Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Three
It’s another week down in the world of IDP dynasty leagues, and we saw some huge numbers on the board this week. Aidan Hutchinson won the day, bringing down Baker Mayfield four and a half times and forcing a fumble in a loss to the Bucs. In his third season, Hutchinson is in nearly every dynasty IDP league, so he won’t help us for this exercise. Even though nobody on this list had four and a half sacks, plenty of them had huge weeks in week two. We just need to figure out which games were a flash in the pan, and which ones are actually worth adding to our dynasty teams.
As a reminder, these waiver wire suggestions are based on dynasty leagues that start seven defensive players, two at each position group and a flex. Some players profiled will be for deeper leagues, and others for more shallow leagues, but with no standard format for IDP leagues, we need to cast a wide net. I’ll be using roster percentage data from Sleeper.
Be sure to check out the DLF Expert IDP Rankings for our experts’ takes on how IDP players should be valued for dynasty leagues.
Defensive Linemen
Will McDonald IV, DE NYJ, 19%
The biggest IDP injury of the week was suffered by Jets EDGE Jermaine Johnson this week. It sounds like it could be an Achilles injury for Johnson, so testing this week will be crucial for a timetable. McDonald could see an increase in his snap share if Johnson is sidelined for a significant amount of time. McDonald sacked Will Levis three times on Sunday, the first multi-sack game of his career and matching his rookie-season total.
Patrick Jones, DE MIN, 7%
Last week in this article, I wrote about Jones getting to Daniel Jones twice. Turns out, Jones doesn’t need to play the Giants to get this done. He posted his second straight multi-sack game, this time getting two on Brock Purdy. Through two games, Jones has already matched his career-high in sacks in a season with four, and already has nine tackles. I doubt his roster percentage will ever be low enough to be featured in this article again.
A’Shawn Robinson, DE CAR, 7%
Here’s the first of several Panthers to be featured on this list today. The Panthers are on the field so often, and they rack up so many tackles, they’ve been some of the top IDP players of the season. Robinson racked up six tackles this week, to add to the nine he had last week.
Von Miller, DE BUF, 13%
You wouldn’t typically expect to see a 35-year-old pass-rusher on a list of dynasty pickups, but in the IDP format, it’s more important to build for now than it is to build for later. Miller has been playing a limited snap share and only has four tackles on the season, but two of them have been sacks. With the smaller snap share, he’s been able to save his legs for when he’s on the field. He’s played on 49% of pass rush snaps, but he has had pressure rates of 26.3% and 18.2% in weeks one and two respectively. If your league prioritizes big plays, such as sacks, it may be worth taking a shot on the veteran.
More Options to Consider: Keion White, DE NE, 25%; Jadeveon Clowney, DE CAR, 15%; Derrick Barnes, DE DET, 23%, Odafe Oweh, DE BAL, 20%
Linebackers
Trenton Simpson, LB BAL, 42%
Simpson’s snap-share skyrocketed to 100% after he only played 70% of the snaps last week. He is now a clear, every-down player in the middle of the Ravens defense. He’s yet to have a huge game in the stat book, but that will come, especially in games where the other team needs to run the ball more.
Baylon Spector, LB BUF, 3%, Dorian Williams, LB BUF 13%
Terrell Bernard left Thursday’s game early with a pec injury and he could miss up to a month recovering. That leaves a large hole in the Bills defense that Spector and Williams will have to fill. Spector has never had more than four tackles in a season, but he had 10 on Thursday while playing 81% of the defensive snaps for Buffalo. Williams racked up 10 tackles as well, and has 19 on the season.
Shaq Thompson, LB CAR, 31%
Thompson and Josey Jewell both played 100% of the Panthers defensive stats and both racked up double-digit tackles this week. This was not a defense that was expected to lean so heavily on two players at the second level, so we need to adjust to this amount of usage. Given the woes of the Panthers offense (and defense for that matter), opposing teams have run the ball 81 times against them this season (second highest in the league). The middle of this Panthers defense will pile up the tackles in the run game.
Micah McFadden, LB NYG, 33%
McFadden made his season debut in week two after he didn’t see a snap in week one. Darius Muasau missed the game with a knee injury and McFadden did not throw away his shot. He got 13 tackles, one of the highest totals of the week. He also got to Jayden Daniels for a sack. McFadden’s snap share will likely depend on Muasau’s health. He had 97 tackles last season, so if he has an opportunity he’ll be worth a roster spot.
More Options to Consider: Germaine Pratt, LB CIN, 39%; Blake Cashman, LB MIN, 28%; EJ Speed, LB IND, 33%; David Long, LB MIA, 25%
Defensive Backs
Alontae Taylor, CB NO, 21%
Taylor didn’t match his three sacks from week one, but he had another solid game with nine tackles on Sunday, including two for a loss. Dennis Allen has dialed up plenty of blitzes for Taylor coming out of the slot this season. He should be added in nearly every league that requires defensive backs.
Nick Cross, S IND, 19%
14 tackles was outstanding last week for Cross. He decided to take it one step further on Sunday, getting 15 total tackles in a loss to the Packers. The third-year pro already has one fewer tackle than he had in the entire 2023 season. He’s led the position in tackles two weeks in a row.
Andru Phillips, CB NYG, 3%
A third-round pick in this year’s draft, Phillips came to play this week against the Commanders, totalling 12 tackles and one sack. He had four tackles and forced a fumble on only 16 snaps last week. He’s been a playmaker for the Giants to start off his career and should continue to earn more of a role in this defense.
Damar Hamlin, S BUF, 5%
Damar Hamlin’s miraculous comeback continues in Buffalo, as he’s now an every-down player in the Bills defense. Not only was he on the field for the whole game, he also led the team in tackles with ten. Unfortunately, the tackle everyone will remember is the one that knocked Tua Tagovailoa out of the game. The Bills have several games in a row coming up against run-heavy opponents, so Hamlin could be worth streaming in those matchups.
More Options to Consider: Quentin Lake, S LAR, 8%; Christian Izien, S TB, 6%; Montaric Brown, CB JAX, 3%
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