The farther we get into the season, the more important the waiver wire becomes for IDP managers. Injuries mount. You reach a point where you just cannot abide an underperforming player anymore. The time comes when you need to make a move—add a player.
But all waiver wires are not created the same—and in Week 4 at least, the waiver wire isn’t in especially great shape.
Now, depth of league matters here. In shallower IDP leagues, there are likely options to choose from at every position who can at least serve as a one-week fill-in. The Deathmatch IDP League has 11 defensive starters spread across four 10-team conferences, and in more than one Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie is available ahead of this week’s big NFC North showdown with the rival Minnesota Vikings. McDuffie hasn’t posted huge numbers, but he’s coming off his best game of the year. Edgerrin Cooper may start eating more into McDuffie’s snaps, but there’s likely at least one week left of fantasy relevance.
But this writer has mentioned McDuffie here at Fantasy In Frames, so you won’t see him listed in this week’s waiver wire. And in a week devoid of a lot of major injuries (It’s the IDP paradox—injuries suck, but they mean opportunities for other players) there aren’t any widely available slam-dunk must-adds.
Well, except for one—a guy The Godfather legitimately could not believe is available in as many spots as he is.
IDP PICKUP OF THE WEEK
EDGE Will McDonald IV, New York Jets
When Jermaine Johnson went down with an Achilles tear, it appeared a Jets pass rush already short Haason Reddick was in deep trouble. But second-year pro Will McDonald has literally gone Gang Green and Hulked out the past two weeks. As Kenneth Teape wrote at Sports Illustrated, the second-year pro has been historically productive so far in his short career.
“As shared by Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic,” Teape said,
“McDonald has now produced 8.0 sacks on 161 pass-rushing snaps. That comes out to one sack per 20.1 attempts. How incredible of a number is that? Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett, the Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, had a sack on every 37.3 snaps. Bryce Huff, one of the players McDonald was tasked with replacing this season before Johnson’s injury, was at 33.4.”
Now, in fairness, only five of the sacks have come in the first three games of this season because McDonald is a slacker. He has also been a top-five defensive lineman to this point in the season. Is his pace sustainable? Of course not. Does that mean he shouldn’t be rostered in every IDP league? Oh hells no.
WEEK 4 IDP WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
EDGE Von Miller, Buffalo
On some level, it feels weird to list Miller in any waiver wire article—we’re talking about a player who will all but certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But it has been a while since Miller was an IDP force thanks to an ACL tear in 2022. The 34-year-old told reporters that he had one goal this season—get back to playing at the level he’s accustomed to.
“My biggest individual goal is just getting back to playing my style of football,” he said. “It’s crazy how you get injured, and you come back, and you really shouldn’t have even been playing, and people judge you by a product on the field. I could have easily sat out all of last season, but I couldn’t do my teammates like that. I felt like being later in my career, I didn’t want to sacrifice any of my years. But at the same time, I shouldn’t have been out there.”
Miller doesn’t play as many snaps as he did in his heyday—he hasn’t been on the field for 50 percent of the snaps in a game this season. But when he has been out there he has looked like, well, Von Miller—and after recording his third sack in as many games against Jacksonville Jaguars, Miller’s worth a look from teams that need help on the defensive line.
EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu, Los Angeles Chargers
Tuipulotu made a name for himself a year ago, topping 50 total tackles and adding 4.5 sacks while filling in for an injured Joey Bosa. Per Dallas Robinson of Pro Football Network (who named Tuipulotu to his 2024 All-Breakout team, the youngster’s effectiveness was even more impressive when you look past the raw stats.
“Tuli Tuipulotu’s 11.9% pressure rate was the third-best mark among 2023 rookies last season, according to TruMedia,” he wrote. “The only first-year players who fared better? Will Anderson Jr. and Jalen Carter, who finished first and second in last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. With veteran Chargers pass rusher Joey Bosa sidelined for most of the year, Tuipulotu played the third-most snaps among 2023 rookies (852).”
Well, stop the presses—Bosa’s hurt again, leaving last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with a hip injury. The Week 4 matchup for Tuipulotu with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs isn’t ideal, but given Bosa’s extensive injury history it’s entirely possible he misses extended time. If he does, Tuipulotu should be the primary beneficiary.
