Defensive Team By Waiver Wire: Week 12
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. Patriots (22 fantasy points, DT1)
2. Rams (8 fp, DT11)
3. Browns (5 fp, DT19)
4. Jaguars (8 fp, DT11)
5. Dolphins (16 fp, DT3)
6. Seahawks (15 fp, DT6)
All in all, a pretty nice week for DTBWW picks, with two of the top three DTs of the week and four of the top 11. On the season, DTBWW is averaging 10.5 fantasy points per game, which equate to DT7 numbers.
Assuming you're not in must-win mode, if you picked up the Patriots last week, I'd recommend holding onto them again this week (@ PHI, not a great matchup, but not bad either) because they have the Colts and Redksins in Weeks 13-14.
Let's take a look at the top picks for Week 12:
Note: The Bengals (64% ownership in ESPN leagues) and the Falcons (63%) aren't eligible, but they are both good plays this week. I'd take the Bengals over all of the defenses below and I'd take the Falcons over the Panthers.
Seahawks (vs. WAS)
The Seattle DT has scored well in good matchups this season, averaging 13.3 fp against the Cardinals, Browns and Rams. Plus, they've scored 8+ in six of their last seven games. Meanwhile, the Redskins are allowing an average of 10.9 fp on the season.
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