Week 9 IDP Waiver Wire Target
This list of IDP waiver wire pickups is sorted by position, and then by priority.
Of course, IDP leagues vary widely in terms of depth, scoring rules, and lineup settings. So to get the best gauge of who to recruit in your league, check out your Free Agent Finder.
Quinn Williams, DT, Dallas Cowboys
Quinnen Williams has delivered sacks in three straight games, including 2 in the loss at Arizona. He had 7 total tackles for loss in that same span. And now comes a Colts team that just traded away its best offensive lineman.
Williams is surprisingly available in the Sleeper, listed in just 16% of IDP leagues. I’m sure he’s already on the roster in DT-need leagues, but the vet can be used in general DL slots as well.
Lukas Van Ness, Edge, Green Bay Packers
Lukas Van Ness had his second sack in three games in Thursday’s win over the Panthers. That marked his fourth straight outing with at least 1 QB hit and seventh game with at least 1 hit in eight this season.
Van Ness has also racked up 6 total pressures in two of his past three games. And he looks like a good bet for more pressure numbers the next two weeks against the Patriots and Vikings.
Drake Maye had 3 sacks for the fourth time this season in Sunday’s narrow victory over the Dolphins. Kyler Murray is averaging 3 sacks per game in the five weeks since returning from his concussion.
Josh Sweat, Edge, Arizona Cardinals
Josh Sweat started the season slowly after an injury-riddled summer. That includes no QB hits in his first three games and depressed snap shares.
But playing time and production increased. Pawis has sacks in three of his past five outings and 5 total QB hits in that stretch. His playing time has continued to increase, including snap shares of 79% and 65% over his past three games.
The Cardinals could be trying to showcase him for a potential trade or simply increasing opportunities for one of their top defensive players. It doesn’t matter for our purposes which of those is true.
Next up for Sweat is going up against Sam Darnold, who has had 3+ sacks in four of his past five games.
Micah McFadden, LB, New York Giants
I suggested taking Micah McFadden knowing that Tremaine Edmunds would miss the rest of the season. I included McFadden in last week’s waiver article despite the Giants’ bye. Now it’s time for (at least) one more integration.
McFadden’s first start in place of Edmunds delivered 10 solo tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss, and a QB hit. That was one of 3 pressures in his seven pass rushes against Houston.
McFadden previously recorded 11+ tackles in four of six career games in which he played at least 80% of the snaps — including another three games of 11+ tackles even though he didn’t. He has become a great tackler, with TFL and pressure numbers that indicate he will play well in the future.
Now the Giants say goodbye to face a broken Eagles offense and then a Commanders unit that has supplied the fifth-most points per game to LBs this season.
McFadden just wasn’t available. He has difference-making upside for several formats.
Patrick Queen, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Patrick Queen turned around a mediocre start to the season — including a particularly strong outing in Week 3 — with two straight big stat lines.
That started with 10 tackles (7 solo) and a sack in a Week 7 win over New Orleans and continued with 12 tackles (3 solo), 1.5 sacks and a pass defended in Sunday’s blowout of the Browns. A mediocre start saw him available in 82% of Sleeper IDP leagues for that game in Cleveland.
Pittsburgh gets a Week 9 bye, which means grabbing Queen won’t offer quick relief. But he’s worth keeping if you have the room.
CJ Allen, LB, Indianapolis Colts
Allen isn’t a pickup for all leagues, but his 10-tackle outing Sunday could indicate that the rebuilding Colts are ready to see what they have.
The second-round rookie appeared in just four of the team’s six games before the Week 8 loss at Jacksonville and reached a 40% snap share in Week 5.
Indy started him for the first time Sunday and played Allen for 83.3% of the defensive snaps. His 10 tackles included a sack even though he blitzed just once.
The rebuilding Colts should be motivated to stick with Allen the rest of the way through what looks like a lost season. And the 8.1 total tackles a limited Akeem Davis-Gaither averaged per game highlights Allen’s path to fantasy relevance.
Amani Hooker, S, Tennessee Titans
I don’t understand, you guys.
Whenever we get a big scoring week from Hooker, I look at his rostered Sleeper rate and expect to see a big jump from the last time I looked. But as of Tuesday morning, he’s still available in 87% of Sleeper IDP leagues.
Is there something wrong with this guy that I don’t know about? Does he smell? Is this just a quirk connected to not enough people playing the IDP game appropriately?
Whatever the case, Hooker is more than twice as available as the third DB I’ve listed here even though he sits third in fantasy points and second in points per game at the position this season (depending on your format).
If you play in one of the leagues that see Hooker as available and can cover for a DB in his bye week, get him. At some point I will stop including him in this article.
Carlton Davis, CB, New England Patriots
Carlton Davis finally bounced back from a three-week neck injury for Sunday’s win at Miami and recorded 9 tackles (7 solo). That marked his second game 7 solo in his past three appearances.
More importantly, though, it showed us that Davis is ready ahead of a pair of favorable scoring matchups.
New England hosts the Packers in Week 9 and visits the Lions in Week 10. Those squads rank ninth and 13th in fantasy points per game given up to DBs, as well as third and 10th in pass attempts per game.
Playing opposite CB Christian Gonzalez makes Davis the preferred corner to pick and thus a solid weekly bet for tackle opportunities.
Nick Cross, S, Washington Commanders
This entry is more speculative than the others.
We still don’t really know what Nick Cross is like as Commander. We only got two games before his freak injury led to a hospital, an operation, and a quick release but no details from the team.
Cross is now back for two games. He recorded 8+ tackles (including 5 solo) in half of his four appearances in Washington. His 4 tackles for loss in 15 total solo shows that Cross continues to play close to the line, just like he did with the Colts. And his extreme tackle production with his old team is half the reason the safety is worth a claim this week.
The other half: his upcoming schedule.
The next four weeks hold the Rams, Giants, Bengals, and Cardinals, who all rank in the top 11 in fantasy points per game given up to DBs.
That stretch will certainly show how useful this version of Cross is for our IDP lineups.
Find Out Who’s Reasonable Yours Team
Free Agent Finder syncs with your league to highlight the best pickup for your specific situation.
Want some offensive options on waivers? Check out this week’s video below.