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Kwity Paye came up big in the Indianapolis Colts’ comeback win over the New York Jets in Week 11, making seven tackles, two sacks, and forcing a fumble. With their second straight loss, the Jets fell to 3-8, tied for last place in the AFC East and in position to draft a QB.
Alas, there was no IDP player who could outscore New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill, who ran for 190 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. We may have to wait for Travis Hunter to be the Hill of IDP.
In the meantime, here are 13 linebackers, defensive linemen, and defensive backs you’ll have to settle for if you need a waiver wire pickup in a week when six teams are on bye.
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Waiver Wire Adds at Linebacker
Trenton Simpson, ILB, Baltimore Ravens
Rostered in 16% of Sleeper IDP Leagues
Trenton Simpson was a five-star recruit to Clemson and a third-round draft pick in 2023, and now he is getting his chance to shine in his first year starting for the Ravens.
He has made 63 tackles in 11 games and could be on his way to over 100 tackles on the season, especially if he gets more playing time going forward.
Simpson has been on the field for about 80% of his team’s snaps, but that rate could jump to 100% if Roquan Smith, who left last week’s game with a hamstring injury, misses time.
Hamstring injuries tend to linger for multiple games. On Monday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he has no update on Smith, so that’s a situation we will have to watch.
If Smith plays, Simpson is only a viable starter in leagues with three or four starting linebackers, but if Smith is out, Simpson could increase his tackle total by a couple, and he could be a fringe starter in two-LB leagues.
Jerome Baker, ILB, Tennessee Titans
Rostered in 6% of Sleeper IDP Leagues
Jerome Baker, the linebacker the Titans acquired in the Ernest Jones IV trade, finally joins the starting lineup after Jack Gibbens went down in Week 11.
Gibbens had been on a solid run, making 37 tackles in three games, heading into Week 11, but he hurt his ankle early in the contest and has been confirmed to be out for the season.
Baker made eight tackles on 61 snaps in the Titans’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Based on his past performance, he could be expected to make between five and eight tackles per game with the chance for a sack on pass rushes.
Malcolm Rodriguez, ILB, Detroit Lions
Rostered in 1% of Sleeper IDP Leagues
An injury to IDP favorite Alex Anzalone should propel Malcolm Rodriguez into the starting lineup for the Detroit Lions. Anzalone suffered a broken forearm, which will sideline him for six to eight weeks.
Rodriguez, who has an 87.6 PFF run defense grade this season, has been playing as the Lions’ No. 3 LB, but he will see a big jump in volume when he takes over as the LB2.
The Lions’ LB2 thus far, Jack Campbell, has been on the field for 81% of the team’s snaps, twice as many as Rodriguez.
Malik Harrison, ILB, Baltimore Ravens
Rostered in 1% of Sleeper IDP Leagues
Malik Harrison moves up to the No. 2 LB spot in Baltimore if Roquan Smith (hamstring) misses time. Harrison has been a rotational backup since being selected in the third round in 2020.
Of late, he has been getting more playing time. In Weeks 1, 5, 9, and 11, he logged double-digit snaps, including over 30 snaps in Weeks 9 and 11. He has been graded over 70.0 by PFF in four games, and he excels at run defense.
Waiver Wire Adds at Defensive Line
Pat Jones II, DE, Minnesota Vikings
Rostered in 14% of Leagues
Pat Jones II is the Vikings’ third edge rusher, and he’s mostly only on the field on passing downs. While his usage in the run defense game is limited, he has as many pass rush snaps as Andrew Van Ginkel.
Last week against the Titans, a team with a notoriously sack-prone quarterback, Jones racked up two sacks. It was his third two-sack game of the season. His first two came in Weeks 1 and 2.
While it’s hard to rely on such boom weeks continuing, I do rate Jones as an intriguing streaming gamble because of his Week 12 matchup against the Chicago Bears.
If you’ve had the misfortune of watching a Bears game, you might have seen something missing on the field when the Bears were on offense: a line. The Bears have allowed an average of 4.0 sacks per game, the second-most in the league, including a whopping 6.0 sacks in the past three games.
Last week, Bears QB Caleb Williams was sacked three times by the Green Bay Packers, it was the fifth straight week where he was being sacked three or more times. In fact, in Williams’ ten starts, there’s only been two games he was not brought to the turf at least three times.
Given the matchup, all Vikings pass rushers are strong streaming choices, and Jones has the potential to explode for a big game.
Jonathan Greenard, DE, Minnesota Vikings
Rostered in 43% of Leagues
With the Vikings going up against the sack-prone Chicago Bears, I have highlighted Pat Jones as a potential streamer. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are good choices as well, if they are available.
Greenard is rostered in 43% of Sleeper IDP leagues, although he’s most likely rostered in all competitive IDP leagues with deep benches.
Greenard has had a productive career, having made eight or more sacks twice, and he’s well on his way to another such season, as he has seven on the year.
Actually, Pat Jones has almost as many fantasy points as Greenard. They both have seven sacks, but Greenard has three more tackles.
Andrew Van Ginkel is by far the most productive of the three Vikings' main edge rushers, but he’s already rostered in 80% of leagues.
