2025 IDP Waiver Wire for Week 3
Welcome to the IDP Waiver Wire For Week 3!
We’re just a couple of weeks into the 2025 season, but it’s already a dangerous time for many IDP managers.
It’s a lot easier to say, “don’t overreact to a Week 1 loss,” than it is to say, “don’t freak out about starting 0-2.” It’s true that starting the fantasy campaign with a pair of losses isn’t the Apocalypse. But at some point, fantasy managers have to start stacking wins. And it’s only natural for 0-2 managers to be glaring at players who have started the season slowly.
However, while those slow starters can be maddening, IDP managers still need to take a chill pill with some. The player who was drafted first among linebackers in most IDP leagues (Zaire Franklin of the Indianapolis Colts) has nine tackles in two games. The top edge-rusher in many IDP drafts (T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers) hasn’t cracked the sack column yet.
Now, order will likely be restored in the universe regarding those stars. But for mid-range options and/or injured players who are clogging up roster spots, the ice is getting pretty thin—especially at defensive back.
It’s a balancing act—the need to turn things around in the short-term without making a drop that will come back to bite a team in the behind in the long run.
Are we having fun yet?
IDP PICKUP OF THE WEEK: LB Payton Wilson, Pittsburgh
The Steelers have long been known for a fearsome defense, but the unit has looked anything but so far this season, allowing 30-plus points in both games. While speaking to reporters after Sunday’s home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, young linebacker Payton Wilson acknowledged that it has been a frustrating start to the 2025 campaign.
“It’s frustrating that we have some of the most talented players to ever play their position in here,” Wilson said. “For it to happen to them, for me to miss an assignment, you don’t want that to happen. It’s just frustrating but it’s football. You’ve just got to get back in there and get better and push forward.”
The Steelers may be struggling defensively, but statistically, Wilson had a day against the Seahawks, logging 10 total tackles and adding a sack. Through two games, Wilson has played an 87 percent snap share. With a couple of favorable IDP matchups for linebackers looming and the Pittsburgh defense struggling to get off the field, the second-year pro is an intriguing waiver target.
WEEK 3 IDP WAIVER TARGETS
Defensive Linemen
EDGE Dorance Armstrong, Washington
After signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Commanders last year, Armstrong’s first season in the nation’s capital was a disappointment—39 total tackles and just five sacks. But while addressing the media, Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt said that he expects Armstrong to be a defensive leader in 2025.
“A complete football player,” Whitt said. “He’s not just a rusher. He is not a guy that just can play the run. He can do it all. He can play on first and second down outside on third down; you can kick him inside. You can play, you know, a six technique, nine-technique with him, three-technique. He’s just a complete football player. He’s a really smart man. I know he doesn’t say a lot, but he can communicate, and when we’re running games and when we’re changing things up front, he can communicate that with the other d-linemen. So, he’s one of the leaders on this defense.”
Armstrong has answered the bell to start the season—after logging six total stops and a sack in last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, Armstrong has at least four solos and a sack in back-to-back games. Armstrong showed the potential to be a viable IDP DL2 while with the Dallas Cowboys, and the 28-year-old in on a roll.
EDGE Joey Bosa, Buffalo
After a relatively quiet Bills debut against the Baltimore Ravens, Bosa blew up in Sunday’s blowout win over the New York Jets, logging his first sack with the team and forcing his second and third fumbles of the season. While talking to reporters, though, Bosa made it clear he’s not resting on his laurels after his best game in a good long while.
“There were some great things that we did and some things we did quite poorly, but we just have to learn–win or lose,” Bosa said. “Obviously, it makes it a little easier when you win, especially a game like that, but you just move on. You don’t have time to live in the past in this league. Games come quickly, especially with this Thursday (against Miami) coming up. So, you have to flush it, learn what you can, and move on.”
We have long known what a healthy Bosa is capable of—he has eclipsed the 10-sack mark four times in his career. It has simply been a matter of the 30-year-old staying on the field—the last time he played more than 14 games was back in 2021. But Bosa’s healthy now—and so long as he is, Bosa should be rostered.
