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Mitchell's top Week 5 IDP waiver wire pickups, adds, fantasy football defensive streamers for 2025. Target these individual defensive players on Week 5 waivers.
New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart won his debut, 21-18, over the Los Angeles Chargers, but he didn’t have a comfortable time doing it.
Dart was sacked six times, including four times by Tuli Tuipulotu, one of this week’s IDP waiver wire adds. Another IDP who dominated this week was Bears safety Kevin Byard III, who made seven tackles and two interceptions. He’s not a streaming candidate in Week 5, as the Bears are on bye.
Read on for ten linebackers, defensive linemen, and defensive backs who can contribute to your fantasy team for the short or long term.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
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- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Week 5 Waiver Wire Adds for Linebacker
Mack Wilson Sr., LB, Arizona Cardinals - Rostered in 10% of Leagues
Begrudgingly, I have to include Wilson amongst my list of waiver wire adds. He’s the most boring of IDP players: the mediocre journeyman linebacker who stays on the field and makes tackles by virtue of existing.
The @AZCardinals defense said NO on 4th down 😤
AZvsSF on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/LJZiRtzAJ5
— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025
For most of his career, he functioned as a backup and spot starter. Wilson filled that role for five years in Cleveland and New England. He rarely made impact plays; Wilson has forced four fumbles, recovered one, and intercepted two passes. His inconsistent play earned him multiple PFF season-long grades in the 40s.
In his mid-to-late twenties, he found himself in a starting role with a rebuilding team—the Arizona Cardinals. Last season, as the Cards’ No. 2 LB, Wilson made 75 combined tackles on 760 snaps. After Kyzir White left, Wilson became the No. 1 LB this season, and he’s on pace to play over 1,200 snaps.
As such, he’s leading the NFL with 35 tackles. His tackle rate is 12.1%, which is pretty high. Even if he cools off, he’ll probably surpass 100 tackles on this volume.
Eric Wilson, LB, Minnesota Vikings - Rostered in 9% of Leagues
The Vikings’ Wilson remains the green dot-wearing starter in the wake of Blake Cashman’s hamstring injury. Cashman remains on the IR until no earlier than Week 7.
Against the Steelers, Wilson had a season-high nine tackles. He did not, however, force a fumble, as he had done in Weeks 2 and 3. With his solid play, he remains a viable streamer in leagues that start two or three linebackers.
At age 31, he is of little interest in dynasty leagues.
Demario Davis, LB, New Orleans Saints - Rostered in 40% of Leagues
The ageless wonder continues to produce. Davis made seven tackles in the Saints’ loss to the Buffalo Bills. While he has not made a sack in the past seven games, his tackle production is higher than it was a couple of years ago.
The same caveat exists about Davis’s age in dynasty leagues, as he is 36. However, he has an established role as the Saints’ starter, and his tackle production shows no sign of slowing down.
Week 5 Waiver Wire Adds for Defensive Line
Nick Herbig, LB/DL, Pittsburgh Steelers - Rostered in 9% of Leagues
Herbig had the best game of his season, making five tackles and 1.5 sacks against the Minnesota Vikings. He has now made an impact play in each of his three games and is averaging 20 points per game in Rotoballer Standard IDP Scoring.
Fellow edge rusher Alex Highsmith remains sidelined with an ankle injury and didn’t practice all week. He may miss Week 5, too. One would hope that if Herbig keeps playing this well, he will earn himself a starting job even after Highsmith gets healthy.
George Karlaftis, DL, Kansas City Chiefs - Rostered in 21% of Leagues
Karlaftis, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in 2022, is continuing to develop nicely. After getting to the quarterback again in the Chiefs’ resounding victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the No. 30 pick now has three sacks on the season to go with 18 tackles.
His production dropped off somewhat in 2024, going from 10.5 sacks to just 8.0, but he seems to be on an overall upward trajectory.
Tuli Tuipulotu, DL/LB, Los Angeles Chargers - Rostered in 8% of Leagues
Tuipulotu exploded for 4.0 sacks in the Chargers’ loss to the New York Giants this week. They were his first four sacks of the season. The boom didn’t come out of nowhere, though. Through three games, Tuipulotu was tied with Aidan Hutchinson and Jonathan Greenard for fifth in pressures.
No sacks for Tuli Tuipulotu yesterday but he was outstanding on tape. Logged 6 pressures and had a few great plays against the run, per usual. The second to last clip where he gets chipped and then wins on a double swipe against the RT is 🤌 The splash plays will there very soon… pic.twitter.com/NtCPU7wEdE
— Steven Haglund (@StevenIHaglund) September 23, 2025
It may have been bad luck that the 2023 second-round draft pick had yet to convert a pressure into a sack. Of the 20 pass rushers with 13 or more pressures, Tuipulotu was the only one without a sack going into the week. Last season, he made 8.5 sacks.
Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars - Rostered in 0% of Leagues
If you are in desperate straits, like the Jaguars are at defensive line, you can try to milk the last bit of production out of Ogbah at age 31. With Travon Walker ruled out of Week 4’s win over the 49ers, Ogbah came in and made a tackle.
Ogbah has made ten sacks, two fumble recoveries, and two interceptions in the previous two seasons. His two best seasons were 2020 and 2021 with the Miami Dolphins, when he made nine sacks in each of them.
He’s not going to wow anyone, but he may be able to contribute a sack in about one-third of his games.
Week 5 Waiver Wire Adds for Cornerback and Safety
Derwin James Jr., DB, Los Angeles Chargers - Rostered in 58% of Leagues
James is one of the best safeties in the league. He has had four triple-digit tackle seasons and three seasons with three or more sacks, making him one of the sack leaders amongst defensive backs. He’ll only be available in shallow leagues, but, as the numbers show, you might be playing in a shallow league.
Isaiah Rodgers, CB/ST, Minnesota Vikings - Rostered in 9% of Leagues
Rodgers has gotten his first opportunity to start since being drafted in the 6th Round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and he’s making plays.
In Week 3, he had a historic performance, scoring two defensive touchdowns. If you were hoping he would do it again, well, you’d be disappointed. Rodgers did not find the end zone in the Vikings’ 21-24 loss to the Steelers in Week 4, but he did block a kick. That’s three points in the RotoBaller Standard IDP Scoring system.
Rodgers has been a playmaker going back to his days at the University of Massachusetts. During his four-year career, he made 11 interceptions, which he took back for an average of 22.0 yards per return and scored three touchdowns.
Heading into the draft, he was known as an undersized ballhawk. (At 170 pounds, he is the third-lightest corner to take a snap this season.) In three seasons with the Colts and one with the Eagles, he was utilized largely on special teams, only starting 13 games on defense. This year, he has started all four weeks and played 91% of the snaps through the first three weeks.
While he has big-play upside, he is not a big tackle producer. He usually lines up out wide, away from the play. His season-high is just five tackles, so you’d have to be content with a very low floor if you start Rodgers.
Keyon Martin, CB, Baltimore Ravens - Rostered in 0% of Leagues
If James is not available in your league, Martin should be. An undrafted rookie out of Louisiana, Martin is getting a lot of playing time due to injuries.
Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins left the Ravens’ Week 4 loss to the Chiefs with a calf injury and an elbow injury, respectively. Wiggins had to be carted off.
Martin stepped in and made four tackles. He was little utilized in Weeks 1 and 3, but he played 22 snaps in Week 2 and made four tackles against the Browns. Through the first three weeks of the season, he has made five tackles and hasn’t missed one, earning himself an 80.9 PFF tackling grade.
Week 5 IDP News and Notes
Jaire Alexander Still Not Playing
Ravens offseason cornerback addition Alexander has not played since Week 1 despite having no reported injuries. After a terrible Week 1 in which the Bills targeted Alexander three times for three catches to the tune of 83 yards, John Harbaugh didn’t want to see him again.
Following injuries to Humphrey and Wiggins, the Ravens might be forced into playing Alexander again. Yet the fact that they’re not suiting him up now doesn’t speak to their confidence in Alexander remaining a contributor for long.
If he does get playing time, he might ironically be a viable IDP contributor because he could be frequently targeted. But rather than investing that much time in monitoring the week-to-week situation, you could find an actually talented corner.
Logan Wilson Losing Playing Time?
Bengals green dot middle linebacker Wilson only played 42 of the Bengals’ 52 defensive snaps against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. After the game, it was reported that the Bengals may be using a linebacker rotation.
True, Wilson’s time on the bench came late in the game, when it was already well out of hand. But the Bengals’ season may very well be finished before too long, especially with difficult games coming up against the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. Wilson is approaching 30, and his contract has a potential out in 2026.
Rookie Demetrius Knight Jr. hasn’t looked great, but, after selecting him in the Second Round, the Bengals want to see what they have in him. Fourth-round draft pick Barrett Carter also got more playing time against Minnesota. Meanwhile, Oren Burks, who has excelled in run defense for the 49ers and Eagles before joining the Bengals this offseason, is playing well.
Wilson acknowledged his diminished usage and said, “I’m just going to find a way to do my job to the best of my ability, whatever that is, and, yeah, just go from there,” according to the Dayton Daily News.
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