Zach Allen, DT, Denver Broncos
Rostered in 20% of Leagues
The Denver Broncos' defense has excelled in everything, putting the team in playoff contention. Even though their edge rushers are not stars, the Broncos have gotten strong contributions from interior defenders like Zach Allen.
Through 11 games, Allen has already set a career-high with 12 tackles for loss (TFL). That’s the second-best in the NFL. He’s also close to setting career highs for sacks and solo tackles.
That’s why even when he doesn’t make a stack up a big tackle total, he’ll still put up a decent fantasy score.
Against the Chiefs in Week 10, Allen only made four tackles, but one was a sack, which was also a TFL, and he had two more QB hits in addition to the sack, totaling 16.3 points in RotoBaller IDP Scoring.
Nick Herbig, EDGE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rostered in 18% of Leagues
After missing four games with a hamstring injury, Nick Herbig was back for the Steelers’ field goal-only win over the Ravens. He played 50 snaps, made two tackles, and forced a fumble.
While Herbig was unable to sack elusive QB Lamar Jackson, he has a much easier matchup coming in Week 12. The Steelers’ Week 11 opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, has only been sacked 1.4 times per game, the third-fewest in the NFL.
WELCOME BACK @nickherbig_‼️
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/LyAOlprd6v
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 17, 2024
However, in Week 12, the Steelers go to Cleveland, where the Browns are allowing an average of 5.2 sacks per home game. Overall, the Browns are allowing the most sacks in the league.
Jameis Winston hasn’t been much better at avoiding pressure than Deshaun Watson. He’s been sacked 11 times in the past three games.
Tuli Tuipulotu, EDGE, Los Angeles Chargers
Rostered in 25% of Leagues
The second-year player Tuli Tuipulotu is on a streak of four straight games making a sack, including three straight games with more than one sack, for a total of 7.0 sacks since Week 8. He did not have a single sack in the first seven games of the season.
In Week 12, Tuipulotu faces the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens’ offensive line is above average, and QB Lamar Jackson is difficult to catch. Jackson has only been sacked three times in the past three weeks.
Waiver Wire Adds at Cornerback and Safety
Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rostered in 53% of Leagues
Only four players have forced more fumbles than Antoine Winfield Jr. since he entered the league in 2020, and most of them are defensive ends.
Winfield has been one of the most athletic, playmaking defensive backs in the 2020s. He has made 16 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries, and seven interceptions. Yet he’s still available in almost half of IDP leagues.
Winfield has been healthy since Week 6, and in the five games he has played, he has logged two performances with double-digit tackles and one with a pick-six, so there is no reason you shouldn’t add him if he is available in your league.
Jeremy Chinn, S/LB, Washington Commanders
Rostered in 42% of Leagues
After a slow start, Jeremy Chinn has been one of the league’s leading tacklers of late. In each of the past three weeks, Chinn has made 12 combined tackles. According to PFF, Chinn has made 28 solo tackles since Week 9, two more than the next leading player, Atlanta LB Kaden Elliss.
Each of the next seven players behind Chinn are traditional inside linebackers. One reason he’s been a tackling machine is that Chinn lines up, like a linebacker, close to the line of scrimmage.
Chinn has logged 268 snaps within five or six yards of the line of scrimmage and just 190 snaps as a traditional free safety.
im not hearing enough praise for this man.... everyone knocked it letting kam walk and signing him and meanwhile jeremy chinn is on pace for a career year in almost EVERY category.... keep ballin chinn. #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/X1i6HyXwTC
— johnwicc 🥷🏻 (@frozoneisland) November 15, 2024
His playing time is on the up. He has played over 80 snaps in each of the past two weeks versus under 70 snaps in most of the early games.
On the Sleeper platform, Chinn has eligibility as both a LB and a DB, but he should usually be played as a DB because he provides a much larger advantage over a replacement level DB.
Kamren Kinchens, S, Los Angeles Rams
Rostered in 3% of Leagues
A third-round pick out of Miami (FL), Kinchens has seen increased playing time and production since Week 9. Kinchens played over 40 snaps for the first time in Week 9 and made two interceptions, including a pick-six.
Former Miami Hurricane Kamren Kinchens today vs the Patriots:
8 Tackles
2 PD
1 FF
Game-winning INT— HurricanesMuse (@HurricanesMuse) November 17, 2024
Last week, in a win over the Patriots, the rookie made eight tackles, forced a fumble, and made an interception. In the locker room after the game, coach Sean McVeigh awarded Kinchens a game ball and said, “This guy always comes up in the right spot at the right time.”
Nate Hobbs, CB, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered in 6% of Leagues
Nate Hobbs flashed late last season and ended up with 86 tackles. He has made over 70 tackles in each of his first three seasons, which is not bad for a cornerback, albeit only starting caliber in deep IDP leagues.
This season, he has been boom-bust, making as few as one tackle in Week 2 and as many as 10 tackles in Week 6. A back injury Jack Jones suffered in Week 11, however, could give Hobbs more playing time.
Hobbs himself is recovering from an ankle injury. He did not practice at all last week, and his status for Week 12 is uncertain, but there’s a chance he could return. If Hobbs remains injured, Jakorian Bennett could see more snaps.
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