Many people will assume that a fantasy championship is won on draft day, but I am here to tell you that it is most definitely not! While you can set yourself up very well on draft day, the Waiver Wire will be the key ingredient to your championship stew! Each week I will bring you my collection of players that should be available in over 50% of leagues. While the true roster % of IDP leagues is difficult to tabulate, I will do my best to ensure we are ahead of the curve. Let’s get down to our IDP Waiver Wire Adds for Week 6.
Defensive Line/Edge Rusher
Travon Walker (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Travon Walker is looking to get back into the sack column after a month’s worth of games without getting to the quarterback. It is not without effort tho, as Walker has had multiple games with at least 3 pressures. One of those games came against this week’s opponent, the Indianapolis Colts. While Walker didn’t record a sack in that game, his counterpart, Josh Allen, came away with two! The two sacks by Allen are important because they came against then-LT Matt Pryor. Pryor was recently moved from LT to RT, with Braden Smith moving from RT to RG. Last Thursday, Matt Pryor was absolutely abused in the game vs Denver. In fact, over the past two weeks, Pryor has allowed 13 pressures. As long as Pryor is still in at RT, I am definitely looking to add and start Travon Walker in Week 6.
Here’s a look at Matt Pryor in action!
Why Does Matt Ryan Have So Many Fumbles?
β Peyton2Luckβ’οΈ (@Peyton2L) October 8, 2022
Answer:
Matt Pryor & The #Colts Offensive Line
π€¦ββοΈ
This Is Painfully Awful
pic.twitter.com/MYIMbpIq7j
Drake Jackson (San Francisco 49ers)
I hate having to make recommendations as a result of injury, but unfortunately, here we are. Nick Bosa had to leave Week 5 early with a groin injury. According to HC Kyle Shanahan, it was “not feeling great”. Be that as it may, it would be best not to rush Bosa back, especially when they host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6. When Bosa went down, rookie Drake Jackson was the recipient of most of the snaps. In the young season, the USC Trojan has already collected 2 sacks and 3 QB hits. With an increase in playing time, the young edge rusher could springboard off of his best week to date.
The Atlanta Falcons are not a pushover O-Line. Left Tackle, Jake Matthews, has done a very good job of limiting pressure to get to Mariotta, as he has only allowed 8 pressures and 1 sack to date. Grab Drake Jackson, wait for the word on Bosa’s groin and just stash.
Drake Jackson with the sack! #49ers pic.twitter.com/RGVHLTLXuo
β Coach Yac π£ (@Coach_Yac) October 9, 2022
Names to monitor:
Jadaveon Clowney (Cleveland Browns)
Returning from injury was a nice sign seeing Clowney jump right back into his pass-rush ways. For a player who was gaining the tag of “run-stopper”, Clowney sure has put on a pass-rush display for fantasy managers. He possesses a 14% pressure rate and has 1.5 sacks despite only playing 79 pass-rush snaps. The Patriots aren’t a cakewalk in Week 6, but they do like to run the ball, and Clowney, despite missing a game, leads the Browns in run-stops.
Dayo Odeyingbo (Indianapolis Colts)
Kwity Paye suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 5 and could be sidelined for up to 6 weeks. While this is bad news, the good news is that he should be back before the season ends. For Dayo, this could be incredible news tho. Dayo saw a career-high 40 snaps vs the Broncos after Paye’s injury. He turned those 40 snaps into 4 tackles, .5 sacks, and 2 QB hits. The Colts will face the Jets in Week 6, which is a tough matchup vs Vera Tucker, but get the Titans in Week 7. Better to invest a week early!
Linebackers
Mykal Walker
If your league mates were hesitant to pick up Walker or quick to throw him back with the knowledge that Deion Jones would be returning in Week 6, here is your buying window. The Falcons seem comfortable with Mykal Walker and Rashaan Evans as their starting ILB, evident with the trade of Deion Jones to the Cleveland Browns. Walker leads the Falcons in tackles and has a share of the team lead in FF and INT.
Walker did suffer a minor groin injury in Week 5, but has went on record as saying that he should be good to go in Week 6. The Falcons will have the pleasure of facing the 49ers in Week 6. While this is good news, Walker’s real value could come as a targeted LB. He is the 4th most targeted LB in the NFL, and in turn has the 2nd most pass-play tackles. The 49ers do appear to be a little more pass happy as of late, and just targeted LBs 11 times in Week 5.
