Week 3 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups - NFL Fantasy Football

Immediate Pickups

Defensive Linemen

Jabaal Sheard (DE, Cle) – Sheard has the talent to put up Julius Peppers like stats and he proved that week 2. He started week 1 with 3 tackles and week 2 he got a sack, 5 tackles and fumble recovery. If you can get him, he’ll compete at a DL1 level.

Phillip Taylor (DT, Cle) – In defensive tackle required leagues, this is the guy you want to target off the wire. For the second week in a row, he put of 5 solos as a DT. You can get a huge advantage over fellow league-mates to have a DT on your team who can do this on a consistent basis.

Kyle Vanden Bosch (DE, Det) – Although he may not be a waiver wire guy in your league, perhaps he got lost in the mix of all that talent on the Detroit defensive line during your draft day. Now we are seeing that he is the main beneficiary with sacks and solid tackle numbers 2 weeks in a row. If you can get him in your league, he’s performing as a DL1.

Dave Ball (DE, Ten) – He put up 5 solos week 1 and 4 solos and a sack week 2. Those are numbers you’d be happy about from your linebacker and this is a defensive end that you should be able to sneak off the waiver wire.

Derrick Morgan (DE, Ten) – This was his first game back from injury and he got 3 solos and a sack. If this was his warm up, I’m excited to see what he looks like when he hits his stride. He’s a very special talent and a star on the rise. Catch him while you can.

Defensive Backs

Morgan Burnett (S, GB) – Last chance! We’ve been pushing him since before the season started, he headlined this list last week and his 7 solos, 1 sack and 2 pass deflections are your last call to go get him. He won’t be on this list next week as he is officially a “no brainer” starter and shouldn’t be on the wire after this week.

Jon McGraw (S, KC) –  We saw him come off the bench last week with 8 solos in place of Eric Berry, and now we saw what he can do “full-time” with 10 total tackles, 1 INT and 2 pass deflections. He reminds me of Bernard Pollard when he played safety for KC.

Lardarius Webb (CB, Bal) – Twenty one tackles in two weeks! However, we have to keep a close eye on the injury list because both him and Cary Williams are filling in for Chris Carr and Jimmy Smith. If he’s available in your league and you’re not happy with the way your cornerbacks are performing, Webb may be exactly what the doctor ordered.

George Wilson (S, Buf) – Wilson was dropped in a lot of leagues after the confusing situational package that Buffalo used week 1. They went back to their base package week 2 and Wilson had a solid day. The real reason he’s here though is because they face New England next week where they made a no name Miami strong safety look good and provided Eric Weddle with 12 tackles in week 2. Wilson should have a big week 3.

Jacob Lacey (CB, Ind) – Lacey put up 5 solos and a forced fumble week 1 and 9 tackles (6 solos) week 2 so I’m excited to add him as my CB2 when they face the Steelers next week.

Jarrad Page (S, Phi) – I’m getting the feeling he’s going to be solid all year. It only makes sense to throw the ball toward Page when your other choices are 3 pro bowl cornerbacks. Page should average 6-10 tackles a game all year.

Husain Abdullah (S, Min) – He’s been extremely consistent with 6 solos and a pass deflection in each of his first 2 games. He also picked up an interception week 2 vs. Tampa Bay. The big reason he’s on the list is he faces Detroit next, who has been very safety friendly in the box scores.

Linebackers

NaVorro Bowman (ILB, SF) – After starting week 1 with 7 solos, he follows up week 2 with 9 solos, an assist and a pass deflection. That makes him the second best breakout IDP linebacker this year, just behind Sean Lee of the Cowboys. Sneak him off your waiver wire and start him as your LB3 with LB1 upside. He’s outscored Patrick Willis two weeks in a row.

Rolando McClain (ILB, Oak) – Due to his horrid week 1, a lot of people dropped him. As I said in the Week 2 IDP Preview article, a weekly 32 team matchup preview published every Friday, McClain will be fine because we saw what he could do in the second half of 2010. He showed that this week with 10 tackles and 3 pass deflections. He’s a solid LB3.

Thomas Howard (OLB, Cin) – Week 1, he beat out Rey Maualuga in the box scores with 8 total tackles, 3 of them solo. Week 2, he does it again with 7 solos and 1 assist. It’s hard to tell if this trend will continue, but Howard had a lot of IDP value when he used to play for Oakland so he has enough pedigree to validate these performances.

Rey Maualuga (ILB, Cin) – I’ve seen a lot of people drop Maualuga, but my gut instinct is he’ll end up with the highest numbers for the Bengals by the end of the season. His next matchup vs. the 49ers should get him at least 7 solos. He had 6 solos, 1 assist week 2.