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IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 3

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Tue, 19 Sep 2023 . 8:16 PM EDT

This list of IDP waiver wire pickups is sorted by position, and then by priorty.

Of course, IDP leagues vary widely by depth, scoring rules, and lineup settings. So to get the best measure of who to pick up in your league, check your Free Agent Finder.

It's the best fantasy football waiver wire assistant you'll find.

Byron Young, Edge, Los Angeles Rams

Here’s one for the deeper leagues. This third-round rookie has played 84% and 91% of the Rams’ defensive snaps through two games. And he has done so productively.

Young has 9 total tackles and 4 QB hits to date, delivering 2 hits – including a half-sack or more – in each game.

Next comes a Bengals offense that will either be giving QB Jake Browning his first NFL start or rolling with a limited Joe Burrow. Either seems likely to add upside to the sack matchup.

Robert Spillane, LB, Las Vegas Raiders

Spillane made a big August jump up our preseason rankings, once it became clear he would be wearing the green dot and calling defensive plays. If you snagged him late in your draft, it has paid off.

Spillane followed a solid 7-tackle opener with 14 tackles in the Week 2 loss at Buffalo. That tally included his first sack of the year, his second tackle for loss in as many games.

Spillane has yet to miss a snap for the Raiders and sits eighth among LB fantasy scorers so far, depending on your format.

Kaden Elliss, LB, Atlanta Falcons

Elliss sat higher in our preseason rankings than the rest of the market. And he has gotten off to a good start. 

Elliss delivered a solid 9 tackles (6 solo) in the opening win over the Panthers. He followed that with a team-high 6 solo tackles in Sunday’s win over the Packers. That number looks even better when you realize it accounted for 15.4% of the team’s 39 total tackles for the game. And Elliss added his first sack of the season. 

That’s where Elliss presents his most upside. A Week 3 visit to Detroit means more tackle upside than sack upside, though.

Germaine Pratt, LB, Cincinnati Bengals

Pratt just might have grown his role further vs. last year. The fifth-year vet has played his sixth- and eighth-largest snap shares as a Bengal the past two weeks. And he has parlayed those into 11 and 9 tackles, with 7 solos each time.

We’ll see whether run-favoring matchups – and game scripts, thanks to a pair of losses – with the Browns and Ravens have factored into that. Cincinnati has faced the second-most rushing attempts of any defense in the league so far; and the ninth-fewest pass attempts.

But Pratt is fine to grab ahead of a Week 3 home date with the Rams and a Week 4 visit to Tennessee. Both offenses have sported plenty of RB action early this season.

Dax Hill, S, Cincinnati Bengals

Hill landed in our Week 2 IDP Waiver Pickups article. Then he racked up a team-high 11 tackles in Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, including 9 solos. Hill also added a pass breakup for the second straight game. 

That followed 6 tackles in the opener, including 2 tackles for loss. The former first-round pick could well be an upgrade on former Bengals S Vonn Bell.

Geno Stone, S, Baltimore Ravens

Stone’s first game in place of FS Marcus Williams found him leading the team with 9 tackles and 7 solos in Sunday’s win over the Bengals. Stone also grabbed an INT. 

He gets an upside run of matchups the next four weeks. First comes a Week 3 home date with Indy, which will likely have Gardner Minshew behind center after Anthony Richardson’s concussion. Stone then visits Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. That trio of QBs has already tossed 6 INTs this season, and two of them haven’t played a second game yet as of this writing.

The Ravens revealed early this week that Williams is rehabbing his injured pec and hoping to return earlier than originally expected. But Stone will be an option until that draws closer.

Donovan Wilson, S Dallas Cowboys

Wilson has yet to return to game action following his August calf injury. But he did make it back to limited practice participation last week. Even if he’s still not ready to play in Week 3, Wilson is getting close.

Dallas hasn’t exactly missed the starting safety while holding its first two opponents to a combined 10 points. But take the $7 million average salary on the three-year extension he signed in March as proof Wilson will step back into a full-time role.

Wilson finished last season as a top-12 fantasy DB, including 5 sacks to lead the position. He’s a cross-category threat in a defense good enough to allow coaches to get creative with his usage.

If you play in a league deep enough to stash IDPs, then Wilson makes sense as a stash right now.

More Waiver Wire Picks

Want to hear about some of the top Week 3 waiver wire picks on offense? Check out this video.