IDP Waiver Wire Adds For Week 3

September 19, 2022 Nate Marcum

Welcome to our second IDP Waiver Wire article for the season!

Many people will assume that a fantasy championship is won on draft day, but I am here to tell you that it is most definitely not! While you can set yourself up very well on draft day, the Waiver Wire will be the key ingredient to your championship stew! Each week I will bring you my collection of players that should be available in over 50% of leagues. While the true roster % of IDP leagues is difficult to tabulate, I will do my best to ensure we are ahead of the curve. Let’s get down to our IDP Waiver Wire Adds for Week 3.

Defensive Line/Edge Rusher

Randy Gregory (Denver Broncos)

The signing of Randy Gregory is starting to look like the best move the Broncos have made. Sorry, Russ! With Gregory recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, the draft stock had taken a small tumble. If he is still available in your league, feel comfortable making him a priority. While he may only have one sack, the peripherals tell you to invest. With increasing snaps from Week 1 into Week 2, it is apparent that the shoulder issue is behind him and he is ready to make an impact. While he has already made an impact on pressures created (8), it’s the 20% pressure rate that caught my eye. If we want to go further, Gregory has forced a fumble in each game and chipped in 3 QB hits in Week 2.

Trevis Gipson (Chicago Bears)

The Bears may be 1-1, but I would venture to say there aren’t many areas on the team that fans are willing to rave about. If there is one area that deserves the fans, and fantasy managers’ attention, it would be at Defensive End. More notably, Trevis Gipson. Yes, it is still difficult to start him weekly due to his limited snap count. The hope is that he has earned more playing time with his 8 pressures and 30% pressure rate! The biggest challenge will be overcoming Muhammed, a product of Eberflus, but shouldn’t take long if Gipson continues his winning ways!

Alex Wright (Cleveland Browns)

This may be one of the deeper dives into the DL/Edge market, but there is a pathway to snaps. With Clowney and Winovich expected to miss Week 3 and beyond, it appears the next man up is Alex Wright. While he may not have done much with the 24 pass-rush snaps, it is significant that he was the one that got the 24 pass-rush snaps. The Browns will face a Steelers team on Thursday night that just gave up 3 sacks to the Patriots. Might just be a name to stash away in the memory bank but most likely will only be relevant until Clowner or Winovich returns.

Linebacker

Leo Chenal (Kansas City Chiefs)

The hundreds, if not thousands, of vacuum jokes that will be told over the next couple of weeks regarding Willie Gay Jrs suspension, will get old. Watching Leo Chenal play LB will not! When the Chiefs drafted Leo, I was thrilled and disappointed at the same time. Being a Chiefs fan, I was very thrilled that “we” signed such an impactful LB. Being a fan of Leo Chenal, I was bummed because I knew it might take a situation like this to get him ample playing time. But here we are!

Here is the area of note! Chenal is not the typical replacement for Gay, as he is more of an MLB. That said, they get the Colts in Week 3, and I could see a case to stack the box with thumpers and let the tackles roll in.

Leighton Vander Esch (Dallas Cowboys)

I was very tempted to include LVE in my Week 2 Waiver Wire article, but I felt compelled to give it another week after the years of being burned by him. I probably waited too long because he should be a popular name on waivers. After putting up 9 tackles in Week 1, it looked like the former Pro-Bowler was returning to his usual self. Fast forward to Week 2, and LVE again delivered in the stat column, giving fantasy managers 7 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 pass defense. All in all, it has the makings for a legitimate LB2/LB3 going forward!

Previous Mentions:

Divine Deablo–Crushed it in Week 2. 15 total tackles (6 solo)
Frankie Luvu–10 solo-4 TFL- improved on missed tackles.
Zaire Franklin–If Leonard misses another week, Franklin is a great option. 10 tackles, 1 TFL
Mykal Walker–Very solid week 2- 7 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT

Defensive Back

Julian Love (New York Giants)

It was safe to say that Julian Love was a name to pay attention to heading into the season. After Week 1, I wasn’t concerned with his playing time (100%), it was where he was lining up that limited his ceiling (73% at FS, slot, or corner). Week 2 has erased my memory of Week 1, and Love gives me those butterflies in my stomach. As noted below, Love played 77.5% of the snaps in the box and even received 7 pass-rush snaps. Love turned those increased box snaps into production as he totaled 7 solo tackles, 2 TFL, and a game-sealing sack! With division foe, Dallas coming to town, don’t be shocked to see a similar role for Love going forward!

Donovan Wilson (Dallas Cowboys)

With Jayron Kearse on the shelf for a couple of weeks, Donovan Wilson got his number called in his absence. He has responded! In Week 1, Wilson recorded 5 tackles, 1 QB hit, 1 PD, and an INT. If that wasn’t good enough, in Week 2, Wilson led the Cowboys with 8 tackles (6 solos), and 1 TFL.

Wilson is no stranger to providing production when given the opportunity. In 2020, Wilson saw action in 11 games and recorded 71 tackles (11% tackle rate), 3.5 sacks, 2 INT, and 3 FF. While he didn’t see as much action in 2021, he still was productive on a per-snap basis. With Donovan seeing nearly 70% of the snaps at the line of scrimmage, look for Wilson to have another solid week vs the Giants.

Thanks for reading our IDP Waiver Wire Adds for Week 3!

Now go put in those waiver claims ASAP!

Also, don’t forget to check out our Weekly IDP Rankings for the upcoming week by clicking here!

About Nate Marcum 139 Articles
Director of IDP Content. 2021 Top 5 IDP Ranker per FantasyPros ECR. 20+ year Fantasy Baseball/Football addict. Addiction manifested into obsession, which drove me to writing/podcasting. Obsession is still present, but now it’s directed at helping others around me get better!
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