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Mitchell's top Week 9 IDP waiver wire pickups, adds, fantasy football defensive streamers for 2025. Target these individual defensive players on Week 9 waivers.
Welcome back to our fantasy football IDP Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers for Week 9. When I drafted my IDP fantasy football team in my home league, I picked a Lions player at DL (Aidan Hutchinson), LB (Jack Campbell), and DB (Brian Branch).
Well, now they all go on bye in Week 9, and, with Detroit, five other teams (Las Vegas Raiders, L.A. Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, and Jacksonville Jaguars) are also on bye. Branch has effectively gotten a two-week bye since he delivered a blow to JuJu Smith-Schuster after the Lions’ loss to the Chiefs.
If you are in the same boat as me and need bye week replacements for any of your guys, consider these 10 defensive backs, defensive linemen, and linebackers.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
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Week 9 Waiver Wire Adds for Linebacker
Devin Bush, LB, Cleveland Browns - Rostered in 10% of Sleeper Leagues
Bush has been a pretty productive and consistent IDP linebacker, making between six and 10 tackles in each of his games this season. He also makes the occasional impact play, with a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery on the books.
While he is already on the field for nearly 90% of the Browns’ defensive snaps, he could have an even greater role coming up after green-dot linebacker Carson Schwesinger suffered a high ankle sprain that could cause him to miss at least four weeks and maybe longer, pending the results of an MRI.
#Browns LB Carson Schwesinger, one of the best rookies in a stellar class, is believed to have suffered a high-ankle sprain, source said.
He’ll have an MRI, but those are typically 4-6 week injuries. He left the locker room in a boot. pic.twitter.com/fFP43akoBS
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 26, 2025
Jerome Baker, ILB, Cleveland Browns - Rostered in 14% of Leagues
Baker seems poised to see a greater increase in his production than Devin Bush. While Bush could jump to being an every-down linebacker, even that wouldn’t be a huge uptick from where he is now. But Jerome Baker will see a significant boost in snaps as he will be on the field in some nickel situations.
Baker had three 100-tackle seasons in his first five years with the Miami Dolphins. In the past couple of seasons, he was neither as productive nor as healthy. He missed a couple of games in 2023, his last year in Miami, and only played 10 games in his one season in Tennessee.
This year, he has been healthy, but he’s only playing between 14 and 18 snaps per game. The Browns have a history of rotating linebackers, so they might not give Baker the full-time job. Mohamoud Diabate is also going to be in the mix. But Baker should at least see his snap total rise above 20 per game while Carson Schwesinger is out.
Christian Rozeboom, LB, Carolina Panthers - Rostered in 33% of Leagues
Rozeboom made a season-high 12 tackles against the Buffalo Bills. He’s been a solid tackle-maker with 133 combined tackles last season and 50 in the first seven games of 2025.
But he’s giving you nothing in the impact play department. In his past three seasons, he has just one sack, two interceptions, and no plays on fumbles. Start Rozeboom in leagues that require three or more LBs.
JD Bertrand, ILB, Atlanta Falcons - Rostered in 0% of Leagues
Bertrand, a 2024 fifth-rounder from Notre Dame, has been producing well as the Falcons’ No. 2 linebacker following a serious injury (forearm) suffered by Divine Deablo. Bertrand made 10 tackles on 58 snaps (87%) in Week 7, his first start, and then he made nine tackles this week in Atlanta’s loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Deablo was placed on the injured reserve in Week 8 with a fractured forearm, and that injury may very well take longer to heal than the mandatory four weeks the IR requires. Bertrand will be a viable starter in leagues with two or more LB spots for most of the remainder of the fantasy season.
Week 9 Waiver Wire Adds for Defensive Line
Chop Robinson, DL/LB, Miami Dolphins - Rostered in 5% of Sleeper Leagues
Robinson, Miami’s first-round draft pick and a PFWA All-Rookie Team selection in 2024, could see increased playing time soon if the Dolphins trade Bradley Chubb or Jaelan Phillips.
