With draft season in full swing, it’s time to take a look at the often over-looked position of Defense.

Heading into 2009, it is quite apparent that the three top Defensive teams are Florida, Alabama, & TCU. If you are not in position to land one of those stout units, your best bet might be to snag two of the following defenses that should perform on the same level as the upper echelon D’s.

This article is written assuming a league with limited waiver wire pickups. If your league allows unlimited transactions, there are plenty of weekly match ups that can be had. Listed below are six teams that could be used in a platoon situation for this season.

1) Ole Miss - The Rebels are loaded with talent and have a soft schedule to boot.
2) Penn State - The Nittany Lions have their typical cupcake schedule to start the season with games against Akron, Syracuse, and Temple at home in Weeks 1-3. They follow that up with Eastern Illinois in Week 6 and Indiana in Week 11.
3) South Florida - The Bulls might just have the best three-week schedule in NCAA history to open the 2009 campaign with tilts against Wofford, Western Kentucky, and Charleston Southern.
4) Rutgers - The Scarlet Knights have five key match ups in which they should dominate their opponent.
5) Boise State - The Broncos should dominate their schedule all season.
6) Utah - The “Utes” should put together a nice run with their soft like Jell-O schedule.

These six teams could be used in a number of platoon situations, but a couple really look intriguing. I’ll take this time to delve into a few possibilities.

Ole Miss/Rutgers Platoon

Week 1: Ole Miss @ Memphis
Week 2: Howard @ Rutgers
Week 3: Southeastern Louisiana @ Ole Miss
Week 4: Ole Miss @ South Carolina
Week 5: Texas Southern @ Rutgers
Week 6: Alabama @ Ole Miss
Week 7: UAB @ Ole Miss
Week 8: Rutgers @ Army
Week 9: Ole Miss @ Auburn
Week 10: Northern Arizona @ Ole Miss
Week 11: Tennessee @ Ole Miss
Week 12: Rutgers @ Syracuse
Week 13: Ole Miss @ Mississippi State

With this platoon strategy, every week is a nice match up with the weeks of 1, 2. 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 13 being fantastic options.

Boise State/Utah Platoon (All 120 Leagues)

Week 1: Utah State @ Utah
Week 2: Miami Ohio @ Boise State
Week 3: Boise State @ Fresno State
Week 4: Louisville @ Utah
Week 5: UC Davis @ Boise State
Week 6: Utah @ Colorado State
Week 7: Utah @ UNLV
Week 8: Air Force @ Utah
Week 9: Wyoming @ Utah
Week 10: Boise State @ Louisiana Tech
Week 11: Idaho @ Boise State
Week 12: San Diego State @ Utah
Week 13: None

In Week 13, Utah travels to BYU and Boise State hosts Nevada so owners should look to make a waiver wire pick up instead of playing either of those match ups.

Penn State/South Florida Platoon

Week 1: Wofford @ USF
Week 2: USF @ Western Kentucky
Week 3: Charleston Southern @ USF
Week 4: Iowa @ Penn State
Week 5: USF @ Syracuse
Week 6: Eastern Illinois @ Penn State
Week 7: Minnesota @ Penn State
Week 8: USF @ Pitt
Week 9: Penn State @ Northwestern
Week 10: Ohio State @ Penn State
Week 11: Indiana @ Penn State
Week 12: Louisville @ USF
Week 13: USF @ Miami Fl

This platoon offers tantalizing match ups in Weeks 1,2,3,4,5,6,11,and 12. The other weeks are solid with low scoring games a strong possibility.