Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire Targets for Week 1

Kwon Alexander, Tampa Bay, Linebacker

This is another speculative rookie upside play for Week 1, but if it pays off, you may have a year-long starter for your lineups. Kwon Alexander was the Buccaneers’ 2015 fourth-round selection, and he has already ascended to the vacant middle linebacker role in this defense.

In the wake of Mason Foster’s bust and release, there was a brief preseason competition between Alexander and free agent acquisition Bruce Carter. Carter -- a less athletic and coverage-oriented ‘backer -- has now been shifted to the strong-side linebacker in Tampa Bay’s Tampa-2 scheme, which leaves the middle open for Alexander to thrive.

If you think back to vintage Brian Urlacher and his athletic ranginess, that’s the ideal Tampa-2 Mike linebacker. Kwon, who runs a 4.55 forty-yard dash, is a strong candidate to approximate that sort of IDP production in Lovie Smith’s scheme.

Alexander is available in 95.3% of ESPN IDP leagues. Prior to his release, we projected Mason Foster to have 7 tackles, 1 pass defensed, and 7.30 total fantasy points in Week 1. Consider that closer to Alexander’s floor than his upside.