2023 NFL Week 2 IDP Waiver Wire Adds
Table of Contents
Guess who’s back. Back again. Not Slim Shady, he doesn’t write for RotoHeat. Not yet anyway. But I am back for my 4th year of waiver wire articles for RotoHeat. You can expect the same thing as the past few years, only with slightly more refinement.
As always these waiver adds are mainly redraft-focused and looking at deeper leagues; if you have questions for shallow leagues, where you start 2 DL/2 LB/2 DB many of these are likely a bit deeper than you need. All statistics are courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted, and the base scoring we go off of you can find here. Please feel free to reach out to us for questions on any specific league; the more info you have the better!
And now, let’s go to a clip.
Bye Weeks: None yet, we are only going into Week 2 silly.
2023 NFL Week 2 IDP Waiver Wire Adds – Linebackers
Zach Cunningham, Linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles
Rostered: ESPN 2.1%, Yahoo 0% Sleeper 2%
Zach was the LB 2 for the Eagles going into the game, but LB 1 Nakobe Dean is hurt and will be out for a while, and it looks like Zach will be taking over his role. Zach ended with an 88% snap share, 3 solos, 1 assist, and 1 fumble recovery.
Zach has not been a great NFL linebacker in a few years but he still puts up fantasy stats for us when he is on the field. He is a top IDP waiver wire add this week with Nakobe out.
Christian Elliss, Linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles
Rostered: ESPN .4%, Yahoo 0%, Sleeper 0%
This is of course related to Nakobe Dean’s injury. Zach is the preferred of the two, but Caden looks to be moving into Zach’s prior role while Naboke is injured, which has value. If you got smacked hard by injuries or don’t have depth, he is worth looking at.
Christian played 42% of the snaps, with most when Nakobe went out. He ended with 3 solos and 1 assist. Nothing amazing clearly, but better weeks are ahead with Nakobe unfortunately out. I would put him as a last priority of the four discussed today.
Ivan Pace Jr, Linebacker, Minnesota Vikings
Rostered: ESPN .4%, Yahoo 0%, Sleeper 0%
Shout out to RotoHeat’s Austin Reed for this one. After a fantastic college career, the somehow undrafted free agent signed with the Vikings after the 2023 NFL Draft. He was deemed too short, too slow, and not able to play at the NFL level. Well, things change quickly, and Ivan had a 68% snap share in Week 1. This was second best for Vikings inside linebackers after Jordan Hicks (100%). The other presumed started Brian Asamoah, who only played two defensive snaps.
Ivan ended Week 1 with 6 solos, 2 assists, and 1 QB hit. He had a 75 PFF grade and a 90 PFF pass-rush grade, which was tops for all linebackers this week. I expect him to continue to serve as the LB 2 for the Vikings with a chance to take over as the LB 1 depending on how this season goes for Minnesota.
Jack Gibbens, Linebacker, Tennessee Titans
Rostered: ESPN .4%, Yahoo 0%, Sleeper 0%
Jack Gibbens, not to be confused with gibbons that jack your food, was a 2022 undrafted free agent and a name not many in the IDP world were familiar with going into this season. He only played in five games, starting two, that year, ending with 28 combined tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 1 interception.
He was the second inside linebacker for the Titans in name and snap count for Week 1 of the season (Azeez Al-Shaair is the #1). Jack had a 65% snap share last week, but ended with 6 solos, 2 assists, and 1 TFL.
2023 NFL Week 2 IDP Waiver Wire Adds – Defensive Backs
Andre Cisco, Safety, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: ESPN 1.2%, Yahoo 1%, Sleeper 0%
No, not that Sisqo. Andre was a top-two safety for me in the 2021 NFL Draft, Andre did not play much his first year, but started 15 games of the 15 games he played in for 2022. He had a decent season last year and is off to a hot start this year, with 7 solos and 3 assists against Indianapolis in Week 1.
It often takes a college safety a few years to get up to NFL speed and break out. The 10 combined tackles in Week 1 are a career-high for him. In fact, in the 26 NFL games he registered a defensive snap (prior to this past week), he only surpassed 5 combined tackles six times. He has a great shot to end as a DB 2 this year.
Camryn Bynum, Safety, Minnesota Vikings
Rostered: ESPN .4%, Yahoo 0%, Sleeper 0%
Camryn had a very up-and-down 2022, when he played every snap of all 17 games, but only ended up with 81 combined tackles and 6 pass deflections. A converted safety who did play some cornerback in 2022 and this past week, Bynum is the main free safety for the Vikings again in 2022.
