IDP Leagues Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Football: Week 12

Mitch Blatt's top IDP waiver wire adds and defensive streamers for Week 12 of the 2022 fantasy football season. These LB, DL, and DB have matchups worth exploiting.

Jimmy Johnson said during the FOX pregame show, “I think the only way they [the Cowboys] are going to win it, they’ve got to outscore Minnesota.” Technically he was right. The Cowboys outscored Minnesota by 37, and they did win it. He was wrong to suggest the Cowboys' defense couldn’t stop the Vikings. It was a case of overreacting to a couple of recent games. The Cowboys allowed 28 points and 29 points in their past two games, but prior to that, they had never allowed more than 17 in a game.

Micah Parsons and the Cowboys front seven terrorized Kirk Cousins. Parsons made 2.0 sacks and forced a fumble. DE Dorance Armstrong made 2.0 sacks and recovered the fumble. It was a good spike week for him: 25 points in Rotoballer Standard IDP scoring, tied for sixth-most of the Sunday afternoon games. Armstrong is a boom-bust addition. He made just two tackles and no impact plays in his previous two games. But if you’re content with spike weeks every two games or so, he’s probably available for you on the waiver wire.

I’ll give you 10 players who are better quality additions than Armstrong, however. Last week, Ravens DE Justin Houston was my top add. Houston made half a sack, extending his sack streak to four weeks. Who do I recommend this week?

IDP Waiver Wire Adds For Week 12

Jack Sanborn, LB, Chicago Bears

Rostered in ~40% of MFL Leagues

The rookie Sanborn stepped up after Roquan Smith was traded away. He has made 24 solo tackles in the past three weeks, 2.0 sacks, and one fumble recovery. He has been getting snapped up by linebacker-needy fantasy managers, but he’s still available in more than half of IDP leagues.

Leonard Floyd, DE, Los Angeles Rams

Rostered in ~30% of Leagues

Floyd has made a sack in three of the past four games and multiple sacks in two of those games. He has scored 20+ Rotoballer IDP points in Weeks 8 and 11. He has been converting pressures into sacks and hasn’t missed a tackle between Weeks 8-10.

Jaire Alexander, CB, Green Bay Packers

Rostered in ~30% of Leagues

The consistent shutdown corner made nine pass breakups from Weeks 6-10 and added two interceptions. He’s been the CB5 in the IDP Invitational since Week 6. He has kept opposing WRs he’s covered to an under 60% completion rate every year of his career, and now he’s having a career year for picks.

Yannick Ngakoue, DE, Indianapolis Colts

Rostered in ~45% of Leagues

After taking down Jalen Hurts twice, Ngakoue has now made half a sack or more in each of the past five weeks and seven of the last nine. He is not making many tackles—just five combined in the past three weeks—but he’s worthy of a roster spot in leagues with sack-heavy scoring systems.

Levi Wallace, CB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Rostered in ~1% of Leagues

With the Steelers' secondary battered most of the season, Wallace has stepped up and played 70% of the defensive snaps, including 100% of the snaps in Week 10. Wallace missed Weeks 8 and 9 with a shoulder injury. In the past four games, he has been active, including Week 11, and the 27-year-old has made three interceptions and seven pass breakups.

Kenny Clark, DT, Green Bay Packers

Rostered in ~40% of Leagues

One of the top-10 tackle leaders amongst interior defenders, Clark has made 14 combined tackles and a sack in the past three weeks. When defending the run, Clark has only missed one tackle all season.

Dante Fowler, LB/DL, Dallas Cowboys

Rostered in ~25% of Leagues

Playing for one of the NFL’s best pass rush units has helped him get to the quarterback for 5.0 sacks this season. He doesn’t get enough snaps yet—just 33% of the Cowboys' defensive snaps—but when he’s on the field, he’s making an impact. His pass rush grade (75.0) and coverage grade (83.9) are both career highs.

Antonio Hamilton, CB, Arizona Cardinals

Rostered in ~1% of Leagues

Starting in the place of the injured Byron Murphy (back), Hamilton made 10 solo tackles and two pass defenses in Week 10. Murphy missed Monday Night Football in Week 11, too, and his injury could linger. PFF is giving him a 77.5 defensive grade and a 77.6 coverage grade.

Arnold Ebiketie, DE, Atlanta Falcons

Rostered in ~10% of Leagues

The Falcons’ rookie edge rusher has played about 56% of the snaps and done well in his limited time. He has made sacks in two straight games and put a hit on the opposing QB in five of the last six games.

While he could make an impact the rest of the way in deep redraft leagues, you should also keep an eye on him as an under-the-radar dynasty prospect going into next year. His pass rush win rate of 11.7% is equal to that of Aidan Hutchinson and George Karlaftis, but he’s much more affordable.

Benjamin St-Juste, CB, Washington Commanders

Rostered in ~1% of Leagues

Week 11 was a down week for the second-year DB, who left the game early with an ankle sprain, but St-Juste made 17 combined tackles from Week 8-10, along with a sack, a fumble recovery, and two pass defenses. He’s only allowing completions 52.6% of the times he’s been targeted. Monitor his injury, but if he’s back, he should be a contributor in Week 12.

Other Adds

Ravens DE Jason Pierre-Paul made a sack and an interception in Week 11. Jaguars S Andre Cisco was on a bye but he has made a pass defense or two in his past four games and an interception. Patriots CB Devin McCourty had a down game, but he had four pass breakups in the two previous games. I mentioned Cowboys DE Dorance Armstrong’s big game, but he’s too boom-bust for fantasy managers who are looking for consistent production.

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