LB Jack Campbell, Detroit
This recommendation is like peeling off a scab—Campbell was touted over the summer as a potential defensive signal-caller in Detroit, but when games started his playing time looked an awful lot like his rookie season. However, with Alex Anzalone sidelined by a concussion last week, Campbell played every defensive snap against the Arizona Cardinals and drawing praise from head coach Dan Campbell.
“Jack’s proven himself. Jack continues to get better,” Campbell told reporters. “He understands the defense. He communicates well. He’s gotten better in the pass game, he’s aggressive in the run game. Runs coast-to-coast. All-out effort, goes after the football, so I’m confident. Anytime you lose someone like Alex, if he’s not able to go, it’s gonna hurt. I mean, Alex is a helluva player for us, and so we’ll just take it as it comes with that. But, I’ve got all the confidence in the world with Jack, and really all those guys.”
Campbell’s numbers against the Redbirds were underwhelming—four total tackles. But given Arizona’s offensive struggles last week, his snap percentage matters more than his tackle total. Anzalone will likely return in Week 4, but now Derrick Barnes is banged-up as well, opening the door for Campbell to see a bump in snaps—and hopefully make the most of them.
LB Raekwon McMillan, New England
The Patriots were hit hard by a defensive injury in Week 2, with defensive signal-caller Ja’Whaun Bentley suffering a season-ending pectoral tear. That injury meant a major shuffle—safety Kyle Dugger took over playcalling duties, and eighth-year veteran Raekwon McMillan moving into the starting lineup. McMillan has struggled with injuries throughout his career, but head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters that when healthy McMillan is a more than capable starter.
“I would just say tone-setter,” Mayo said. “He went out there on special teams and defense and made a bunch of plays. He was coming downhill. We talk about block destruction, he was flying around, and I love to see it. I know what he’s been through the last couple of years, and it was good to see him out there playing good ball.”
McMillan admittedly isn’t a full-time player—his snap share usually hovers between 70 and 75 percent. But in this age of three-safety sets and more dime looks, players capable of being productive with that much playing time have legitimate IDP value. McMillan tied Tavai for the team lead in tackles last week with 10, and he’s available in all but the deepest of leagues.
S Brandon Jones, Denver
The Broncos revamped their safety corps in the season after bidding goodbye to Justin Simmons, bringing in Jones after four years in Miami. Jones had a pair of turnovers last week against Tampa Bay—an interception and a fumble recovery. He told reporters after the win he was mad at himself for not taking both to the house.
“There’s definitely easier things I could have done,” Jones said. “I easily could’ve just got the ball and went straight and kind of trusted my speed. I’m kind of a little upset with myself, because I should’ve took the easy route. It all kind of worked out. I think the biggest thing was a lot of the defensive guys were upset, because they swore they had the key block to lead me into the end zone and that I refused to follow them. So next time in the future, I know that I’m going to trust my teammates and just follow behind those guys.”
Jones has long demonstrated a penchant for the big play—he led all NFL defensive backs in sacks back in 2021. His tackle numbers admittedly haven’t been eye-popping, but he does have at least six stops in all three games this season—that floor plus the chance of a takeaway or sack offers some appeal to IDP managers in deeper formats.
S Jordan Poyer, Miami
Another former IDP stalwart, Poyer joined the Dolphins in free agency after spending seven seasons with the Buffalo Bills. While addressing the media, Miami head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters that while he firmly believes Poyer has something left in the tank, he was also signed to add some veteran stability to the Miami defense.
“Poyer is here because of the player he is and the leader he is, and I think he recognizes the leadership opportunity that he has here,” McDaniel said. “I’m very open and upfront and aggressive with, to me, when I see realities. Realities are the past does not predict the future.”
Classic McDaniel—eloquent and a little confusing.
Poyer has demonstrated that he can be a productive IDP asset, logging four career 100-tackle seasons, including a year ago with the Bills. Poyer started slow in Miami but logged a season-high nine stops last week in Seattle, there are some injuries in front of him on the Miami defense, and this week the Dolphins face a Titans team in Miami that has turned the ball over with regularity this year—often in comical fashion.
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