Top IDP Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 9 and Trade Questions

Chris G's top IDP waiver wire adds and defensive streamers for Week 9 of 2020 fantasy football. These LB, DL, and DB have matchups worth exploiting.

Knowing how difficult it can be to evaluate the value of defenders in trades, I have decided to offer our readers the opportunity to ask me any IDP related trade questions you may have. These questions may or may not be included in our future IDP Trade Advice columns. If you want to have your question written up in an article, let me know. If you prefer your question just be answered without publication, that’s cool too.

Feel free to send your IDP questions to my Twitter: @The_PreSnapRead. All questions from all readers are welcome. I’ll even answer fantasy football-related questions from Taterguy121… even though the restraining order clearly states you are not to contact me “by any means whatsoever.”

Please do note that if your question is at all related to whether I will dress as a sea captain and take you to your son’s prom…. I won’t do that. Please stop asking, Tater.

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IDP Settings

As a reminder, we will use the following IDP designations/league settings for our FAAB recommendations:

• Standard Scoring Leagues: This system usually rewards 1-point per tackle, 3-points per sack, 4-points per turnover, and sometimes offers 2-points for a tackle for loss (TFL) or pass deflection (PD). Standard leagues also usually only start one DL, LB, and DB, respectively. You will always prioritize your FAAB budget towards offensive players in Standard Scoring IDP leagues, though you shouldn't underestimate the value of adding a great defender in them.
• Defense Premium Leagues: Defense Premium leagues tend to try to make defensive players worth as much as offensive players. Commissioners often accomplish this by rewarding 2-points per tackle, 3-points for TFL or PDs, 4-points per sack, and 6-points per turnover. In these leagues, you don't necessarily prioritize offensive players on waivers. While it is a case-by-case analysis, defenders in these leagues can often be worth as much as most offensive waiver additions.
• Deep Defense Leagues: These are leagues that have you start a full defense, or require you to start CBs and DTs, or they are leagues so deep (think 16 team leagues) that at least 32 players at each position (DL, LB, and DB) start every week.
• Dynasty Leagues: This is self-explanatory to most. Dynasty leagues are those in which every player you draft/add is on your team until you trade or release him.

Now that we have that explanation out of the way, let's get to this week's top adds! Remember that we will only address defenders who are rostered in less than 30% of IDP leagues on ESPN, Yahoo, or other prominent sites. We will also do our best to avoid obvious additions. While players like Myles Garrett are somehow rostered in only 31% of ESPN IDP leagues, we assume that anyone reading this material knows to add Garrett if they can.

Waiver Adds of the Week

1. Chase Young, DL, Washington Football Team

Young is still available in more than 80% of IDP leagues, and he is still one of the ten most talented pass rushers in the NFL, so we will keep putting him on this list until he is rostered in more leagues. We will call this the Jeremy Chinn treatment.

I get that Young hasn’t set the world on fire like some expected him to have done at this point, but he has been quietly effective. He notched 2.5 sacks in his first two games, and he has been sturdy against the run with several high-tackle performances. To make matters even better, he still has six different below-average offensive lines left on his schedule. Add him in all formats. Don't drop Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, or T.J. Watt to add the Ohio State rookie, but he arguably has more fantasy potential than any other DL in 2020.

Standard Scoring FAAB: 2%

Defense Premium FAAB: 3%

Deep Defense FAAB: 5%

Dynasty FAAB: 5%

2. Brian Burns, DL, Carolina Panthers

While Burns' stats already look better than many (not me) anticipated this year, those stats could be even better. If you watch his film, you will notice that he has had at least two takedowns and a FF wiped out by penalties and bad calls. He is supremely talented, which is why he was on our pre-season sleeper list, and he is an excellent asset in dynasty and Defense Premium leagues. He has also been surprisingly consistent when it comes to tackles, which gives him a concrete floor in Standard leagues each week.

Standard League FAAB: 1%

Defense Premium FAAB: 3%

Deep Defense FAAB: 2%

Dynasty FAAB: 2%

3. Brandon Graham, DL, Philadelphia Eagles

Graham sits tied for third in the NFL in sacks right now. As we already covered in past articles, he has been on a career pace all season and is not slowing down. Despite the tear he is on, he is available in approximately 85% of IDP leagues. Graham has a reliable tackle output, but his sack totals make him a top-12 DL in all formats. However, his age may keep you from investing too much in him if you play in dynasty.

