2017 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 13
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.
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.
Also, if you are into Fantasy Football, you may be interested wagering some bets. If so, you can follow this link to start your betting career.
Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 12 of the NFL season.
Injuries
Trey Flowers had his second multi-sack performance last week but unfortunately suffered a rib injury in the process. There’s no update on his status as of Tuesday morning, but his absence would be felt by the Patriots and fantasy owners alike if he were to miss any games.
Telvin Smith suffered a concussion in the first half of the Jaguars’ game against the Cardinals. He will have to pass through the proper league protocols before getting back on the field.
LB2 Deone Bucannon lasted only five snaps before leaving with an ankle injury. Judging by the video footage of the injury, we may be looking at a multi-week absence.
Nick Vigilalso injured his ankle and reports indicate that the injury may be significant. Owners should be preparing to be without Vigil for a while.
CB2+ Rashaan Melvin is “out indefinitely” after suffering a hand injury in last week’s game.
The Lions announced Monday that Tavon Wilson will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. The team will turn to second-year player Miles Killebrew to man the starting strong safety position in Wilson’s absence.
General Player Notes
Jarrad Davis’ production has fallen off dramatically in recent weeks. Part of that is due to poor play but it’s also a result of being removed from passing subpackages. This change in responsibility has caused his snap counts to decrease by around 30%. He’s a player we need to keep on the bench moving forward.
There’s a potential changing of the guard going on in Oakland as season-long starter Cory James played only 15 snaps last week with Nicholas Morrow seeing 43 snaps. This change in playing time doesn’t seem to be injury related, so it’s something to watch moving forward for those in deeper IDP leagues.
Reggie Ragland had another 9 tackle game (8 solos, 3 TFL) and is making a case to be a long-term starter in Kansas City. He’s a boom/bust play right now though as he’s still not playing in subpackages, but he’s a smart add in dynasty leagues as he will be a strong fantasy linebacker if he can manage to improve his pass coverage skills enough to stay on the field full-time.
After missing the season’s first 11 weeks due to a serious neck injury, Clayton Geathers saw his first in-game action of the year last week. He only played four defensive snaps but he did have a sack that was called back due to penalty. We can’t trust him in our starting lineups until we saw his playing time increase significantly, but he may be worth a roster stash in deeper leagues in case he’s able to take on a larger role in the coming weeks.
Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 13!
(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.)
Defensive Linemen
(Previously recommended DLs: Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, Yannick Ngaokoue, Noah Spence, Mario Edwards, Julius Peppers, William Gholston, Alex Okafor, Jurrell Casey, Emmanuel Ogbah, Anthony Zettel, Yannick Ngakoue, Myles Garrett, Frank Clark, David Irving, Solomon Thomas, Alex Okafor, Mario Edwards, Carlos Dunlap, Cameron Heyward, Jarran Reed, Henry Anderson, Vinny Curry, Leger Douzable, Dwight Freeney, Robert Ayers, Stephon Tuitt, Olivier Vernon, Emmanuel Ogbah, Frostee Rucker, Jurrell Casey, Gerald McCoy, Willie Henry)
DE Cameron Wake (MIA) –Wake started off the season strong but registered just 4 total tackles (1 solo) over a three game stretch from weeks 8-10 that caused his ownership percentage to plummet. However, he’s had a sack in each of his last two games and was a forced to be reckoned with last week with 5 QB pressures. He faces off against a Broncos team that is currently allowing the second most points to opposing defensive ends and makes for a strong DL3+/DL2- play this week.
DT Marcell Dareus (JAX) – If there’s one thing we know at this juncture in the season, it’s that we should be starting most pass rushers when they face the Colts. Of all the Jags defensive linemen, Dareus is likely the least owned with the best chance of producing a sack. If Campbell, Fowler, or Ngakoue are available, they are must starts this week against an Indy o-line that has allowed an outstanding 47 sacks and 92 quarterback pressures on the season.
DE Mike Daniels (GB) – Daniels had been relatively quiet since his Week 1 explosion, but he’s started to come on in recent weeks with stat lines of 5-0-1 and 5-2-1 in Weeks 9 and 11, respectively. The Buccaneers are a middle of the road matchup this week but Daniels should still make for a high floor DL3-/DL4+ play.
