Defensive Team By Waiver Wire: Week 7
John Paulsen, Contributing Editor
For those of you new to Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW), the strategy goes like this: Each week, you target a mediocre defense on the waiver wire, looking for a good matchup, preferably at home. You will typically get good defensive production without having to burn a semi-valuable pick on draft day. Or if you do draft a DT and they start to disappoint, you can use DTBWW the rest of the way.
I have been writing this feature for a couple of years (at another site) and in 2009, my top three weekly picks averaged DT5 numbers. In 2010, they averaged DT6 numbers. So the system works pretty well.
To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues. This ensures that we are talking about defenses that are readily available.
Let's see how we did last week:
1. Bengals (17 fantasy points, DT2)
2. Bills (0 fp, DT23)
3. Raiders (14 fp, DT5)
4. Redskins (10 fp, DT12)
Ah, the Bills. My sincere apologies to anyone who picked up the Bills on my suggestion. If it makes you feel any better, I started them in a league over the Raiders and lost by four. These types of things happen when one streams DTs. It is a reminder that it's usually better to go with the defense playing at home.
Otherwise, DTBWW was outstanding with three of the top 12 DTs of the week including the #2 CIN DT. On the year, DTBWW is averaging 10.2 ppg, which are DT9 numbers.
Let's take a look at Week 7:
Cowboys (vs. STL)
The Cowboys are currently the #12 DT fantasy-wise, and this week they have a great matchup at home with a struggling St. Louis offense that may be without Sam Bradford. Cha-ching.
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