2020 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 16

(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: Aldon Smith, Montez Sweat, Michael Brockers, Akiem Hicks, Mario Addison, Stephon Tuitt, Jonathan Allen, Kerry Hyder, Jeffery Simmons, Carl Lawson, Stephon Tuitt, Leonard Williams, Yetur Gross-Matos, Emmanuel Ogbah, Trey Hendrickson, Denico Autry, Justin Madubuike, Melvin Ingram, Leonard Williams, Sheldon Richardson, Melvin Ingram, Derek Barnett, Romeo Okwara, Stephon Tuitt, Carlos Dunlap, Marcus Davenport, Carlos Dunlap, Leonard Williams, Josh Sweat, Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon, Trey Hendrickson, DaQuan Jones, Carlos Dunlap, Leonard Williams, Kenny Clark, Chase Winovich, Kenny Clark, Randy Gregory, Clelin Ferrell, David Onyemata, Jabaal Sheard, Olivier Vernon, Alex Highsmith, Dion Jordan)

DE Carl Lawson (CIN) – The team felt good enough about Lawson’s play early in the season (3.5 sacks in the first four games) to trade away long-time Bengal Carlos Dunlap to the Seahawks. Unfortunately, despite seeing a high number of weekly snaps, Lawson’s production fell off a cliff after the trade. But he had arguably his best game on Monday Night getting to the hard to sack Big Ben and forcing a fumble. He gets the Texans this week who have really struggled to protect DeShaun Watson over the last few games (giving up 5, 7, and 5 sacks over the last three weeks). Lawson’s floor will admittedly be low but he does have a chance at a multi-sack game for those in deep leagues looking for a hail mary.

DE Dawuane Smoot (JAX) – The Jaguars have really struggled in the sack department this year as rookie K’Lavon Chaisson has been pretty nonexistent and Josh Allen has missed large chunks of time due to injury. Smoot actually leads the team in the category and has more than double the next nearest player with 5.5 on the year! He’s had three sacks over his last four games and should see around 70% of the defensive snaps this week against the Bears.

DE Jeremiah Attaochu (DEN) – Despite only playing around 35% of the snaps the last three games, Attaochu has had a sack in three straight contests and has a top 5 matchup against the Chargers in Week 16. Add in that he’s playing against his old team who originally drafted him and I like his chances to notch a sack for a fourth straight week.

Linebackers

(Previously recommended LBs: Germaine Pratt, Nate Gerry, Jon Bostic, B.J. Goodson, Micah Kiser, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Foyesade Oluokun, Eric Wilson, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Joe Thomas, Ty Summers, Avery Williamson, Kyzir White, K.J. Wright, Mykal Walker, Anthony Walker, Josey Jewell, Nick Kwiatkoski, Tyrel Dodson, Foyesade Oluokun, Avery Williamson, Tyrell Adams, Jerome Baker, Troy Reeder, Dre Greenlaw, Krys Barnes, Robert Spillane, Tae Crowder, Alex Singleton, Kamal Martin, Vince Williams, Haason Reddick, Christian Kriskey, Dre Greenlaw, Neville Hewitt, Blake Cashman, T.J. Edwards, Christian Kirskey, Tyrell Adams, A.J. Klein, Harvey Langi, Blake Cashman, Alex Singleton, A.J. Klein, Cole Holcomb, Josh Bynes, Terez Hall, Will Compton, Isaiah Simmons, Harvey Langi, Troy Reeder, A.J. Klein, Nicholas Morrow, Anthony Walker, Avery Williamson, Todd Davis, Tae Crowder, Alex Highsmith, Avery Williamson, Jerome Baker, David Long Jr.)

LB Terez Hall (NE) – The Patriots starting MLB, Ja’Whaun Bentley left the game with an arm injury after just 16 snaps. This allowed Terez Hall to assume an every down role and he compiled a whopping 12-1 tackle line which led the team by more than double. He was a benefactor of a lot of tackle opportunities in this game as the Dolphins ran the ball 40+ times. However, he should be a solid waiver wire pickup (high variance LB3) if Bentley is inactive this week against the Bills.

