Category: Fantasy football waiver wire

The weeks are dwindling, but we hope the W’s are piling up as the fantasy playoffs come into focus. We have six teams on a bye this week, and it will be a crucial one to nail your waiver claims and pounce on those guys who probably shouldn’t have been dropped.

Each week, we’ll highlight diamonds in the rough or some players that just need to be rostered in more leagues on the defensive side of the ball. Keep in mind your scoring system and roster restraints when heading to the waiver wire to grab these IDPs.

Defensive linemen

DE Samson Ebukam, Indianapolis Colts

The seventh-year pro has been useful at times in fantasy. He had a stretch early in the year with a sack in four of five games and sprinkled in some four-tackle games as well. He came out of the bye week with four tackles, a forced fumble and two sacks. He has the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals to terrorize the next two weeks.

DE BJ Ojulari, Arizona Cardinals

The second-round pick is starting to cause some havoc. Here are his last five game logs: two tackles, one sack; four tackles; eight tackles, two sacks; one tackle, one sack; and five tackles. He’s getting it done in different ways. He has the Pittsburgh Steelers this week before his bye in Week 14, so it may be a short-term pickup.

Linebackers

LB Krys Barnes, Arizona Cardinals

When healthy, this guy makes a difference. The problem is keeping him healthy. He had two, seven-tackle games early in the year and was injured. He returned two weeks ago with three tackles, an INT and two pass defenses and had seven tackles last week.

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LB Sione Takitaki, Cleveland Browns

The fifth-year pro is on the fringe but has a couple of notable performances recently. Takitaki had five tackles and a pass defense two weeks ago and six tackles last week. The Browns have a few injuries in their linebacking corps, and he looks poised to take advantage.

LB Anfernee Jennings, New England Patriots

The 2020 third-round pick has posted three solid games in a row. He had four tackles three weeks ago, seen tackles two weeks ago and broke off four tackles and 1.5 sacks last week. He’s a fit in deeper leagues if you’re covering a bye.

Defensive backs

S Trenton Thompson, Pittsburgh Steelers

This one may hinge on the health of Minkah Fitzpatrick, but the former UDFA has played well the last two weeks. He had six tackles and two pass defenses in Week 11 and five tackles, an INT and a pass defense in Week 12. He may get a longer look down the stretch.

FS Tyrann Mathieu, New Orleans Saints

We featured the “Honey Badger” a couple of weeks ago, and he just keeps performing. He came out of the bye week with four tackles, two INTs and two pass defenses. He had eight tackles in the game before his bye week. If you didn’t bite then, you should now.

CB DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys

Throw out the pick-six record, and when you focus on the more realistic counting numbers, he has been great. He has a pass defense in eight straight games and an INT in three straight. He had 10 tackles last week and at least four in three straight and four of five.

How is it Week 12 already? This season has blown by, and we hope you’re doing the same to the competition. We have a few more weeks of byes to cover, and it’s important to nail those sleepers on the wire.

Each week, we’ll highlight diamonds in the rough or some players that just need to be rostered in more leagues on the defensive side of the ball. Keep in mind your scoring system and roster restraints when heading to the waiver wire to grab these IDPs.

Defensive linemen

EDGE Baron Browning, Denver Broncos

The 2021 third-round pick will have some peaks and valleys, but those peaks have been on point of late. In Week 8, he had four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. Browning had a quiet, three-tackle game in Week 10 and had three tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in Week 11. He has the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans the next two weeks to keep feasting.

EDGE Odafe Oweh, Baltimore Ravens

The EDGE rusher has reached the quarterback three weeks in a row and in four of five games. His value will hinge largely on sacks, because he has 13 tackles over the last five games. If your league incentivizes sacks, he’s a good target.

Linebackers

LB Ernest Jones, Los Angeles Rams

He missed a game due to injury and then had a bye week, so Jones could be floating on waivers in shallow or less competitive formats. He shouldn’t be there after 12 tackles and a half-sack in Week 11. He has five 10-tackle games on the season and will provide some upside.

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LB Damone Clark, Dallas Cowboys

Clark was highly effective early in the season with three eight-plus tackle games in the stretch of a month. He has been a little shaky since, but he has six tackles in three of four games.

Defensive backs

SS Quentin Lake, Los Angeles Rams

He’s dealing with a sore hamstring, so keep an eye on his status this week. Lake had a season-high eight tackles last week and has at least six stops in three of four games. He won’t offer much elsewhere, but the tackle numbers are encouraging.

SS Jordan Battle, Denver Broncos

Battle’s role has increased … as such, his production did as well. He delivered 12 tackles last week. There’s no telling if that was a blip or the start of something, because he didn’t have more than three in any previous game this season.

SS DeAndre Houston-Carson, Houston Texans

Houston-Carson had a statement game two weeks ago with seven tackles and an INT. He followed it up last week with five tackles and a pass defense. He has the Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos and New York Jets coming up to get it rolling.

We have reached double digits in Week 10. For some, the fantasy playoffs are mere weeks away, and every roster spot becomes increasingly important.

Each week, we’ll highlight diamonds in the rough or some players that just need to be rostered in more leagues on the defensive side of the ball. Keep in mind your scoring system and roster restraints when heading to the waiver wire to grab these IDPs.