Linebackers
(Previously recommended LBs: B.J. Goodson, Demario Davis, Mason Foster, A.J. Klein, Ramon Humber, Joe Schobert, Jon Bostic, Vincent Rey, Ramon Humbar, Mike Hull, Zach Cunningham, Danny Trevathan, Kendell Beckwith, Cory James, Derrick Morgan, Kendell Beckwith, Shaq Thompson, Ray-Ray Armstrong, Kyle Van Noy, Reuben Foster, Danny Trevathan, Blake Martinez, Hayes Pullard, Mychal Kendricks, Craig Robertson, Thomas Davis, Shaq Thompson, Matt Judon, Navarro Bowman, Mychal Kendricks, Craig Robertson, Keenan Robinson, Joe Schobert, Cory James, Ramon Humber, Clay Matthews, Ramon Humber, Will Compton, Denzel Perryman, Brock Coyle, Denzel Perryman, Anthony Hitchens, Martrell Spaight, James Burgess, Calvin Munson, Christian Jones, Karlos Dansby)
WLB Tahir Whitehead (DET) – Coming into the year, fantasy owners were focusing most of their attention on rookie Jarrad Davis and largely ignoring Tahir Whitehead – a player many saw as a replacement level talent. However, Whitehead has really come on the past handful of weeks, averaging over seven solo tackles a game over the last month. He’s the Lions linebacker to own for fantasy purposes. With little tackle competition, he’s a fairly safe bet to finish as a top 30-35 linebacker.
ILB Josh Bynes (ARZ) – Bynes has found a home in the NFL as a sub-package linebacker. He played most of the game last week however as normal starter Deone Bucannon went down with an ankle injury five snaps into the game. He produced a 8-1, FR stat line and figures to be a solid LB3+/LB2- if Bucannon misses any games.
ILB Paul Posluszny (JAX) –Posluszny was an IDP staple for many years prior to his demotion to a two-down player this season. However, he once again was a three-down linebacker last week with Telvin Smith out of the game with a concussion and produced a season-high in tackles with six. If Smith were to miss any time, “Poz” becomes a very attractive late-season streaming pickup for Week 13.
MLB Kelvin Sheppard (NYG) – With the Giants disastrously thin at the linebacker position, the team has been forced to play recent free agent pickup Kelvin Sheppard as a near every-down linebacker. He had seven tackles last week and should continue to be a LB4+ as long as he’s starting given the lack of tackle competition and high degree of tackle opportunities he’s likely to see.
Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Tyvon Branch, Kevin Byard, Daniel Sorenson, Ron Parker, Jalen Mills, Matthias Farley, Jordan Poyer, Vonn Bell, Derrick Kindred, Josh Jones, Terrance Mitchell, Brian Poole, TreDavious White, Chris Conte, Adrian Amos, Trevor Williams, Andrew Sendejo, Tavon Wilson, Justin Evans, Adrian Amos, Justin Evans, Justin Simmons, Morris Claiborne, Tramon Williams, Jamal Adams, Eric Reid, Adrian Phillips, Kurt Coleman, Trai Elston, Eric Reid, DeAngelo Hall, Josh Jones, Budda Baker, Antoine Bethea, T.J. McDonald, Eric Reid, Budda Baker, Darqueze Dennard, Vonn Bell, Jonathan Cyprien)
S Bradley McDougald (SEA) – McDougald finds himself as Seattle’s starting strong safety now with Kam Chancellor out for the season with a neck injury. He led the team in tackles last week with eight and has shown to be a solid fantasy player when given a full-time role (e.g. he registered 80 solo tackles last season with Tampa Bay). He will likely have some week-to-week swings in tackle production playing behind a strong front seven, but he’s worth consideration as a DB3.
S Miles Killebrew (DET) – The Lions are shutting down Tavon Wilson for the year as he continues to struggle with a nagging shoulder injury. This will finally open the door for second-year player Miles Killebrew to emerge as a household name in the IDP community. He’s shown flashes of being an upside fantasy player as a part-time player and is worth a speculative add in deeper leagues. The matchup this week is poor but he could easily wind up as a player that can help you down the stretch.
CB Ryan Smith (TB) – Smith has been one of fantasy’s top tackle-producing cornerbacks since assuming a starting role in Week 8. During that span, he’s 5.5 solo tackles per game as team’s consistently throw his way. He figures to continue to see plenty of opportunity as long as he’s starting and he has a top 5 matchup in the Packers this week. Consider him a CB1-.
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: November 28, 2017