We have reached Endsville—where all rail service terminates.
Stephen King is one hell of a writer.
There are some IDP managers who aren’t sweating Week 14. Yes, locking down a first-round bye is a good thing. But knowing you’re in the playoffs takes some of the pressure off. There are also those who are simply playing out the string, although they should be making the same effort to win in Week 14 that they do in Week 2.
It’s just bad form not to. It’s also a disservice to the other managers in your league.
But there are quite a few fantasy managers for whom the playoffs who have already essentially begun. Get a win this week, and it’s on to the postseason. Take a loss, and they will either need help or that’s that. Season over. Thanks for playing.
Given those highest of stakes, this is an awesome time for the NFL to schedule a six-team bye. Roger Goodell is the king of awesome, so the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and Washington Commanders are all off. No Roquan Smith. No Nik Bonitto. No Will Anderson. No Zaire Franklin. No Kyle Dugger. No Bobby Wagner.
No problem.
Actually, it’s a rather large problem—one punching holes in rosters across the IDP landscape.
Let’s get to filling them. And keeping this season going.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
EDGE YaYa Diaby, Tampa Bay: Diaby hasn’t been the player we hoped in Year 2—he’s been bouncing around leagues and on and off the wire most of the year. He’s been mentioned in articles just like this more than once. Diaby didn’t log a sack last week, but he logged half a dozen tackles, three quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. Now he faces a Raiders team that has surrendered the sixth-most fantasy points per game to defensive ends in 2024.
EDGE Will McDonald IV, New York Jets: McDonald started the season on fire, but like all things with the Jets a prolonged funk set in that got the second-year pro shown the gate in more than a few leagues. Now, after a two-sack performance in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks and a top-10 matchup for defensive ends looming with the Miami Dolphins, many of the same managers who cut bait are casting their lines right back out there again.
EDGE Lukas Van Ness, Green Bay: One of the reasons the Packers were comfortable trading Preston Smith to Pittsburgh was confidence that Van Ness was ready for a larger role with the Packers. Van Ness has paid off that confidence with a sack in back-to-back games, and while the offensive line in Detroit is solid, the Lions have actually been a slightly better than average matchup for defensive ends this year.
LINEBACKERS
LB Troy Dye, Los Angeles Chargers: That Dye got a boost in playing time last week wasn’t all that surprising. That he played 77 percent of the Chargers defensive snaps and led the Chargers in tackles with 14 rather was. This week’s matchup with the Chiefs isn’t an especially good one, but a terrible matchup with the Falcons last week didn’t stop Dye. There’s a little risk here, but Dye is likely the best option available in deeper IDP leagues at linebacker.
LB Neville Hewitt, Houston: This one carries a fairly substantial caveat—the Texans are on a bye this week, so if IDP managers need help right away they should look to one of this week’s other recommendations. But after cheap-shotting Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence last week, Azeez Al-Shaair is going to be suspended by the NFL. The only question is for how long, and we have seen Hewitt produce when the snaps were there this season.
LB Isaiah McDuffie, Green Bay: Rookie Edgerrin Cooper missed last week’s win over the Miami Dolphins with a hamstring injury and has yet to return to the practice field, so his odds of facing the Detroit Lions this week don’t appear especially good. With Cooper out, McDuffie reclaimed a full-time role opposite Quay Walker, finishing the game with a season-high 10 total tackles while adding a forced fumble.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
S Jonathan Owens, Chicago: The rare repeat recommendation. There is some unwritten rule that at some point in the season, Owens has to work his way into the starting lineup and start piling up tackles. First, it was Houston, then Green Bay, and now Chicago. Owens has tallied eight total tackles in back-to-back starts, and Sunday, he faces a San Francisco 49ers team that has spent most of the season at the top of the league in fantasy points per game given up to safeties.
S Taylor Rapp, Buffalo: Rapp has quietly put together a solid month of fantasy production—since Week 9 he ranks eighth among all safeties in fantasy points. That the veteran is still available in so many leagues is frankly a little surprising, but it speaks to how easy it is to find viable starters at defensive back even late in the season. This week’s matchup with the Rams isn’t great, but Rapp has been so steady over this stretch he’s worth a look anyway if you need help on the back end.
S Donovan Wilson, Dallas: Wilson had one of his best outings of the season in the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day win over the Giants, with five total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack. That was against a New York passing game that is, um, bad. Monday night, Wilson and the Cowboys will try to keep their faint postseason aspirations alive against a Cincinnati passing attack that has surrendered the seventh-most fantasy points per game to safeties this season.
For more of our IDP Waiver Wire content throughout the season, click here!
Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can’t make him call it X) at @IDPSharks
