DL Streaming 101: Week 12
Professor IDP looks at the best DE and DT streaming options in your IDP fantasy football leagues for Week 12, with 30 options to help you in your playoff push.
Welcome to the Week 12 edition of DL Streaming 101!
Did I pick a bad week to extend to 30 defensive linemen or what? Week 11 was just a pitiful week for DL fantasy output outside of Myles Garrett and a very short list of names. How short? In Week 11, only 11 DL had “boom” weeks of over 20 points (the lowest number of such performances in 2025). There were also a season low 39 players who hit our “viability” benchmark of 10 points. The weekly average for 10-point performers is 55, and the previous low was 49!
Despite a season low streaming average of 6.02, there were a few players who did not disappoint, including Donovan Ezeiruaku, Chris Jones, and Arik Armstead. I’m not shaking things up just yet since last week seems like an overall scoring anomaly, and overall streaming metrics using my model are strong. The season average now stands at 9.5, with Tier 1 coming in at 13.9, Tier 2 at 9.4, and Tier 3 at a respectable 8.1 points per game. Streaming success (over 10 pts) is still over 40%, boom rate (over 20 pts) is over 10%, and bust rate (0 pts) is under 5%.
The full sorted list of streamers (with underlying data) is presented below. As a reminder, this is the time of year when injuries can pile up. From players with lingering injuries from the previous week to guys getting dinged in practice, things are in more flux than ever. I do my best to build snap uncertainty into projections, but please check the injury status of a player before you snag them, and please play according to your risk tolerance.
Featured DL Streamers
Byron Murphy II, DT, SEA (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
In his sophomore season, Byron Murphy II has shown great flashes with two boom games and one solid game under his big belt. He has also underdelivered in the past four games, failing to break 10 and posting a 0 along the way. Fortunately, managers have cooled on Murphy, which is an opportune time to consider him as a high-value streaming option.
In his Week 10 zero-point performance, Murphy posted five QB pressures and an overall PFF grade of 72.8. That profile suggests bad luck more than a bad player, and Week 12 might be an opportunity for that luck to turn around as the Seahawks face the hapless Titans. Tennessee is the third-best fantasy matchup for opposing DT this season, allowing 27.46 PPG on the season and 54.25 in Week 8 to the Indianapolis Colts.
Murphy will likely draw veteran Kevin Zeitler often in this matchup. Zeitler has posted three straight games with PFF grades under 60 and ranks as the 35th-best guard (out of 70) in 2025. Conversely, Murphy ranks as the 23rd-best interior defender (out of 124), suggesting an exploitable individual matchup in Week 12.
Bryce Huff, DE, SF (🎓🎓🎓)
The biggest knock on Bryce Huff has historically been his inconsistency due to low snap shares as a pass-rush specialist. Unfortunately for the 49ers, but to the benefit of fantasy managers, injuries have not allowed the team to use Huff in this role, and he is as close to an every-down player as he has been at any point in his career.
Huff played 72% of snaps in a Week 11 trouncing of the Arizona Cardinals. The net result of this increased usage (and a very pass-happy Cardinals) was a 70.7 pass rush grade (his 4th highest mark of the season) with three QB pressures and two QB hits. Hopefully, this suggests similar usage in Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina’s offensive line (particularly the left side) has outperformed expectations in 2025 with left tackle Ikem Ekwonu grading out at 74.1 and left guard Damien Lewis at 77.3. As a result, the Panthers have been a tough draw for opposing edges since Bryce Young’s return in Week 9. In these three games, the Panthers have allowed an average of 16.27 points per game to opposing edge rushers, including only one performance of 10 points or more (last week to James Pearce). This uncertainty makes Huff a boom-or-bust streaming option in Week 12.
Anthony Nelson, DE, TB (🎓🎓🎓)
Last week, I had Tampa Bay defensive end Anthony Nelson in my streamer list, and he responded with a one-tackle, one-assist performance against a tough matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Nelson draws a similarly difficult matchup in Week 12 against the Rams, who allow the second-fewest points to opposing edge rushers in 2025. Despite these concerns (and being burned last week), I would consider rolling Nelson out once again this week.
As long as Hasaan Reddick does not make a surprise return, Nelson seems locked into an ideal snap share this week. Nelson has averaged 90% of snaps over the past two weeks. In this time, Nelson has posted six QB pressures (zero sacks) and a healthy eight combined tackles.
I mentioned above that the Rams are a tough matchup, but that may be an understatement. They are the second most difficult matchup for edges in 2025 and have allowed only one performance of 10 or more points since Week 6. Despite this, there have been several players in the 6-7 point range, which is around the output I expect for Nelson if you are looking for a player with a safer floor but a lower chance of a boom.
B.J. Hill, DT, CIN (🎓🎓)
While the last two featured players have either a higher ceiling with a lower floor, or vice versa, B.J. Hill represents a player who is more moderate in both areas (hence his rating as a solid [deeper] play). Because I want to end this article on a positive note, let’s start with the negatives on Hill.
Hill has five games scoring five points or less this season. Last week, he had one tackle and one assist against the Steelers, and will likely have a very similar supporting cast this week against the New England Patriots. Note: PFF credits Hill with a sack, and having watched every painful snap of that game, I agree he deserved a 0.5 sack with Myles Murphy. Turning to the Patriots, they only allowed a combined 11.75 points to the Jets’ four interior defenders last week. Quick, name one! If you are a true degenerate like me, you may have said Harrison Phillips (who had 7.75 points).
The case for optimism is built around this last negative; even when the Patriots are at their best against opposing defensive linemen, there is still a 7.75-point performance on the table. When they are at their worst, it is a buffet with players such as Brandon Dorlus (Week 9), LaCale London (Week 9), and Elijah Roberts (Week 10) scoring between 16.6-28.35 points. Those scores were driven by sacks, and while Hill is a competent pass rusher (63.7 grade), he is also fifth among all DL in tackles. This last fact gives him bonus utility in leagues that use NPLB scoring, which makes tackles by DT or CB worth more than those by LB.
If you enjoy this series, please consider filling out the 2025 State of IDP survey here. This year’s survey is a new, shorter format that you only need to fill out once (goodbye, one survey per league!) and contains only five questions. It is the data we received from past surveys that has partially helped to shape this article from DT streaming to DL streaming (given how many leagues use DL vs separate DT and DE).
Good luck, and if you have any questions about deep DL plays, my office is always open on Twitter (@ProfessorIDP).
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Byron Murphy against the Titans matchup looks really promising. The PFF data showing Zeitler's struggles over the last few games makes this feel like a good bonce-back spot after the rough Week 10. His five pressures in that zero-point game show the underlyin performance was there. I'm definitly rolling him out this week given the matchup and snap share.