2016 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 10
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 9 of the NFL season.
Injuries
DL2-/DL3+ Derek Wolfe suffered a hairline fracture in his elbow in Week 9. He will not need surgery but is still expected to miss upwards of a month.
Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus suffered a groin injury leading up to Buffalo’s Week 9 Monday Night contest against the Seahawks and ended up being ruled out late in the week. He will look to get back on the field this week.
Kwon Alexander left the game with a stinger on Thursday night but ultimately returned to playing. He will be fine heading into Week 10.
Rookie Myles Jack left the game last week with a hip injury and did not return. No updates on his injury status have been provided yet, but we should know more later in the week.
Eric Kendricks did not play in Week 9 after suffering a concussion the week prior. Emmanuel Lamur played in his spot in the base package.
James Laurinaitis was sent to the injured reserve last week due to his injured quad and is done for the season. Teammate Dannell Ellerbe found himself missing yet another game due to injury and has played in just one game for the team so far this season. Look for the Saints to continue to utilize Craig Robertson as the only every down linebacker and rotate in an additional third safety to fill the other linebacker position in subpackages.
DeAndre Levy continues to not practice due to knee and quadriceps injuries. As I have been saying for the last handful of weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t see the field again in 2016.
Cornerback Aqib Talib missed his second straight game with a back injury. Bradley Roby started in his spot and was consistently picked on by the Raiders.
Veteran Mike Adams missed the Colts Week 9 game against the Packers due to a fairly serious groin injury. He will have the bye week to recover, but is still somewhat of a long shot to play in Week 11. Rookie T.J. Green will fill in at free safety in the interim and makes for a decent, low-end DB3 tackle option.
General Player Notes
Somewhat surprisingly, Jamie Collins played every snap in his first week with the Browns. In base packages, it was Christian Kirksey and Demario Davis on the inside with Collins at outside linebacker. Collins slid inside in replace of Demario Davis in nickel subpackages. Moving forward, Collins is the main linebacker to own here and should have similar, if not more, value than he did in New England. Christian Kirksey remains a decent LB3 option.
Lavonte David’s struggles in the box scores continued last week. Tampa Bay has used him in a different role this year in which he has more coverage and edge-setting responsibilities. This doesn’t bode well for his fantasy value and I wouldn’t expect his production to change much moving forward.
As a reminder, Dont’a Hightower and Elandon Roberts should be targeted as waiver wire pickups in most leagues coming out of their Week 9 bye. Hightower is the safer play as he is most likely to play every down. Roberts has more potential upside in my opinion, but he may only be a base package player (a la Brandon Spikes). Those in deep leagues should pick up Roberts as a stash play and see how his playing time shakes out before starting him.
After several strong weeks in a row, rookie Karl Joseph laid a goose egg on owners last week. His play wasn’t the issue as he graded out as a top 5 defender for the Raiders according to Pro Football Focus. The issue was the Raiders dominated the time of possession and the Broncos had no rushing attack thereby severely limiting Joseph’s opportunity. He will be fine moving forward.
(Please note that a majority of these pickups are long-term, rest of season pickups as opposed to matchup-type recommendations. As the season progresses and the waiver wire becomes more thin and matchup information becomes more reliable, the focus of this article will shift more towards recommendations based on weekly matchup.)
Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Chris Long, Danielle Hunter, Devin Taylor, Dante Fowler, Frank Clark, Timmy Jernigan, Kerry Hyder, Yannick Ngakoue, Damon Harrison, Nick Fairley, Clinton McDonald, Derek Wolfe, Calais Campbell, Joey Bosa, Trent Murphy, Deforest Buckner, Danny Shelton, Willie Young, Joey Bosa, Gerald McCoy, Cameron Wake, Frank Clark, Marcell Dareus, Mike Daniels)
DE Cameron Wake (MIA) – Similar to last year, Wake got off to a very slow start to the season which caused most people to write him off as “finished.” However, he’s come alive in recent weeks with 4 sacks in his last three games and has benefited from a spike in playing time. His days of being a top notch option at the position are gone due to his low tackle numbers, but he still has value as a DL3 in most leagues due to his ability to sack the quarterback and cause fumbles. It helps that he faces off against the Chargers this week who are currently allowing the most points to opposing defensive ends.
DE Adrian Clayborn (ATL) – Clayborn has had success in the league dating back to his rookie year when he registered 7.5 sacks to go along with 40 total tackles. Injuries have slowed him down in recent years but he seems to be back on track lately as he’s had a sack in three straight weeks and four sacks in his last three games. With teams focusing their attention on Vic Beasley and the Falcons often playing with a lead, Clayborn should continue to have a ton of opportunity to get after the quarterback. He’s shaping up to be one of the better rest of season waiver wire pickups at the position.
DE Timmy Jernigan (BAL) – Jernigan has been a solid, but not spectacular, fantasy option so far this season. He’s produced at an above average rate in five of eight weeks and has a total of 24 total tackles and 4 sacks over that span. He goes against the Browns this week who have given up the 2nd most sacks in the NFL with 26. I like him for 3-4 total tackles and a sack in Week 10.
Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: Sio Moore, Todd Davis, Tahir Whitehead, Will Compton, Mason Foster, Craig Robertson, Justin March, Jonathan Casillas, Craig Robertson, Zach Brown, Deion Jones, Sean Weatherspoon, Tahir Whitehead, Zach Orr, Denzel Perryman, Bernardrick McKinney, Cory James, Darron Lee, Christian Kirksey, Jatavis Brown, Vince Williams, Cory James, Michael Wilhoite, Christian Kirksey, Nick Bellore, Perry Riley, Lorenzo Alexander, Markus Golden, Nick Bellore, Albert McClellan, Dont’a Hightower, Tyler Matakevich, Jordan Hicks, De’Vondre Campbell, Christian Kirksey, Demario Davis, Nate Stupar, Kiko Alonso, Dont’a Hightower, Elandon Roberts, Nigel Bradham, Korey Toomer)
LB Ryan Shazier (PIT) – When healthy, Shazier has been the Steelers most dynamic defensive player and top playmaker. The issue is he hasn’t stayed healthy long enough in his career for owners to fully trust him in IDP leagues (he missed three weeks due to injury this year already). That said, he was back to playing full-time coming out of the team’s Week 8 bye and posted a 6-3-0.5 1 FF stat line. With the time-dominating offense of the Cowboys coming to town this week, both Shazier and Lawrence Timmons make for strong linebacker plays.
LB De’Vondre Campbell (ATL) – Campbell played essentially every down in Week 9 and had the best game of his young career with 9 total tackles (8 solo) and a forced fumble. He’s been overshadowed by the strong play of fellow rookies Deion Jones and Keanu Neal, but he has shown the ability to consistently produce at a low-end LB3 level when healthy. The Eagles aren’t a great matchup and he goes on bye the following week, but he’s a player that can be picked up with minimal cost and provide spot value down the stretch in most leagues.
LB Korey Toomer (SD) – Toomer made an appearance in this article last week and he didn’t disappoint with 8 solo tackles, 1 assist, and a forced fumble. If Jatavis Brown and Denzel Perryman remain out for another week, Toomer becomes a good LB3 start again in most leagues despite the poor matchup against Miami.
LB Gerald Hodges (SF) – Hodges has always been a productive per snap player. He just hasn’t played full-time enough to warrant a roster spot in most fantasy lineups. He was still rotating with Michael Wilhoite at ILB and saw just 62% of the snaps last week, but given how much teams are running on the 49ers, that was still enough snaps to produce 11 total tackles and a sack. He’s not someone I would feel overly confident in rolling out each week given the relatively low snap percentages, but he could bring surprising upside to owners willing/needing to take the risk.
LB Chad Greenway (MIN) – Greenway’s fantasy value has all but eroded in recent years as age has finally caught up with him in his 11th season. However, with Eric Kendricks due to a concussion, Greenway stayed on the field in most passing situations (something he usually doesn’t do anymore) which helped him produce a 4-2 tackle line with an INT and pass deflection. There’s not a ton of upside here but if Kendricks misses another game, Greenway could serve as a decent LB3-/LB4+ bye week fill-in.
Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Tony Jefferson, Da’Norris Searcy, Shareece Wright, Tyvon Branch, Andrew Sendejo, Kemal Ishmael, Karl Joseph, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Jacoby Glenn, Vonn Bell, Logan Ryan, Kendell Fuller, Clayton Geathers, Duke Ihenacho, D.J. Swearinger, Bashaud Breeland, Rodney McLeod, Isa Abdul-Quddus, Donte Whitner, DeShawn Shead, Michael Thomas, Troy Hill, Bradley McDougald, Robert Blanton, Daniel Sorensen)
CB Bradley Roby (DEN) – Roby filled in as the starting cornerback opposite Chris Harris last week due to Aqib Talib missing another game with a back injury. He was consistently attacked by Derek Carr and the Raiders which translated into 9 total tackles (8 solos) and a sack. If Talib misses another game this week, Roby makes for an excellent play against a Saints team that is currently allowing the 4th most points to cornerbacks.
CB Phillip Gaines (KC) – Gaines has been a sneaky, but steady producer at the cornerback position this year. A bye week plus two missed games due to injury are bringing down his total points, but he’s averaged 5 solos per week and has two forced fumbles and an interception to boot. He should continue to see heavy action playing opposite reigning DROY Marcus Peters and therefore makes for a solid CB2+ play.
S Andrew Adams (NYG) – The Giants have struggled to fill their free safety with a viable talent since after the 2013 season. Adams, an undrafted safety out of Connecticut, may have established himself in that role after a breakout Week 9 performance which saw him rack up 9 solo tackles, an interception, and 2 pass deflections. He does have competition from Landon Collins at the other safety position, but there are enough tackles to go around given the weakness of the linebacking core and the generous home stat crew. He’s worth a flier as a DB4.
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Last Updated: November 8, 2016