While many dynasty managers are celebrating a championship this week, or planning for next season, week 18 is still a critical week for some dynasty fantasy football leagues. While playing meaningful fantasy football in week 18 is often frowned upon, it isn’t universal. As long as the professionals are playing football, the public will be playing fantasy football.
With that said, this article will focus mostly on the fantasy football off-season. With the season in the rear-view, it’s time to assess your dynasty assets, including your IDPs. Are your defensive players primed for the future, or are they aging veterans you used to win this season? Now that the season is over, for most, it’s a great time to target some players who could break out in 2025. I’ll highlight several players at each position who could be worth a pickup heading into the dynasty off-season. At the same time, I’ll include a few pickups for those of you playing in week 18 championship games as well.
Congratulations to everyone who won their fantasy football championships in 2024, and here’s to even more victories in 2025!
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
Everything went wrong for the Jets this season. While the offensive woes have made the headlines, the defensive troubles have been just as glaring. One of the major issues could be the loss of Jermaine Johnson to a season-ending Achilles tear in week two. While on IR, his rostership has dropped down to 33%, an opportunity for managers to target a young, aggressive pass-rusher. Johnson does have a long path back to health, and could be a PUP candidate to start next season, but when he’s on the field he’s worth the stash.
Kancey missed the first five games of the season with a calf injury. Since his return to the field, Kancey has had a nose for the quarterback, gobbling up 7.5 sacks over the past 11 games. Kancey is just 23 years-old, and could be a key pass-rusher for the Bucs for years to come.
