IDP Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Report Week 8: Ryan Neal Rising – Sports Illustrated

Welcome to the Week 8 IDP Waiver Wire Report and hopefully by now, you’ve cut loose any underperforming players and you’ve followed the points as they come available. Remember, volatility is inevitable. Don’t stay loyal to an underwhelming player for longer than a week or two. Chase the next hot player with your last one or two roster spots.

If you have any IDP waiver or lineup questions, I’m happy to help and you can contact me directly on Twitter @mattkdelima. Before I offer the latest IDP information, please do go back and check the names on the Week 7 IDP waiver wire list.

The wide variety of IDP leagues makes it difficult to pinpoint roster percentages, so not every recommendation may be a good fit for your league. Generally, if you play in a shallow format with a total of 24 or fewer IDP starters across the league (two per team), these recommendations are at least a layer too deep for you. For specifics, it’s always best to consume a lot of IDP content to get a feel for the landscape from multiple points of view.

Note: For each player, I provide a rest of season (ROS) ranking and list their percentage of defensive snaps played in their most recent game. For example, Derwin James would be a DB1+, meaning a defensive back ranked 1 to 12 (DB1) and the plus sign meaning on the high-end (1 to 4). DL3- would be a defensive lineman ranked 25 to 36 (DL3) and the minus means on the low-end, specifically 33 to 36.

NFL Game Books (PDF): NO VS. ARI | CLE VS. BAL | TB VS. CAR | ATL VS. CIN | DET VS. DAL | NYG VS. JAC | IND VS. TEN | GB VS. WAS | NYJ VS. DEN | HOU VS. LV | SEA VS. LAC | KC VS. SF | PIT VS. MIA

Notable IDP injuries

• Bucs DB1+ Antoine Winfield Jr. (concussion)
• Lions DB1 DeShon Elliott (cramping)
• Dolphins DB2+ Brandon Jones (knee)
• 49ers LB2- Dre Greenlay (calf)
• Packers DL1-/LB4- Rashan Gary (concussion)
• Titans DT1+/DL3 Jeffrey Simmons (ankle)
• Bengals DL2- Trey Hendrickson (stinger)
• Falcons CB3 A.J. Terrell (hamstring) 
• Patriots CB4+ J.C. Jackson (knee)

More IDP Injuries: Texans DL Maliek Collins (chest), Raiders S Matthias Farley (back), Giants CB Adoree’ Jackson (concussion), Bucs CB Anthony Chesley

IDP Waiver Wire Pickups

Defensive Linemen

DE Denico Autry, Tennessee Titans
Coming off a Week 6 bye, Autry is still flying a bit under the radar. He’s posted five sacks over his last four contests. He’s played like a DE2 over that span and yet he is rostered in half as many leagues as similar performing players. DL5, 72% Week 7 snaps played

DE Darrell Taylor, Seattle Seahawks
Taylor saddled fantasy managers with a slow start to the 2022 season. He’s warmed up a bit in recent weeks by tallying a sack in each of his last two games. In Week 7, he notched two solos, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. His playing time needs to come up for better production consistency. DL6-, 44%

DE Frank Clark, Kansas City Chiefs
After those stellar years in Seattle from 2015-18, Clark was traded to the Chiefs ahead of the 2019 season. He hasn’t been the same player since that trade and delivered dwindling sack totals over the three seasons in Kansas City. He’s more of a speculative depth play after logging one solo, one assist, one TFL and 1.5 sacks in Week 7 against San Francisco. DL8+, 70%

DT Grover Stewart, Indianapolis Colts
Stewart is my top DT add for two straight weeks and in that span, he’s accumulated 11 solos, six assists, one TFL and one sack. His playing time is rock solid despite being the No. 2 defensive tackle in Indy behind DeForest Buckner. DT2+/DT8-, 75%

More Defensive Linemen (< 5% rostered on MFL)
DE Za’Darius Smith, MIN, DL2-, Bye
DE Preston Smith, GB, DL3-, 78% Week 7 snaps played
DE Uchenna Nwosu, SEA, DL4+, 75%
DE Odafe Oweh, BAL, DL4, 55%
DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, NYG, DL5+, 89%
DE Jaelen Phillips, MIA, DL5, 80%
DE Samson Ebukam, SF, DL8+, 73%
DE Charles Omenihu, SF, DL8, 59%
DE Isaiah Thomas, CLE, NR, 36%
DE Andrew Van Ginkel, MIA, NR, 32%
DE Sam Williams, DAL, NR, 24%

