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!
Week 2 is behind us, and injuries are already starting to feel like they are piling up across the NFL (I can’t wait to watch the huge Jake Browning vs. Carson Wentz matchup this Sunday).
DL hasn’t been immune to this either, with players like AVG, Laiatu Latu, and Ed Oliver all missing last week and Alex Highsmith, Khalil Mack, Jermaine Johnson, and others going down in their games. Injuries can create opportunities for under-featured players to shine, but before we get to injury-based streaming options and more for Week 3, let’s take a quick look back at how streaming fared in Week 2.
The Week 2 streaming options dipped to a (respectable) average of 8.62 in Big 3 Scoring, led by a DL1 performance by Milton Williams. For reference, the average of the preseason top 20 DL (per FantasyPros ECR) in Week 2 was 13.05, so streaming DL cost you roughly 4.5 points last week. Four of my calls last week were “Tier 1 - Ideal” streaming plays based on the metrics, and those players averaged 12.55 in Week 2.
Early this season, DL streaming has had a roughly 41% success rate (streamers scoring over 10 pts) with 12.8% boom games over 20 pts, and only 2.56% (1 player) who would have left you with a 0 for the week. The overall average is a solid 9.7 points per game. Ideal plays are averaging 12.55, the Solid group is at 10.32, Solid (Deeper) is at 9.15, and Dart Throws are 3.13.
With that out of the way, let’s get into our third group of DL streamers with one bonus name to account for any injury updates we get between now and game time. Full details on the ratings and metrics that drive the ratings are presented below the six (seven) featured streamers for Week 3.
Featured DL Streamers
Chris Jones, DT, KC (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
All it will take is one big game for Jones to become ineligible for this article, so I will feature him while I can before moving on to some less recognizable names. The KC defensive tackle is currently rostered in only 47% of MFL IDP leagues and 43% in Sleeper for good reason, as he has only generated four tackles through two games, four QB pressures (no sacks), and a disappointing 68.1 pass rush grade per PFF. I am still bullish on Jones this week for three reasons.
First, it is early in the season, so I am reticent to pronounce a player who has averaged a pass rush grade of 91.3 and 92 pressures per year over the past three seasons. Second, Jones is an iron man whose 102 snaps in 2025 rank him 20th among all DL and 6th among DT. Third, he has a great ‘get right’ matchup this week against the Giants, who have allowed the 2nd most fantasy points to opposing DT early this season. The New York offensive line does not have a single player graded above 60 thus far, and QB Russell Wilson is in the bottom half of the NFL in multiple pressures faced and generated metrics in 2025.
Nick Herbig, DE, PIT (🎓🎓🎓)
This inclusion is bittersweet for Steelers fans (and my D-UP chances), as it means Alex Highsmith is slated to miss some time. “Himbig”, as he is lovingly referred to by Adam, made the most of his opportunities last season with scores of 29.45, 2, 12.95, 8, 18.25, and 18.8 in replacement duty. While rookie Jack Sawyer has been getting some buzz as a fantasy beneficiary, multiple signs point me towards “Himbig” in Week 3.
Herbig played 78% of snaps in Week 2 (one more than teammate T.J. Watt) compared to Sawyer’s 40%. While this was an uptick in snaps for Sawyer from Week 1, it is likely more attributable to the injury sustained by Isaiahh Loudermilk than Highsmith. While I can see a snap ceiling of 50-60% for Sawyer (which is clearly enough to do some damage), Herbig will likely slot into the 80-90% role vacated by Highsmith. If Herbig gets these snaps, the Steelers (like the Chiefs) have a get-right game against the Patriots, who have allowed the 4th most fantasy points to opposing DE in 2025, giving ample scoring opportunities.
Dallas Turner, DE, MIN or Samson Ebukam, DE, IND (both 🎓🎓🎓)
Cue the ‘one of these things is not like the other’ song from Sesame Street, but hear me out! Yes, Turner is an ascending young player while Ebukam is a journeyman. Yes, Turner is rostered in nearly 50% of leagues while Ebukam is available in 90%+. And, yes, Turner is coming off a 16-point performance compared to 1.25 points for Ebukam in Week 2. Still, it is the similarities that lead me to lump them together this week.
Neither is a PFF darling thus far in 2025, and neither has lit fantasy on fire across two weeks as both are currently DL4s. However, both have injured teammates, which has significantly boosted their snap floors. Ebukam jumped from 38% of snaps in Week 1 to 78% in Week 2 due to Latu’s injury. Similarly, Turner went from 43% to 91% in AVG’s absence. Both also have incredibly favorable matchups this week against the 2nd and 3rd most DE-friendly teams for fantasy. Turner faces a bad Bengals o-line and a backup QB, while Ebukam can potentially feast on a bad Titans line and a rookie QB.
If both AVG and Latu are out in Week 3, I see Turner and Ebukam as viable streamers with a slight edge to Turner. If either teammate returns, it would be best to look for other options.
Kenny Clark, DT, DAL (🎓🎓🎓)
The Cowboys sent shockwaves around the NFL before Week 1 by bolstering their defense and trading for star defensive tackle Kenny Clark. The trade for Clark was an immediate improvement to the Cowboys' d-line, which is now among the best in the NFL. Jerry Jones’ press conference jokes aside, Clark has been a reliable, if not sexy, defensive line option for several years now and has seemed to fit in well in the Cowboys’ interior next to Osa Odighizuwa, and the pair are 1st and 3rd on the team for QB pressures.
Clark leads the Dallas DL in snaps with 87 this season and has the ability to defend the run to be seen as a good floor option. In Week 1, Clark had two tackles and three assists, which he followed up in Week 2 with four more combined tackles (including a sack). The Cowboys face the Bears, who have been a middle-of-the-road matchup thus far for opposing DT. Still, Chicago has allowed the 6th most QB pressures, and, given Dallas primarily generates pressure from the interior, Clark is in a nice position to have a good floor and some upside this week.
K'Lavon Chaisson, DE, NE (🎓🎓🎓)
It’s a football tale as old as time: an edge rusher gets drafted in the first round, accumulates 10 sacks over 5 years, and then has that all too common sixth-year breakout. Apparently, a change of scenery has indeed done K'Lavon Chaisson some good in his first year on a revamped New England defensive line.
While teammate (and fellow new Patriot) Harold Landry has gotten most of the attention from fantasy managers, Chaisson has accumulated seven pressures, which is good for 32nd among the 125 DL who have played at least 50% of snaps this season. Coming off an 82% snap share in Week 2 and posting season-long pass and run defense grades each above 60 has Chaisson in back-end streaming consideration despite a seemingly tough matchup for opposing DE this week.
Maliek Collins, DT, CLE (🎓🎓)
Among the four players in my last viable tier before dart throw territory, Browns DT Maliek Collins is the most widely available. Despite being a deep streamer option I have written about for years, there are plenty of reasons for optimism and pessimism around Collins.
Starting with the bad, Collins has 0 fantasy points in 2025, and the Packers have been the toughest fantasy matchup for opposing defensive tackles through two weeks, allowing a total of 10.5 fantasy points to the eight players who have logged snaps against them. That 10.5 total is less than the average points allowed by 29/32 NFL teams. The optimism is based on two data points. First, Collins has played at least 71% of snaps in each of the Browns' two games. Second, Collins' 91.5 pass rush grade leads all interior defensive linemen, and his six pressures are tied for 12th. Jordan Love has to be sacked by a DT at some point this season, and Collins may be just the man to do it.
Good luck, and if you have any questions about deep DL plays, my office is always open on Twitter (@ProfessorIDP).
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