Fantasy Football Week 2 IDP Streamers: Waivers Available from Ravens, Patriots and More

Fantasy football IDP leagues are not for the weak at heart. When watching your offensive fantasy players, you can usually see them touch the ball multiple times and get excited when they get a carry or a target in the red zone.

With defensive players, though, they generally only get a few opportunities each game to make a real impact, meaning if they miss out on a sack when the quarterback is in their arms or drop an interception, they might not get another chance that week. After hours of research, it's an empty feeling to see that plan go up in flames.

When you don't have star defensive players on your roster, the best thing to do is chase the best matchups. A cornerback facing Patrick Mahomes isn't likely to have the same chances as a guy facing Spencer Rattler, for instance, so targeting the least adept and least experienced QBs is a way to improve your odds of an interception.

Let's look at two teams at all three levels of the defense who have good matchups and the players who could benefit. The focus will be on guys who probably aren't owned in your fantasy league and can be added for free.

Keep an eye on the FantasySP waiver wire tool to see the most added and dropped players each week.

Defensive Line

Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots

This is a scary one after we just watched the Dolphins get embarrassed by the Colts. It was a bad day all around: Miami's offense scored just eight points and turned it over three times, and the defense allowed Daniel Jones and Co. to score points on all seven of their drives.

This is more about New England, though. Last year, they ranked 31st in pass block win rate by ESPN's measure. In Week 1, they were…31st. The sample of just one week can play tricks on us, but this is now a longer stretch of the Patriots failing at pass blocking, and it makes sense when they have two rookies and four new starters on the O-line.

While the Dolphins are hurting in the secondary, their defensive line is a stouter unit. Bradley Chubb and Zach Sieler are likely owned in your fantasy league, but they would be the top guys to go after if available. After them, Jaelen Phillips, Chop Robinson and Matthew Judon are the guys to target.

Phillips had success in the past but missed half of 2023 and most of 2024, leaving him off the radar a bit. He tied for the team lead among defensive ends in Week 1 with 40 snaps played. Robinson was a first-round pick last year who showed promise as a rookie, and Judon is a veteran who was a star in the past but is now more of a situational guy. Robinson played 37 snaps and Judon 33.

Los Angeles Rams @ Tennessee Titans

The Broncos sacked Tennessee rookie Cameron Ward six times in Week 1, the most any quarterback went down. Denver has a very good defense, and they are a place to look for IDP players, but I'm more interested in the source in this case.

Rookie quarterbacks often struggle with sacks, partly because they are used to being able to hold the ball and move around to make things happen. Ward may have been guilty of that in the first week. The offensive line didn't help, ranking just 26th in pass block win rate; they were 27th last season.

No matter whose fault it is, we can go back to the well here and expect that the Titans might be vulnerable again in Week 2 against the Rams. Los Angeles took down C.J. Stroud three times in Week 1 and were in the middle in pass rush win rate.

The big name on the line is Jared Verse, who is probably owned in your league but would be the top add if available. More likely, Byron Young is your target here. Young racked up 15.5 sacks over the past two seasons and had another one in Week 1.

The notable players on the inside are Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, two Day 2 draft picks in 2023 and 2024, respectively. They each have averaged 8.5 sacks per year in their short careers, with Turner racking up more tackles. Fiske is probably available in your league, while Turner is owned a little more but still has some availability.

Linebackers

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns

While defensive linemen score most from picking up sacks, we're generally looking for linebackers who accumulate a lot of tackles. LBs also get sacks and interceptions, but their biggest benefit is bringing down ball carriers, as the position often leads the team/league in tackles.

I like looking for players against teams that run a lot of plays, either because they play fast or are good at sustaining drives. We often look for teams against poor defenses when finding fantasy defenses, but in this case, it's not a bad idea to target good teams who keep the ball.

From 2022-24, the Browns ran the sixth-most, most, and third-most offensive plays per game, respectively. In Week 1, they were tied for third most. It could be from playing faster, play calling that increases play frequency, or a number of other factors, but the fact is that Cleveland regularly runs more plays than almost any other team.

Baltimore gets the benefit of facing that group this week. Roquan Smith is surely owned in your league, but Teddye Buchanan (a fourth-round pick this year) and Trenton Simpson (a third-round pick in 2023) played the highest snaps after Smith among middle linebackers, though they were far behind the star. While their snaps were almost even, Buchanan got the slight advantage, performed better, and is listed first on the depth chart, so he is probably the better option.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons ran the sixth-most plays per game last season and were tied with the Browns and Broncos for third most in Week 1. They also rely on running back Bijan Robinson often, a player who is matched up with linebackers often on both running plays and passing plays, bringing plenty of opportunity.

Blake Cashman suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 and will miss several games, so the main linebacking duties will be left to Ivan Pace Jr. and Eric Wilson. Pace was a starter even with Cashman around and is the best option of the two; he's also widely available and is a great pickup if you need a linebacker this week.

Wilson is a veteran undrafted player who has hung around the league for nine seasons. He made several key plays (including on special teams) after Cashman went out on Monday night. He's a viable fill-in if you can't get Pace.

Defensive Backs

Arizona Cardinals vs. Carolina Panthers

Interceptions are often more random than sacks or tackles, and the best thing to do is look at the quarterbacks most likely to throw picks rather than defenders who are going to find the ball often; most of the ballhawks are already on a fantasy team anyway.

We'll start with the Cardinals, who face a Carolina team that looked much more like the struggling group of Bryce Young's first year and a half rather than the improving unit from the end of last season. Young threw two interceptions in Week 1 and lost a fumble. His offensive line ranked just 24th in pass block win rate after finishing 30th a year ago.

With Young likely throwing under pressure, it gives more opportunities to the Arizona defensive backs. Cornerbacks Max Melton and Garrett Williams were on the field for every defensive snap in Week 1, and rookie Will Johnson played 60% of the snaps as the slot corner. All three guys are available in essentially every league.

Safety Budda Baker likely won't be available to pick up, but Jalen Thompson also played every defensive snap and racked up eight tackles, while Dadrion Taylor-Demerson played two-thirds of the snaps and deflected two passes.

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

We talked about how putrid the Dolphins were in Week 1, and Tua Tagovailoa has to take a big part of the blame. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, averaging just five yards per attempt along the way. Tyreek Hill might have some pending legal trouble coming up, so Miami is a team in flux after one week.

With cornerback Christian Gonzalez out for the first game against the Raiders, New England deployed cornerbacks Carlton Davis III and Alex Austin on every defensive play. The same was true of safeties Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson. All four of those players are available in pretty much every fantasy league.

They also put up stats against the Raiders:

• Woodson had seven tackles and two tackles for loss
• Hawkins had five tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, a defended pass, and an interception
• Austin had five tackles, one tackle for loss, and one defended pass
• Davis had four tackles and two defended passes

It's unknown whether Gonzalez will suit up for Week 2. If he returns, it will likely limit Austin's snaps. Each of the four players listed is a feasible IDP player for this matchup against the Dolphins, though, as it could be a game full of wayward passes and struggles from Miami if Week 1 is any indication.