Welcome to Week 5 of DL Streaming 101!
If you are reading this using a speech-to-text function, please take a moment to speed up to 5x:
Fantasy football, including IDP fantasy football, contains significant risks. Utilizing streaming at any position increases these risks, and stealing defensive linemen is no exception. Side effects of streaming DL include elation when you started Uchenna Nwosu (22.15), Elijah Ponder (19.9), Alim McNeill (19.25), Maliek Collins (17.7), or Zaven Collins (16.05) in Week 4. Side effects also include a feeling of ‘meh’ if you started 62% of last week’s streaming suggestions and got between .75 and 9 fantasy points.
Rage is possible if you started Koonce or Kancey and took a zero. Overall “streamers” (players available in roughly 75% of IDP leagues) averaged 6.85 points in Week 4. Always start your studs if you have them and consult theidpshow.com (or me on Twitter) if you are curious who we see as the top DL plays of the week (my personal top 6 averaged 19.55 Big 3 points in Week 4 - more if you play DT-premium).
Phew, with that out of the way, let’s look at overall streaming metrics for the season:
Despite the arrival of bye weeks, we have a record three players breaking into Tier 1 (Ideal) territory this week, including a guy whom I feel contractually obligated to talk about every year until he is no longer so widely available. Week 5 also features the fewest Tier 4 (Educated Dart Throw) plays, which have been the biggest boom-or-bust this season (highest average, also the highest 0 percentage). Let’s take a look at a player in each tier that warrants further examination:
Featured DL Streamers
DT Alim McNeill, DET (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
Hopefully this isn't one of my trademark Alim McNeill curse weeks (he hasn't tended to perform well under the pressure of being a featured player in my past articles), but I couldn’t wait any longer to talk about him! McNeill is DT8 through four weeks and DL23, yet he is available in over 94% of IDP leagues on MFL and over 98% on Sleeper. And I write this AFTER most waivers have been processed! While fantasy production is the ultimate end goal of DL streaming, production alone does not get someone on my streaming list.
McNeill checks every box that I model as I go into Week 5. Snaps are ideal at 83% in Week 4 and a floor this season of 76% (he leads all interior defensive linemen with 259 snaps already this season). The underlying talent evaluation is there too, with a 74 pass rush grade and 63.4 run defense grade (per PFF). Both of these grades are in the top 20 among players with significant snaps. His Lions are taking on a Cardinals team that has allowed the 7th most fantasy points to opposing defensive tackles over the past three weeks, including over 30 to Giants players last week. McNeill should have every opportunity to keep his hot start going and is likely to see his roster spot increase sooner rather than later.
DE Isaiah McGuire, CLE (🎓🎓🎓)
Continuing the trend of players who have been productive but underrespected in the fantasy space in 2026, Isaiah McGuire of the Browns is widely available despite being the best edge player on his team thus far. McGuire beats high-profile teammate Jared Verse by a wide margin in most PFF grades (overall, run defense, tackling), leads in advanced (pressures) and basic (sacks) pass-rush metrics, and is less than 2 points behind in the pass-rush grade (57.8 to 59.2). While everyone (myself included) expects Verse to improve, one area where Verse significantly outpaces McGuire is rostered percentage: the former is rostered in over 75% of IDP leagues, while the latter is available in nearly 75%.
Being the hot hand on your team isn’t enough to earn you streaming consideration in Tier 2 (solid), but McGuire’s metrics suggest streaming potential. He has only dipped under 60% of snaps once this season and does not seem significantly at risk of decline. Some sites have Adin Huntington as a DE, and Huntington outsnapped McGuire in Week 4, but those snaps were overwhelmingly from the interior when Mason Graham went down and are not a cause for concern. The matchup this week is ideal as the Browns take on the Jets, who have given up big games to the opponent’s primary pass rusher (36.35 to Lucas van Ness) and secondary pass rusher (23.9 to DJ Wonnum) in two of the last three weeks (in the third they gave up 10+ points to both). This is a get-right game for Verse and another opportunity for McGuire to shine.
DT Nnamdi Madubuike, BAL (🎓🎓)
The next featured player is familiar to most IDP managers, but a season lost to injury has him just getting back on mainstream radars. Nnamdi Madubuike was DT1 in 2023, DT14 in 2024, and was DT8 through two weeks in 2026 before an injury cost him the rest of the season. He has yet to fill up the stat sheet in 2026, but in his two games back from injury, he has shown flashes of his former self.
He has generated 8 pressures with no sacks in his two appearances in 2026 while boasting a solid 59.8 pass rush grade. When players are failing to convert pressures to sacks but have good underlying metrics, positive regression is likely (just as negative regression is often the case in the opposite profile). While Madubuike draws an unfavorable fantasy matchup this week against a Falcons team that has allowed the third-fewest points to opposing DT since Michael Penix returned from injury (11.38/game), the individual matchup creates some optimism. Madubuike has been roughly splitting his time between the left and right side of the defensive line, and the left side of the Falcons line is dealing with an injury to Jake Matthews, which thrust Mike Jerrell into action last week. A banged-up Matthews or an inexperienced Jerrell would both be strong matchups for the Ravens to potentially exploit with Madubuike in Week 5.
DE Dayo Odeyingbo, CHI (🎓)
Odeyingbo has been a streamer each week and has quietly put together three straight games of 13 points or more (and is currently DE17). Like McNeill, Odeyingbo is not even rostered in 1% of leagues on MFL overall, meaning he is likely available in over 94% of IDP leagues. With a player who costs only a mouse click and ranks in the top 20 at his position, you might be wondering why he is relegated to educated-dart-throw territory.
The Bears officially have a three-man rotation at edge: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, and Odeyingbo (plus Marcus Davenport, who saw some unexpected action in Week 4). Booker grades out the best (and is the youngest), Sweat grades out the worst (but has the biggest contract), so it is incredibly difficult to predict when Odeyingbo will produce, with this snap ceiling likely capped in the low 60% range. The Bears defense also played a TOTAL of 32 snaps overall in Week 4 due to the Jets’ anemic offense. The Bears play the rival Packers this week, who average the fifth-fewest plays per game in their last 3 at 56. If you are in need of a DE due to injury and bye or a boom-bust play due to your matchup, give Odeyingbo a look, but be aware of what is working for and against him.
Full Week 5 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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The 5x speed disclaimer was a work of art 🤣🤣