DT Austin Johnson, LAC, DT3-, 54%
DT Quinton Jefferson, SEA, DT3-, 63%
DT Davon Hamilton, JAC, DT4, 61%
DT Jay Tufele, CIN, DT5, 45%

Linebackers

Divine Deablo, Las Vegas Raiders
After a Week 6 bye, Deablo’s rostered percentage dropped. He should be off the waiver wire in all IDP formats, excluding the very shallow varieties. He produced six solos, five assists and a TFL in Week 7. LB3, 100% Week 7 snaps played

Quay Walker, Green Bay Packers
The 22nd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has steadily performed thus far. He managed one of his better games statistically in Week 7 by logging five solos, eight assists and one pass defensed. He’s a dynasty must-have and is working his way up the IDP food chain. LB4, 73% 

Leighton Vander Esch, Dallas Cowboys
Like Deablo, LVE should already be on someone’s roster. He rebounded from a couple slow games from Weeks 3-6 with his Week 7 totals: seven solos and three assists. LB4-, 91%

Willie Gay, Kansas City Chiefs
Gay returned in Week 7 after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. He picked up right where he left off with four solos, four assists and a half sack. It’ll be interesting to see how Nick Bolton performs with another tackle-focused LB in the mix. LB5+, 56%

More Linebackers (< 10% rostered on MFL)
Alex Anzalone, DET, LB3, 89%
Zaven Collins, ARI, LB3-, 100%
Nicholas Morrow, CHI, LB3-, 100%
Quincy Williams, NYJ, LB4+, 52%
Jacob Phillips, CLE, LB5+, 48%
Germaine Pratt, CIN, LB5, 98%
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, CLE, LB5, 80%
Ernest Jones, LAR, LB5, 75%
Devin Bush, PIT, LB6, 74%
Kenneth Murray, LAC, LB8, 89%
Anthony Barr, DAL, LB9+, 90%
Jonas Griffith, DEN, LB9, 83% (while Jewell is out)
Akeem Davis-Gaither, CIN, NR, 68%
Patrick Jones, MIN, NR, Bye

Defensive Backs

S Ryan Neal, Seattle Seahawks
Josh Jones took over for Jamal Adams, but Neal has seen 100% snaps in three straight games. Over his last two games, he has 12 solos, two assists, one sack, one TFL, one forced fumble, one interception and five passes defensed. Crazy stats and a must-have in DB formats . DB2-, 100% Week 7 snaps played

S Jaylinn Hawkins, Atlanta Falcons
Another rapid ascension has been the stellar play of Hawkins. In his last three games, he has 16 solos, 10 assists, two passes defensed and an interception return for a touchdown. DB4+, 78%

S Juan Thornhill, Kansas City Chiefs
As a deep safety, the production is inconsistent, but it can pay off in deeper formats that might need to consider a riskier play. The playing time is there; if the Chiefs are playing with a lead, teams may opt to attack their secondary often. Thornhill netted nine solos, two assists, one INT and two PDs in Week 7. DB8+, 100%

CB Donte Jackson, Carolina Panthers
A fluky Week 6 included an interception returned for a touchdown, but Jackson followed it up with 10 solos. Jackson was an early impact rookie IDP back in 2018 and he’s fallen off in recent years. There’s definitely potential for a small move up into two-deep CB leagues. CB4+/DB9-, 94%

More Defensive Backs (< 5% rostered on MFL)
S Myles Hartsfield, CAR, DB5+, 100%
S Damar Hamlin, BUF, DB3-, Bye
S Amani Hooker, TEN, DB8, 100%
S Duron Harmon, LV, DB8+, 100%
S Lamarcus Joyner, NYJ, DB7-, 100%
S Andre Cisco, JAC, DB6+, 95%
S Tashaun Gipson, SF, DB7+ 100%
S Geno Stone, BAL, NR, 100%
S Andrew Adams, TEN, NR, 97%

CB Ahmad Gardner, NYJ, CB3+, 100%
CB Jeff Okudah, DET, CB3, 90%
CB Fabian Moreau, NYG, CB4-, 100%
CB Chris Harris, NO, CB5+, 94%
CB Coby Bryant, SEA, CB5, 96%

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