Welcome to Week 9 of DL Streaming 101!
Before we begin, let’s all take a moment to hail Jake Martin, King of All IDP (in Week 8)!
Jake (Jacob) Martin has made three appearances in DL Streaming 101 this season and was a featured streamer in Week 1. In those three appearances, he scored 2 points (Week 1), 0 points (Week 3), and was the overall top IDP in Week 8 with 41.7 Big 3 fantasy points. This performance has vaulted him from DL38 as of Week 7 to DL12 after Week 8. Martin will likely see an uptick in rostership this week, but will likely only move up to a Tier 3 (Solid-Deeper) after the bye week because his amazing three-sack performance was still only on 64% of snaps and a PFF pass-rush grade of 72.9, which only moves his season-long score to 59.9, which ranks 81st of 118 qualifying edge rushers. But this is the recap part of the article, so let’s just celebrate those of you who needed to reach down into waivers and, hopefully, were led to a win by King Martin (sacker of Burrow, Titan of Tennessee, first of his name).
Here are the season-long streaming metrics after seven weeks:
We have a 2026 record of five Tier 1 (Ideal) plays in Week 9 with very different profiles, so this week’s featured player section will have a slightly different format. I’ll go through each of these five players, noting the metric that gives me the most hope and the most concern for each.
Featured DL Streamers
DT Adetomiwa Adebawore, IND (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
✔ The fire-sale Colts seem committed to Adebawore, signing him to a two-year $35 million extension on Tuesday. This gives me great optimism that his season-high usage rate (82% snap share) should persist and allow him ample opportunities to capitalize on his 84.2 PFF pass rush grade (3rd best among IDL).
𐄂 Adebawore has five sacks on only 16 QB pressures in 2026. This 3.2 ratio makes him the seventh most efficient pass rusher among players with at least five sacks this season. The average among this group is just over 4.5, suggesting he is primed for some negative regression.
DT D.J. Reader, NYG (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
✔ Reader’s grades are phenomenal. He is the third-highest-graded defensive lineman in 2026, and only he and Will Anderson Jr. have pass-rush and run-defense grades above 80.
𐄂 There is a reason why grades are part of, but not the main driver of, my performance model. Reader has no sacks on only 8 pressures, a modest 17 solos (19th-best among DL), and a mere 5 assists (85th-best among DL).
DT Deone Walker, BUF (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
✔ I picked on Will Fries of the Vikings last week, who then gave up his 3rd sack of the season (3rd most among guards). This week, Fries and his 52.3 pass-blocking grade (55th among OGs) will primarily draw Walker, who has an 88.3 pass-rush grade (best among IDLs). This is a very exploitable individual matchup.
𐄂 Ed Oliver returned from injury after the Bills’ bye week but played only 39% of snaps in a blowout win over the Ravens. In the only game this season when Oliver was fully healthy (Week 1), Walker saw a season-low snap share of 65%. This is still a solid number, but far from ideal.
DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, NYG (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
✔ While Deone Walker has a heavily exploitable individual matchup this week, Thibodeaux has an even stronger positional advantage from a fantasy scoring perspective. Last week, the Eagles allowed over 100 fantasy points to the Commanders’ defensive ends, with five players each breaking 10 points. A change to Joe Milton might help, but likely won’t solve these issues.
𐄂 Despite playing in a contract year, Thibodeaux has been underwhelming from a fantasy and reality perspective through seven games. His pass rush grade of 60 is nearly 30 points below teammate Abdul Carter; he has yet to record a sack and has just 16 combined tackles over 326 defensive snaps.
DT Alim McNeill, DET (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
✔ I previously cautioned that Adetomiwa Adebawore was due for a negative sack-efficiency regression; Alim McNeill is in the opposite category. McNeill has six sacks on 31 pressures. This is nearly a full sack under expected among top pass rushers and is likely to improve as the season goes on (possibly this week).
𐄂 After 38 combined tackles in 2022, McNeill’s floor has declined in each subsequent year: 29 in 2023, 20 in 2024, and 14 in 2025 (despite playing over 500 snaps in each season). McNeill has only 11 combined tackles this season. If you remove sacks, that leaves only five tackles, which warrants extreme caution in tackle-heavy scoring formats.
Full Week 9 DL Streamer List
Good luck, and if you have any questions about deep DL plays, my office is always open by replying to this article or reaching out on Twitter (@ProfessorIDP).
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