2010 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 9
It’s a tough year to be a Dallas Cowboys fan. It’s so frustrating to watch a team with so much talent not capitalize upon it. The Cowboys losses can mainly be attributed to a lack of discipline and a failure amongst the catching staff to instill an atmosphere of respect and pride within the locker room. Wade “Turkey Neck” Phillips needs to be fired. Jason “the most predictable playcaller in the NFL” needs to be fired. And we need to draft an offensive lineman in the first round for once. Ugh… at least I have the Cubs to root for… wait, nevermind.
Here are a few IDP news tidbits from Week 8:
Pat Chung owners (e.g. me) were a bit disappointed to find out late Sunday afternoon that Chung was inactive and would not play against the Vikings. This came after a string of positive reports about his health status. This situation deserves close attention. I have a feeling Chung will suit up this week, however.
Nedu Ndukwe did not play in Week 8 as he was still trying to recover from a sore knee. Hopefully, he’s back starting this week as he’s usually money when he plays a near every-down role.
Courtney Greene, as predicted, had a very nice game against the Cowboys. He’s on bye this week, but should continue to put up solid DB2/DB3 numbers the rest of the way.
Marvin Chuck Eric Berry had his best game of the year with 10 total tackles and an INT. I’m considering this performance a semi-fluke however as this game went into overtime and provided both teams with above average tackle opportunities. Berry is a great dynasty pick, but his value for this season is more in the high DB4/low DB3 range than the DB2 range.
The Lions front four absolutely destroyed the Redskins offensive line. Three of the four starters on the Lions defensive line (Suh, KVB, and Cliff Avril) had 2 sacks a piece. The Redskins continue to be a good matchup for opposing defensive lineman. This is a matchup I will continue to exploit.
Greg Toler completely disappeared from the box score against Tampa Bay. He was struggling with a back injury going into the game which limited his tackling ability. I see this is an aberration and not a trend. You are going to have inconsistencies like this with cornerbacks. If he bombs out again next week, then it’s a situation worth taking a closer look at.
Desmond Bishop continued his fantasy dominance with 10 solo tackles. Brandon Chillar seemed to be substituting in for Bishop in passing situations, however. This is a situation to watch very closely. If Bishop continues to lose playing time, he may become a sell high candidate.
Gerald McRath had a career game against the Chargers in Week 7 and looks to be blossoming into a great dynasty fantasy player. He reminds me of Stephen Tulloch circa 2008-2009 (both 4th round selections and two-down linebackers). It’s important to keep in mind that this was a great matchup for McRath and he’s likely to have some down games against teams that use more spread looks. But he’s definitely worth a roster spot in dynasty leagues and deeper redraft leagues as he figures to be a solid matchup play.
Brian Cushing flopped with a 2-3-0 stat line in his first game as a middle linebacker. He didn’t play badly, it just seemed as though the Colts were passing and running towards the edges of the Texans defense which benefited Zac Diles (10-1-0). I wouldn’t read too much into this game. I think Cushing and Diles will be very solid options moving forward.
Here are the waiver wire suggestions for Week 9:
DL
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1. RDE Jared Allen (MIN) vs. ARI – Some may say Jared Allen isn’t waiver wire material and has no place in this article. But, I’m willing to bet he’s laying on more free agent lists than you may expect. We are heading into Week 9 and Allen owners have been getting impatient with his performance since Week 3. I’ve been preaching patience with him all season and I’m not ready to give up on him. He’s got a fantastic matchup against the Cardinals this week and I think Allen comes out looking to make a statement. I wouldn’t be surprised if had 2 or 3 sacks in this contest. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if he laid a goose egg either. |
| 2. NT Kyle Williams (BUF) vs. CHI – Williams made an appearance in last week’s waiver wire article and made me look smart when he registered 6 solo tackles, 3 assists, and 2 sacks. He plays the Bears this week. Enough said. |
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3. RDE/ROLB Tamba Hali (KC) @ OAK – I drafted Hali in the last round of an ESPN league this year and I’m glad I did. He’s decent as a fantasy linebacker, but in leagues that allow him to be positioned as a DE (e.g. ESPN), he’s quite valuable (i.e. top 10). He’s good a juicy matchup against the Raiders this week. I’ll be starting him in that ESPN league over Julius Peppers. |
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***THE GURU’S LOCK OF THE WEEK*** RDE Will Smith (NO) @ CAR – For once, I will leave the Fresh Prince references out of this player tag. Smith hasn’t been worth a dang this year up until last week against Big Ben and the mighty Steelers. He had 1.5 sacks in that game and seemed to have gained some much needed confidence. Smith’s confidence should get even more of a boost as the Saints visit Carolina and their crappy offensive line this week. |
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LB
