2020 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 14
If you find 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).
Although I’m happy to answer questions posted via the website comments section, IDP Forum, and email, I’m often quickest to respond via Twitter. So if you have IDP questions, it’s a good idea to Follow me on Twitter.
Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 13 of the NFL season.
Injuries
Jadaveon Clowney underwent season-ending knee surgery.
Blake Martinez injured his back late in the Giants’ upset win over the Seahawks and did not return to the game. The injury isn’t believed to be serious based on initial reports, but we should know more later in the week once we see the practice reports.
T.J. Edwards was forced from the game with a hamstring injury.
Blake Cashman was placed on season-ending reserve due to hamstring injuries.
Bud Dupree suffered a torn ACL against the Ravens on Wednesday afternoon and will miss the remainder of the season.
Robert Spillane injured his knee and is expected to miss some time.
Defensive Linemen
DE Clelin Ferrell (LV) – Ferrell was the 4th overall selection in last year’s draft and has dramatically underwhelmed in the stat sheets since entering the league. However, despite not having any sacks coming into last week’s contest against the Jets, he was receiving positive grades and had good underlying pressure stats. This said, it’s not a complete surprise that he was able to get to Sam Darnold twice and force two fumbles. He gets the Colts this week who, on paper, don’t seem like a great matchup but they are likely down to their third string left tackle so Ferrell has a good chance of building upon his career best game last week. He’s a sneaky option for those desperate for a DL3 play in deep IDP formats.
DT David Onyemata (NO) – Playing any pass rusher against the Eagles this season has been a smart move as the team has allowed a staggering 53 sacks in 12 games. Facing off against a rookie in his first career start may further amplify the projected total sack totals in this game as well. This said, Cameron Jordan and Trey Hendrickson are must starts in most leagues this week. Given they are likely already rostered, I wanted to throw out David Onyemata as an option as well given he has six sacks on the season and has a good chance of getting in on the sack action too. He qualifies at DT which is an added benefit for those that are required to start players at that position.
DE Jabaal Sheard (NYG) – Sheard has been a reliable fantasy option throughout his career when given enough playing time. Sheard has seen an uptick in snaps in recent weeks (playing about half the plays) and he’s compiled back-to-back solid fantasy performances with stat lines of 2-1-1 FF and 3-1-0.5, respectively. He’s not a world beater but could help provide slightly above average production for those in need of a DL4.
ILB Avery Williamson (PIT) – Robert Spillane suffered a knee injury against the WFT on Monday and is expected to “miss some time.” If he ends up being inactive for Week 14, Williamson should see at least 80-85%+ of the defensive snaps and becomes a LB3+ for the week.
MLB Todd Davis (MIN) – Eric Kendricks ended up hurting his calf in pregame warmups on Sunday and was unable to play. Veteran Todd Davis filled in at middle linebacker and wound up playing every snap on his way to a team-high 11 total tackles. Davis has racked up plenty of tackles throughout his career, so if he gets another start, managers should be confident that he can produce at LB3+/LB2- levels.
ILB Tae Crowder (NYG) – Blake Martinez hurt his lower back in the final quarter of the Giants’ win against the Seahawks. Although the injury is not deemed to be serious, Martinez still presumably needs to get some practices in this week to play on Sunday. If he ends up being inactive, Crowder is a name to keep backpocket as a potential last-minute pickup coming off a 7 tackle, 1 sack performance.
OLB Alex Highsmith (PIT) – Bud Dupree’s season-ending ACL injury opens the door for Highsmith to find his way into fantasy lineups in big play leagues. Although he didn’t register a sack in his first career start, he played 80% of the defensive snaps and notched 5 total tackles. He’s shown the ability to apply pressure on the quarterback in the limited snaps he had leading up to this start, so there’s a good chance that the sacks will follow. He’s someone I would be looking to add in deep/competitive big play formats especially with the Bengals on the schedule in Week 15.
S Josh Jones (JAX) – Jones landed on injured reserve four weeks ago with a chest injury but returned to the starting lineup in Week 13 and posted 10 total tackles (7 solos). Prior to getting shelved, Jones was one of the more consistent tackle-producing safeties and should slot back into a DB2 role for managers. If he was dropped during his layoff, he makes for a nice waiver wire add this week.
S Jeff Heath (LV) – Heath has seen a bump in playing time in recent weeks due to Lamarcus Joyner going on the COVID list in Week 12 and Jonathan Abram being inactive due to injury last week. During those two games, Heath has put up tackle lines of 7-1 and 9-1. It sounds like Abram may be out again this Sunday. If so, Heath becomes an intriguing high floor option with some INT upside, especially against a Colts team that has been a favorable matchup for safeties.
S Chris Banjo (ARZ) – Banjo got the start at safety this past week with Jalen Thompson inactive due to injury. He played essentially every down (95%) and racked up 10 total tackles (9 solo). Granted, he benefited from a high amount of tackle opportunity in the game, so I wouldn’t expect this type of production typically. However, he had a couple decent performances earlier in the year when starting, so I think 7-8 total tackles is a reasonable projection for him in Week 14 if he draws another start (i.e. if Jalen Thompson is inactive again).
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).
Last Updated: December 8, 2020