2017 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 14

General Player Notes
Ramon Humber still seems to be struggling with his thumb injury and the team is limiting his snaps with him only playing 70% of the defensive snaps last week.

With Danny Trevathan back in the starting lineup, Christian Jones and Nick Kwiatkoski split snaps at the other ILB position (70/30, respectively).

Todd Davis played nearly every down for the Broncos last week, but since that’s not typical, we need to see another game of full-time duty before adding him to the every-down linebacker list.

Kyle Van Noy suffered a leg injury in last week’s game. If he were to miss any time, Elandon Roberts, David Harris, and Marquis Flowers are all likely to see a bump in playing time. It’s always hard to tell in New England which linebacker will see the most snaps in a situation like this but if I had to make an assertion, I would say Roberts would be the guy.

B.J. Goodson finally returned to the active roster after missing several weeks with an injury. He split snaps fairly equally at MLB with Calvin Munson. I would assume Goodson will begin to see the lion’s share of snaps there once he’s full back up to speed, but it’s hard to tell for sure. Kelvin Sheppard filled in for Jonathan Casillas at weak side linebacker and led all linebackers in snaps played with 54 (83%).

Darron Lee was a suprise INACTIVE this past Sunday. Apparently it was a “coaches decision.” Julian Stanford took his place and played 100% of the defensive snaps. It’s unclear if this was a temporary benching or if this will hold for the remainder of the season. We will track this situation throughout the week.

Martrell Spaight was active but only played 12% of the defensive snaps against the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. Zach Vigil started and played 78% of the defensive snaps. It’s unclear at this point if that snap allocation was just a temporary thing until Spaight gets fully healthy or if the team has truly bumped up Vigil to a starting role.

Despite the return of Hayes Pullard, the Chargers continue to play safety Adrian Phillips at weak side linebacker. He saw 81% of the defensive snaps last week and makes for a sneaky fantasy play moving forward.

Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 14!

(Please note that a majority of these pickups early on are long-term, rest of season pickups as opposed to matchup-type recommendations. As the season progresses and the waiver wire becomes thinner and matchup information becomes more reliable, the focus of this article will shift more towards recommendations based on the weekly matchup.)

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Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, Yannick Ngaokoue, Noah Spence, Mario Edwards, Julius Peppers, William Gholston, Alex Okafor, Jurrell Casey, Emmanuel Ogbah, Anthony Zettel, Yannick Ngakoue, Myles Garrett, Frank Clark, David Irving, Solomon Thomas, Alex Okafor, Mario Edwards, Carlos Dunlap, Cameron Heyward, Jarran Reed, Henry Anderson, Vinny Curry, Leger Douzable, Dwight Freeney, Robert Ayers, Stephon Tuitt, Olivier Vernon, Emmanuel Ogbah, Frostee Rucker, Jurrell Casey, Gerald McCoy, Willie Henry, Cameron Wake, Marcell Dareus, Mike Daniels)

DE Muhammad Wilkerson (NYJ) – Despite establishing himself as one of league’s more dominant 3-4 defensive ends in recent years, Wilkerson’s play seemed to drop off last year and that poor play carried over to the first half of this season as he didn’t register a sack until Week 8. He’s had 2.5 sacks in his last five games though and has become more of a force against the run as well. He’s probably available in most leagues given his slow start and has a tasty matchup against the Broncos this week who are giving up the third most points to defensive linemen and third most sacks/QB hits in the league.

DE Jerry Hughes (BUF) – Hughes came into the season as a strong DL2-DL2+ candidate and lived up to that billing early in the season with three sacks in his first four games. He’s failed to register a sack in his last seven games however and has been dropped in most leagues. His play really hasn’t improved lately but he is playing against the league’s most sacked team in the Indianapolis Colts, so I think this is the week he comes through with a sack or two. Plus, he’s going against the team that traded him away a few years ago. He’s a nice upside add for those coming into the fantasy playoffs as an underdog and needing help at the position.

DE Eric Lee (NEP) – Lee has been mainly a practice squad player in the NFL but is getting a shot at significant playing time with the Patriots as Trey Flowers’ replacement. He’s had 2.5 sacks in his first two games with the team and even chipped in an interception. If Flowers remains out, Lee makes for a decent DL4 add in 12 team leagues (if he’s classified as a DL).

Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: B.J. Goodson, Demario Davis, Mason Foster, A.J. Klein, Ramon Humber, Joe Schobert, Jon Bostic, Vincent Rey, Ramon Humbar, Mike Hull, Zach Cunningham, Danny Trevathan, Kendell Beckwith, Cory James, Derrick Morgan, Kendell Beckwith, Shaq Thompson, Ray-Ray Armstrong, Kyle Van Noy, Reuben Foster, Danny Trevathan, Blake Martinez, Hayes Pullard, Mychal Kendricks, Craig Robertson, Thomas Davis, Shaq Thompson, Matt Judon, Navarro Bowman, Mychal Kendricks, Craig Robertson, Keenan Robinson, Joe Schobert, Cory James, Ramon Humber, Clay Matthews, Ramon Humber, Will Compton, Denzel Perryman, Brock Coyle, Denzel Perryman, Anthony Hitchens, Martrell Spaight, James Burgess, Calvin Munson, Christian Jones, Karlos Dansby, Tahir Whitehead, Josh Bynes, Paul Posluszny, Kelvin Sheppard)

ILB Danny Trevathan (CHI) – Trevathan popped up unexpedectly on the injury report a few weeks back and wound up missing the team’s next three games. He returned to the starting lineup last week and picked up right where he left off pre-injury, compiling 11 tackles (10 solo) against the 49ers. He was dropped by some impatient owners during his layoff, so if he’s available in your league, grab him. He should be a top 15-20 linebacker the rest of the way.

ILB Vince Williams/L.J. Fort (PIT) – As most know by now, Ryan Shazier suffered a very concerning spinal injury in Monday Night’s game and probably won’t see the field again this year. Tyler Matakevich took his spot in the starting lineup but left with an injury of his own. If Matekevich were to miss time, L.J. Fort becomes a viable pickup in deeper IDP leagues as he’s likely to be close to an every-down player. However, the player that is most likely to see a big boost in value due to Shazier’s injury in Vince Williams. He averaged over 10 tackles a game last year when Shazier missed three games, so history tells us he can be a very good player down the playoff stretch. He also has seven sacks on the year, so the upside is there as well.

LB Jordan Evans (CIN) – Evans has been pushed into the starting lineup and an every down role with the Bengals linebacking crew decimated by injuries lately. Vincent Rey, Vontaze Burfict, and Nick Vigil are all questionable heading into this week and if they can’t suit up, Evans figures to get a lions share of the tackles at the linebacker position against a run-heavy Bears team in Week 14.

LB Josh Bynes (ARZ) /Paul Posluszny (JAX) – I mentioned both of these guys in last week’s article and each had monster games. So if they are still available in your league, they are worth a pickup and start as long as Deone Bucannon and Telvin Smith remain out of the lineup.

Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Tyvon Branch, Kevin Byard, Daniel Sorenson, Ron Parker, Jalen Mills, Matthias Farley, Jordan Poyer, Vonn Bell, Derrick Kindred, Josh Jones, Terrance Mitchell, Brian Poole, TreDavious White, Chris Conte, Adrian Amos, Trevor Williams, Andrew Sendejo, Tavon Wilson, Justin Evans, Adrian Amos, Justin Evans, Justin Simmons, Morris Claiborne, Tramon Williams, Jamal Adams, Eric Reid, Adrian Phillips, Kurt Coleman, Trai Elston, Eric Reid, DeAngelo Hall, Josh Jones, Budda Baker, Antoine Bethea, T.J. McDonald, Eric Reid, Budda Baker, Darqueze Dennard, Vonn Bell, Jonathan Cyprien, Bradley McDougald, Miles Killebrew, Ryan Smith)

S Patrick Chung (NE) – It was the other Patriots starting safety, Devin McCourty, who got off to a hot start this season. But their roles, and production, have seemed to reverse over the last several weeks with Chung averaging over six solo tackles per game over the last month versus McCourty’s two solos per game. The Patriots play the Dolphins this week who are allowing the second most points to opposing safeties, making Chung a sneaky/attractive play in Week 14 as a DB3-DB3+.

CB Dre Kirkpatrick (CIN) – Kirkpatrick has been on fire lately, scoring 10+ fantasy points (assuming standard, balanced scoring) in six consecutive weeks. The matchup against the Bears isn’t great this week but he’s put up solid numbers against poor matchups recently (Jaguars), so he should still make for a nice CB1-/DB3- add.

CB/S Quandre Diggs (DET) – Everyone (including myself) expected the Lions to slot in Miles Killebrew at strong safety for the injured Tavon Wilson. However, Killebrew only saw seven snaps and it was actually the team’s nickle cornerback, Quandre Diggs, who played virtually all the snaps at strong safety. He posted a season high five solo tackles and has a top 11 matchup with the Bucanneers on the schedule this week. He’s not a super exciting option but could present owners with a nice stopgap option in cornerback-required IDP leagues as long as he continues to start and play near every down at safety.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at theidpguru@idpguru.com or follow me on Twitter. Also, feel free to post any questions or comments for me in the comments section of this post.

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Last Updated: December 5, 2017