2020 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 6
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 5 of the NFL season.
Injuries
Chandler Jones is done for the season with a biceps injury. Although he had been a major disappointment so far, the Jets were a get right game for him and many managers were banking on a turnaround from the nine-year veteran.
High floor DL2 Sam Hubbard was forced from the game early in the second half after sustaining an elbow injury.
DT D.J. Reader was placed on season-ending IR with a quad injury.
Vita Vea broke his ankle on Thursday night and will miss the remainder of the season.
Josh Allen did not practice all week and was ruled out on Saturday. This said, he’s no guarantee to play this coming week either. So it’s a situation to monitor via the practice reports.
Emerging second-year edge rusher Brian Burns was knocked out of the game with a concussion. He was having a great game prior to the injury. He will have to pass through the proper protocols this week to get back on the field against Nick Foles and Bears on Sunday.
Lorenzo Carter was carted off with a serious injury early in the Giants game against the Cowboys. It was later revealed he suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon and now will miss the rest of the season.
For those in dynasty leagues or draft redraft leagues, rookie Willie Gay Jr. has slowly seen has snap count percentage rise in recent weeks, with it now up to 47% last week. The Chiefs have not had an every down linebacker in a couple years, so that’s limited the fantasy potential there but that could change towards the end of this season or beginning of next. Gay is a player to keep a close eye on in terms of playing time.
Jordan Fuller was back from injury and saw 100% of the defensive snaps. Meanwhile, Taylor Rapp slid back into his third safety role where he was on the field for just 13 snaps.
Donovan Wilson started for the Cowboys but only saw 65% of the defensive snaps as the team rotated in Steven Parker who was recently promoted from the practice squad.
Josh Jones was ejected for targeting in Week 5’s game against the Texans. Rookie fifth round pick Daniel Thomas came in and racked up 7 solos as his replacement. This signals to me that the position/role in the scheme is what’s driving Jones’ excellent tackle production so far this year and that it’s likely to continue throughout the year.
Jaguars FS Jarrod Wilson returned from injury and played every down pushing Andrew Wingard back to a rotation role (Wingard is now on IR).
Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 6!
Defensive Linemen
DE Emmanuel Ogbah (MIA) – Ogbah is someone that has shown spurts of fantasy relevance throughout his career, but his overall value/outlook has often been diminished by injury or an inability to receive enough snaps playing among fairly deep defensive lines. That latter point hasn’t been an issue with the Dolphins however as Ogbah has played in 76% of the team’s defensive snaps this year. This high volume has helped him register a sack of 4 of 5 weeks so far and he faces off against the Jets in Week 6 where he will have a nice shot at continuing that streak.
DE Trey Hendrickson (NO) – Cameron Jordan tends to get all the praise on the Saints’ defensive line, but Hendrickson actually leads the team in the category with 4.5 on the year and has had a sack in every week so far except one. Although Marcus Davenport returned last week, Hendrickson actually saw a season-high 70% snap share. So even though there’s a chance Hendrickson loses some snaps moving forward, but I would expect it to be minimal given how well Trey has been playing. The Saints are on bye this coming week, so he’s a player to monitor to pick up in Week 7 if he’s still available or was dropped due to the bye.
DT Denico Autry (IND) – Autry is one of those players that’s usually available in the vast majority of IDP leagues but presents with enough production upside to serve as a streaming option in appealing matchups. Well, he may not get a more appealing matchup than the Bengals this week who have allowed a league high 22 sacks through five games. Autry had two sacks in the opener and is coming off a seven tackle performance last week, so he serves as a nice upside option while giving us somewhat of a dependable floor. He is a top 35 DL option in my weekly rankings.
DT Justin Madubuike (BAL) – This is a super deep league/DT-required special recommendation. Madubuike, a third round selection in this year’s draft, made his season debut last week against the Bengals. He played a respectable 45% of the snaps and goes against the Eagles who have allowed nearly 4 sacks per game so far this season. Madubuike was one of the more underrated draft prospects of this draft class and could very well notch his first career sack this coming week.