Standard League FAAB: 2%

Defense Premium FAAB: 3%

Deep Defense FAAB: 3%

4. Avery Williamson, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

The roster percentage for Williamson has skyrocketed since he was traded to the Steelers, which is a natural response when someone goes from the least talented defense to the most talented defense in the NFL. No doubt, people have noticed that Jamal Adams saw his already high fantasy stock improve when he left New York. The anticipation could be that Williamson will see a similar improvement. While we will detail the impact this trade has on Williamson's value in a later column, we can note that for now, it will be harder for offenses to scheme around Williamson than it was when he was in New York. Expect him to continue to be a good source of tackles, with a possible boost in big plays thanks to an improved support system.

Standard League FAAB: 1%

Defense Premium FAAB: Wait

Deep Defense FAAB: 2%

Dynasty: Wait

5. Dre Greenlaw, LB, San Francisco 49ers

Over the past few weeks, we have consistently recommended you add Greenlaw in IDP leagues as a short-term starter and a bargain. Greenlaw's only concern as a long-term IDP asset was that he tended to cede almost all of the nickel package work to Kwon Alexander. With Alexander's trade to the New Orleans Saints today, the 49ers effectively gave Greenlaw the starting LB position next to Fred Warner in nickel packages. With Alexander off the roster, Greenlaw and his consistent tackling should see 90% of the team's snaps for the rest of the season and possibly into the future. When Greenlaw gets that sort of snaps, he averaged eight-plus tackles per game. He is also a capable big play LB. He is worth adding in all 12-team leagues, regardless of format.

Standard League FAAB: 1%

Defense Premium FAAB: 1%

Deep Defense FAAB: 2%

Dynasty FAAB: 2%

6. K.J. Wright, LB, Seattle Seahawks

A highlight for us last week, Wright is rostered in just under 25% of IDP leagues across multiple formats. Next week he should be ineligible for this column, as he is having a resurgent season for fantasy purposes. Wright is excelling in coverage right now and is a solid spot-starter in 14-team IDP leagues. He also has tangible value in Defense Premium leagues that award plus-points for PDs or turnovers. Wright isn't the most attractive long-term asset in fantasy, however, due to his age (31-years-old) and the fact the Seahawks just drafted Jordyn Brooks in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Brooks is likely to phase into this defense at some point, and his presence could ultimately make Wright expendable in the next year or so.

Standard Scoring FAAB: Wait

Defense Premium FAAB: 2%

Deep Defense FAAB: 1%

7. Antoine Winfield Jr., DB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The excitement, and roster rates, for Winfield Jr. have declined considerably over the past few weeks. Once rostered in well over 30% of IDP leagues, Winfield Jr. is now rostered in less than 20%.

Winfield Jr. can attack downfield in the run game and cover a lot of field in the passing game. He also plays on one of the most talented defenses in the NFL, which increases his chances for big plays this year and beyond. In just his first eight games, Winfield Jr. has been far more productive than most rookies, and he has put up only one bench worthy fantasy performance so far. Expect him to get more consistent as he goes and return to playing like an elite fantasy DB soon. He is worth rostering in all fantasy formats, especially in dynasty.

Standard League FAAB: 2%

Defense Premium FAAB: 2%

Deep Defense FAAB: 3%

Dynasty: 3%

8. Rodney McLeod, DB, Philadelphia Eagles

Rostered in less than 15% of leagues, McLeod has been reasonably consistent for fantasy managers so far this season. Before his one tackle performance against Dallas this week, the Eagles’ safety was averaging 6.5 tackles per game. That’s a nice floor for a guy who averages nearly one PD per game and has accrued two turnovers so far. He also has a relatively friendly fantasy schedule ahead of him, against multiple pass-heavy offenses. He is worth adding 12-team redraft leagues.

Standard FAAB: Wait

Deep Defense FAAB: 2%

Defense Premium FAAB: Wait

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