Defensive Team By Waiver Wire: Week 1

Welcome to a new weekly feature at 4for4. For those of you who are new to Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW), the strategy goes like this: Each week, you target a mediocre defense on the waiver wire, looking for a good matchup, preferably at home. You will typically get good defensive production without having to burn a semi-valuable pick on draft day. Or if you do draft a DT and they start to disappoint, you can use DTBWW the rest of the way.

I have been writing this feature for a couple of years (at another site) and in 2009, my top three weekly picks averaged DT5 numbers. In 2010, they averaged DT6 numbers. So the system works pretty well.

To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues. This ensures that we are talking about defenses that are readily available. Below are four DTs that jump out in Week 1:

The Cards have been bit by the injury bug, but they expect safety Adrian Wilson to play and have enough depth in the secondary to withstand the season-ending injury to Greg Toler. The real reason you want to start Arizona this week is the opponent. Rookie QB Cam Newton will be getting his first start and while he's certainly capable of making some plays, he's probably going to make a few mistakes as well.