2015 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 8
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.
OK. Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 7 of the NFL season.
Injuries
Jason Pierre-Paul reported to the Giants’ facility on Monday. This seems to signal that both sides are trying to come to an agreement for him to play this year. It’s nothing definitive, but if he’s out there in your leagues and you have the bench space, it may be a prudent move to add him now and perhaps have him for the fantasy playoff run.
Mario Addison suffered a shoulder strain against the Eagles on Sunday night and is considered doubtful to play in Week 8. This should leave the door open for Jared Allen , Kony Ealy, and Ryan Delaire to receive more snaps.
Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis hyper-extended his elbow in Week 7 very early in the game but managed to play through it. He will likely look to continue playing while using a brace. This could hinder his tackling ability, so it’s something to watch out for in next week’s game.
Rookie Denzel Perryman has been diagnosed with a strained pectoral. This is good news considering local reports originally believed this injury could be a tear. Prince Amukamara has missed multiple weeks with a similar injury, so I’d project the same for Perryman.
The Redskins saw three of their linebackers sustain injuries in Week 7. Ryan Kerrigan, Perry Riley and Keenan Robinson left the game last week due to hand, lower leg, and abdominal injuries, respectively. Coach Jay Gruden said both Riley and Robinson were OK as they will have the bye week to recover. Kerrigan underwent surgery to repair a broken hand and Washington is optimistic he can recover in time to play Week 9, but they said they will have confirmation on that next week.
William Moore left Sunday’s game with a groin injury and did not return. His status for this coming week is questionable but considering he’s already been ruled out for Wednesday’s practice, I’d lean towards him not playing. Kemal Ishmael would take his spot in the lineup.
Calvin Pryor sprained his ankle in the Jets Week 7 loss to the Patriots. It wasn’t revealed if the sprain for a low ankle or the more dreaded high ankle sprain. We should get more clarity later in the week. Follow me on Twitter to get more IDP updates, news, roster advice, etc. throughout the week.
General Player Notes
Justin Houston is on pace for just under 10 sacks which would be less than half of what he had last year. He’s near the top of the league in QB hurries and hits, but he just hasn’t been able to convert them into sacks like we hoped. Additionally, the Chiefs aren’t as good as they were last year so the game scripts aren’t playing into Houston’s favor. We should see double digit sacks out of him, but I’m tempering my overall expectations down to a LB3+.
Avery Williamson returned to action after missing Week 6 due to injury. He played every down but was behind fellow linebackers Wes Woodyard and Zach Brown in tackle production despite the latter two rotating snaps. Unless I was desperate, the Tennessee linebacker situation is one I would avoid for fantasy purposes as it’s too difficult from week-to-week to gauge which linebacker will be productive.
Robert Quinn laid a goose egg despite a nice matchup against the Browns. He was injured leading into the week however and was on a limited snap count. I’m chalking this up as a fluke. He should be fine moving forward.
Curtis Lofton continues to see his snap counts diminish as he was only on the field for 27% of the defensive plays last week. He’s safe to drop if pretty much all formats.
Navorro Bowman did lose a few snaps to Gerald Hodges in passing situations last week. Bowman was on the field for 86% of the plays while Hodges saw 14 total snaps. This isn’t overly concerning to me as Bowman is receiving so much tackle opportunity that he’s still an LB1 (as evidenced by his 10 total tackles last week).
In order to get Sheldon Richardson, Leonard Williams, and Muhammad Wilkerson on the field at the same time, the Jets have been running a 4-3 base defense. This is good news for fantasy owners as all three players are receiving an ample amount of snaps. Calvin Pace and Quinton Coples are the losers here as their playing time has been cut drastically.
Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 8!
(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: Henry Anderson, Allen Bailey, Mario Addison, Jacquies Smith, Jabaal Sheard, Sen’Derrick Marks, Jared Allen, Stephon Tuitt, Greg Hardy, Sheldon Richardson, Stephon Tuitt, Jarvis Jenkins, Kerry Wynn, Ryan Delaire, Jay Ratliff, Kony Ealy, Lawrence Guy, Cameron Wake, Adrian Clayborn, Sheldon Richardson)
DE Jared Allen (CAR) – Allen was mentioned in this column a few weeks back after he was traded to Carolina. I cautioned readers that it may take a few weeks for Allen to get up to speed with this new defense and it seems like things finally clicked for him last week. He was the most active he’s been dating back to last year with 5 total tackles, a sack, and s pass defensed. Allen played a surprising 93% of the snaps as well. Although he’s older, he’s the type of player that when given that many snaps in the right role, should post solid/fairly consistent numbers. His schedule isn’t great the rest of the way, but I’d still take a shot on him as a DL3 in most leagues.
DE William Hayes (STL) – Hayes has proved a reliable rotational end throughout his career. He got the start in replace of an injured Chris Long and came up with 2 sacks against the Cleveland Browns. He has another tasty matchup against the 49ers who have given up the 2nd most sacks in the league with 25. He becomes a nice DL3+ start if Chris Long is out again and even if he’s not, he’s worth a flier in deeper leagues as a desperation DL3.
