It has been a tough year for both injuries and ineffectiveness among some of the NFL's top defenders, and in most leagues waiver wires will soon close, so the players you pick up in the next week or two could be the ones to make or break your playoff run.

I have put together a list of the top waiver wire pickups as we head into this critical part of the season.

Without further ado, here are our Wired Up gems for week 10.

LB

Calvin Pace ARI – Pace has been making a lot of plays lately with starting WLB Karlos Dansby out with a knee injury. In these last two games he has 18 solo tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception. There is a chance Dansby comes back soon, but with Arizona’s upcoming schedule he may be worth the risk.

Matt Wilhelm SDC - After being injured for most of the early season, Wilhelm appears to be back at full strength and is playing well. In his last two games he has 17 solo tackles and 5 assists. He won’t make a lot of big plays, but he will put up tackles each week. If he is available, he would be a good player to have on your team.

Danny Clark HOU – Clark is starting on the strong side, but is making a lot of plays in the last few games. No clear cut reason for this, but it is worth noting. In his last 3 games he has 15 solos, 5 assist and an interception. He is on bye this week, but comes back against New Orleans and Cleveland, both of which allow decent fantasy points to LBs.

Robert Thomas OAK – He was not getting much playing time early on, but with the injury to Sam Williams, he has gotten on the field. In his last 4 games he has 23 solo tackles and 3 assists. He has Chicago, Minnesota and Kansas City in the nest 3 and should see a fair number of chances.

DB

Reggie Nelson JAC – Nelson had a great 1st game, then slowed down for the next 4 and was dropped in a lot of leagues, but now he is making plays again and should be picked up in almost all leagues types. In his last 3 games he has 23 solo tackles, 3 passes defensed and an interception. Grab him now.

Cortland Finnegan TEN – Finnegan doesn’t make a ton of big plays, as he only has 1 INT, 1 forced fumble and 1 sack on the season, but he is averaging 5 tackles a game. He has a good matchup in week 10 against Jacksonville and Quinn Gray. He is worth a chance.

Abram Elam NYJ – Elam has taken over as the starting SS and is making the most of it. He has 17 solo tackles and 6 assists in his last games. He is on bye this week, but then comes back against Pitt and Dallas, two teams who will give him plenty of chances for tackles.

Josh Bullocks NOS – Bullocks has been asked of late to be more active in stopping the run, which in turn is making him more fantasy viable. In his last 4 games he has 21 solo tackles, 3 assists, 3 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception. He has solid matchups against the Rams and Texans in the next two and makes a good play.

DE

Albert Haynesworth TEN – Haynesworth had a monster game against Carolina is week 9 with 6 solos, 1 assist and 3 sacks, for which he thanked David Carr for holding the ball too long. He did have a sack in week 8 too, so he is getting a chance to get to the passer. If you are in bye or injury trouble, grab him while he is hot.

Haloti Ngata BAL - Ngata had a very slow start to his season, but has been coming on in the last 3 games. In those 3, he has 11 solo tackles, 6 assist, 1 pass defensed and 1 sack. He won’t blow any doors off, but he also shouldn’t come up with any zeros.

Tank Johnson DAL – Johnson is coming off an 8 game suspension and will probably back up current starter Jay Ratliff in week 10, but could very easily become the starter moving forward. He is worthy of the shot in mid to larger leagues.

Victor Adeyanju STL – Adeyanju will be taking over for starter Leonard Little who was lost for the season with an injury. He is not going to win you any games single-handedly, but he will be starting for a defense that spends a lot of time on the field. You do the math.