We’ve reached the portion of the fantasy football regular season where IDP managers could be looking to the waiver wire for a number of reasons.
None of them are especially good.
The injury bug continues to buzz around the league taking bites out of teams. The Washington Commanders lost defensive tackle Jonathan Allen to a season-ending pectoral tear. Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair left last week’s win over the Patriots with a knee injury and did not return—an injury that caused me significant emotional distress. So did Arizona Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White.
Then, of course, there was the brutal leg injury suffered by NFL sack leader Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and is out for the remainder of the fantasy season.
There’s also the matter of players who just aren’t cutting it. Six weeks in, we have a pretty good idea who has a chance of turning it around (Linebacker Patrick Queen of the Steelers appears to have realized that the season started) and who, well, ain’t. And if ya ain’t—there’s the door.
So, with that in mind, let’s get to work—starting with a potential replacement for those Hutchinson managers who were blasted Sunday.
IDP PICKUP OF THE WEEK
EDGE Nik Bonitto, Denver
The Denver Broncos have quietly assembled one of the NFL’s better pass-rushes, and Bonitto has played a major part in that—the 25-year-old is just half a sack behind Jonathon Cooper for the team lead. Bonitto told reporters he’s actually learning how to rush the passer from opponents—specifically Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack of the Chargers.
“Khalil, he’s obviously one of the best power rushers, I think, to play the game,” Bonitto said. “They’ve just got little stuff as far as get-off. Joey’s really good with his hands, so just watching how he works with that type of stuff and how I can implement it. Joey, when you’re a technician like that, you can last in this league a long time. Obviously, Khalil is a freak. He’s always gonna have freak strength to be able to just bully whoever he wants to.”
Bonitto has been on quite the rip of late—his sack last week against Los Angeles marked the fourth straight contest in which he reached the quarterback. Over the past month, Bonitto ranks just outside the top-12 defensive linemen in fantasy points. He’s a bit big-play dependent, but when you log a sack every week, that’s OK.
WEEK 7 IDP WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
EDGE A.J. Epenesa, Buffalo
Epenesa has long been a quality edge-setter who would flash at times as a pass-rusher. The Bills thought enough of the fifth-year veteran to bring him back in 2024, and the 26-year-old told reporters that it was a fairly easy call to re-up with the only NFL team he has known.
All the winning may have helped.
“There’s a lot of success out there to be had, and it’s hard to leave such a great organization,” Epenesa said. “They do a lot of things right up there in Buffalo and having a great quarterback like 17, it’s hard to leave. And there’s just a lot of great people around there that I’ve got a lot of good connections with. “I want to continue progressing my game with stats, whether that be more sacks, more snaps and just overall production. So, I’m ready for more, and I’m looking forward to taking on more responsibilities.”
Epenesa has played a career-high 56 percent of the defensive snaps for the Bills this season, and he had his best game of the season Monday night against the New York Jets, logging four total tackles and a pair of sacks. With a plus matchup with the Tennessee Titans looming in Week 7, Epenesa has some plug-and-play value.
DT B.J. Hill, Cincinnati
Last week’s trip to Met Life Stadium was a big game for Hill—he spent the first three seasons of his NFL career with the New York Giants before being traded to the Bengals for center Billy Price. While addressing the media after Cincinnati’s 17-7 win, Hill admitted that the homecoming of sorts was an emotional game for him.
“A little emotional at the beginning. I knew I had to control my emotions. Spent three great years here. It’s been four years since I’ve been back. Special place here in my heart. They gave me an opportunity. They drafted me. And to come in here to get a win means a lot to me.”
After logging 4.5 sacks last year, Hill is still searching for his first of 2024. But he logged 7 total tackles, two passes defensed and two quarterback hits last week against the Giants, and Sunday he and the Bengals head up Interstate 71 to take on a Cleveland Browns team that leads the league in sacks allowed by a wide margin.
LB Neville Hewitt, Houston
The Texans have been rocked by injuries at linebacker—already down Christian Harris, the team lost Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o (concussion) against the Patriots. Those injuries thrust 10-year veteran Neville Hewitt into the starting lineup, but all the way back in 2022 then-linebackers coach Myles Smith told reporters that Hewitt is more than capable of getting after it defensively the same way he does on special teams.
“Neville, he is a special player in that he is a pro,” Smith said. “He’s going to attack things the way that you should from day after day. He watches probably more film than anybody else. When you’re doing these types of things, you’re able to just consistently be where your supposed to be. And that’s what Neville does.”
Hewitt isn’t unaccustomed to starting—he has started 44 games over his NFL career and topped 130 total tackles as a 16-game starter for the New York Jets in 2020. With To’oTo’o in the concussion protocol and Al-Shaair’s status uncertain, Hewitt is something of the last man standing in Houston—he could wind up an every-down player by default Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
LB Jahlani Tavai, New England
The Patriots have had their own injury issues at linebacker, losing their defensive signal-caller and top player at the position in Ja’Whaun Bentley. That in turn has meant more snaps for sixth-year veteran Jahlani Tavai, and he told reporters that he knows the pressure has increased on him to up his game with Bentley out.
“I feel good, but I’m never satisfied,” Tavai said. “I’m not going to be playing football for long, so I’m going to keep playing the way I can, and I’m going to do everything I can to prove to them I’m worthy of being here. Last year was last year and I have to make sure that I do as good or even better than I did. I think the biggest thing that I always come (with) is making sure that my eyes are good and my communication’s on point.”
Last year, Tavai logged a career-high 110 total tackles, earning a three-year, $15 million contract extension in the process. His tackle production hasn’t been great with Bentley out, but he’s the closest thing the Pats have to an every-down linebacker, so the opportunities should be there Sunday in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
S Brandon Jones, Denver
Jones was brought in as part of the overhaul of the safety position in Denver in the offseason after four seasons with the Miami Dolphins. An injury in training camp slowed Jones’ acclimation to his new team, but Denver secondary coach Jim Leonhard told reporters that the 26-year-old is making his presence felt on his new team.
“He’s always flying around, and he finishes plays,” Leonhard said. “He’s the kind of guy who is going to have a handful of plays where you want those back, but he’s also going to make five that nobody else is making, just because of the effort and the energy and the finish that he has. You just try to create as much consistency as possible and eliminate some of those that could get you beat while you’re letting him play and use his eyes and his instincts.”
Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers was Jones’ best game as a Bronco—he paced the team with 12 tackles (11 solo) and added a pass defensed. That tackle production can’t be expected every week, but Jones has demonstrated more than a little big-play potential in his NFL career—including a fumble recovery and interception in Denver’s Week 3 upset of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
S Xavier Woods, Carolina
As odd as it sounds to say, given all the turnover and injuries in Carolina this year, Woods has emerged as an elder statesman and defensive leader for the Panthers in his third season with the team. While speaking to reporters, Woods said he doesn’t care about his status on the team’s defense—he just wants to win games.
“I just wanna win,” Woods said. “We’re all tired of losing here. We wanna win, we wanna get this team back up to the top where it belongs. And that’s the only thing that I wanna prove, and I think the only thing the guys in there wanna prove. We know the talent that we have on this team. We have to go out there and take those wins, get those wins, and execute.”
So fat this season, the wins haven’t been easy to come by. But with the linebackers in front of him decimated by injuries, Woods has started piling up numbers—26 total tackles over the past three games, and at least seven solo stops in two of those contests. Over the past three weeks, Woods has been a top-12 defensive back in The Godfather’s Default IDP Scoring. If he isn’t already rostered, he should be.