Fantasy Football 2016: Top 20 defense and kicker rankings

MIAMI, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Most fantasy players know that drafting a fantasy football defense or kicker too early prompts laughter and ridicule from your league-mates.

Doing this, alone, will not ruin your fantasy football season, but it will put you in a hole at key positions and sacrifice the depth of your team. Still, there are several difference makers at these two positions. Some owners choose the later rounds to draft these positions, while others wait until the last two rounds in the draft to fill out their rosters with kicker and defensive/special teams selections.

SCROLL DOWN FOR TOP 20 KICKER AND D/ST RANKINGS

Don't be afraid to wait here, because the sacrifice usually is not worth it. The landscape of the NFL changes from year to year. You can even be successful if you decided to 'stream' a defense for the entire season. Streaming a defense means that you can pick one up from the waiver wire, depending on its opponent each week. You can also juggle two defenses early on in the season and play based on match up.

With kicker, usually you want a player who is part of a good offense and kicks plenty of extra points, or a kicker with a big leg, capable of putting up four or five points for your squad in a single kick. If you do extra research on the position, you can find out if you're targeting kickers who play indoors or outdoors when at home. You can also figure out how many of their games on the road are at outdoor stadiums. It is also important to monitor cold-weather, outdoor, playing teams for later on in the season when conditions can alter your kicker's ability to produce.

At UPI, we have ranked our top 20 kickers and top 20 defense/special teams units for your 2016 fantasy football draft kit.

For more of our fantasy football rankings, visit the links below.