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Mitchell's top IDP waiver wire adds and defensive streamers for Week 3 of the 2025 fantasy football season. Target these individual defensive players on waivers.
Another AFC North star had to leave in Week 2 before accumulating many stats, hurting many fantasy teams in Week 2.
Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher Alex Highsmith, who had been averaging just over 0.6 sacks per game over the past three seasons, went down with a high ankle sprain in the first half after making just one tackle. He’ll be placed on the IR, which will affect teams in over a quarter of all IDP leagues.
If you are one of the affected managers, don’t worry. I have you covered with replacements for Alex Highsmith, Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards, and any other DL, DB, or LB you need to replace.
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Week 3 Waiver Wire Adds For Linebacker
Demario Davis, ILB, New Orleans Saints - 13% Rostered
Davis is the one green dot linebacker on this list. IDP managers might be getting tired of him. Maybe we think he has to eventually slow down in his old age. (He is now 36, the same age as this writer.)
Sure enough, his sack total did decline from 6.5 in 2023 to just 2.0 last season. During his career, sacks have been the cushion that provides the boost for his modest (110-130 most years) tackle numbers and makes him playable as an LB in IDP fantasy football.
However, his tackle-making ability might be improving. Last season, Davis set a career high with 136 tackles, and now he already has 20 in two weeks this season.
SirVocea Dennis, ILB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 7% Rostered
The loss of Devin White in free agency opened up an expanded role for Dennis, a 2023 fifth-round draft pick. Dennis only played about 100 snaps in each of his first two seasons, but now, he’s the Bucs’ No. 2 linebacker, and he already played 72 snaps in Week 1, making ten combined tackles.
That’s a large number of snaps for a secondary linebacker in a single game. If he plays a more realistic volume of 45-55 snaps per game, he could be expected to average 6-8 tackles per game.
Divine Deablo, ILB, Atlanta Falcons - 5% Rostered
After four years in Las Vegas, Deablo has joined the Atlanta Falcons, where he is the No. 2 LB. While Kaden Ellis wears the green dot, Ellis only played one more snap than Deablo in Week 1, and Deablo made one more tackle than Ellis.
In Week 2, Deablo and Ellis both made four tackles, but Deablo also recovered a fumble. Four tackles are dismal production in all but the deepest IDP fantasy football leagues, but at least Deablo has made impact plays so far. He’s a potential backup or LB4 in deep leagues.
Swayze Bozeman, LB, New York Giants - 0% Rostered
Here’s a dark horse addition in extremely deep leagues. Bozeman went undrafted in 2024 and spent most of the season on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad.
Injuries to Micah McFadden (foot), Darius Muasau (concussion), and Chris Board (foot) could open up opportunities for Bozeman as the second or third linebacker on the field in nickel and base defenses.
McFadden is on the injured reserve, so he will not play in Week 3 for sure, and Muasau has to pass concussion protocol, which sometimes takes more than one week. Board’s status is uncertain.
Week 3 Waiver Wire Adds For Defensive Line
Nick Herbig, DL/LB, Pittsburgh Steelers - 2% Rostered
Herbig will be the biggest beneficiary of increased playing time in the wake of the Alex Highsmith injury. He is my number one IDP waiver wire add of the week.
Cam Heyward’s pressure leads to a Nick Herbig interception!
SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/UTuvF1jOUj
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Pass rushing has always been Herbig’s strength. Entering the draft out of Wisconsin in 2023, NFL Draft Buzz rated him 97 out of 100 at pass rushing. His relatively lackluster abilities in pass coverage aren't a problem in fantasy football.
That skill has translated in the NFL. Last season, Herbig graded at 91.5 in pass rushing, per PFF. In the six games Highsmith missed last season, Herbig made 2.5 sacks. He made 5.5 on the season.
Harold Landry III, DL/LB, New England Patriots - 46% Rostered
Landry has been consistently making around ten sacks a season over the past three healthy seasons. He played for the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2024 before signing a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the New England Patriots.