He had a fantastic game against the Buccaneers, with 5 solos and 5 assists, on a 99% snap share. He looked much better than he did in 2022 as well, with a few open-field tackles and being the highest-graded Vikings defender according to PFF.
Dax Hill, Safety, Cincinnati Bengals
Rostered: ESPN 2.1%, Yahoo 3%, Sleeper 0%
The 31st overall pick in 2022 played in 15 games last year, but only started two and ended with 16 combined tackles. Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III (the starting safeties in Cincinnati last year) left in free agency and Dax is now a full-time starter.
He played slightly over half his snaps as a free safety, but the rest were at cornerback or in the box (close to the line of scrimmage, where you can have an immediate impact against the run). He ended Week 1 with 5 solos, 1 assist, 2 TFL, 1 pass deflection, and 1 interception.
Deommodore Lenoir, Cornerback, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: ESPN 2.1%, Yahoo 5%, Sleeper 0%
I am on record as having Deommodre Lenoir as my sleeper to be the CB 1 at the end of the season. He led the San Francisco cornerbacks with a 87% snap share in Week 1 against the Steelers and ended with 8 solos and 2 assists. The 49ers offense picked up where it left off (prior to the injuries) last season and they will face the Rams who had a functional offense and surprised the Seahawks in Week 1. If you are looking for someone who is widely available and you do not want to cycle through cornerbacks week-to-week, I still like Lenoir an awful lot.
2023 NFL Week 2 IDP Waiver Wire – Defensive Linemen
Drake Jackson, Defensive End, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: ESPN .5, Yahoo 1%, Sleeper 0%
No, you cannot expect Mr. Jackson to have three sacks each week. Even one sack a week would be crazy. But the 2022 2nd round pick out of USC showed a lot this week while splitting time. Despite a 44% snaps share, which was 4 snaps behind Clelin Ferrell (1 solo, 1 assist, 1 TFL), Drake had a big game. He ended with 3 solos, 3 TFL, and 3 sacks. To add to that he had 5 QB pressures to go with an 82.3 PFF grade. Playing on an awesome defensive line across from Nick Bosa has its benefits, and Drake should see more opportunities after his big week. Again, just don’t expect a huge week each week.
Carl Granderson, Defensive End, New Orleans Saints
Rostered: ESPN 1.6%, Yahoo 13%, Sleeper 0%
A surprise name last year, Carl picked up where he left off in 2022. Week 1 saw him have 2 solos, 2 assists, 1.5 sacks, and 1 TFL on a 75% snap share. This was only second for defensive ends to Cameron Jordan (86%). Fellow defensive end Payton Turner sustaining a turf toe injury that may require surgery, which should further solidify Carl’s spot.
An undrafted free agent in 2019 out of Wyoming, Carl worked hard in 2022 and showed up better than expected despite only starting 4 of 16 games. He ended with 53 combined tackles, 9 TFL, and 5.5 sacks. A free agent after this year, he is working for a new contract and he should have a very nice year for fantasy managers.
Jonathan Greenard, Defensive End, Houston Texans
Rostered: ESPN .5%, Yahoo 2%, Sleeper 0%
The Houston Texans look like they will be on defense again a lot this year. The good news for us is that the defense does look better than last year with (mainly) the additions of Will Anderson Jr. and head coach DeMeco Ryans.
Jonathan had a surprise 2021 season after being a sparingly used 3rd round rookie in 2020. In 2021 he had 33 combined tackles to go with 8 sacks, 10 TFL, and 4 pass deflections in 12 games. Unfortunately, he only played in 8 games in 2022 and did not play well.
In Week 1 against the Ravens, he had the highest snap share of any Texans defensive end at 77%. He ended with 4 solos, 1 assist, 2 TFL, and 1 sack. Will Anderson Jr., for comparison, had 4 solos, 2 assists, 1 TFL, and 1 sack.
Jonathan should benefit from having a great defensive end talent across from him this season. Again, you can’t expect sacks every week, but the tackle numbers with a high snap share are exactly what we want.
Grover Stewart , Defensive Tackle, Indianapolis Colts
Rostered: ESPN 3.7%, Yahoo 6%, Sleeper 0%
No, not that Grover. He is properly rated. This Grover remains very underrated. He had the best season of his career in 2022, with his 70 combined tackles being a career-high by 17. He had 4 solos and 1 assist in Week 1 against the Jaguars, which was the 5th most for defensive tackles. He will not regularly get you big plays, but he has a nice tackle total floor which is hard to find for defensive tackles. He should have a much higher rostered percentage.
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