IDP Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers for Week 6 (2026)

October 13, 2026

Chris G's top IDP waiver wire adds and defensive streamers for Week 6 of the 2026 fantasy football season. Target these individual defensive players on waivers.

The 2026 NFL Draft class was universally panned as one of the worst in recent years. One criticism was that the class was “weak up top,” while others called it “deep on backups but light on starters.” For our part, in my pre-draft evaluations I noted that many were sleeping on the defensive talent near the top of this class, and all indications are I was right.

Consider David Bailey, the first defender off the board in this year’s NFL Draft. Going into Week 5, the Texas Tech alum ranked as the DL15 overall in Standard IDP Scoring points… then he dominated the Browns to rise to DL5 by Sunday night. This is particularly impressive for an undersized edge player with a questionable secondary supporting him.

Joining Bailey atop our defensive rankings are two more top ten picks in Arvell Reese and Mansoor Delane. Delane leads all defensive backs in fantasy points per snap, which is why he's on this list for a second week in a row. Meanwhile, Reese continues to dominate as fantasy’s DL6 overall, despite being considered a “raw” edge rusher coming out of Ohio State.

Defensive Linemen to Add

Elijah Ponder, New England Patriots

Rostered in 5.2% of IDP leagues

Ponder made this list last week, and then he logged two sacks against the Raiders, lifting him to DL6 overall in fantasy points per game this season. Given that he averages twice as many fantasy points as multiple defenders rostered in twice as many leagues (Derrick Brown, Odafe Oweh, Maxx Crosby), Ponder is a strong waiver add in most leagues.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 4%

Austin Booker, Chicago Bears

Rostered in 0.9% of IDP leagues

Booker has logged at least one sack in three of his five games so far, with two against a Packers offense that sat on the ball for most of the second half. While not a designated starter, Booker plays on almost all of Chicago’s pass-rush downs and ranks as the DL14 in fantasy points per game despite his limited run-game usage.

Austin Booker strip sack https://t.co/8mLmRqWqOH

— Caleb Williams Fan Club (@CalebFC18) October 11, 2026

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 0%

Princely Umanmielen, Carolina Panthers

Rostered in 0.2% of IDP leagues

While he is just the 193rd most-rostered DL in fantasy, this Ole Miss alum is DL40 in fantasy points per game and was tied for sixth in Pass-Rush Win Rate coming into the weekend. Better yet, Umanmielen has already had his bye and has three sacks in four games so far.

As if things couldn’t get better, seven teams left on Carolina’s schedule rank bottom-ten in sacks allowed this season. Plus, two of his next five matchups are against offensive lines ranked bottom-five in Pass Block Win Rate, and that doesn’t include an Eagles team that just lost Lane Johnson.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 0%

Linebackers to Add

Derrick Barnes, Detroit Lions

Rostered in 5.6% of IDP leagues

Barnes isn’t particularly trustworthy, given how much he relies on sacks and how inconsistent his tackle production is for an LB2-tier player. However, he ranks as the LB21 in Standard IDP Scoring, and he’s been effective enough as a pass rusher to offset his lack of tackles, logging three sacks in five games.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 1%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 4%

Quincy Williams, Cleveland Browns

Rostered in 5.0% of IDP leagues

Williams stuffed the stat sheet against his old team on Sunday, becoming the first Browns defender to force three fumbles in one game. That big day pushed him up to LB14 on the season. While it is hard to trust he will have another big game like this, Williams is an every-down player on a defense facing the seventh-most offensive plays per game.

The @Browns force the fumble in the red zone ‼️

@CLEvsNYJ on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/QohKap2DDD

— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2026

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 4%

Pete Werner, New Orleans Saints

Rostered in 2.0% of IDP leagues

Werner ranks 41st at his position in fantasy points per game going into Sunday night. However, if you factor out a Week 3 contest where the former Buckeye missed three quarters, then he jumps up to LB26 overall. That’s not bad for the 59th most rostered LB in fantasy.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 3%

Defensive Backs to Add

Mansoor Delane, Kansas City Chiefs

Rostered in 3.2% of IDP leagues

As we noted at the outset of this article, Delane is leading all DBs in fantasy points per snap this season. While his extremely small sample size heavily influences those metrics, the raw numbers also suggest the LSU product is woefully under-rostered.

Mansoor Delane with one of the GREATEST two-play sequences you’ll see from a rook.

Registers a TFL on Ashton Jeanty, and follows it up with CLAMPING Brock Bowers.

The Chiefs rookie CB NEUTRALIZING some of the NFL’s top weapons 😳🔒 https://t.co/oHzd3YU6qM

— Rookie Watch (@RookieWatxh) October 4, 2026

Given that he's significantly impacted the box score in nearly every fantasy category you could ask for (turnovers, deflections, tackles, etc.), it's easy to trust the rookie. Throw in the fact that he's already had his bye and still has a relatively low profile, which should drive down demand, and Delane could be one of the best IDP waiver adds of the year.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 2%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 10%

Jacob Parrish, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rostered in 1.0% of IDP leagues

Parrish was a top 50 prospect in my 2025 NFL Draft rankings, and he is already showing why. The former nickel is the DB4 overall in Standard IDP Scoring, is tied for first in the NFL in pass deflections, and he’s played nearly every defensive snap for Tampa the past three weeks. The Kansas State product deserves to be rostered in more than 1% of leagues.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 3%

Hezekiah Masses, Las Vegas Raiders

Rostered in 6.0% of IDP leagues

Masses is coming off an extremely disappointing showing against a Patriots team that threw the ball at will, but remember he was the DB4 in fantasy points until this week. The needle may be pointing down, but even after his poor showing, Masses is the DB21 in fantasy points per game, and the Raiders reportedly love him.

FAAB in Standard IDP Leagues: 0%

FAAB in Deep IDP Leagues: 3%

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