He has been doing well in his new home. He made eight tackles and 3.5 sacks in his first three games as a Patriot. He might be available in shallow leagues.
Carl Granderson, DL/LB, New Orleans Saints - 14% Rostered
Granderson has fired out of the gates with 3.5 sacks in the first two games of the season. We’ve seen flashes of greatness from Granderson before. In 2023, he set career highs in tackles (78) and sacks (8.5). He began 2024 with 3.0 sacks in the first three games before cooling off and only making 2.5 sacks for the rest of the season. Granderson’s tendency to experience a midseason drop-off is one reason I do not have him higher on this list.
Week 3 Waiver Wire Adds For Cornerback and Safety
Derek Stingley Jr., CB, Houston Texans - 10% Rostered
Stingley is a top-tier cornerback with a juicy matchup in Week 3. The Texans go to Duval County to take on the Jaguars, whose generational quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, has thrown one or more interceptions in each of his last three games, going back to last season. Already in 2025, Lawrence has thrown three interceptions.
Stingley made five picks in each of the past two seasons. Since 2023, he’s tied for the fourth-most interceptions of any defensive player.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson, S, Houston Texans - 5% Rostered
Gardner-Johnson is another good streamer for Week 3 for the same reason as Stingley. Jags coach Liam Coen has yet to work his magic on Lawrence. Lawrence still throws picks like Baker Mayfield, but doesn’t make the positive plays.
In his past 28 games, going back to 2023, Lawrence is averaging over 0.8 interceptions thrown per game. Since 2022, Gardner-Johnson has averaged 0.4 defensive interceptions per game.
Jourdan Lewis, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars - 3% Rostered
Lewis has already made 13 tackles while intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble in two weeks. In Week 1, he played 100% of the Jags’ defensive snaps and lined up close to the line of scrimmage, allowing him to get involved on running plays.
PFF notes that he made two stops for negative EPA on running plays in the Jaguars’ Week 1 win over the Panthers. Advanced stats for Lewis’s performance against the Bengals in Week 2 are not available as of this writing.
Jaylinn Hawkins, S, New England Patriots - 5% Rostered
Hawkins, who is in his second year with the Patriots, opened the season with a bang, making a sack and an interception in New England’s Week 1 loss to the Raiders. He didn’t create any impact plays in Week 2, as the Pats beat the Dolphins, but he did make eight tackles.
Hawkins overtook Kyle Dugger, who fell out of favor. He outsnapped Dugger by a margin of 63 to 7 in Week 1.
IDP Players To Cut For Week 3
Kyle Dugger, S, New England Patriots
See the note on Hawkins. Dugger had a falling out with the Patriots and lost his job. It was reported three weeks ago that he was on the trade block, but no other team was interested in a safety who has allowed a 71.9% completion rate in coverage.
E.J. Speed, LB, Houston Texans
Speed is an example of why system often matters more than talent at the linebacker position. Speed had been one of the highest-scoring LBs when he was on the field in Indianapolis. He piled up 142 tackles in 15 games last season, yet he only achieved a 56.4 PFF grade.
After signing a relatively meager one-year, $5 million deal with the Texans in free agency, Speed has fallen to a deep backup role. He only played three snaps in Week 1 and didn’t register any stats.
If you made the mistake of buying Speed on his new team, you can replace him with Henry To’oTo’o, who beat out Speed for the No. 2 LB job. To’oTo’o played 57 snaps and made six tackles and one sack in Week 1.
Jared Verse, DL, Los Angeles Rams
Verse, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, is playing well, but he’s not producing fantasy football stats. His skill setting the edge against the run doesn’t get you fantasy points. After making just 4.5 sacks as a rookie, he has made no sacks and just five tackles this season.
If you play in a 12-team IDP league with six starting defensive players that score six or more points for sacks, you should cut Verse and replace him with Nick Herbig or Harold Landry III.
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