Linebackers
LB Devin Bush, Cleveland
By most measurements, Bush’s career has been a disappointment—after topping 100 total tackles as a rookie in Pittsburgh, the former first-round pick fell from favor in the Steel City. But as Chris Pokorny wrote for Yahoo, Bush was a defensive bright spot for Cleveland in their lopsided Week 2 loss in Baltimore.
“Bush led the Browns with eight tackles, and he also had a sack and nearly intercepted a pass in the end zone,” Pokorny said. “He was the Browns’ second-highest graded defender, per PFF, with a grade of 90.7. Rookie Carson Schwesinger had a pretty quiet game, but graded to a 65.2.”
It’s admittedly early, but two weeks into the 2025 season, Bush is leading the Browns in total tackles, chipping in that sack and a pair of tackles for loss. In Week 3, the Browns face the buzzsaw that is the Green Bay Packers, so it’s a safe bet that Bush and the Cleveland defense will be racking up snaps (and stats) in Week 3.
LB Eric Wilson, Minnesota
Wilson has been kicking around the NFL for quite a while—2025 marks the 30-year-old’s ninth season. Wilson has started 40 games over that span. While addressing the media, teammate Aaron Jones Sr. (who has played both with and against Wilson) said he’s confident Wilson can hold down the fort while green-dot linebacker Blake Cashman is on injured reserve.
“He is just flying around,” Jones said. “It’s so cool to see. I played against him, I played with him [in Green Bay], I played against him again last year, and now I’m playing with him again. He’s an energy guy. That’s what he brings. Even if he’s not out there making the play, he’s bringing energy to the sideline. It couldn’t happen to a better person. I’m happy for him.”
Wilson didn’t post big numbers in Sunday night’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, logging just five total tackles. But he’s a three-down linebacker who will make at least three more starts for the Vikings until Cashman is eligible to return. In deeper IDP leagues, Wilson may well be the best linebacker option available.
Defensive Backs
S Amani Hooker, Tennessee
Hooker is hardly a household name—in part because he plays for a small-market team. But that small-market team just ponied up big bucks for the seventh-year veteran. After signing a three-year contract extension averaging $13.5 million a season, Hooker told reporters he plans to show he’s worth every penny.
“It’s a true honor,” Hooker said. “A lot of guys don’t get to that second or third contract, so to be in the same place for seven years and they have enough faith in my play, and who I am as a person, to help this team win. I am not going anywhere – I am only 27. So, I have some years left in me. So, I am still proving myself, who I am as a player, to the league and my teammates.”
The Titans have been a bad team two weeks into the season, but Hooker played well in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, logging eight total tackles and adding a sack. Hooker lives on the fringes of IDP relevance, but he has shown that he can bang out a solid stat line in any given week.
S Andrew Wingard, Jacksonville
Wingard has spent his entire six-plus-season NFL career with the Jaguars, usually as a reserve or special-teamer. But heading into 2025, Wingard won a starting job at safety, and he told reporters that he has always had the mentality that he’s capable of making a dent when called upon.
“Absolutely, we all know it’s the NFL, but I think this staff, this front office, these coaches, I think the best players are going to play, and that’s how it should be, and whether I’m the best, or whether I’m not, who knows? I believe I am,” Wingard said. “So, I’m just going to, that’s what I do every day, I just go out and play football. I do what I was born to do, so wherever the chips stack, whatever, but in my head, I’m going for it.”
Wingard had just two total tackles in Sunday’s shootout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but he logged an interception. In Week 1, Wingard had nine total stops and a pick-six that was nullified by a penalty. Is Wingard an elite talent? Hardly. But he’s making plays in the early going ahead of this week’s visit from the Houston Texans.
Thanks for checking out our IDP Waiver Wire for Week 3 article. You can find all of our IDP Fantasy Football Waiver Wire articles for 2025 by clicking here!
Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can’t make him call it X) at @IDPGodfather.