.Linebackers
Note: I called out Anthony Walker and Bobby Okereke as priority pickups last week and both had very nice games against the Browns. So if Darius Leonard remains out this week, they both are good plays against Joe Mixon and the Bengals.
LB Foyesade Oluokun (ATL) – I called out Foye back in my Week 2 waiver wire article and have signaled that he very well could lead the team in tackles come year’s end. Well, the word is going to be out on him now after his 14-tackle (12 solo) performance against the Panthers so hopefully some managers were able to grab him a few weeks ago. If not, he should be one of the top priority pickups this week. He definitely benefited from facing off against the league’s #1 matchup for opposing linebackers, but it’s telling how much more productive he was than Deion Jones (who seems washed after suffering a couple serious injuries). Consider him a LB3+/LB2-.
LB Avery Williamson (NYJ) – The released of Alec Ogletree should open the door for Williamson to re-assume an every down role (we just need to watch out for return of Blake Cashman). Williamson played 95% of the defensive snaps and rode that playing time to a 6-2, INT, 2 PDs. He should continue to serve as a high floor LB3 on a defense likely see a lot of tackle opportunity.
LB Tyrell Adams (HOU) – Bernardrick McKinney was a bit of a surprise inactive this weekend and it was just recently announced he will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the year. This makes Adams, a career special teamer, a viable waiver wire option moving forward after a breakout 13 tackle performance (7 solos) and 1 FR. He has Zach Cunningham to compete with for tackles but this defense has shown the capacity to feed both ILB spots with enough tackle opportunity in the past. As long as he continues playing every down, Adams could very well provide us with LB3- value.
LB Jerome Baker (MIA) – After seeing a fairly sizable drop in playing time in Week 4, Baker was suddenly back to playing every snap in Week 5. This, along with the fact he racked up 8 total tackles and a sack, likely means he pulled himself out of whatever doghouse he was in with the coaching staff. He’s still been quite inconsistent this year (and last), so he’s more of a boom/bust LB3 for me moving forward.
LB Troy Reeder (LAR) – With Micah Kiser inactive, Reeder got the starting call next to Kenny Young and saw the most playing time of all linebackers. The Rams pressured Alex Smith all day and Reeder got in on a lot of the action with a ridiculous three sacks from his inside linebacker position. This is likely a trap situation for managers though as 1) Reeder is likely to head back to the bench or a rotational role when Kiser becomes active (likely next week) and 2) even if he carved out a starting role (which is unlikely), his sack performance was an obvious fluke. He’s probably best left on the waiver wire outside of deep IDP leagues to prioritize the other linebackers on this list.
(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)
CB Kenny Moore (IND) – The Bengals are giving up a boatload of fantasy points to opposing cornerbacks this season. And it’s come in a variety of ways – tackles, INTs, and they even allowed three sacks to corners last week. This makes any Colt corner that receives substantial playing time a solid play this week, but Moore is the most likely to benefit. He’s had strong tackle numbers, 5 INTs, and 4 sacks over the last two seasons, so could very well be set up for a monster game against Joe Burrow in Week 6.
S Kareem Jackson (DEN) – Although I had Jackson labeled as a player to avoid heading into the year and he hasn’t had any standout games yet, he has served as a reasonable high floor DB4 option (5-1, 3-1 FR, 4-2, 5-1). Most importantly, he faces the Patriots this week who have given up the most tackles to opposing safeties. So I’m projecting him for a 7-1 stat line.
S Tashaun Gipson (CHI) – Upon arriving in Chicago, Gipson moved from his historical centerfielder safety role into strong safety role. This has translated to better tackle production than we have typically seen from him as he’s averaging almost five solo tackles per game. He has a top tier matchup against Carolina and is set up to have one of his better tackle performances of the year.
CB Pierre Desir (NYJ) – Desir has now posted back-to-back strong fantasy performances (7-1, 2 INT, 2 PDs and 8-3). He’s giving wide receivers a ton of space off the line of scrimmage which is resulting in a lot of easy underneath throws and consequently a lot of tackle opportunity. The Chargers haven’t been a great matchup for corners but I would still feel comfortable rolling Desir out as my DB4+/CB2.
Last Updated: October 13, 2020