LB Todd Davis (MIN) – Davis has been filling in for the injured Eric Kendricks at MLB for the Vikings. He’s posted respectable box score tallies of 3-8, 3-4, and 4-4-1, PD during that time. With the Vikings basically out of the playoffs, I doubt they rush Kendricks back so Davis will likely have another week of starting. If so, he squares off the Saints this week who are currently allowing the 7th most points to linebackers. Consider him a decent LB3 play in most 10-12 team leagues.

LB David Long Jr. (TEN) – I called out Long as a waiver wire pickup last week, but wanted to mention him again as he racked up an impressive 12 total tackles (6 solo) last week and was an every down linebacker for the Titans. The Packers aren’t a great matchup for opposing linebackers, but Long may still help provide value to a team desperate to fill their LB3/LB4 positions due to injuries.

LB Nick Vigil (LAC) – Kyzir White left last week’s game due to injury and Denzel Perryman remain sidelined with a back injury. If both players remain inactive, Nick Vigil becomes an interesting Week 16 play. The matchup against the Broncos is poor, but he’s been very efficient with tackle production in recent weeks with limited snaps (averaging 8 total tackles a game while seeing an average of only 65% of the defensive snaps). So if he moves into a full-time role this week, I could see 8-10 total tackles from the fifth-year player out of Utah State.

Defensive Backs

(Previously recommended DBs: Marcus Maye, Jeremy Chinn, Adrian Phillips, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Josh Jones, Brandon Jones, Logan Ryan, Kenny Vaccaro, Troy Hill, Holton Hill, Logan Ryan, Julian Love, Taylor Rapp, Mike Hilton, Donovan Wilson, James Bradberry, Kareem Jackson, Kenny Moore, Kareem Jackson, Tashaun Gipson, Pierre Desir, Taylor Rapp, Deshazor Everett, Terrence Mitchell, Malcolm Butler, Ronnie Harrison, Micah Hyde, Josh Jones, Mike Hilton, Daniel Sorensen, Marlon Humphrey, Jabrill Peppers, Kamren Curl, Breon Borders, Kamren Curl, Jordan Fuller, Kyle Dugger, Daniel Thomas, D.J. Reed, Ashtyn Davis, Kyle Dugger, Amani Hooker, Donovan Wilson, Bryce Hall, Xavien Howard, Josh Jones, Jeff Heath, Chris Banjo, Bless Austin, A.J. Terrell, Eric Murray)

S Donovan Wilson (DAL) – The Dallas defense has had very few positives this year, but the emergence of Wilson is one of the lone bright spots. After missing a couple weeks due to a groin injury, he was back in the starting lineup last week and played every snap except for one. He had 8 total tackles (6 solos) to go along with an INT and 2 pass deflections. With LVE looking unlikely to play in Week 16, the team could employ Wilson up in-the-box more and he should be a solid DB2 against the division rival Eagles.

CB/S Lonnie Johnson (HOU) – The season-ending injury to Justin Reid opened the door for Johnson to slide into the starting safety role where he saw a lot of snaps up around the LOS last week. He had 9 combined tackles which was good enough for third on the team behind tackle hogs Zach Cunningham and Tyrel Adams. The Bengals aren’t a great matchup for safeties but Johnson still carries CB eligibility in most leagues and is worth rolling out at that position if you are required to start one.

S Adrian Amos (GB) – Amos started off the season drastically underperforming in the box scores but has come on over the last several weeks as the team has moved him into more of a run defense role with the front seven struggling to stop the run. He’s had back-to-back strong performances with 6-1, 1 PD and 6-1-1, 3 PDs stat lines in Weeks 14 and 15, respectively. This coincides with the team reducing Christian Kirksey’s playing time. With the run-heavy Titans coming to town this week, I expect Amos to have a shot at some of his best tackle production of the season.

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Last Updated: December 22, 2020