DE DeMarcus Lawrence (DAL) – The Seahawks have given up an astounding 31 sacks through 7 weeks. That’s nearly 4.5 sacks per game. You better believe Seattle will be focusing all their attention on stopping Greg Hardy. This will leave Lawrence in one-on-one situations throughout the game so I like his chances of notching a sack. I’d recommend rookie Randy Gregory here as well but he only received 8 snaps last week, so he’s too big of a risk at the moment.
DT Kawann Short (CAR) – After a relatively quite two years in the league, Short has exploded for 5 sacks in his last two weeks. Two things to keep in mind here: he’s a DT in system that traditionally hasn’t produced a ton of top-end interior lineman and two of those sacks came against the Seahawks who have given up 31 of those already this year. I’m not saying he’s not worth a pick up because he definitely is in most leagues. But given his role and lack of historical production, I’d feel more comfortable with him as my DL3-DL3+ versus DT1/DT2.
(Player Write-up added 10/27 @ 7pm CST)
Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: Thomas Davis, Vincent Rey, Brian Cushing, Koa Misi, Uani Unga, Dont’a Hightower, DeMeco Ryans, Jordan Hicks, Justin Durant, Hau’oli Kikaha, Jordan Hicks, Malcolm Smith, A.J. Klein, Christian Kirksey, Anthony Hitchens, Manti Te’o, Thurston Armbrister, Christian Kirksey, Eric Kendricks, Rolando McClain, Avery Williamson, Michael Wilhoite, Dannell Ellerbe, Eric Kendricks, Michael Wilhoite, Denzel Perryman)
WLB Justin Durant (ATL) – Durant was making a case for legitimate high floor LB2- consideration until going down with an injury in Week 4. He missed the following two weeks with that arm injury and fell off the radar in quite a few leagues. If you are in one of those leagues, I’d recommend grabbing him. He’s the linebacker to own in Atlanta if you want consistent tackle production.
MLB Jon Beason (NYG) – With Uani Unga out due to injury, a finally “healthy” Jon Beason racked up 11 total tackles against the Cowboys. The Giants have no tackle competition within the front seven and Beason will compile tackles as long as he’s healthy and plays near every down. I wouldn’t trust him if/when Unga returns, but until that time comes, he’s a nice LB3+/LB2- pickup.
LB Kevin Minter (ARZ) – Outside of a couple select games, Minter hasn’t been all that awe-inspiring for fantasy owners. He’s playing time has progressed into every down status over the last couple weeks, however. And he’s get the #1 matchup for linebackers in the Browns this week. I think Minter will have one of his better games and can be counted on for 8-10 total tackles (with a good amount coming via the assist since the game is in Cleveland).
LB Manti Te’o (SD) – Te’o has missed the last couple weeks due to injury so he’s likely been dropped in a lot of leagues. He’s still questionable to return in Week 8, but if he does, he should be in for a big game. The Ravens have been giving up tackles to linebackers in the boat loads (6 linebackers have registered double digit tackles or more so far this year). If Te’o doesn’t go, Donald Butler may make for a decent desperation play as he will play every down, but I have a very hard time trusting him given his track record for under performance.
Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Calvin Pryor, Trenton Robinson, Josh Norman, Adam Jones, Will Allen, Eric Berry, Adam Jones, Tony Jefferson, Corey Graham, Brandon Meriweather, T.J. Ward, Ronald Darby, Chris Conte, Jonathan Cyprien, David Amerson, Jonathan Joseph, Brandon Browner, Mark Barron, Jason McCourty, Antwon Blake, Jason McCourty, Devin McCourty)
S/LB Mark Barron (STL) – The injury to Alec Ogletree forced the Rams to move Barron down to linebacker from his typical safety spot. He lit up the box scores with 16 total tackles which was twice as many as the next nearest Ram defender. More times than not, if we can utilize a linebacker in our safety spot, we are going to do it. Barron should be a nice DB1- from here on out. Suffice it to say, he should be one of your top waiver wire pickups this week.
S Jaquiski Tartt (SF) – Incumbent starter Antoine Bethea left Thursday’s game with a shoulder injury and did not return. Rookie Jaquiski Tartt filled in for him and racked up 9 tackles in 48 snaps. Bethea was placed on season-ending IR, so Tartt is locked in as the starter. The 49ers are seeing a ton of tackle opportunity and I believe the 1st year player can pick up right where Bethea left off production-wise. DB2+.
CB Kemal Ishmael (ATL) – Ismael has been a productive fantasy player when given the opportunity to play. He compiled 6 solo stops in replacement duty after starter William Moore left the game with a groin injury. Moore may miss this coming week and if that happens, Ishmael could serve as a nice one week pickup.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at theidpguru@idpguru.com or follow me on Twitter. Also, feel free to post any questions or comments for me in the comments section of this post.
Last Updated: October 27, 2015