We are reaching the point of the season where the waiver wire can become that much more important.
Cue dramatic music.
Injuries don’t ever take a week off, and while the carnage in Week 5 was subdued (relatively speaking) there were still guys who went down. Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins left Sunday’s loss to Denver. Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland broke a bone in his hand. New Orleans Saints linebacker Pete Werner hurt his hamstring in practice last week and missed Monday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The list just keeps growing.
Now we also have to deal with bye weeks. In Week 6, the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings are out. So, no Nick Bolton. Bo Troy Reeder. No David Long. No Blake Cashman—and that’s just at linebacker.
The list just keeps growing.
There’s not much fantasy managers can do. Sob a little. Drink a little. OK, a lot. And then scour the waiver wire in the hopes of finding a replacement—or an upgrade if you’re dealing with a player who isn’t meeting expectations.
Yeah, there are those guys too.
The list just keeps growing.
IDP PICKUP OF THE WEEK
EDGE Travon Walker, Jacksonville
The Jaguars are even more desperate than fantasy managers for something to go right, and Walker’s play in Jacksonville’s first win of the season last week was a bright spot. Walker racked up five tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble against the Indianapolis Colts, drawing praise from teammate Josh Hines-Allen.
“Man, that was awesome,” Hines-Allen told reporters. “These are the moments that I tell Travon that you’re capable of having each and every game if you stay committed to what you’re doing, beat the guy in front of you and win your one-on-one. You’re capable of having a game just like this every single time.”
Walker is actually already halfway to matching his sack total from a year ago, but after the first overall pick logged two sacks in the opener, he had been shut out in three straight games—including a one-assist dog of an outing in Week 4 that got him the gate in many leagues. He’s something of a boom-bust IDP option, but many edge-rushers are—and Walker’s “boom” weeks make the first overall pick in 2022 worth rostering.
WEEK 6 IDP WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
EDGE Dorance Armstrong, Washington
After moving on from Montez Sweat and Chase Young last year, the Commanders needed a player to anchor their edge in 2024. They settled on Armstrong, and while the Commanders offense has gotten all the run as Kristopher Knox wrote at Bleacher Report Armstrong has quietly been earning his paycheck (and then some) in the nation’s capital.
The 27-year-old has started all five games and has already racked up three sacks and an impressive 11 quarterback pressures. For context, that’s two more pressures than Steelers superstar T.J. Watt has notched through five games—though we’re certainly not suggesting that Armstrong is on Watt’s level.
Knox is actually a friend of mine, so we’ll let the whole comparing Armstrong to Watt thing go. Armstrong has now logged at least half a sack in three straight games heading into this week’s trip to Baltimore, lending some credence to IDP pundits who singled him out as a potential value before the season.
If only we knew one.
DT Gervon Dexter, Chicago
At the beginning of the 2024 season, Gervon Dexter was on exactly zero IDP radars. But not only has the second-year pro been productive over the first month-plus of the season, but he has been consistently so—four sacks over the first five games of the year. As Alyssa Barbieri wrote for Bears Wire, Dexter was a force in last week’s demolition of the Carolina Panthers.
“Dexter is making a case for breakout player for the Bears, where he’s made a strong impression during these five games to open the 2024 season,” she wrote. “Dexter was a menace as an interior pass rusher, where he added another sack. He also came up big on the takeaway front when he recovered a fumble after safety Jaquan Brisker forced a fumble late in the second quarter. Dexter finished with two tackles, one sack, 4 QB hits and one fumble recovery. Dexter already has four sacks in five games this season, and he’s establishing himself as one of the league’s best young defensive tackles.”
It’s hard to poke holes in the youngster’s start to the season—he has logged a sack in every game but one and had five total tackles in that sackless outing. If you have a need in a DT-required IDP league you likely aren’t going to do better than Dexter, and he has more than a little appeal in leagues that don’t differentiate between tackles and edge-rushers.
