DL Streaming 101: Week 3
DL Streaming 101: Week 3
Professor IDP looks at the best DE and DT streaming options in your IDP fantasy football leagues for Week 3.
Welcome to the Week 3 edition of DL Streaming 101! Before we look ahead, let’s take a quick look at last week’s picks and our season-long results.
As will be the case most weeks when discussing players available in 75-95% of leagues, we had some hits and misses this week. The silver lining is that even though Za’Darius Smith and T’Vondre Sweat put up 0s in the fantasy column, they were free in drafts/waivers compared to other options which would have tied up valuable capital such as Da’Ron Payne, Jaelan Phillips, Bryce Huff, and Rashan Gary, who were also members of the dud club last week.
David Ojabo only tallied a QB hit as the immortal KVN did not end up missing time, while Marcus Davenport and Baron Browning — who were featured last week — missed most or all of their games in what was a brutal injury week across fantasy. Week 2 also saw some highlights in terms of DL streaming with A’Shawn Robinson exceeding expectations on his way to a 20-point game and Grady Jarrett, Osa Odighizuwa, and Gervon Dexter all were around the 10-point mark, which we strive for in a streamer.
While the overall numbers aren’t as big as I had hoped (which is normal for early-season fantasy prognostication), I am encouraged by the overall model performance over two weeks with Ideal plays outperforming Solid plays in most categories and Solid outpacing Solid (Deeper). Historically, when modeling all players across these tiers, these disparities tend to grow as the season goes on but, for now, feel free to treat all players listed as potentially viable streamers with the 🎓s serving as potential tie-breakers.
With two weeks of data in hand, I am officially turning the page on 2023 and exclusively focusing on data from the first two weeks of the 2024 season, which means a return to my traditional model which has predicted so much success in past seasons. If you are the kind of person who gets excited about statistical analyses, stay tuned next week as I will be reporting some overall model performance data including correlations and any modified beta weights in my ad hoc regression model! Until then, enjoy the following 12 streaming suggestions for Week 3 including several new names and an equal distribution of DT and DE at each level of rostership (per MFL).
DL Available in 75% of IDP Leagues
Yaya Diaby TB DE (🎓🎓🎓)
Despite 12 pressures already this season (6th best in the NFL), Diaby has 0 sacks to his name this season and his rostership has now dropped to a level where I can recommend him. Diaby had a great deal of buzz in the offseason and is putting up a 76 pass rush grade on a positive snap trajectory (76% in Week 2 after 54% in Week 1). Tampa Bay faces off against a Denver offense that has allowed three 20+ point DE performances already this young season and is among the most fantasy-friendly matchups to exploit this week.
Osa Odighizuwa DAL DT (🎓🎓)
Odighizuwa is among the 23 DTs in the NFL who have scored at least 7.5 fantasy points in each of their first two games and he is far from his ceiling. Week 2 saw a significant decline in snap share from Week 1 (80% to 68%) he ranks 7th in PFF pass-rush grade among the 18 players tied with 5 pressures through two weeks putting him in a good spot for some positive sack regression. Odighizuwa has also yet to miss a tackle this season, further cementing his floor.
Mike Danna KC DE (🎓🎓)
Danna is another new name this week who is a nice floor play for DL streamers. Increasing snap share from Week 1 (56%) to Week 2 (70%), check. Consistent fantasy output each week (10.5/14.5), check. A good PFF grade against the run (74.4) and a serviceable one as a pass rusher (56), check. Danna might not be the most attractive play out there but if you are looking for a safer streamer, he could be your man.
Grady Jarrett ATL DT (🎓🎓)
J-A-Double R-E-Double T is very quietly the DT3 in fantasy in this young season thanks to a boom game in Week 1 with 1.5 sacks and a solid 2 tackle, 3 QB hit performance in Week 2. While teammate David Onyemata’s snaps slid across the first two weeks, Jarrett put up a very solid (by DT standards) 68% of snaps in each game. While the strength of the Chiefs o-line is in the interior, Jarrett was a movable weapon against the Eagles playing 21 of his 49 snaps outside of the interior.
Kenny Clark GB DT (🎓🎓)
Another familiar name to fantasy managers who is inexplicably under-rostered is Packers DT Kenny Clark. Clark has been hampered early this season by a toe injury which has dampened his fantasy output (and snap share) but he has still put up seven pressures good for 28th best in the NFL. He has a plus matchup this week against a Titans team which has given up a sack to a DT in each game this season and is averaging 42.17 fantasy points allowed to the position per game (6th worst in the NFL).