We are 11 days away from the #NFL Trade Deadline. Sources report #Chiefs are on the phones gauging trade talks on DL.
Dolphins #15 Jaelan Phillips would be an ideal guy! pic.twitter.com/2tPRcTHqur— Chiefs Lead (@ChiefsLead) October 24, 2025
After a promising rookie season that saw him make 14 QB hits and 6.0 sacks, Robinson has been disappointing in the first half of 2025. He has been on the field less, playing 39% of the defensive snaps versus 53% last year, and he’s only made a single sack, one QB hit, just seven combined tackles, and he has blanks in the columns for every other impact play statistic.
Robinson needs to increase his efficiency, too, if he is going to be startworthy.
Chase Young, DE, New Orleans Saints - Rostered in 17% of Leagues
Young is in the midst of one of his rare periods of healthiness and productive play. He missed the first five weeks of the season, but he has made a sack in each of the past two weeks. In a loss to the Buccaneers, he also stripped Baker Mayfield of the ball and recovered it for his first fumble recovery since his rookie year.
Young may never play up to the high expectations surrounding him coming out of Ohio State, but ever since he left Washington, he’s landed at a level of somewhat productive play.
Larry Ogunjobi, DT, Buffalo Bills - Rostered in 3% of Leagues
Ogunjobi could step into a more prominent role after Ed Oliver suffered a biceps injury in the Bills’ win over the Carolina Panthers.
Oliver was ruled out of the Week 8 contest before halftime, and early reports indicate that he will probably miss extended time. His loss deprives the mediocre Buffalo defense of one of its most effective pass rushers.
Ogunjobi, an eight-year veteran, will take up the vacated snaps. He should be well-rested after he had to sit out the first six games of the season with a PED suspension. In his first game back against the Panthers, he made three tackles.
In deep leagues and leagues that require a starting DT, Ogunjobi is a solid option.
Week 9 Waiver Wire Adds for Cornerback and Safety
Kevin Winston Jr., S, Tennessee Titans - Rostered in 8% of Sleeper Leagues
Winston, the team’s third-round pick this year, hasn’t played much, but he could get an opportunity if one of the starting safeties is dealt at the trade deadline. Having already fired their coach, the Titans chose to move in a new direction.
Xavier Woods is already 30 years old. By the time Cam Ward might be getting good, Woods will be washed. Amani Hooker is 27. He’s getting closer to that age.
While playing three years at Penn State, Winston was an effective tackler, making 61 combined tackles as a sophomore. He only made one interception in his collegiate career, so he’s not as valuable in big-play-oriented formats.
With the veteran safeties blocking him, Winston has been relegated to playing 46 snaps on special teams and just three snaps on defense. In deep leagues, you should snatch Winston now as a speculative stash. In moderate-sized leagues, be on the lookout for trade news before acting. In shallow leagues, you can ignore Winston until you see him producing on the field.
Nate Wiggins, CB, Baltimore Ravens - Rostered in 16% of Leagues
It took Wiggins a while before his IDP production began to tick up towards the end of last season, but now Wiggins is starting to play up to his first-round (2024) pedigree.
Caleb Williams is intercepted by Nate Wiggins!
CHIvsBAL on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/mgogq88blD
— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2025
He had the best game of his career this week, making seven combined tackles and an interception in a victory over the Chicago Bears. It was his third game with five or more tackles. While Wiggins had multiple games with just one tackle this season, he has made at least two tackles in every game of the 2025 season.
Kamari Lassiter, CB, Houston Texans - Rostered in 15% of Leagues
In his second year, Lassiter has become the Texans’ starting cornerback on the right side. His snap count has hit 60 or more in four games, and he has made five or more tackles in six of his seven games.
Coming off the bye, he had a ten-tackle game against the Seahawks and then made seven tackles and an interception, his second of the season, against the 49ers this week.
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