| 1. MLB DeAndre Levy (DET) vs. NYJ – Levy’s 4 solo performance in Week 8 may be viewed by some as a disappointment. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this was Levy’s first game back from an injury that had kept him out for the majority of the season. In addition, the Lions had below average tackle opportunity in this game as the Redskins only rushed the ball a combined 15 times with their running backs. In actuality, Levy was the Lions leading tackler (if you don’t count tackles awarded via sack). He has an above average matchup this week against the Jets who are averaging close to 32 rush attempts per game. Levy is in a prime situation as the Lions defense usually garners a lot of tackle opportunity and when you combine this with the fact that there is little to no competition for tackles amongst the linebacking crew and that he has two good interior defensive lineman to protect him from blockers, you have a LB1 in the making. Picking up a guy like Levy at this time in the season is the type of move that can win you your fantasy football championship. |
| 2. WLB Zac Diles (HOU) @ SD – I’ve been pumping up Diles in my articles and in the forums the last couple of weeks and he didn’t disappoint owners last night as he put up an impressive 10 solo tackles and an assist outtackling Brian Cushing by a wide margin. I wouldn’t expect these huge numbers every week from Diles as the Texans were playing with only two linebackers for the majority of the game as a defense to the Colts use of three and four wide receiver sets. Diles is an every-down player and should have nice LB2 value for the rest of the season. Additionally, his matchup this week is quite favorable against the Chargers offense. |
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3. MLB Dhani Jones (CIN) vs. PIT – What’s that old saying? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Dhani Jones slightly burned me last week as he only put up 5 tackles in a very favorable matchup against the Dolphins. He gets a chance here to redeem himself against the bruising offense of Pittsburgh. I think the Steelers are going to dominate this game and Jones should have a ton of tackle opportunities. |
| 4. WLB Justin Durant (JAX) vs. BYE – I typically don’t recommend players that are on bye in my weekly waiver wire articles, but it’s getting to that point in the season where pickings are getting slim and player of Durant’s potential should be noted even though he doesn’t play this week. I recommended Durant last week and he ended up with 12 total tackles against the Cowboys. He looked pretty impressive during that game as he was making tackles all over the field. Being a three-down linebacker on a poor offensive team, Durant should have a nice amount of tackle opportunities moving forward and it would be reasonable to expect low LB2 numbers for the rest of the season. |
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***THE GURU’S LOCK OF THE WEEK*** WLB Geno Hayes/MLB Barrett Ruud (TB) @ ATL – Hayes hasn’t lived up to the expectations set for him at the beginning of the year. He hasn’t registered 5 solo tackles or more since Week 2 of the season and has been almost completely void of big plays. Fellow linebacker Barrett Ruud finds himself in the same situation. I attribute the lack of production by these two linebackers to a couple of factors. First, Tampa Bay is much improved on offense this season and the defense is seeing less tackle opportunities as a result. Secondly, the Buccaneers defensive line is struggling to control the line of scrimmage and offensive linemen are getting to the 2nd level and laying blocks on the linebackers making it hard for them to make plays. I’m not sure if this fantasy situation is going to improve as the season moves along, but what I do know is that Atlanta is slated on the schedule next for Tampa and that they have been a fantasy cure-all for struggling linebackers this season as they are currently giving up the most points to fantasy linebackers on a week-to-week basis. Hayes and definitely Barrett Ruud are good starts this week. |
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DB
| 1. LCB Morgan Trent (CIN) vs. PIT – |
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2. FS Eric Weddle (SD) @ HOU – Weddle has had 28 total tackles in his last three games and although I expect him to remain highly inconsistent from week to week, his matchup against the Texans this week is going to be one of his best chances for another high tackle week. If you need some big points and can assume a little risk, start Weddle in Week 9. |
| 3. LCB Aqib Talib (TB) @ ATL – I have got two words for you: Roddy White. Talib is going to find himself covering White for most of the game and should produce quite a few tackles in the box score and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come up with an interception either (he already has 5 this year). Playing in the Tampa-2 defensive scheme, Talib is an above average tackler for his position and should capitalize on most of the tackle opportunities he receives this week. He’s a solid CB1 start this week. |
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***THE GURU’S LOCK OF THE WEEK*** LCB Richard Marshall (CAR) vs. NO – Marshall got off to an atrocious start to the season by only posting 7 total tackles in his first 3 games. However, in the four games since then he has averaged over 7 total tackles per game with an interception and a sack and is starting to look more like the CB1 player we thought he was going to be before the start of the season. The last time he played the Saints, he had 9 solo tackles, 1 assist, and 1 forced fumble. I would expect more of the same this week from Marshall. |
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Thanks a bunch for reading and feel free to ask me any specific questions. I want to help you dominate your fantasy leagues!
Until next time, this is The IDP Guru signing off.
Last Updated: November 2 , 2010
