2019 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 9
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Hello and welcome back to the IDPGuru.com’s most popular in-season article, IDP Waiver Wire Pickups, which will be releasing every Tuesday of the regular season.
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Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 8 of the NFL season.
Injuries
In a striking blow to fantasy owners, IDP stalwart J.J. Watt will miss the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Linebacker C.J. Mosley injured his groin and is expected to miss at least 5-6 weeks.
DB2+/DB1- Ronnie Harrison injured his neck in this past week’s game. His status for this week’s game is up in the air but initial reports indicate he “has a chance to play.”
IDP breakout Tracy Walker injured his knee in Sunday afternoon’s contest and did not return. He’s considered “day-to-day.” We will need to watch the practice reports later in the week to get a better understanding of his probability to suit up in Week 9.
General Player Notes
Leonard Williams was traded from the Jets to the Giants in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and 2021 fifth-round pick. Despite having above average talent and spurts of IDP relevance, he was largely unrostered in fantasy this season due to low production totals. A change of teams and scheme will likely only improve his numbers, so he becomes a player to monitor for those in deep IDP leagues.
Roquan Smith has had a rocky season to say the least. He missed a game due to undisclosed personal reasons and just hasn’t been the same player on the field as he was last year. This decline in performance has led to the Bears to keep Danny Trevathan on the field as the team’s sole linebacker in dime packages, causing a decline in playing time for Smith. He’s still technically a three-down backer and has time to turn things around but we need to start seeing more big plays out of the second-year player for him to live up to his average draft position.
Kemal Ishmael is starting to see his snap totals plummet as last week he was only on the field for 18 snaps. If he’s someone you were relying on in any capacity, it’s probably time to move on.
For more updates on playing time splits across the linebacker position, check out the latest update of my every-down linebackers column.
Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 9!
Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Sam Hubbard, Nick Bosa, Quinton Jefferson, Denico Autry, Chase Winovich, Robert Quinn, Brian Burns, Stephon Tuitt, Josh Allen, Robert Quinn, Ezekiel Ansah, Vic Beasley, Takkarist McKinley, Nick Bosa, Robert Quinn, Matt Ioannidis, Mario Addison, Jarran Reed, Jerry Hughes, Jarran Reed, Taco Charlton, Jabaal Sheard, Jeffery Simmons, Jason Pierre-Paul, DeMarcus Walker)
DE Jason Pierre-Paul (TB) – I mentioned JPP in my article last week as player to stash/keep a close eye on, but want to call him out again as he actually ended up seeing his first action of the regular season and posted 3 solo tackles and a sack. Even more importantly, he saw a surprising 68% of the defensive snaps and will most likely be back to his typical workload much faster than most anticipated. I’m considering him a DL2 for the rest of the season.
DE Bruce Irvin (CAR) – Irvin missing the season’s first three games and shuffling over to a new team this year has resulted in him going largely ignored in fantasy circles. However, after a multi-sack performance last week, that’s likely to no longer be the case. He squares off against the Titans who have been one of the best matchups for opposing pass rushers and Irvin could easily have another 2+ sack performance in Week 9. He makes for one of the better waiver wire pickups at the position this week.
DE Yannick Ngakoue (JAX) – Ngakoue is one of the games bigger boom/bust pass rushing threats as his sacks tend to come in bunches, often times against weak offensive lines. This said, there’s no better time to roll him out in starting lineups than this Sunday against the Texans who have allowed the third most points to defensive ends. He will be a top 10-15 player at the position this week. .
Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: Jordan Hicks, Shaq Thompson, Josey Jewell, Kyzir White, Blake Cashman, Zach Cunningham, Quincy Williams, Mark Barron, Kevin Minter, Anthony Walker, Bobby Okereke, Shaq Barrett, Mack Wilson, Ryan Connelly, Todd Davis, Devondre Campbell, Nicholas Morrow, Nick Kwiatkoski, Vince Williams, A.J. Johnson, Ben Niemann, Troy Reeder, Rashaan Evans, Wesley Woodyard, A.J. Johnson, David Mayo, Nate Gerry, Najee Goode, Bernardrick McKinney, Lorenzo Alexander, Blake Cashman)
ILB Rashaan Evans (TEN) – The majority of the fantasy focus among the Titans’ inside linebacking crew has been on Jayon Brown. But as the season has progressed, Evans has really turned up the heat and outperformed Brown. Over his past five contests, he’s averaged a whopping 10 total tackles per game. He doesn’t bring the same sack upside as Brown, but Evans is quickly turning into a LB1-/LB2+, so if he’s available in your league he should be scooped up over guys like Kwon Alexander or Tremaine Edmunds.
ILB Blake Cashman (NYJ) – With the news that C.J. Mosley is slated to miss the next five to six weeks with a groin injury, Cashman (and Neville Hewitt) becomes a viable LB3- option in most weeks for owners looking for someone to cover injuries or bye week gaps at the position.
OLB Austin Calitro (JAX) – With both Najee Goode and Quincy Williams injured, Austin Calitro was thrust into the starting lineup and scrounged up seven total tackles against the Jets. With Myles Jack epically under performing, the tackles are there for the taking. So if Calitro gets the start again, he may be a useful option for those in deep IDP leagues looking to cover the holes in their lineup due to bye weeks and injuries.
Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Juan Thornhill, Jordan Whitehead, Xavier Woods, Ronnie Harrison, Terrell Edmunds, Tracy Walker, Darnell Savage, Kemal Ishmael, Roderick Teamer, Tre Flowers, Reshad Jones, Khari Willis, Dre Kirkpatrick, Eric Weddle, Isaiah Oliver, Eric Reid, Byron Murphy, Maurice Canady, Jermaine Whitehead, Taylor Rapp, Marquise Blair, Ken Crawley)
Note: Two of my recommendations last week in Taylor Rapp and Marquise Blair had top notch performances. Suffice it to say, they both remain appealing options moving forward (assuming Blair continues to hold off McDougald for the starting job at strong safety).
SS Morgan Burnett (CLE) – With Damarious Randall inactive due to injury, the Browns shifted typical SS starter Jermaine Whitehead and slide Burnett into the more fantasy productive strong safety role. This said, it’s not surprising he had his best tackle production of his injury-shortened season (6-2). If Randall remains out for Week 9, Burnett becomes a viable DB3+ option.
SS Darnell Savage (GB) – Savage missed the past couple of weeks due to injury and has consequently fallen off the radar of many fantasy owners despite a relatively strong start to the season. He returned to the starting lineup last week however and posted a strong tackle line of 6-1 and tied LB1 Blake Martinez for the team lead in tackles. This first-round rookie is only going to get better as the season wears on and makes for a nice DB3 option.
CB DeAndre Baker (NYG) – The Cowboys have allowed the most tackles to opposing cornerbacks this year which makes Baker an appealing option in CB-required leagues. He’s gone 4-0, 4-0, 7-1 in his last three games, so I’m projecting him for 7-8 total tackles in Week 9. Janoris Jenkins and slot corner Grant Haley make for viable options as well.
If you found this article (or past articles) helpful, please consider DONATING. I put a lot of hours every week into my in-season content and make that content available free of charge to my readers, so any support you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated (even if it’s just enough for a cup of coffee).
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at theidpguru@idpguru.com or follow me on Twitter.
Last Updated: October 29, 2019