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For those of you playing in IDP leagues, many of you have seen by now the advantages this type of league has over traditional leagues offering just a singular defense.
More often than not, IDP players rake in as much—or sometimes more—points in any one given week than an entire offensive set, making IDP players a great cushion to fall back on should your offense forget to show up.
Another aspect of IDP is that defensive players seem to get hurt a heck of a lot more than offensive players, which adds depth to the waiver wire. But this year, backups on defense are actually playing just as good as their preceding starters, which has, so far, been a good thing.
There are five players right now that have little or near zero ownership that are simply must-haves, and if you are looking for an upgrade, you may want to consider one of these players.
Let’s take a look.
Jonathan Babineaux – Falcons – DT
Not only a pleasant surprise for the Falcons, Babineaux has really come on strong over the last couple of weeks, especially in ESPN leagues—he scored 22.5 points last week alone.
The feisty DT has great release speed, which allows him to not only get after the quarterback, but also contain the outside runner; which boads well for points off of tackles and sacks. The Falcons have a soft schedule and there are a ton of injured DTs out there; if you own one of them, grab him now before it’s too late. He has guaranteed availability.
Gerald McRath – Titans – LB
Although David Thornton is still—for now—the starter at LB in Tennessee, McRath has caught some serious attention from the coaching staff and he could have another fill-in spot this week with Thornton dealing with the hip injury that kept him out last week.
The Titans rely heavily on their linebackers, so McRath is sure to have value when he plays. Going forward, he is likely to be an everyday starter, and is worth picking up, either for keeps or trade bait.
Melvin Bullitt – Colts – S
It’s shocking that this guy has not been grabbed off of waivers since he has a mere 2.8 percent ownership in most ESPN-IDP leagues. Bob Sanders is done for the year, and even if he wasn’t, the play of Bullitt has been so solid, it has earned him the right to be an every week starter; he’s been money ever since.
I don’t know what YOUR waiver wire looks like, but mine has been picked clean of safeties except for Bullitt, who I now own—you should own him, too.
Dwight Lowery – CB – Jets
There is a reason why the Eagles released Lito Sheppard, and now the Jets are feeling the pain, as well. Sheppard is out, Lowery is in, and the consensus around the block is that this kid is much more talented with better overall ball skills.
The Jets throw a lot of confusing looks at opposing quarterbacks; something which usually generates interceptions, and this kid will be looking to make a statement for the remainder of the year. He is a huge pickup with hardly any ownership at all right now.
Landon Johnson – Panthers – LB
As mentioned earlier, Thomas Davis is out for the year in Carolina, which means Landon Johnson, previously a special teamer, will start at weak side linebacker.
It’s always a risk picking up a backup to a rising star, but in this case it’s a matter of good old fashion football, not the who’s who.
Carolina plays a weird type of Cover 2 that tried to bring a lot of traffic flow to the WLB position, so whoever plays there is going to see the most action out of the entire linebacker corps; hence the success of Davis and why he was the lead tackler.
This won’t change at all, and Johnson may work out to be a sleeper pick by year’s end if Carolina can withstand the personnel change.
He is available in nearly every league, every format.
Hope this helps, and for a complete 20-player Start-Sit analysis, feel free to visit my column here !
Good luck this week, everyone!
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