IDP Waiver Wire: Week 15

Jeff Pomazal gives you the week’s best waiver targets.

We have arrived at Week 15 — the fantasy football playoffs! Congrats to those of you who have made it through this season. Like most seasons, your lineup in Week 1 is drastically different from the lineup you rolled out last week.

Heck, your lineup last week and next week may look vastly different as well. We had a huge number of injuries this past weekend that will have a big impact on the fantasy playoff picture for your team and your leagues. Let’s take a look at some of the players who just might be available to help you bring home that hardware.

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Defensive Line

Previous Weeks: Carl Granderson, Drake Jackson, Harrison Phillips, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Jonathan Cooper, Jarran Reed, David Onyemata, Nik Bonitto, Josh Uche, Tuli Tuipulotu, Yetur Gross-Matos, Zach Allen, Justin Madubuike, Darrell Taylor, Mike Hoecht, George Karlaftis, Jermaine Johnson, Kyle Van Noy, Kentavius Street, BJ Ojulari, Mike Hoecht, Leonard Floyd, YaYa Diaby, Andrew Van Ginkel, Samson Ebukam, Jadeveon Clowney, Kobie Turner

Jonathon Greenard, Houston Texans 

Over the first four years of his NFL career, Jonathan Greenard has shown flashes of being a dominant player every weekend. Take this past weekend, for example. Greenard turned his 43 snaps into 6 tackles, 3 of which were solos, and 2 sacks. This output was good for second place this week behind Maxx Crosby for scoring by a defensive lineman. Greenard now has 11 sacks on the season, 3 more than his personal best set in 2021 already, and he still has 4 more games to play.

Greenard is rostered in just under 27% of leagues at the moment and there is a chance he is available in yours. If he is, Greenard gets a great matchup versus the Titans next week who are a very favorable matchup for opposing DL. Greenard has a good chance of extending his sack streak to 3 games next weekend. 

DJ Wonnum, Minnesota Vikings

This offseason when the Vikings signed Marcus Davenport to play opposite Danielle Hunter, it seemed like the team was signaling that DJ Wonnum’s 8-sack sophomore season wasn’t a fluke. But when Davenport ended up on IR, Wonnum was ready to step up in his place. Wonnum has set or tied career highs in sacks, tackles, and assists and he still has 4 games to play this season. Wonnum has also played an insane amount of snaps: 6 straight games playing more than 90% of the snaps.

This past weekend he was credited with 5 tackles and a sack, giving him 5 sacks in the last 7 games. Wonnum is rostered in 21% of leagues, so there is a good chance he is available. The Vikings have a better-than-average fantasy playoff schedule in the coming weeks with matchups against the Bengals, Lions, and Packers. 

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Defensive Back

Previous Weeks: Reed Blankenship, Christian Gonzalez, Camryn Bynum, Jason Pinnock, K’Von Wallace, Jordan Whitehead, Daxton Hill, Rudy Ford, Juju Brents, Devon Witherspoon, Marcus Maye, Darious Williams, Sam Franklin Jr., Jaylon Johnson, Cam Taylor-Britt, Sydney Brown, Xavier Woods, Nate Hobbs, Johnathan Owens, Keanu Neal, Paulson Adebo, Jordan Battle, Ji’Ayir Brown, PJ Locke, Trenton Thompson, Mike Hilton, John Johnson III 

Jordan Howden, New Orleans Saints 

Between players getting injured or suspended at safety, it seems like every week we have seen a revolving door at the position. Jordan Howden is the next player to step through that door. When Marcus Maye was sent to IR recently, Howden got his chance to shine, and did he ever. Last week, Howden played 76 snaps against the Panthers and racked up 10 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble.

Howden is available in a majority of leagues, and with Maye on the IR for at least the next 3 weeks, that will take us through the fantasy playoffs. This marks the second week in a row Howden has played more than 90% of snaps at the free safety position. The Saints get the Giants, Rams, and Buccaneers the next 3 contests, solid matchups for opposing secondaries in what should be some competitive matchups. 

Marcus Williams and Geno Stone, Baltimore Ravens

When Adam Schefter reported today that Kyle Hamilton would miss some time with a sprained MCL, I immediately went to my leagues and saw if Marcus Williams and/or Geno Stone were available. Both play a great number of snaps, as Baltimore runs a lot of 3 safety looks, and both have been very active in the tackle game. Williams tends to play a little more of his snaps at the cover safety position, while I assume Stone will take a few more of the Hamilton snaps at or near the line of scrimmage.

Stone already had been playing more snaps than Williams there and I would think instead of changing multiple players’ positions on the field, it would make more sense to limit the number of moving pieces. Although Williams is currently rostered a little more than Stone (23% to 14%), it is Stone who I would be targeting, although Williams wouldn’t be a terrible consultation prize this week.