Week 15 IDP Waiver Wire

With apologies to Randy Gregory and Dorance Armstrong, the Cowboys DE you want is DeMarcus Lawrence.

The big hurdle for most fantasy managers making the leap into IDP leagues is player knowledge, or lack thereof. The fear of the unknown. But really, most fantasy managers don’t know any given week’s waiver wire fodder. Look at some of the top offensive scorers from Week 14: Rashaad Penny, Derrick Gore, Craig Reynolds, Jalen Guyton, Josh Palmer, Cam Sims, Damiere Byrd and the list goes on. We may recognize some of these names, but the game is always shifting. You follow the points and playing time as best you can—the same can be said for IDP.

If you’re comfortable and you know what to expect in your league, it’s time for an added challenge. A scoring change wrinkle, for example. You shouldn’t go overboard, but a minor uptick to give your IDP more points is a great way to give them more relevance to your league.

My recommendations will be based on what I feel is the ideal IDP format: I would recommend 10 defensive starters (1 DT, 2 DE, 3 LB, 1 CB, 2 S and 1 IDP flex) in addition to your format’s offensive starters. My ideal scoring system is 2 points per solo tackle, 1 per assist, 1 per TFL, 4 per sack, 4 per INT, 1.5 per pass defended, 4 per forced fumble, 1 per fumble recovery, 4 per safety and 6 for defensive touchdowns.

If your league only uses a small, limited number of IDPs, you should stick with the IDP blue bloods, typically at linebacker—high-yield tackle machines who have been scoring well all year long. This article goes deeper than that.

IDP WAIVER WIRE REPORT

Defensive Linemen

DE Dre’Mont Jones, Denver Broncos

Featured in the Week 14 IDP waiver wire report, we’re going back to the well with Jones. With three sacks over his last two games, the former Ohio State product seems to have found his groove. All 5.5 of his sacks this season have come since Week 8. Like last week, my only concern is a lack of snaps. Among the Broncos’ defensive ends, he leads in snaps played (500), but he only saw 38% of defensive snaps in Week 14 and is typically hovering around 60%.

Andy Jacobsohn/AP

DE DeMarcus Lawrence, Dallas Cowboys

He’s now been back for two weeks, but he’s the best Cowboys defensive end by a long shot. Even though Randy Gregory and Dorance Armstrong are both putting up solid stats and playing time, Lawrence is a cut above. He played in 69% of snaps while the Cowboys are using a six-player DE rotation. This is a unique situation since Dallas only has one or two linebackers and no defensive tackles who see more than 50% of the snaps. You’ll have to roll with the punches but when healthy, Lawrence can be a top-five DE.

DE Dante Fowler, Atlanta Falcons

With 2.5 sacks in his last four contests, Fowler is trending in the right direction. The Falcons’ defense isn’t doing much right but they’ve gutted out two straight road wins (at JAC, at CAR). There’ve been a lot of injuries to their pass rushers over the past month, which has given Fowler a clearer path to playing time. The sneaky-good thing you want in a pass rushing IDP is that he plays on a team with a strong offense. If they jump out to a big lead, that puts the opposing offense in a lot more passing situations, which creates sack opportunities. That hasn’t really been the case for Atlanta, until recently.

DT Justin Jones, Los Angeles Chargers

Jones came through again with four solos, one assist, one TFL, one fumble recovery and a sack. Jones has a tenuous grip on playing time (57% in Week 14 and 32% in Week 13), but he’s bringing the points regardless.

More DT: Davon Godchaux (NE), Jarran Reed (KC), Dexter Lawrence (NYG), B.J. Hill (CIN), D.J. Jones (SF), Michael Pierce (MIN)

More DE (availability)*: Jaelen Phillips (MIA), Marcus Davenport (NO), Randy Gregory (DAL), Al-Quadin Muhammad (IND), Zach Allen (ARI),

More DE: Steven Means (ATL), Greg Gaines (LAR), Chris Wormley (PIT), Trevis Gipson (CHI), Lawrence Guy (NE), Malcolm Koonce (LV)

* Still too widely available in spite of great production

** When healthy

Linebackers

Kwon Alexander, New Orleans Saints

You love to see it. Alexander followed up his Week 14 IDP waiver wire report mention with four solos, one TFL and two sacks vs. the Jets on Sunday. He’s seen 75% or more of snaps in five of his last six. The Saints only have a few guys playing more than 70% of snaps in any given week. They’re using a heavy rotation along the defensive line, which has given a little more permanence to Alexander’s role.

