Fantasy Football: Sneaky Defense/Special Teams Unit Pickups

By "sneaky D/ST pickups", I mean really sneaky.

Standard fantasy leagues have a player acquisition process that has two parts per week. Owners initially put in waiver claims and are able to get free agents on demand after those waivers have processed.

In order to stay ahead of the game, it therefore makes sense to use that on-demand capability to work on your lineup’s composition for next week.

No one knows who’s going to be the breakout performer of Week 2. Or if there will be a breakout performer of Week 2.

There probably will.

There is a way to help the outlook on your roster in Week 3 without knowing who that will be, but fantasy owners will have to scan their rosters and ask themselves some questions first:

1. Did I miss out on potential impact players that I wanted in the waiver process this week?

2. Is there someone on my roster bubble that I wouldn’t think about starting this week or next week?

3. Is my defense facing a tough matchup next week?

4. Is my (next) opponent’s defense facing a tough matchup next week?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you may consider stashing a second defense on your roster. It is not advisable to draft more than one defense, but once the season starts, fantasy owners should be looking to get the most value out of each roster spot as they can.

If you’ve found that you’re disinterested in a player’s short-term prospects, three widely available defenses might be a more useful addition to your fantasy team for Week 3.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams will go to Chicago in Week 3 to face off against Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears. Cutler has a pair of talented receivers in Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall, but the Rams also have a pair of talented corners to match up: Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins. They can also get after the passer.

The Rams recorded three interceptions in Week 1 against Matthew Stafford’s Lions, a team that also has Megatron.

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins get the Cincinnati Bengals for their home opener in Week 3. After two road games to start the season, the team will get up for its first home contest and should make some big plays against Andy Dalton and company.

If the Skins continue to put up points like they did against the Saints early, the stadium would go crazy for RG3 in his first home game. In that environment, they can quickly make the Bengals one-dimensional and force Dalton to throw the football rather than lean on BenJarvus Green-Ellis and the run game.

New Orleans Saints

New Orleans’ Week 3 opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, got rolled at home in Week 1 by the Atlanta Falcons. Matt Cassel took three sacks and tossed two picks against the birds in Arrowhead.

In Week 3, the Saints will welcome the Chiefs to the loud Superdome, where Cassel likely will be pressured into some mistakes.

Robert Griffin III and the Redskins dropped 40 points on the Saints at home in Week 1, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo should have things taken care of on his side of the ball by the third regular season game.