2019 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 7
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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 6 of the NFL season.
Injuries
Stephon Tuitt suffered a torn pectoral muscle and will miss the remainder of the season. It’s a particularly unfortunate break for a player having a big start to the season.
Jayon Brown pulled a groin muscle three snaps into the Titans’ Week 6 contest against the Broncos. It’s yet to be determined the extent of the injury and if he will miss any time. If he does, Wesley Woodyard would take over as the starter at inside linebacker next to Rashaan Evans.
Dre Kirkpatrick hyperextended his knee and is expected to miss approximately the next four weeks.
Kendell Fuller left the Chief’s Week 6 game against the Texans with a thumb injury. X-rays revealed that he has a slight fracture and is looking like he may miss this Thursday’s game.
DB1 John Johnson injured his shoulder in the Rams’ Week 6 loss to the 49ers. He’s currently getting a second opinion on his shoulder but reports indicate he may need surgery and may miss “extended time.” We should have much more clarity on his situation in the next day or so.
General Player Notes
Quincy Williams was benched in Week 6 after his poor play against the Panthers the week prior. Veteran Najee Goode started in his stead and played essentially every defensive snap in the process. I would expect Williams to find his way back into the starting lineup sooner rather than later but there’s no guarantee he will be trusted with an every down role if/when that happens. This said, Williams is a player to keep on your bench until we get further clarity on the situation.
With the winless Bengals season already a lost cause, the coaching staff is starting to give some of their younger players a shot at playing time. This said, rookie Germaine Pratt (38%) began eating into Preston Brown’s playing time in Week 6. Pratt makes for a very nice speculative add in dynasty formats and even redraft formats with deeper benches where you can stash him in case his playing time continues to grow as the season wears on.
Zach Brown was released by the Eagles on Monday. He’s received mostly positive grades over the last few seasons, so he will likely latch on with another team relatively soon. Expect Nathan Gerry to receive an uptick in playing time at Brown’s replacement.
The Chargers continue to employ a heavy rotation among their linebacking crew. Thomas Davis led all linebackers in time played with 78% of the defensive snaps in Week 6, but that amount could easily vary week-to-week.
Coming out of their bye week, the Dolphins re-shuffled their starting linebacking crew. They opted to start Vince Biegel and Raekwon McMillan over Jerome Baker and Sam Eguavoen. Baker ended up coming in on the second snap and played 81% of the plays, however. Eguavoen, on the other hand, only saw 32% of the snaps as he ceded a ton of playing time to Biegel (69%). As much as one would think the Dolphins would be a fantasy goldmine for linebackers, this hasn’t been the case and things just got even murkier. It’s really a situation to avoid in most leagues right now.
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 7!
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)
DE Jerry Hughes (BUF) – Hughes hasn’t registered a sack since Week 1 but he’s shown to be capable of multi-sack performances over his 10-year career and is still receiving an above average workload. Most importantly he’s going against the Dolphins and their bottom of the rung offensive line that has allowed 23 sacks and 48 QB hits through just five games. I like Hughes chances for a sack, if not two, this week.
DT Jarran Reed – I gave readers a reminder last week that Reed was returning from suspension in Week 7, but wanted to call him out again in case he’s still available in your league. He will likely be eased back into his role given the lengthy absence, but he was a top 20 DL last year and was one of the premier DT options in fantasy, so he should be worth a roster spot in most formats. He draws the Ravens this week who have been a top 5 fantasy matchup for opposing DTs, so he’ll likely have some point scoring opportunities even if his playing time is constrained in his first game back this season.
DE Taco Charlton (MIA) – Charlton registered a sack in each of his first two games as a Dolphin and although the stat line last week was underwhelming (1-3), the playing time (93%) was extremely encouraging. He doesn’t possess a world-beater type skillset, but he is seeing a ton of opportunity due to the lack of talent among the Dolphins defensive line and is therefore worth a look as a low-end DL3/high-end DL4 in most IDP scoring formats.
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)
ILBs Rashaan Evans/Wesley Woodyard (TEN) – If Jayon Brown misses any time, Wesley Woodyard and Rashaan Evans would both become every down linebackers and buoy their value into the LB2- range for however long Brown is inactive.
ILB A.J. Johnson (DEN) – Even with Josey Jewell active, the Broncos opted to start A.J. Johnson at inside linebacker where he played 87% of the defensive snaps and put up 9 total tackles to go along with 1.5 sacks. He’s played extremely well over his last two starts and looks to have procured a starting role moving forward as long as he continues his strong play. Consider him a LB3+/LB3 for the rest of the season.
ILB David Mayo (NYG) – Mayo had a monster game against the Patriots on Thursday Night Football with a 8-4-0.5 stat line. Granted a lot of that was due to game flow as the Patriots dominated the contest. However, Mayo has played really well so far this season and has been the Giants’ best linebacker. Tae Davis seemed to be a healthy scratch which signals to me that the team wants to give Mayo the starting job the rest of the season as long as he continues to play well. We’d like to see the snap counts rise above where they were last week (71%), but he can still be productive in more of a two-down role given the opportunity and lack of tackle competition around him. I’m valuing him as a LB3- with upside at this juncture.
LB Nate Gerry (PHI) – The release of Zach Brown and the injury (ankle) to Nigel Bradham could open up the door for Gerry to have a nice statistical game against the Cowboys in Week 7. Bradham is currently considered “day-to-day”, but if he were unable to suit up, Gerry becomes an interesting LB3- bye-week/injury filler type option as he would likely see a high volume of tackle opportunities.
OLB Najee Goode (JAX) – Goode, an eight year veteran, took over the starting weakside linebacker role from rookie Quincy Williams last week and posted a 4-2-1, 1 PD stat line while playing essentially every down. There’s a chance Williams is back in the starting role in Week 7, so this is a situation to monitor closely. If we get news of Goode starting again, he makes for a decent LB4+ start in deeper leagues against a Bengals team that have actually been a slightly above average matchup for opposing linebackers.
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)
CB Byron Murphy (ARI) – Murphy, a rookie second round selection out of Washington, has posted 5 or more solo tackles in four of his last five games. With Patrick Peterson returning from suspension, look for Murphy to see even more targets thrown his way moving forward. Given his current style of play, he’s allowing a lot of completed passes which should translate to consistent above average tackle production. He’s a CB1 in balanced and tackle-heavy scoring formats that require you to start this position.
CB Maurice Canady (BAL) – Canady has been forced into a starting role due to injuries within the Ravens secondary. Over the two games he’s started, he’s gone 5-2, 1 FR and 9-0 with a pass deflection. As long as Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young remain out, Canady should remain a CB1.
S Jermaine Whitehead (CLE) – Whitehead seems to have taken over the starting strong safety role from oft-injured Morgan Burnett and he’s produced very well in that capacity going 7-1 with a FF/INT/PD, 5-3, 9-0 over his last three contests. The Browns are on bye this week, but he’s a player to take note of and scoop up when he returns to action in Week 8.
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Last Updated: October 15, 2019