Anthony Stalter can’t tweet today (he’s at an undisclosed sports bar in Chicago after attending his high school reunion last night), but I’ll be tweeting under @fantasytips.

Be sure to check back as Sunday approaches, because these rankings will change.

QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs updated 10/22/10.

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees (NO vs. CLE)
2. Kyle Orton (DEN vs. OAK)
3. Philip Rivers (SD vs. NE)
4. Aaron Rodgers (GB vs. MIN)
5. Tony Romo (DAL vs. NYG)
6. Tom Brady (NE @ SD)
7. Joe Flacco (BAL vs. BUF)
8. Ben Roethlisberger (PIT @ MIA)
9. Jay Cutler (CHI vs. WAS)
10. Eli Manning (NYG @ DAL)
11. Matt Cassel (KC vs. JAC)
12. Brett Favre (MIN @ GB)
13. Matt Ryan (ATL vs. CIN)
14. Kevin Kolb (PHI @ TEN)
15. Josh Freeman (TB vs. STL)
16. Matt Hasselbeck (SEA vs. ARI)
17. Carson Palmer (CIN @ ATL)
18. Donovan McNabb (WAS @ CHI)
19. Chad Henne (MIA vs. PIT)
20. Sam Bradford (STL @ TB)
21. Alex Smith (SF @ CAR)
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick (BUF @ BAL)
23. Max Hall (ARI @ SEA)
24. Colt McCoy (CLE @ NO)
25. Kerry Collins (TEN vs. PHI)

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The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week you pick up a defense that is playing against a bad offense (preferably at home). And each week you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position.

Last season, my top pick averaged 9.8 fantasy points per game. My second pick averaged 9.1 and my third pick averaged 7.3. On the whole, DTBWW averaged 9.3 fantasy points per game, which equate to DT5 numbers — all for the price of a few waiver wire pickups. In 2008, my top two picks averaged DT6-type numbers. (Note: To calculate fantasy points, I use this scoring system.)

Unlike Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC), which is for those owners who prefer low maintenance teams, DTBWW strategy allows fantasy owners to virtually ignore DTs on draft day and focus on picking up an extra RB/WR flier instead.

To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 50% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Let’s see how my Week 6 picks fared:

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Wondering who to add/drop or whether or not a trade is fair?

I’m here to help.

After checking out our Waiver Wire Watch, you can post your questions here, and unless you say differently, I’m assuming your league has a standard (non-PPR) scoring system.

If you are wondering who to start in a standard scoring league, please wait until later this week (usually Wednesday or Thursday) when I’ll release my official Week 7 rankings.

And if you’re a regular visitor, please take a moment to rate my advice at Fantasy Pros (under Member Rating). I’d appreciate it.

Every week, I highlight a few players that you should target in waivers. I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only guys eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance scoring system.

Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

Matthew Stafford (22.7)
Shaun Hill has a broken arm, so the Lions are planning to bring Stafford back after the team’s Week 7 bye. His upcoming schedule is very favorable (WAS, NYJ, BUF, DAL, NE), so he should make an excellent backup/borderline starter for the stretch run.

Chad Henne (62.6)
Henne has thrown 2 TDs in each of the last three weeks. His schedule gets tougher before it starts to ease up in Week 12 (@ OAK).

Josh Freeman (13.8)
Yesterday on Twitter, I mentioned that Freeman is the master of the garbage TD. He has thrown for six scores in five games, and his schedule is pretty reasonable the rest of the way.

Matt Cassel (10.5)
It’s not so much Cassel’s play of late, which has been better. It’s more about how favorable his schedule is over the next several weeks. He has JAX, BUF, OAK, ARI, SEA and DEN twice. He makes a decent QB2 going forward.

Sam Bradford (30.3)
With Mark Clayton out, I don’t feel as good about Bradford as I did a couple of weeks ago. That said, his schedule starting Week 10 is pretty favorable.

Matt Hasselbeck (17.8)
Except for the St. Louis game, Hasselbeck has thrown for at least 220 yards and one TD or for two TDs in the four other games.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (5.6)
It’s tough to argue with seven TDs in the last three weeks, but his schedule gets pretty tough over the next three weeks (BAL, KC, CHI).

Kevin Kolb (58.4)
He’s playing well and a Week 7 matchup with the Titans isn’t bad, so if you need a spot starter, you could do a lot worse. But his long-term status as a starter is very much up in the air.

