Walking the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 7

Let's keep churning those rosters! Here are some IDPs who can help you deal with injuries, bye weeks, and underperformers.

This year’s fantasy football season has been a challenge. Between numerous players being injured for multiple weeks, scheme changes, and some underperforming studs, it is important to constantly adjust your roster. If it’s the same as it was in Week 1, you are doing your team a huge disservice, especially when playing IDP.

With that said, let’s take a look at the Week 7 waiver additions to help your team continue to pile up the wins and make a push toward the playoffs! 

Note: This week, we’re making the full waiver wire article available to all subscribers. If you like it, consider supporting the show to receive access to all of our premium content, which also includes our weekly injury podcast, year-round access to Adam’s dynasty rankings, and a weekly Q&A thread that is answered during preview episodes.

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Defensive Line  

Previous Weeks: Gregory Rousseau, Alex Highsmith, Dominique Robinson, Rasheem Green, Dre’mont Jones, Justin Jones, Deatrich Wise Jr, BJ Hill, Shy Tuttle, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Zach Allen, Jihad Ward, Dexter Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Derek Brown 

Sebastian Joseph-Day, Los Angles Chargers  

Sebastian Joseph-Day moved from one LA team to the other this offseason and after a slow start to the season, he’s started to become the force the Chargers hoped he would be when they signed him. After failing to produce a single stat in Week 1 against the Raiders, SJD has been a very high-floor tackle producer, and over the past 3 weeks, he’s been a high-end DL2 in most leagues with more than 5 tackles per game. SJD has yet to make a sack this season but has had an increasing amount of QB pressures in the last few weeks, which tells me the sacks are coming for him!  

Jarran Reed, Green Bay Packers 

After being released by Seattle this offseason, Reed was welcome by the Green Bay Packers with open arms. Why? Because Reed is a massive human being capable of plugging up multiple gaps in the run game. Reed gets a bump in leagues that require a DT as he has played in more than 60% of snaps in every game this season. Reed has been one of the very few constants in a very underwhelming Green Bay Packers defense this season. As the Packers begin to regress offensively this season, it looks like Reed may benefit from more opportunities on the defensive side.  

Grover Stewart, Indianapolis Colts  

Grover Stewart is one of those players that has benefited from injured stars playing in front of him who have missed time or are underperforming in front of him. With many more well-known names who play for the Colts defense, it is easy to miss or overlook Stewart. He has 2 sacks in the past 3 games and 11 tackles over that same span. Stewart is producing a very high tackle rate given the number of snaps he is playing. It will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Gus Bradley increases his snaps count somewhere closer to 80% per week in the near future or if he’s content with letting him play around 65%. Either way, Stewart is a great streaming option during the bye weeks—and even better in leagues that require a DT.  

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Linebacker 

Previous Weeks: Jordan Hicks, Frank Luvu, Divine Deablo, Jayon Brown, Dre Greenlaw, Willie Gay, Josey Jewell, Jerome Baker, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jaylon Smith, Germaine Pratt, Jacob Phillips, Alex Singleton, Kwon Alexander, Deion Jones 

Zaven Collins, Arizona Cardinals  

Zaven Collins was a hot name after he was drafted in the first round of last year’s draft but quickly fell out of favor with managers who drafted him expecting big things from him as a rookie. That was last year; this year, the coaching staff has changed their tune and Collins has begun to play more snaps. Over the last 3 weeks, Collins has not come off the field once and has had 22 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 pass defended in that span. With Arizona suddenly struggling on offense, Collins will benefit from playing more and more snaps in a positive game script for the opponents, which leads to more tackle opportunities late in the game as they are trying to run out the clock.  

Troy Anderson, Atlanta Falcons 

Troy Anderson was that late-round flyer that many IDP rankers targeted during their preseason drafts this offseason and that move just might pay off in the coming weeks. Atlanta moved on from Deion Jones this past week, trading him to Cleveland, and with the groin injury to fellow linebacker Mykal Walker, it was Anderson who has received the increased snaps this past week.

On Sunday versus San Francisco, Anderson played all 60 snaps for the Falcons, racking up 13 tackles. Anderson’s path to snaps is directly tied to the health of Walker. Groin injuries have a history of being a lingering injury, and if rushed back too quickly, can reoccur. While Walker is recovering, enjoy the play of Anderson.  

Leighton Vander Esch, Dallas Cowboys 

It was not too many years ago that Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith were considered the young, dynamic linebacker duo for years to come in Big D and across the entire league. Injuries have taken their toll on both of them and Jaylon Smith has moved on to a division rival. LVE has remained in Dallas and has worked his way back to being a starter and also fantasy relevant in most leagues. LVE has played a steady amount of snaps over the last few weeks and tallied up 20 stops in that time—not crazy numbers by any means, but a very serviceable bye week fill-in during the next few weeks for 12-team leagues that start 3 or 4 linebackers.  

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Defensive Back 

Previous Weeks: Marcus Williams, Talanoa Hufanga, Marcus Epps, Nate Hobbs, Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins, Rodney McCloud, Jalen Pitre, Roger McCreary, JuJu Hughes, Jaylon Watson, Andre Cisco, DeShon Elliot, Justin Simmons, Cameron Dantzler, Jayron Kearse 

Ryan Neal, Seattle Seahawks 

When Jamal Adams went down last year, it was Ryan Neal who stepped up and played very well over the rest of the season for the Seahawks. Fast forward to this season, Adams again goes down with a season-ending injury and once again Neal steps up and produces with very Adams-like snaps and stats. Neal had himself a game this past weekend against the Cardinals where he racked up 7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pass defended! Neal has 4 very friendly game scripts ahead of him in the coming weeks and I expect the very strong stat lines to continue.  

Kyler Gordon, Chicago Bears 

Kyler Gordon is another rookie cornerback who has been pressed into action this season and has been performing very well from an IDP standpoint. Gordon is in the top 20 of all DBs in tackles this season which creates a very nice, safe floor week in and week out. Although he does not have any interceptions yet this season, he does have 4 pass breakups. An appealing thing about Gordon is he has played all but 4 snaps this season, so the opportunity is definitely there for him. Gordon is a solid DB play but for sure a name to roster in CB-required leagues.  

Tariq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks 

Tariq Woolen has a lot in common with former Seattle great Richard Sherman. Both were former WRs in college who made the switch to defensive back, both were taken in the 5th round of the draft, and both have 4 game interception streaks as rookies. Woolen is tied for the league lead with 4 picks, and with Seattle suddenly being a team forcing opponents to throw the ball, Woolen is there to make plays. Not only is Woolen causing turnovers, but he is also piling up tackles on the season. He currently has 22 for the team in the Emerald City. Like Kyler Gordon, Woolen rarely comes off the field, so he is a good bet to continue his elite-level IDP play.

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There you have it, my friends: waiver wire adds for Week 7. Reach out to me at @Boobam131 for any questions, waiver wire adds, or trade ideas you might have for any of your teams. I’m always excited to help out. I truly want to help make all of your teams into contenders. Have a great week and we will catch up with you next week! 

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