Defensive linemen

DE Za’Darius Smith, Cleveland Browns

Rushing on the edge opposite of Myles Garrett – what a fruitful position that would be! Well, that’s where the 31-year-old Smith is lining up. He has sacks in two of the last three games, but the middle game, he had just a single assisted tackle. So Smith will have peaks and valleys, but you have to love the potential opposite of Garrett.

DE Bryce Huff, New York Jets

He has sacks in four straight games and five total sacks during the stretch. Huff played only 48 percent of the snaps in Week 9, though, and that’s where the potential problem prevents itself. With this kind of production, though, you can’t ignore it over a four-game stretch.

Linebackers

LB Tyrel Dodson, Buffalo Bills

The 25-year-old had a season-high 10 tackles in Week 9. Before that, he had five and seven tackles the previous two weeks. He has the Denver Broncos and New York Jets the next two weeks, and he could continue his hot stretch against those lesser foes.

LB Kyle Van Noy, Baltimore Ravens

This one is strictly an option for leagues that reward sacks more than others. Van Noy has just eight tackles over the last four games. He also has five sacks during that stretch. He has a solid matchup against the Cleveland Browns in Week 10.

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LB Zach Cunningham, Philadelphia Eagles

He’s on a bye this week, so keep that in mind when weighing this option. He had his second 10-tackle game of the season in Week 9 with LB Nakobe Dean (foot) suffering another injury. Cunningham made five tackles and two pass defenses two weeks ago, so he’s starting to leave bread crumbs of a viable fantasy option. This late in the game, it’s hard to find 10-tackle guys. Keep him in mind if you have the roster space and Dean isn’t available post-bye.

Defensive backs

CB Kenny Moore II, Indianapolis Colts

Moore is one of the highest-scoring DBs in fantasy over the last three weeks. He tallied 27 tackles and 1.5 sacks in the last three games, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns and two PDs in Week 9 alone. Obviously, you can’t count on the TDs, but his other counting numbers have been great.

SS Keanu Neal, Pittsburgh Steelers

FS Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring) is likely out again this week, which will put more pressure on Neal on the strong side. He has had seven tackles in two straight games and seems to be thriving without Fitzpatrick. He has the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns the next two weeks to prove it.

FS Jonathan Owens, Green Bay Packers

Owens took over when Darnell Savage went on IR a couple of weeks ago. It took two games, but he had his breakout with eight tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack in Week 9. He’ll have some run over the next few weeks to build on it with Savage out.

Tuesday is the NFL trade deadline, and we’ve already have one spot on the defense open up. Bye weeks resume in Week 9, and the roster crunch will begin to apply pressure as we charge toward the stretch run.

Each week, we’ll highlight diamonds in the rough or some players that just need to be rostered in more leagues on the defensive side of the ball. Keep in mind your scoring system and roster restraints when heading to the waiver wire to grab these IDPs.

Defensive linemen

DE George Karlaftis, Kansas City Chiefs

The 2022 first-round pick is coming of age in his second season. He has tied his rookie season total with six sacks in half the games, and he has four sacks in the last three games. Karlaftis had seven tackles, a forced fumble, and 2 1/2 sacks last week against the Denver Broncos.

DE James Smith-Williams, Washington Commanders

The Commanders traded DE Montez Sweat to Chicago and are working to trade DE Chase Young. This will open a spot for Smith-Williams to slide in and start. He had three sacks in 14 games of limited action last year, and is probably an option only in deeper leagues, but he did have three tackles two games ago against the New York Giants.

Linebackers

LB David Mayo, Washington Commanders

The 30-year-old veteran opened eyes with 11 tackles in Week 7. He followed it up with nine tackles against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Mayo doesn’t have much competition at middle linebacker, though, they could opt to go younger later. For now, he’s a banger of a pickup.

LB Leo Chenal, Kansas City Chiefs

With Nick Bolton on IR, the 2022 third-round pick delivered 10 tackles and a sack in Week 8. He has the Miami Dolphins before a bye week, which means Chenal may be a one-week flier if you don’t have room to roster him through the off-week. However, he’s worth the pickup for the potential.

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LB Nakobe Dean, Philadelphia Eagles

Dean was hurt in Week 1 and missed a month with a foot injury. Upon returning, he didn’t do much with four tackles and three tackles. And then Week 8 happened, and Dean had 12 tackles. Weeks like those are probably not going to be the norm, but he is in the middle of a talented defense and is a flex consideration.

Defensive backs

FS Quandre Diggs, Seattle Seahawks

The 31-year-old safety is one that fantasy owners are familiar with as he’s usually on the periphery of a pickup or a one-week play. Three weeks ago, he had eight tackles and fell back to three tackles and a pass defense in Week 7. Diggs delivered nine tackles last week, so expect peaks and valleys.

FS Juan Thornhill, Cleveland Browns

Thornhill, a 27-year-old second-round pick in 2019, has delivered 32 tackles in six games this season. He had seven, five, seven and seven tackles in the last four weeks. There’s nothing glamorous about it, but a seven-tackle player is hard to find on waivers.

CB Jamel Dean, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

A cornerback pops up in this week’s list, and he’s performing like a safety. He had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery two weeks ago and delivered eight tackles and two pass defenses last week. Dean has a soft part of the schedule coming up with the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, so he may have a nice window here.