With Week 8 in the books, it is time to start looking ahead to the waiver wire and assessing what talent is available to help boost your roster. These are the IDP players you should look to target ahead of Week 9.
Defensive line
DJ Wonnum, Minnesota Vikings – Wonnum’s production has been very sack dependent, but he does now have four in his last five games. In three of those games he has topped 19 points. Next weekend he will face an Atlanta team that is allowing 3.3 sacks per game. It feels like he should have another strong outing.
Justin Madubuike, Baltimore Ravens – Madubuike has been on a roll this season for Baltimore. He is averaging 14 fantasy points per game and has scored double digit points in each of his last six games. He also has 5.5 sacks in his last five games. Next week’s matchup against the Seahawks isn’t easy, but I’d back him to do well again.
Linebacker
Jack Gibbens, Tennessee Titans – Gibbens won’t be a name familiar to many fans, but he has quietly been putting in a shift for the Titans’ defense this season. He has scored double digit points in all but one game this season and he has topped 15 points in every game since Week 4.
Leo Chenal, Kansas City Chiefs – With IDP favourite Nick Bolton on IR, Chenal has taken over as the starting linebacker for the Chiefs. We got our first look at how that would work against the Broncos and he didn’t disappoint. Chenal finished with eight tackles and a sack, scoring 23 points.
Denzel Perryman, Houston Texans – Perryman has long been a tackle machine and he is coming off a great performance in Week 8 against the Panthers. He has been limited by injuries this season but he now seems to be back as the Texans’ starter and that is a great thing for IDP.
Defensive back
Jabril Peppers, New England Patriots – Peppers is one of the few players who has eligibility to play both defensive back and linebacker in IDP so he’s almost worth consideration for that alone. He’s been super productive too though, topping 20 points twice in the last three weeks.
Josh Metellus, Minnesota Vikings – Metellus has been playing well for Minnesota this season but he still seems to be going under the radar in IDP terms. He has now topped 22 points in two of his last three games and has scored at least 13 points in all but two games this season. He is still available in 85% of IDP leagues but I don’t expect that to last.
