.

Seattle Seahawks (Vs HOU)

Fantasy Sports On SI Week 7 Ranking: DST7

Speaking of tough places to play, Houston has to play in Seattle against the 12th man. They are implied to score just 19 Points given the betting odds. They go against Mike Macdonald, arguably the best young coach and a defensive mastermind.

Seattle is 12th in Takeaways per Game, but 3rd in Sacks per Game. Houston is 20th in Sacks Allowed per Game. Better yet, Houston is rated as the 24th best offense in the NFL, per the FPI. Their startability should be a given, but they are being started in just 60% of leagues.