Here are our defender picks for week 16.

If you want to see more, keep reading after the break. But please join the discussion at r/FantasyMLS, that’s where a lot of planning is made and last second decisions finalized. If you have questions, please stop by!

If you read out article “How many double game payers do you really need?” you already know that we like the chances of defenders getting good scores this week. It’s not a sure thing, but it may be worth doubling up on some players. We’ll cover the top two players from each double game team in this article and then wrap up with a couple of single game picks we like.

Defenders

As we mentioned before, the numbers suggest that Colorado has the best chance of getting two clan sheets. We already know a few people who are doubling and tripling up on their defensive players. If you’re thinking about this strategy you have two options. You can go total defense or defense/offense. Either options starts with the same pick, Chris Klute. He’s cheap ($5.0m), has a good score, and is on a bit of form. If you want to go total defense, we recommend Drew Moor. He’s a little more expensive ($5.4m) but he has excellent CBI numbers. If you want to go with a more offensive player, Nathan Sturgis is the guy to look at. He’s playing out of position in midfield and has picked up a few goals recently. He’s more of a risk, but it could pay off nicely.

As mentioned before, Montreal has been a hot team this season, but their form has dropped a little recently (mostly because of the Canadian cup IMO). Still, they have a chance for some good returns, but more importantly have several talented players to pick from. Our top defensive pick is Matteo Ferrari. Not only has he been the top scoring defender over the past four games, he’s also owned by the fewest managers (Under 4%). He is also reasonably priced at $4.7m. If you want to double up on Montreal this week, you have two more options that we think are even. Hassoun Camara has good CBI numbers but has the highest price at $5.0m. Jeb Brovsky is your other option. His CBI and REC numbers are down a little from the start of the year, but his price is very budget friendly at $4.4m.

We think it’s safest to just take one Portland defender (especially with the return of Keane looking likely), but if you feel good about their chances they do have two good options. Michael Harrington is the best pick with Wallace gone. Harrington has been getting forward recently and earning some crosses and key passes, he also has good defensive numbers. The other option is Andrew Baptiste. His CBI numbers are excellent, but he has no offensive potential, unlike Harington.

If you’re looking to take advantage of Vancouver’s two home games, I’m sorry to say that I don’t like any of the options with Andy O’Brien out injured. Young-Pyo Lee is the person that many people are going to go for in his place, but we think the other double game teams have better options.

Now we know not everyone is going to want to take a hit to get all DGW defenders, and we don’t think you should anyway. A few single game teams have good chances. Our top two picks from single game teams are Jose Goncalves and Bakary Soumare.

Final thoughts

• Not big on Vancouver this week

• Doubling up could pay off

That’s all I got. I’d love to hear your feedback, plans, and insights.

These are our picks, if you think there should be more names on this list, please leave a comment or come to r/FantasyMLS and comment on the post. You can also leave a message on our Facebook page or you can find us on Twitter @FantasyMLSTips. Keep checking back for more updates through the week for other positions. Good Luck!