Dorance Armstrong Jr. WAS DE (🎓🎓)
While Armstrong has been a liability against the run this season (41.9 run defense grade/28.3 tackling grade) he has still been the Commanders’ strongest pass rusher across every metric except sacks. The Bengals have been stingy to opposing DEs this season allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to the position (15.4 per game) but Armstrong is the second-highest graded starting edge the Bengals have seen this season. This feels like a boom or bust play but if you need a high-ceiling streaming option, Armstrong is worth a look.
DL Available in 90% of IDP Leagues
DeMarcus Walker, CHI, DE (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
I am quickly running out of things to write about Walker whose overall rostership on MFL still does not exceed 2% (and given about 20% of MFL leagues use IDP, this means he is still out there in 90% of IDP leagues). Walker has played over 80% of snaps each of the first two weeks on his way to a 71.1 pass rush grade, 69.8 run defense grade, and six pressures with no sacks yet. The only cold water that can be dumped on my Walker enthusiasm is a matchup against the Colts which have surrendered the fewest fantasy points to opposing DE this season (12 PPG) against some stiff competition in the Texans and Packers.
Andrew Billings, CHI, DT (🎓🎓🎓)
While the Colts may be a tough DE matchup thus far in 2024, they are a much more friendly fantasy matchup for opposing DT with all three sacks allowed coming from the interior. While I like Gervon Dexter this week as well (he would be at the top of my tier 3), I am going with Billings this week. Dexter and Billings have comparable run defense grades and similar snap shares, but Billings is quietly the third-highest-graded interior pass rusher in 2024. He is an IDP afterthought after two modest performances and no sacks but he will have a nice opportunity to break out this week and is a great streaming option.
Nik Bonitto, DEN, DE (🎓🎓🎓)
On the Week 1 recap show, the Big 3 wondered aloud about the disappearance of Nik Bonitto from the Broncos plans after a seven-sack season. Teammate Baron Browning suffered a foot injury against the Steelers and, pending results of an MRI, Bonitto could become a fantastic DL streaming option with proven past output. Bonitto has also put up a solid 69.8 pass rush grade in limited snaps and faces a plus fantasy matchup against the Buccaneers who have surrendered the 10th most fantasy points to opposing DEs early this season.
Adam Butler, LV, DT (🎓🎓🎓)
If I told you Butler saw an 11% decrease in snaps from Week 1 to Week 2, you would probably be wondering why he is under streaming consideration. Despite this decline, he still played 82% of all defensive snaps alongside new teammate Christian Wilkins in one of the least rotated interior DLs in the NFL in 2024. With mediocre PFF grades (62 run defense/64.5 pass rush) and a bad fantasy matchup against the Panthers, there are some concerns about Butler. Still, Andy Dalton is the 40th most sacked QB in NFL history and the Panthers are going to have to lean on him to win making Butler a nice streaming option for those without Crosby or Wilkins.
Daniel Ekuale, NE, DT (🎓🎓🎓)
While teammate Keion White has (deservedly) gotten all of the attention on the Patriots defensive line, Ekuale has emerged as a steady replacement for Christian Barmore on the interior playing 73% of snaps and 77% of snaps in Weeks 1 and 2. While this opportunity has yet to yield significant fantasy production (he is currently DT39), Ekuale is a nice floor play in this tier whose solid run (71.3) and tackle (72.4) grades should create volume opportunities against a balanced Jets offensive attack.
Derick Hall, SEA, DE (🎓🎓)
Monitor Uchenna Nwosu’s status before making this play given he was not placed on IR to start the season and we are already in Week 3. If Nwosu is out one more week, Hall is a risky upside play. Last week Hall missed some time but still played 66% of snaps so his usage is not a concern, and while he has six pressures and a sack already this season, his pass rush win rate is problematic at 13%. Hall does have good run defense skills which could help his floor against a Dolphins team that will likely need to lean on the run but the hope is that Hall can pick up one more sack against an unproven replacement QB.
Good luck and if you have any questions about deep DL plays, my office is always open on Twitter (@ProfessorIDP). While this article is a freebie, please consider supporting me, the show, and the broader IDP community by adding your league(s) to the 2024 State of IDP Survey!
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