Welcome to the IDP Waiver Wire article. Each of the three main positions will be broken down by league size. For shallow leagues, visit the Higher-owned Options. For 6-9 IDPs, check out the Top Targets, and for deeper leagues, check out the Going Deeper section. In general, we’re focusing on players who are less than 50% rostered in Yahoo! Leagues. The players listed are in waiver wire order based on balanced scoring.
Defensive Linemen
Higher-owned Options
These IDPs have steady, productive roles with high floors. Others may have better weeks but at the end of the season, these are most likely to help you most.
Cameron Heyward (Pit, 31%) — Heyward’s 57 tackles lead all DLs. That combined with his plethora of big plays (5.5 sacks, 8 TFL, 7 PD, 1 INT, and 1 FF/FR) is why the stalwart DL1 is actually DL #1. Of his 5.5 sacks, 4.5 have come in his last six games, which means he’s heating up as the weather is cooling off. He’s also past his bye.
Top Targets
In leagues with 2-3 IDPs per position, these could be league-winners. We’re going decent floor, but mostly upside here.
Jonathan Greenard (Hou, 8%) — Hopefully you had the room on your bench to risk grabbing Greenard last week when we featured him here. I say “risk” because we weren’t 100% sure he would play due to his foot injury. But play he did. Greenard racked up another sack, a forced fumble, and 2 tackles. He now has a sack in all but one of his full games, giving him 8 sacks in seven games.
Jaelan Phillips (Mia, 7%) — Another DL who we featured here last week whose rostership didn’t seem to budge, Phillips had 4 tackles (3 solo), 3 sacks, 4 QB hits, and a PD last week. He’s now played over 50% in his last five games. He’s been a top-10 DL since then.
Chris Jones (KC,11%) — Jones had been looking good on tape since moving back inside, but the results weren’t showing up in the box score. Well, they showed up in the box score in Week 11 before his bye. Jones had 5 tackles (4 solo), 3.5 sacks, 1 PD, and 1 FF/FR. Over the past four games since his move back to DT, Jones has produced closer to what we expected, but he’s been hot-and-cold. Similar to other big DTs like Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox, they’re more boom-bust than other DLs. But when they boom…
Odafe Oweh (Bal, 6%) — Over the last three games, we’ve seen Oweh’s production blossom. He’s been playing a decent amount of snaps all season (over 60% in every game but Week One), but he’s had a typical rookie DE/OLB experience: starting slow while adjusting to the Big Man League. But since Week 10, Oweh has 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 4 QB hits, and 1 FF/FR. I like him more in big play and EDGE leagues because his tackle floor is concerning, but his recent jump in production could be a sign of things to come as we head into the fantasy playoffs.
Going Deeper
In leagues with 11-14 total IDPs, these are high-upside options who could come out of nowhere to be at least a solid 2nd/3rd starter, and at most give you a 1A option.
A’Shawn Robinson (LAR, 1%) — Robinson’s playing time has oscillated heavily throughout the season, but lately he’s been steadier in usage and production. After starting just three of the first six games and never playing above 50%, Robinson has now started five straight games and played over 50% in four of those games. During this stretch, the DT has at least 3 tackles in every game and has 6 or more tackles in three of those games. He’s DL #17 since then.
Kwity Paye (Ind, 1%) — Paye now has a sack in each of his last three games and has just 1 dud in his last five games. One interesting and slightly concerning trend to mention is that after posting 3 or more tackles in three of his first four games, Paye hasn’t had more than 2 tackles in a game since Week Eight. Hence, he’s got more value in big play leagues.
D.J. Reader (Cin, 0%) — If you crave a steady tackle floor at the back end of your DL roster, Reader is your guy. He’s had at least 3 tackles in all but three games this season. He’s not much of a big-play threat — he has just 1 sack this season — but in tackle-heavy leagues and in DT-required leagues, Reader is a nice anchor.
Linebackers
Higher-owned Options
These IDPs have steady, productive roles with high floors. Others may have better weeks but at the end of the season, these are most likely to help you most.
Jordan Hicks (Ari, 24%) — Hicks had his bye last week and was dropped in a ton of shallow leagues. This is your reminder to go get him if you need him. He plays every snap and is a weekly 8-12 tackle guy. He has some good matchups upcoming as well (Chi, LAR, Det).
Top Targets
In leagues with 2-3 IDPs per position, these could be league-winners. We’re going decent floor, but mostly upside here.
Kyzir White (LAC, 15%) — White has grabbed the primary LB role in Los Angeles and is not letting go. Since Week Eight, White’s 51 tackles are 3rd-most. During that same span, White is LB #7. The beginning of the year was a mess in the LB room, but White’s emergence has settled things. Kenneth Murray, Jr. has been a ghost since returning from IR, so White appears firmly in the driver’s seat and has been a top-10 LB in this role.