LB Devin Bush, Cleveland
Bush’s career hasn’t gone according to plan—the former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers has spent the past two years as a reserve linebacker for first the Seattle Seahawks and now the Cleveland Browns. An ACL tear cast a pall over his tenure with the Steelers, but Bush told reporters he has used that injury (and coming back from it) as a learning experience.
“I would say I learned the business right then and there,” Bush said. “It was definitely a process getting back, but through that process, I was able to pick up a lot on how the businesses ran, what happens, the cause and effect of things. So, I mean, I learned a lot about the business. And I learned a lot about how to how to handle myself within the business.”
Bush has never really been the same player post-injury, but with Jordan Hicks hurt (because of course he is) Bush has been thrust into the starting lineup for the floundering Browns. Last week against the Wahington Commanders, Bush played 93 percent of Cleveland’s defensive snaps, logging 10 total stops and a pass defensed. At a position that has been savaged by injuries, double-digit stops gets you on the IDP radar.
LB Justin Strnad, Denver
One of those injuries at linebacker was an ACL tear suffered by Denver’s Alex Singleton. That injury thrust fifth-year veteran Justin Strnad into the starting lineup, and the 28-year-old acknowledged to reporters that while early in his career he wasn’t fully prepared to take on a larger role defensively, this time he’s ready.
“I learned the hard way my first year playing here,” Strnad said. “I would prepare, but I wouldn’t prepare as I was really going in. Josey (Jewell) went down, and I would say I wasn’t prepared. Obviously, being in the league for multiple years now and learning from guys like Alex and Josey, I’ve always prepared like I’m going to play.”
Strnad isn’t a true three-down linebacker—his snap share in two starts so far has hovered at about 75 percent. But he’s been reasonably productive, with four stops and a sack in his first game and nine total tackles (seven solo) in last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s enough to merit a look from IDP managers—especially in deeper IDP formats.
S Damar Hamlin, Buffalo
If there’s one player in this piece we don’t have to discuss the backstory on—it’s Hamlin. That he has gone from almost dying on the field to starting for a first-place team is nothing short of amazing. But Hamlin said he doesn’t want to be known for what happened in Cincinnati. He wants to be known as a top-notch safety.
“I don’t want to be just known as the player who lived,” Hamlin told Cameron Wolfe of NFL.com. “My story is my story. It’s still being written. But I want to be known for my abilities as well. I’ve always had big goals on and off the field. I have so much more that I want to accomplish. I’m enjoying the process and every moment of this year. Putting the work in and truly diving into the grind. We’ll see what’s left behind, but I know I’ll be happy with the product.”
Hamlin has quietly put up decent numbers—he has hit (or surpassed) nine total tackles twice this season, including last week against the Houston Texans. Hamlin doesn’t play an especially IDP-favorable role, but he’s making the most of his snaps. And you gotta think there’s at least a little good mojo involved in rostering him.
S Antonio Johnson, Jacksonville
Two players from a one-win Jaguars team this week. What could go wrong?
As has already been mentioned, it has been a rough season so far in Jacksonville, although the team finally tasted victory last week against the Indianapolis Colts. For second-year safety Antonio Johnson, the path to that victory is as simple as it is trite in the eyes of some—the Jaguars need to play as a team on both sides of the ball.
“Offense has to be able to lean on defense when they struggling, and vice versa, we need to be able to lean on the offense. And then even special teams. We need our special team players to make plays,” Johnson told reporters. “It’s all one cohesive group to make the bigger team. And then for the coaches, we got to have trust that they’re gonna put us in the best position to make plays, and for us to showcase our strengths.”
Johnson did his part to get the Jaguars into the win column last week—his 11 total tackles led the team. Johnson has quietly logged at least five solo tackles in all five games and posted nine or more stops twice. IDP managers might wish that his ceiling was a little higher, but that floor can be comforting—especially in deeper leagues.
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