Lots of injuries to deal with, although some of the players listed in the injury report could be back in time for their Week 3 games. Make sure to check in after Friday’s practice and the Saturday walk-through if you are worried about a particular IDP suiting up on Sunday (or Monday). If the results are worrisome on Thursday for the Washington at New York matchup, then my advice is to sit the player and look for better things from someone going on Sunday or Monday for certain.
Let us get to the important stuff you came here to devour, those players moving up the ranks and those dropping like stones. Plenty of potential stars to choose from this week, fortunately for you, dear reader.
Elevator Going Up
Linebackers
DeMeco Ryans PHI
Curtis Lofton OAK
Justin Durant ATL
Sean Lee DAL
Ryans is going to be a huge waiver wire pickup this week, as the Eagles deal with losing Kiko Alonso, potentially for the season. Ryans and Jordan Hicks will have to pick up the slack, especially if Mychal Kendricks is out for any appreciable length of time. Lofton is benefiting from the decision to sit Ray Ray Armstrong in Week 2. He responded with a 13 total tackle effort (six solos) and added a fumble recovery as the cherry on the top of the sundae. He has his problems in pass coverage, but the Raiders seem content to use him in their sub-packages for the nonce, and thus he has value. Durant had nine solo tackles against the Giants, with an assist and one pass deflection. He is outplaying Paul Worrilow at the moment, who is dealing with a calf injury. Lee is back, large and in charge in the Dallas defense. So long as he can stay relatively healthy, he will put up excellent LB1 numbers. With both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant out of action for a good part of the season, the Cowboy defense will be called upon to keep the team in games, and Lee with his attacking defensive presence, will be productive. Hightower now has 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks on the season. The Patriot defense will continue to be a strong unit, and with him playing opposite Jamie Collins, he is someone to grab off your wire right now. Kikaha has forced two fumbles early this season, and also collected a sack. His tackle numbers are uninspiring, but if you participate in a big play type of IDP league, he is one to target.
Defensive Linemen
Jacquies Smith DE TB
Robert Ayers DE NYG
Kroy Biermann DE ATL
Cliff Avril DE SEA
Jaye Howard DT TB
Smith has been putting up excellent numbers, but I expect this trend to fall off in the coming weeks. Still, three sacks and two forced fumbles are hard to ignore over the first two weeks of 
the season. Just do not grab him expecting steady tackle numbers; it is his big play potential that makes him worth a roster slot. Ayers is the DL on the Giants that is making everyone forget about Jason Pierre-Paul early on this year. If he can post just decent tackle numbers every week, then his big play potential will make him a decent DL2/3. Biermann plays a ton in the Atlanta defense, and does not seem to want to take any time off. This allows him to get after the QB relentlessly, as he did when he strip/sacked Eli Manning in Week 2. He may play as a linebacker, but the fantasy sites have him listed as a DL, making him extra valuable. Avril is a steady performer, and is getting after the QB consistently this season. He has nine hurries and five pressures in two games. Look for him to start racking up the stats if he can continue to rush the passer effectively. Howard is that DT you need to target in leagues that require a defensive tackle on your IDP roster. He already has 12 tackles to his credit and a sack in two games. Heck, in a deeper league I would consider rostering him as a DL over some other underperforming defensive ends.
Defensive Backs
Eric Berry S KC
Brandon Meriweather S NYG
William Moore S ATL
Corey Graham S BUF
Chris Conte S TB
Marcus Peters CB KC
Adam Jones CB CIN
Berry makes for a great story, coming back from illness. He has also supplanted Husain Abdullah as starting free safety in Kansas City. He played the whole game last week, so his illness seems not to be keeping him down for now. Meriweather has thirteen tackles on the season, and he also added two pass deflections in Week 2. You have to love his tackle potential, coupled with a big play ability. Moore is also putting up excellent tackle numbers (17 in the first two weeks) with a pair of pass deflections tossed in just to boost his value. He is owned in just over 15% of ESPN leagues and a laughable 6% of Yahoo leagues. That will not last long, so make your waiver wire claim now. Graham put up 10 tackles, a fumble recovery and a QB hit against the Tom Brady-led Patriots in Week 2, coming back from a concussion that sidelined him early on in Week 1. I am not certain he will continue to put up these kind of numbers against teams that do not air the ball out so much, but when facing a pass attack, he is well worth considering in bye weeks or to replace injured DBs on your roster. Conte should get sufficient tackle opportunities as the starting strong safety in Tampa, and he has the benefit of playing for his former head coach in Chicago, Lovie Smith, who seems content to let Conte roam the defensive backfield. He had five solo tackles, a forced fumble, an interception and a pass deflection in Week 2, so his availability may be waning. Peters is a rookie, and if you have read these reports over the years, you know that rookie cornerbacks are a preferred IDP presence on my rosters. He has collected an interception in each of the first two weeks of the season, and also has amassed a total of 12 tackles over that period. I am liking the KC defensive unit this year once again, and so long as QBs keep sending the ball Peters’ direction, he should be an excellent producer at DB, despite being a cornerback (you know most of us in IDP prefer safeties at our DB slots, right?). Jones did not have an incident where he slammed another player’s head into his helmet this week, which is good for his availability on the field (suspensions are a real downer). He has been fined but will stay on the field, especially while his appeal of the $35K fine is pending. He is leading his team in tackles this season with 19 total tackles, and he also collected a forced fumble in Week 1 against the Raiders. The player former known as “Pacman” is a force to be reckoned with, and if CB-mandatory leagues is a must add.
Escalator Going Down
Linebackers
Chad Greenway MIN
Courtney Upshaw BAL
Greenway was not used in the Viking nickel package, making him much less appealing without being an every-down linebacker. He was only credited with two solos in Week 2, and will most likely continue to be under whelming except when Minnesota takes on a heavily run-oriented offense. Upshaw put up only two total tackles in Week 2 (one solo). It was expected that he would fill the stat sheet with Terrell Suggs out of action, but he was just fooling us, apparently. He is not getting after the QB well, and his contributions against the run have been miserable.
Defensive Linemen
Cameron Wake DE MIA
Wake is coming off of an injury to his hamstring, and the coaching staff is easing him back into action. Until he becomes a full time starter on defense, however, he is best relegated to your bench if you have the space. It is not wise to cut him, as he can be a beast when all is well in his world, but right now, he is not someone to trust as a starter.
Defensive Backs
Richard Sherman CB SEA
Kyle Fuller CB CHI
Sherman is struggling out of the gate. Think he misses Kam Chancellor in the Seahawk defensive backfield? So long as opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks can avoid 
throwing the ball in his direction, he will be useless for fantasy purposes. Fuller, a former No. 1 draft pick, sure has fallen off a cliff this season. He was benched in
Week 2 in favor of Terrance Mitchell.
Ouch (My Aching Roster)
All the injury reports below need to be evaluated at kickoff. Teams are notoriously sketchy about injury reports, and we often do not know a player's status until just before game time. The list below is intended as a "heads up" as to what is going on early in the week, and should not be considered definitive.
Linebackers
Kiko Alonso PHI knee
Mychal Kendricks PHI hamstring
Luke Kuechly CAR concussion
DeAndre Levy DET hip
Paul Worrilow ATL calf
Perry Riley WAS calf
Defensive Linemen
Sen’Derrick Marks DE JAX torn ACL
Defensive Backs
Jonathan Cyprien S JAX finger, calf
As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy efforts. Make sure to read all of our great articles to help you win your fantasy match ups every week and ultimately bask in championship glory. If you have any fantasy football questions, especially about IDP leagues, I can be reached at ia@fantasyalarm.com.