2013 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 8
Hello and welcome back to the IDPGuru.com’s most popular in-season article, IDP Waiver Wire Pickups, which will be releasing every Tuesday of the regular season.
Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 7 of the NFL season.
This week saw a couple big IDP stud linebackers hit the shelf with significant injuries. Brian Cushing broke his fibula and tore his LCL and will miss the remainder of the season. Daryl Sharpton will take his place next to Joe Mays. Veteran Lance Briggs fractured his shoulder and is expected to miss anywhere between 4-6 weeks. Rookie Khaseem Greene out of Rutgers will take his spot on the weak side.
In just his 2nd game back from injury, Champ Bailey re-injured his left foot in Sunday night’s game against the Colts. He’s not expected to play in Week 8 against the Redskins.
NFL suspended Redskins SS Brandon Meriweather two games for illegal hits.
Cameron Wake’s string of disappointing performances continued Sunday as he posted just 2 tackles. He still isn’t healthy enough for full-time action as he only played 21 snaps (31%) even after he had the bye week to rest. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to sit him this week and make sure he looks closer to full form before inserting him into your lineups again.
Coach Jim Harbaugh said OLB Aldon Smith will re-join the team in the next “couple of weeks.”
J.J. Watt enjoyed a nice bounce back game with 6 solo tackles and a sack, eliminating any doubts that he is still the top fantasy defensive linemen in the league.
Luke Kuechly has had 3 sub-par performances in his last 4 games. He’s run into a string of poor matchups and teams are running away from him. I will likely be dropping him down a few spots in my Rest of Season Rankings, but he’s still a LB1. The cream typically always rises to the crop eventually.
Von Miller made his much awaited debut last week against the Colts but failed to make much of an impact in the box scores (2-1-0). He will look to get back on track against the Redskins in Week 8.
Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 8!
(Please note that a majority of these pickups are long-term, rest of season pickups as opposed to matchup-type recommendations. As the season progresses and the waiver wire becomes more thin and matchup information becomes more reliable, the focus of this article will shift more towards recommendations based on weekly matchup.)
Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Nick Fairley, Dontari Poe, Jason Hunter, Desmond Bryant, Michael Bennett, Jason Hatcher. Brian Robison, Adrian Clayborn, Ezekiel Ansah, Gerald McCoy, George Selvie, Chris Clemons, Marcell Dareus, Ndamukong Suh, Fletcher Cox, Shea McClellin, Ropati Pitoitua, Bruce Irvin, Moise Fokou, Shaun Phillips, Darnell Dockett, Mike Neal, Michael Brockers, Wallace Gilberry)
DT Chris Jones (NE) – Jones has seen a significant bump in playing time after the loss of Vince Wilfork and recent injury of Tommy Kelly. With 17 total tackles and 3.5 sacks over his last three games, he’s shaping up to be a viable DT2+. Plus, playing 90%+ of the overall snaps should keep his numbers fairly consistent from week to week.
LDE Olivier Vernon (MIA) – With Cameron Wake still nursing his way back from injury, the Dolphins have relied on Vernon to be their primary source of pass pressure, and he’s done just that. He’s had a sack in each of his last three games and posted respectable tackle numbers over that span as well. He will travel to New England this week to face off against Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offensive line who have been more suspect than usual as of late and are in the top ten in sacks allowed. With all the byes and inconsistent fantasy defensive linemen, Vernon is a nice DL3+ right now.
LDE Matt Shaughnessy (ARZ) – Inherent scarcity at the position, coupled with injuries, players on bye, and under performance make picking a solid waiver wire defensive lineman difficult at this stage in the season. That said, Shaughnessy is a bit of a reach. But with injuries at outside linebacker, he’s seen a significant increase in playing time. Playing primarily at linebacker, he saw 78% of the snaps last week and put up 3 solo tackles and a sack to go along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery. You could do worse for your DL3/4.
Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: Zach Brown, Akeem Dent, Erin Henderson, Jasper Brinkley, Alec Ogletree, Phillip Wheeler, Pat Angerer, Geno Hayes, Danny Trevathan, DeAndre Levy, Daryl Smith, Reggie Walker, Daryl Washington, Spencer Paysinger, Ahmad Brooks, Rey Maualuga, A.J. Hawk, Brandon Spikes, Jon Beason, Von Miller, Jon Bostic, Brandon Spikes)
WILB Jamari Lattimore (GB) – Lattimore still isn’t playing every down, but his 12 tackle, 1 sack performance in his most recent outing is hard to ignore. We’ve seen the Green Bay weak inside linebacker position be fruitful for relatively unknown IDP commodities in the past (e.g. Desmond Bishop, D.J. Smith, Brad Jones) and Lattimore is looking like he may add his name to that list, at least in the short-term until Brad Jones returns.
LOLB LaMarr Woodley (PIT) – With the hoopla surrounding Justin Houston, Robert Mathis, Tamba Hali, and Terrell Suggs, the solid play of Woodley has gone largely unnoticed in most leagues. He’s registered a sack in four straight games now and has a nice matchup against the Raiders this week. Woodley should continue to be a consistent threat in big play IDP leagues moving forward.
MLB Malcolm Smith (SEA) – The injury to Bobby Wagner has allowed Smith to showcase his skills on the Seahawks defense. He played 85% of the snaps last week and had 9 total tackles to go along with a sack. There’s a chance Wagner may miss another week. If so, Smith is a decent, high upside LB3- option this week.
SLB James Anderson (CHI) – With Lance Briggs out six weeks or possibly more, Anderson will likely assume the play-calling duties and will for sure continue his every-down role. He managed 8 total tackles and a sack last week and should get a nice bump in value moving forward. Rookie Jon Bostic is likely to become a three down linebacker next to Anderson and is worth a look as an LB3+ in the right matchups as well.
Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Duke Ihenacho, Da’Norris Searcy, Tyrann Mathieu, Ryan Mundy, Aaron Williams, Quintin Mikell, Usama Young, Robert McClain, Barry Church, Brandon Meriweather, Charles Woodson, Major Wright, Rodney McLeod, Buster Skrine, Nate Allen, Morgan Burnett, M.D. Jennings, Donte Whitner, Devin McCourty, Will Hill, Josh Robinson, Reed Doughty, Jamarca Sanford, T.J. Ward, Quintin Mikell, Mike Mitchell, Marcus Cooper)
SS Roman Harper (NO) – Harper has been out since Week 2 with a knee injury. Having had the bye week to rest, there’s a chance that he returns to action this week. There are some concerns surrounding his playing time as he’s been bumped out of the base packages by Kenny Vaccaro and Malcolm Jenkins. That said, he’s probably more of a scoop and hold at this point in shallow leagues. But the Saints may opt to utilize a Big Nickel defensive package to get all three safeties on the field. This would help hold Harper’s value as a DB2.
SS Aaron Williams (BUF) – The Buffalo safety situation has been a difficult one to get a good read on. Based upon how the secondary players were used last week however, it appears as though Williams, and not Da’Norris Searcy, will see the majority of snaps at strong safety. I expect this trend to grow and for Williams to hold the most value of the two by the end of the season. He’s a very good speculative add for those who play in leagues where Williams is classified as a cornerback.
FS Bacarri Rambo (WAS) – The suspension of Brandon Meriweather and the concussion suffered by Reed Doughty last week will likely force the Redskins into inserting rookie Bacarri Rambo back into the starting lineup. He was benched in Week 3 for poor play, but was a solid fantasy player before his removal from the starting lineup. With the high flying Broncos on the schedule next, he’s a sneaky DB3 play.
CB Trumaine Johnson (STL) – In the two games he’s filled in for the injured Cortland Finnegan, Johnson has put up 15 solo tackles and 3 assists. He’s struggled in coverage during that time span and opposing quarterbacks have targeted him often, something us fantasy owners love. The matchup against Seattle this week is poor, but if Finnegan is unable to go again, Johnson remains a solid CB2+/CB1- in balanced leagues.
SS Jamarca Sanford (MIN) – Sanford was on last week’s waiver wire article and payed huge dividends for owners with a 10-2, FF stat line. That makes four out of four games in which he’s had seven solo tackles or more. Additionally, he gets the Packers this week who are an absolutely elite matchup for safeties. If you haven’t rostered this guy yet, now is the time.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at theidpguru@idpguru.com or follow me on Twitter. Also, feel free to post any questions or comments for me in the comments section of this post.
Last Updated: October 22, 2013