Tremaine Edmunds (Buf, 13%) — Edmunds had a slow start to his season, averaging 5 tackles per game over the first month. But then things picked up as he now has at least 8 tackles in four of his last five games (and 7 tackles in the other game). He was injured for Weeks 10 and 11 but came back in Week 12 to post 8 tackles (5 solo). Edmunds is back to being a reliable LB2, though he’s never much for big plays.
Azeez Al-Shaair (SF, 8%) — Al-Shaair has been a decent play with Dre Greenlaw on IR, but obviously Fred Warner is the main tackle producer for the 49ers. Playing next to an All-Pro like Warner can create some pretty up and down weeks for tackles. Al-Shaair has at least 8 tackles in five of his last eight games, but he also had 5 or fewer tackles three times this season. With Warner set to miss a few weeks with a hamstring injury and Greenlaw getting injured again last week, Al-Shaair is in line for the lion’s share of tackles for the next few weeks.
Going Deeper
In leagues with 11-14 total IDPs, these are high-upside options who could come out of nowhere to be at least a solid 2nd/3rd starter, and at best give you a 1A option.
Troy Reeder (LAR, 2%) — Since snagging the starting job after Kenny Young was traded to the Broncos, Reeder has 7 or more tackles in four of five games. It’s that one outlier that spooked fantasy managers, as Reeder had just 2 tackles while Ernest Jones dominated that week. But since then, Reeder has 24 tackles over the last two games. Remove the 2-tackle game and Reeder is LB #15 since he moved into the starting lineup.
Baron Browning (Den, 0%) — In Week 10, Browning played just 16 snaps before a back injury knocked him out. His other three healthy games since becoming the starter at ILB have produced 8, 6, and 7 tackles, respectively. Browning is unrostered but is producing at a healthy LB3/LB4 clip.
Alex Anzalone (Det, 3%) — Anzalone had an inconsistent start to his season, but he’s posted 7 or more tackles in five of his last six games. He’s posted 9 tackles twice in his last three games. He’s Detroit’s every-down ILB, which gives him a nice tackle floor; one that has stabilized after a bumpy first few weeks.
Defensive Backs
Higher-owned Options
These IDPs have steady, productive roles with high floors. Others may have better weeks but at the end of the season, these are most likely to help you most.
Johnathan Abram (LV, 30%) — Another week, another double-digit tackle game for Abram. If you read this article each week, you’ll notice Abram’s name has climbed up this list. That’s because he’s DB #3 on the season, but DBs like Jeremy Chinn, Justin Simmons, and Jamal Adams are far more heavily-rostered. He’s an LB for your DB slot, posting 32 tackles in his last three games, and at least 8 tackles in eight games so far.
Top Targets
In leagues with 2-3 IDPs per position, these could be league-winners. We’re going decent floor, but mostly upside here.
Jordan Fuller (LAR, 18%) — Earlier in the season, Fuller and Taylor Rapp seemed to be swapping production each week. But as the season has stretched out, it’s been Fuller who has been the more reliable and more productive. He’s been DB #21 on the season. Remove his game at Houston where he nursed a sore knee and played just 49%, and he’s DB #14. Injury-shortened game aside, Fuller has 7 or more tackles in five straight games. Reliably productive.
Kamren Curl (Was, 6%) — Curl spent the first month of the season in a rotation with Bobby McCain and Landon Collins, thus his production was spotty. Since Week Six (about the time the team shifted Collins to LB), Curl’s production lifted and became steadier. He’s lived between 6 and 9 tackles since then and is DB #11 even with last week’s brutal matchup. Curl faced a Seattle offense that had just 10 first downs and managed only 267 yards of total offense. Curl’s 4 tackles were second-most on a night when Washington only needed 38 tackles to get the job done (about one-half the league average). TLDR: Don’t worry about Curl’s Week 12 stats. He’s still a 90%+ participant with a high tackle floor.
Jayron Kearse (Dal, 5%) — Kearse has been a 6-9 tackle option most weeks (though he did post 11 tackles on Thanksgiving), but with the move of fellow safety Donovan Wilson to IR, Kearse’s tackle floor just got a little sturdier. Kearse has been a solid DB2 all season, and that should continue.
Going Deeper
In leagues with 11-14 total IDPs, these are high-upside options who could come out of nowhere to be at least a solid 2nd/3rd starter, and at best give you a 1A option.
Erik Harris (Atl, 3%) — Harris is still available in far too many leagues, considering his 61 tackles and 8 PD make him a DB2-/DB3+. Harris has between 6 and 8 tackles in every game this season except one, when he had four back in Week Three.
Brandon Facyson (LV, 1%) — Facyson left the Thanksgiving matchup against the Cowboys with a concussion. But before that, he was up to 6 tackles. He’s posted between 6 and 9 tackles in the five games he’s started, as he gets targeted often. He also has 8 PD. Watch his status carefully, but if Facyson makes it through concussion protocol, he’s got CB1 upside and a CB2 floor.
