RADIO
I was wrong about Bobby Wagner. All it took was putting him in a new system, and now he’s a QB-wrecker, too. He made two sacks and an interception, his first of the year, in his revenge game against the Seahawks. That’s five sacks on the year and ties his career-high.
Other standout individual defensive players from Week 13 include Chandler Jones and Nick Bosa, who both made three sacks. Those are Jones’ first three full sacks of the year, so don’t jump to add him just yet. Jalen Pitre made 16 tackles and an interception. He’s been solid this year.
I’m going to continue my waiver wire column as I did last week, dividing it into adds for smaller leagues and larger leagues. You might see some crossover. If you find one of the recommendations for smaller leagues in your 11-man league, you’ve got a steal. I’m not going to spoil the list for you, but if you read it, you’ll find one WR you can start at CB. I bet you know who that is already.
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6-Starter IDP Fantasy Football Leagues
Drue Tranquill, LB, San Diego Chargers - Rostered in ~33% of Sleeper Leagues
Tranquill is your bread-and-butter high-volume tackle guy. He doesn’t force a lot of turnovers. He makes an occasional sack but he has never made fewer than five combined tackles in a game, and he’s made eight or more tackles six times.
Julian Love, S, New York Giants - Rostered in ~33% of Sleeper Leagues
In his past two games, Love has made 23 combined tackles and an interception. He always shows up in a big way for games against his division rivals. In his upcoming games, he has division rivals and teams whose offenses move quickly and stay out on the field: the Eagles (No. 7-most plays run per game), the Commanders again (No. 2), and the Vikings (No. 12). Those games should give him a chance to make a lot of tackles.
Daron Payne, DL, Washington Commanders - Rostered in ~5% of Sleeper Leagues
After making two sacks in Week 13 against the Giants, Payne has 8.5 on the year, good enough to sneak into the top 15 in the NFL. Five of his sacks came in the past six games. He’s made three or more tackles every game, too, and five or more tackles four times—not bad for a lineman. The Commanders have their bye in Week 14, but then they face the Giants again at home in Week 15. Will Payne terrorize Daniel Jones again?
Jalen Pitre, S, Houston Texans - Rostered in ~16% of Sleeper Leagues
He’s leading the Texans in tackles almost every week. It doesn’t matter who they play, and of his 92 combined tackles, 61% of them are solo tackles. He deserves our love and also for denying Deshaun Watson a touchdown in Deshaun's pitiful return.
Devin Lloyd, LB, Jacksonville Jaguars - Rostered in ~5% of Sleeper Leagues
This all depends on the severity of Chad Muma’s injury. Muma went down with an ankle injury and left the game in Week 13. Lloyd had been leading rookies in tackling early in the season before Muma cut into his playing time. He had three games with double-digit tackles in the first five weeks. He played 100% of the Jags’ defensive snaps in six of the first eight games of the season, but in his past three games, he’s played 60%, 38%, and 29% of the snaps. If Muma’s injury turns out to be serious, Lloyd should get to see more snaps again.
11-Starter IDP Fantasy Football Leagues
Reed Blankenship, S, Philadelphia Eagles - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
In his first game starting for the injured C.J. Gardner-Johnson (kidney), Blankenship made three solo tackles and a pass breakup while playing 100% of the snaps. It wasn’t the big game he had when he initially stepped in for Gardner-Johnson in Week 12, but it was still 6.7 Rotoballer IDP points—enough to adequately fill a roster spot. The Titans only threw 26 pass attempts, and Derrick Henry only averaged 2.7 yards per carry and never went for longer than six, so there weren’t many opportunities for a safety to make a play.
The Eagles have the Giants, Bears, and Cowboys coming up in Weeks 14-16. At least against the Cowboys, Blankenship should have some chances to make plays on the football.
Cameron Bynum, S, Minnesota Vikings - Rostered in ~12% of MFL Leagues
Bynum is getting some attention after making a big interception in Week 13, his second of the year, but he’s been a solid under-the-radar contributor all season. He’s never missed a snap, and he’s made six pass defenses—all of them coming in the second half of the season—57 combined tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Michael Hoecht, DL, Los Angeles Rams - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
The second-year pass rusher has stepped up where needed as of late. He came out of nowhere, and in Weeks 12 and 13, he played more than 55 defensive snaps in each game. In Week 13 against the Seahawks, he made two sacks and forced a fumble. Aaron Donald is going to miss at least one more game, and Hoecht might have earned himself a permanent role in the defensive lineup.
Marcus Jones, CB, New England Patriots - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
Jones was targeted twice and caught both passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. It was his second touchdown in three weeks. The cornerback and punt returner returned the punt for the winning touchdown against the Jets in Week 11.
Jones, a rookie, has only played 109 defensive snaps, but he has done well on defense, too, making three pass breakups and six combined tackles. His defensive volume is too limited to get you points from defensive metrics alone, but if his usage continues like this, you might be getting an offensive weapon in a defensive slot.
Tony Fields II, LB, Cleveland Browns - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
The second-year linebacker erupted for a pick-six and a fumble recovery in a game in which the Browns’ defense outscored the Texans. He has made eight combined tackles in the past two games despite playing just 49 total snaps in that time. But he should get many more snaps going forward.
Teammate Sione Takitaki tore his ACL in the Texans game and will miss the rest of the season. Some analysts might advise you to pick up and/or start Deion Jones. But Fields has gotten more snaps than Jones in two of the last three games, and he’s grading better than Jones.
Monty Rice, LB, Tennessee Titans - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
Titans every-down linebacker David Long left the game against the Eagles in Week 13 with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Rice, getting more playing time, made seven tackles, including one for a loss, on 26 defensive snaps and 20 special teams snaps. He made some mistakes and missed a couple of tackles, but IDP is all about opportunity, and the Titans' defense is hurting. If Long misses time, Rice should step up and get more snaps, and he has made four solo tackles in each of his two games when playing over 30% of the defensive snaps.
DaRon Bland, CB, Dallas Cowboys - Rostered in ~1% of MFL Leagues
Bland has been on the field for over 70% of the snaps each of the past three games and over 85% each of the past two. He recorded two interceptions and two pass defenses in Week 13. On the season, he has made three interceptions on 312 snaps. With nearly a 1% interception rate, he would have been amongst the top-five in picks last season if he played the same number of snaps. He also has made 16 solo tackles in the past four games.
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