Bruce Gradkowski (2.5)
Gradkowski should be the starter once that shoulder is healthy. Hopefully, he’ll return this week in time for a matchup with the Broncos.

Alex Smith (15.9)
He has five TDs in the last two weeks and eight TDs on the season. His Week 7 matchup (@ CAR) isn’t the greatest, but things ease up down the stretch.

Colt McCoy (1.2)

Matt Moore (1.2)

Max Hall (1.0)

Trent Edwards (0.6)

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- More ugliness from Jake Delhomme (325 yards, 3 INT). Anytime your fantasy defense faces him it’s a good thing.

- Matt Cassel (97 yards, TD, 3 INT) looked awful. Still worth rostering, but proceed with caution.

- Alex Smith (206 yards, 3 TD, INT) came off the bench to lead the 49ers’ comeback. Showed a great rapport with Vernon Davis.

- Carson Palmer (233 yards, 5 TD) was on fire against a normally decent Bears pass defense.

- Tony Romo (311 yards, 3 TD) played very well against a pretty good Falcons defense.

- Drew Brees (298 yards, TD, 3 INT) didn’t have the sharpest passing day, but he found the endzone twice on the ground.

- Steven Jackson (23 carries, 134 yards) still hasn’t found the endzone, but he continues to rack up a ton of yards from scrimmage.

- LaDainian Tomlinson (23 carries, 71 yards) has a disappointing day against the Chiefs. He failed to score on several goal line carries.

- Steve Slaton (22 touches, 89 yards, 2 TD) starting to perform up to first round expectations.

- Frank Gore (15 touches, 47 yards) had a surprisingly quiet day against an inconsistent Texans defense.

- Ryan Grant (27 carries, 148 yards, TD) had his first big fantasy day of the season.

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- Reggie Wayne (7-81-1) left the game with a groin injury after a nice start. If he misses any time, Austin Collie (4-36-1) and Pierre Garcon (3-24) would get a boost.

- Vincent Jackson (5-142-1) is pretty much a must-start in most scoring formats.

- Dwayne Bowe (2-11-1) found the endzone, but otherwise had a quiet day against a sketchy Chargers secondary.

- The 49ers have a couple of good prospects in Josh Morgan (4-62) and Michael Crabtree (5-56).

- Andre Johnson (2-62) had one big catch but left the game with a chest injury. He’s not expected to miss any time.

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- Owen Daniels (7-123-1) continues to tear it up. He’s an every-week start.

- Vernon Davis (7-93-3) really started to get it going after Alex Smith entered the game.

- Jermichael Finley (1-16) injured his knee on his only catch, early in the first quarter. If he misses time, Donald Lee (3-39) becomes backup-caliber again.

- Jeremy Shockey (4-105) looks like his old self. His 66-yard catch and run was a thing of beauty.

Be sure to check back in a few minutes for the WR, RB and QB positions.

Every week, I’m picking one question from our Fantasy Football Q&A and posting it on Sunday morning. This week’s question comes from Indy, who is trying to decide amongst a couple of trades:

“I’ve been offered two trades: Steve Jackson for Rashard Mendenhall + Miles Austin or Brandon Jacobs for Kevin Smith + Miles Austin. my starting WRs are Fitzgerald, Colston, & Jennings (with Austin and Garcon on the bench.) my RBs are P. Thomas, Mendenhall, Smith, and Maroney. which one looks better to you? or do i just stand pat?”

My answer: I’d do the first deal for Jackson. Mendenhall is nice, but Jackson is having a top 10 or top 12 season and is an upgrade. I would NOT trade for Jacobs right now. I wouldn’t trade Smith for Jacobs straight up much less give up Austin in the deal as well.

It’s a little risky to trade Mendenhall away, because he could go on to have a great season, but Steven Jackson is a proven, every-week fantasy RB. He hasn’t scored a TD yet, but that won’t last with some nice matchups coming up. He’s on pace for 1789 total yards and is still having a top 10 or 12 season in PPR leagues. The downside is that the Rams are going to struggle to score on a weekly basis, but they have moved the ball a little better the last couple of weeks, so they should be able to give Jackson a few scoring opportunities in the near future. Since Indy is set at WR with Fitz, Colston and Jennings, Austin is expendable, so he might as well use him to upgrade at RB.