2012 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 12

ByRyan Sitzmann Posted on Updated on

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 11 of the NFL season.

Back from injury, Bradie James assumed an every down role. If James can keep this role, there’s some value to be hand in this situation. He’s worth an add as an LB4+.

Sean Weatherspoon practiced in a limited fashion on Wednesday, but missed practiced on Thursday. He’s questionable heading into Week 12 so make sure you watch his status closely leading up to game time and have an alternative option ready in case he can’t go.

Terrell Suggs played nearly every down last week and although the numbers don’t show it, he’s playing quite well for a player recently removed from a torn Achilles. He has a nice matchup this week and is a top 15-20 DL option.

Aldon Smith absolutely destroyed the Bears offensive line on Monday Night Football and has quickly turned into one of the best pure pass rushers in the NFL. He’s a hard guy to bench (especially in big play leagues), but his matchup against the Saints this week is a tough one as they have only allowed 1.45 sacks a game.

Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 12!

Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Chandler Jones, Derrick Morgan, Derrick Wolfe, Greg Hardy, Randy Starks, Darnell Dockett, Cameron Jordan, Henry Melton, Tyson Alualu, Carlos Dunlap, Michael Bennett, Michael Johnson, Tyson Alualu, Cameron Wake, John Abraham, Everson Griffen, Terrell Suggs, Ray McDonald, Brian Robison, Chris Kelsay, Da’Quan Bowers, Jonathan Babineaux, Jerry Hughes, Austen Lane, Linval Joseph, Antonio Smith, Kamerion Wimbley, Ahytba Rubin, Justin Smith, Paul Kruger, Kroy Biermann)

LDE Brian Robison (MIN) – Robison has found himself on waiver wire lists a handful times throughout the last couple of seasons as he’s shown a knack for putting up multiple sack games in good fantasy matchups. With this said, he will get one of the best fantasy matchups this week against a horrendous pass-protecting Chicago Bears offensive line. Robison is a good bet for a sack or two this weekend.

LDT Michael Brockers (STL) – Brockers, a 14th round pick in this year’s draft, has played quite well as of late and has shown the St. Louis coaching staff that he can handle a significant amount of snaps. He faces off against the Cardinals this week who are giving up 4.5 sacks per game and have a rookie QB making his first NFL start this week. Great waiver wire pickup in DT-required leagues.

LDE Justin Tuck (NYG) – Tuck was drafted as a top 5 DL in many fantasy drafts this year and has drastically failed to live up to those expectations. His neck injury (stemming back to last season) still seems to be affecting his play. For as bad as he played early in the season however, he does have 3 sacks in his last 4 games and should be healthier coming out of a bye week. Add in a very solid matchup against the Green Bay Packers who have been sacked the 4th most in the NFL, and you have a decent DL3 option for this week. 

LDE Jason Babin  (PHI) – Essentially all of the points I made above concerning Justin Tuck apply to Jason Babin (except for the neck injury). He started off extremely slow and is still struggling but he has managed 2 sacks in his last three games and has a top 10 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. He’s a low-end DL3 in Week 12.

Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: Wesley Woodyard, Larry Foote, Jerrell Freeman, Paris Lenon, Erin Henderson, Russell Allen, Dannell Ellerbe, Akeem Ayers, Will Witherspoon, Zach Brown, Phillip Wheeler, Rey Maualuga, Vontaze Burfict, Pat Angerer, Colin McCarthy, James Harrison, Demorrio Williams, Bruce Carter, Thomas Davis, Chase Blackburn, Aldon Smith, Brad Jones, DeMario Davis, Wesley Woodyard, Erik Walden, Ernie Sims, Bryan Scott, James Michael-Johnson, Brian Urlacher, D.J.Williams,Rob Ninkovich, Ahmad Brooks, Dannell Ellerbe)

WLB Thomas Davis (CAR) – After rotating sub package snaps with James Anderson the last several weeks, Davis finally assumed an every down role in Week 11 and put up monster numbers. I expect this situation to continue for the foreseeable future. This increase in snaps/tackle opportunity launches Davis into the LB3+ range. He’s available on a lot of waiver wires right now and could be a valuable add for many teams down the playoff stretch in moderate to deep leagues.

MLB D.J. Williams (DEN) – In his first game of the season, Williams played in 22 of 72 snaps and looked quite sharp for a player that hasn’t seen game time in months. There’s a good chance he takes over for Keith Brooking in the middle as soon as this week. I wouldn’t trust him as a starter quite yet though as his exact role within the defense is still to be determined, but he’s worth a stash on your bench for the last couple weeks of the fantasy season.

WLB Kevin Burnett (MIA) – Burnett has been fairly average this season from a fantasy perspective. However, he’s a good high floor option that is usually a good bet for 4-5 solo tackles. The Seahawks are gonna run the ball a lot against Miami and Burnett should be able to compile 5-7 solos in this contest.

WLB Miles Burris (OAK) – Burris has been up and down this season in large part due to his fluctuating amount of playing time. He began the season as a two down backer and worked his way into an every down role after Rolando McClain failed to impress in that role. He then lost subpackage snaps once veteran Aaron Curry returned from injury and his numbers dipped for a short time as a result. However, the Raiders released Curry on Tuesday which should open up the door for an every down role again for Burris. Consider him a desperation LB3- option against the Bengals this week.

Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: T.J. Ward, Craig Dahl, William Moore, Alterraun Verner, Tracy Porter, Michael Griffin, Madieu Williams, Buster Skrine, William Gay, Josh Norman, Atari Bigby, Jordan Babineaux, John Wendling, Matt Giordano, Rahim Moore, Malcolm Jenkins, M.D. Jennings, Mike Adams, Glover Quin, Stevie Brown, Casey Hayward, E.J. Biggers, Nolan Carroll, Josh Robinson, Leonard Johnson, Derek Cox, Ronald Bartell, Aqib Talib)

LCB Derek Cox (JAX) – Cox’s 16 solo tackles last week were quite eye-popping. However, there was a TON of tackle opportunity in that game as it went into an overtime which lasted nearly the entire 15 minutes. Obviously, you shouldn’t be expecting that type of production again from Cox this season or perhaps ever again in his career. But, he has shown to be a solid tackle producing fantasy cornerback and he has a nice matchup against the Titans this week. 5-6 solos are a reasonable expectation come Sunday.

SS Reshad Jones (MIA) – Jones is coming off a 14 tackles, 1 FF performance against the Bills last week and is now on pace for 74 solo tackles on the year. The Dolphins go against the Seahawks this week who run the ball the 2nd most of any team. This should equate to a good amount of tackle opportunity for Jones. He’s a solid DB4+ streaming option for owners this week.

SS Eric Berry (KC) – Berry struggled mightily during the first half of the season but has managed to string together three solid performances in a row. I still don’t fully trust him but his upside is hard to ignore. The Broncos matchup is a very nice one so there’s a good probability that Berry’s recent hot streak will continue. If an owner dumped him in your league, this week is a good week to snatch him up.

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: November 23, 2012