Tyrel Dodson (Buffalo Bills)
This is purely a speculative waiver wire add. If Tremaine Edmunds were to trend in the wrong direction and miss the Bills’ Week 6 matchup with the Chiefs, it would be Tyrel Dodson’s job again. While I do believe it was simply a “precautionary” approach in Week 5 for the Bills, it is worth monitoring. Dodson played 84% of the snaps in his absence, led the team in tackles, and even chipped in a sack for good measure.
Do not make this your priority pick-up, but as the week progresses, just remember to circle back to Dodson. It was good seeing Dodson out snap fellow MLB Terrel Bernard.
Alex Singleton (Denver Broncos)
The Broncos lost Josey Jewell for the 2nd half of Thursday Night Football, and Alex Singleton stepped up in his absence. Sure, the Broncos were ready to move on from Singleton, but he has IDP viability when he plays significant snaps. Singleton has always been a solid contributor in tackles, as he finished 12th in total tackles in 2021 and 15th in 2020. It’s still uncertain how long Jewell will be sidelined, but it is hard to find a better floor play on waivers
Alex Singleton pic.twitter.com/xiEJwlUOpE
β Justin Ford (@JRFord0) October 7, 2022
Notable Names Worth Mentioning (or repeating)
Darius Harris (Kansas City Chiefs)– With Willie Gay suspended, the Chiefs have seen up and down weeks out of Harris. Week 5 was definitely an “up” week. He paced the Chiefs with 10 tackles, 1 TFL, and a huge sack. Next week they get the high-flying Bills and will need him to step up again.
Malcolm Rodriguez (Detroit Lions)- Four straight games with 50+ snaps and 8+ tackles. Wore the green dot in Week 5. He was mentioned here last week, and hopefully will be popular enough for me to leave him off next week! Considering the Lions have a BYE in Week 6, he makes for a sneaky add if you don’t have a glaring hole to fill.
Defensive Back
Alohi Gilman (Los Angeles Chargers)
With Nassir Adderley out for Week 5, it was Lo Gilman who stepped up in his place. Gilman played 100% of the snaps, recorded 7 tackles and had a huge red-zone interception. It was the interception that produced headlines, but it was his HC, Brandon Staley, who has me intrigued about Lo.
Gilman and the Chargers will take on the seemingly lost Denver Broncos. With Russell Wilson nursing a torn lat, the Broncos could turn to Brett Rypien, which seems like an appetizing matchup for Lo and the Chargers.
Second career interception for #Hawaiiβs Alohi Gilman who helped secure #Chargers victory in Cleveland with the late game red zone pick #NFLHawaii @alohigilman @KahukuSports #RR4L π€π½ pic.twitter.com/6aZwIRNJrx
β Rob DeMello (@RobDeMelloKHON) October 9, 2022
DeShon Elliott
Elliott may be filling in for Tracy Walker, but he is doing a mighty fine job of making IDP managers forget about Walker. Over the past two weeks, Elliott has given fantasy managers 23 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 PD, and an INT. While he may have left Week 5 with cramping, he did return and has a full week to rest, as the Lions are on a BYE in Week 6. If you can’t afford to stash Elliott, obviously, just bookmark his name and pounce next week after box score chasers don’t see his name anywhere.
Notable Names Worth Mentioning (or repeating)
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles)- CHJ has been a huge pickup for the Eagles! He is 2nd on the team in tackles and is coming off his best game of the season. 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD, and an INT. He is playing a good portion of his snaps at or near the LOS and making plays when asked to be a deep safety.
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson vs Cardinals:
β Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) October 10, 2022
– 10 tackles, 1 TFL
– 1 INT
– 1 pass deflection
Saints let this man go for nothing π€·ββοΈ#Eagles pic.twitter.com/eQRvxscurI
Juston Burris (Carolina Panthers)- Jeremy Chinn left Week 4 early and was placed on IR last week. I mentioned Myles Hartsfields’ name, but Juston Burris played more of the Chinn role as Xavier Woods was ruled out.