Good morning my fellow IDP people. Are we recovering from a hangover because you faced an opponent who started Mario Williams or are you an owner who held his bottle of water chugging while Mario Williams was eating?  Some quality IDP’s with prime match-ups didn’t bother showing up (Cameron Wake, Donald Butler, Calais Campbell, Wesley Woodyard, Charles Tillman) but it doesn’t mean you drop them or panic, the dice just hasn’t rolled their way this week and you will NOT find better on waivers.  Was it me or did it feel like a handful of IDP’s had a pick-6, quite a lot of turnovers in week 2 and a bunch of high scoring IDP’s once again.  Here we are approaching the end of week 2, seriously NFL season needs to slow down.  Going to dive into the top IDP Performers from each position, give a few honorable mentions and jot down some waiver wire adds with a dose of what to look forward to from the Monday Night game: Bengals & Steelers.

TOP 5 DL:

1. MARIO WILLIAMS, BILLS:  5 tackles // 4 TFL // 4.5 QB Sacks
2. JJ WATT, TEXANS:  5 tackles // 2 TFL // 2 QB Sacks
3. JARED ALLEN, VIKINGS:  5 tackles // 2 TFL // 1 FF // 1 QB Sack
4. BRIAN ROBISON, VIKINGS:  2 tackles // 1 TFL // 1 FR // 1 TD
5. JASON HATCHER, COWBOYS:  6 tackles // 2 TFL // 1 QB Sack // 1 PD

Honorable Mention:  OSI UMENYIORA, FALCONS:  1 INT // 1 TD // 2 PD

and just noting that Dontari Poe is balling right now, he should not be on your league’s waiver wire, run and get him now!

TOP 5 LB: 

1. MASON FOSTER, BUCS:  7 tackles // 1 int // 2 PD // 1 TD 
2. BRIAN CUSHING, TEXANS:  11 tackles // 4 TFL // 2 QB Sacks
3. DEANDRE LEVY, LIONS:  5 tackles // 1 int // 1 PD // 1 TD
4. KIKO ALONSO, BILLS:  10 tackles // 1 TFL // 1 int // 1 QB Sack // 1 PD
5. PHILLIP WHEELER, DOLPHINS:  12 tackles // 2 TFL // 1 QB Sack // 2 PD

Honorable Mention:  JERRELL FREEMAN, COLTS:  8 tackles // 2 TFL // 1 FF // 2 QB Sacks

TOP 5 DB: 

1. ALTERRAUN VERNER, TITANS:  6 tackles // 1 int // 1 TD // 3 PD
2. TIM JENNINGS, BEARS:  4 tackles // 1 int // 2 PD // 1 TD
3. MARK BARRON, BUCS:  13 tackles // 1 TFL // 0.5 QB Sack // 1 PD
4. BERNARD POLLARD, TITANS:  9 tackles // 1 INT // 1 PD
5. PRINCE AMUKAMARA, GIANTS:  10 tackles // 1 FF // 1 PD

Honorable Mention:  AARON WILLIAMS, BILLS:  12 tackles // 1 TFL

Shocking:  Donald Butler and Sean Lee crapping the bed for their owners; both are LB1 tiers though so do not panic and do not drop.

QUICK HIT:  Bills rookie LB, Kiko Alonso has become a must start every week now and is clearly the front runner for DROY.

WAIVER WIRE WATCH

• RYAN KERRIGAN, REDSKINS:  he’s looking like an every week starter at this pace and i’d definitely take a look at him if your team is in need of a “spark”  just recently I dropped Kevin Minter in one of my dynasty leagues for Kerrigan.  He’s a must start for big play leagues as well.
  
• ALEC OGLETREE, RAMS:  who leads the Rams in tackles? it’s not Laurinaitis.  Ogletree has put up 8 tackles in each game so far as he has 2 PD’s and 1 FF thus far.  He was my 3rd ranked rookie LB and mentioned he had a LB2 ceiling, what’s shocking too is he’s outnumbering Laurinaitis but i don’t expect that too last.
• JOPIO BARTU, FALCONS:  if Weatherspoon misses any time, Bartu is worth a look as he put up 8 tackles in spot duty.
• AHMAD BROOKS, 49ers:  gets overlooked at times but isn’t consistent enough in IDP leagues neither.  Bye weeks are coming up and Brooks could be worth a look as a LB4 with LB3 upside.  He blitzes a lot so he’ll get to the QB and creates turnovers.
• AARON WILLIAMS, BILLS:  with Byrd battling a foot injury and earning the starting SS spot this off-season, Aaron now deserves your attention.  Will be a nice DB fill-in and spot starter, we all know the safeties in BUF can produce.
• PRINCE AMUKAMARA, GIANTS:  FINALLY healthy and quietly putting up some numbers, recognize Prince and is another example on why you can stream DB’s.  Put up 10 tackles in week 2, expect more of the same every week.
• USAMA YOUNG, RAIDERS:  If Branch misses any time, Young can be a nice fill-in if you’re looking for a spot starter at the DB position.
• JASON HUNTER, RAIDERS:  has 2 QB sacks in 2 games so far and quietly flying under the radar.  Match-up play with Hunter and he can put up DL2 numbers.  Definitely keep him on radar though, don’t need to pick him up (yet) if you can’t spare someone at the moment.
• SHELDON RICHARDSON, JETS:  if Wilkerson misses time, the rook will have to step up and i believe he will.  On an aggressive defense and what seems to be a defense that’ll see the field alot, Richardson is definitely worth a look now but take the wait and see approach.

Lets take a look at the Monday Night Football match-up, Bengals vs Steelers.

As disappointing the Bengals front four has been in week one, they get a prime match-up on Monday night.  The Steelers offensive line is in some serious trouble and Big Ben will get pressured all night long.  In the two meetings last year, Atkins posted 3 QB Sacks and 8 tackles whereas Michael Johnson put up 15 tackles and 2 QB sacks and with no Pouncey at center; Atkins is expected to wreck havoc.  Dunlap is a wildcard as he had mediocre stats vs PIT last season but definitely capable of having a big week, you’re probably starting him if you have him.  Vontaze Burfict was battling a thigh injury all week but seems to be good to go on Monday night and he’s a must start, he’ll be all over the field.  Another Bengal i’m going to be keeping an eye on is SS, George Illoka who is currently the starter which is holding rookie Shawn Williams back.  On the Pittsburgh defensive side, you got Lawrence Timmons and well, not much after that.  One interesting IDP player I’ll be watching is Kion Wilson (Larry Foote’s replacement) I’m intrigued too see what the kid got as he’s supposed to be a tackling machine.  So when you’re watching MNF, keep your eyes on Wilson too.  LaMarr Woodley should be able to get to Dalton at least once trying to put his best Kerrigan impression on.  Lastly, Ryan Clark is another IDP player looking to repeat his solid week 1 numbers which i don’t doubt because he’ll be busy all night.

As always, you can reach me via twitter @IDPwithBEE_DSE and stay tuned for my week three IDP Rankings which will be out on Wednesday and I post the link off my Twitter.  Hopefully you’ve picked up a win in week two or got some IDP’s you need to rely on come Monday Night (I have Burfict to rely on) and this is why IDP is so damn good, nothing beats winning a week as you pay attention to the defensive side of the ball and watch your IDP put in the work.

Aloha

@IDPwithBEE_DSE