Rashaan Evans, Tennessee Titans

Evans made his return in Week 14, after missing Tennessee’s previous five games. He did pretty well with one solo, five assists, one TFL, one INT and one PD. The 2018 first-round pick can be a solid LB3 with room to grow given the Titans’ injuries at the position.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Woods, Detroit Lions

Injuries continue to take a toll on this LB corps and it looks like regular starting ILB Alex Anzalone could be out for a while with an ankle injury. We’ll find out more but any time a LB who sees 100% snaps goes down, a huge amount of playing time opens up. Woods looks like the primary recipient as his snaps jumped up to 94% in Week 14 with Anzalone out. Detroit is already without Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who took over for Jamie Collins when the Lions released him. Lots of snaps available and Woods is the guy to own with backup Derrick Barnes also in the rotation.

Jermaine Carter, Carolina Panthers

Since Shaq Thompson went down back in Week 4, Carter has seen his playing time remain steady even after Thompson’s return. The stats haven’t been anything to write home about but he’s more of an option in deeper formats. He posted three solos, five assists and a fumble recovery in Week 14.

More LB: Ja’Whaun Bentley (NE), Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (CLE), Preston Smith (GB), Zach Cunningham (TEN)**, Willie Gay (KC)

More LB (availability)*: Matt Milano (BUF), Quincy Williams (NYJ), Tae Crowder (NYG), Christian Kirksey (HOU), Anthony Barr (MIN)

Deeper LB: Ernest Jones (LAR), Krys Barnes (GB), Derrick Barnes (DET), Jonathan Cooper (DEN),

* Still too widely available in spite of great production

** When healthy

Defensive Backs

S Khari Willis, Indianapolis Colts

Willis hit 100% of snaps played in Week 13, finally making his return since missing so much time over the past month. He “only” provided five solos and one PD, but he’s a safety who lines up more like a linebacker compared to most safeties. After the Colts’ Week 14 bye, I’m expecting low S1 point totals from him for the rest of the season.

S Brandon Jones, Miami Dolphins**

I expect Jones to be back in Week 15 after not playing since Week 11 and the Dolphins’ Week 14 bye. Like many teams right now, Miami uses a heavy rotation in the front-seven and even if they opt to keep fellow safeties Eric Rowe and Jevon Holland on the field, I expect Jones to see at least 90% of the snaps and cut into the playing time going to some of their backup corners and edge rushers.

S Ryan Neal, Seattle Seahawks

A season-ending injury to Jamal Adams opened up a ton of snaps and they’re almost all going to Neal. He delivered a humble four solos, three assists and one TFL in Week 14 but you can’t ignore any IDP with 100% snaps.

CB Jourdan Lewis, Dallas Cowboys

With six solos, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one PD, Lewis has inserted himself into the low CB1 conversation. Lewis mostly plays the slot, and they seem to trust him as an open-field tackler. The Cowboys do run a lot of nickel given their hybrid front-seven so playing time isn’t an issue at all.

More CB: Rasul Douglas (GB), Bashaud Breeland (MIN), Ahkello Witherspoon (PIT), K’Waun Williams (SF)

More S: Ronnie Harrison (CLE)**, Eddie Jackson (CHI), Andrew Wingard (JAC), Tashaun Gipson (CHI), Jimmie Ward (SF)

More S (availability)*: Kyle Dugger (NE), John Johnson (CLE), Tracy Walker (DET), Chuck Clark (BAL)

Deeper S: Divine Deablo (LV), Elijah Riley (NYJ), Dean Marlowe (DET)

* Still too widely available in spite of great production

** When healthy