Welcome to the sixteenth and final weekly edition of “Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire” for 2021! For those returning for another installment of defensive player recommendations, your interest and support are appreciated!
This weekly column will help you, the reader, plunder your league’s waiver wire for real value where it counts: in your line-ups. We dig into the past week’s top performers among available options for repeatable production.
“Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire” is written for fantasy football gamers in leagues that require a full complement of 11 defensive starters in leagues of 12 to 16 teams. Recommendations rely on scoring settings from FantasyPros.com, even though their value for passes defensed is low. We’ll look for options at both conventional and true defensive positions as they arise.
Players qualifying for this column are those rostered in no more than a third of IDP leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL); moreover, new names appear in each edition. Occasional readers are encouraged to visit past weeks’ write-ups for more options. Finally, these recommendations further assume you, the manager, have finite roster space with challenging cut decisions to add new names.
If week 15 has been the most chaotic week of the 2021 season, Week 16 was lather, rinse, and repeat with a Christmas backdrop. Those celebrating with their families while IDP staples Darius Leonard and Khari Willis hit the COVID list got less than they deserved. Perhaps even more unfairly, fantasy gamers surviving to Week 17 will have the opportunity to land their replacements on waivers. The Colts’ defensive scheme lends value to the positions of weak-side inside linebacker (WILB) and strong-safety positions that could pay off in fantasy championship games.
EJ Speed, Colts LB and George Odum, Colts SAF
Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus must have received a lump of coal in his stocking Christmas morning along with news that he would be without All-Pro LB Darius Leonard and starting strong safety Khari Willis versus the Cardinals that night. Both players tested positive for COVID-19.
Unvaccinated players must sit ten days, which will also keep them out for the Colts’ Week-17 date with the Raiders. Multiple reports indicate Leonard is unvaccinated, while a Colts-Cardinals broadcast team identified Willis as unvaccinated as well.
Eberflus prioritizes speed at linebacker, especially on the weak side, which steered him to third-year man EJ Speed to replace Leonard in the line-up. The Tarleton State grad nearly doubled his season snap count playing somewhat surprisingly ahead of veteran starting strong-side linebacker Zaire Franklin. Speed, who ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at 224 pounds in the 2019 predraft process, capitalized on his first significant opportunity with 9 tackles and a pass defensed in a fired-up defensive performance against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals.
Another small-school product, George Odum of Central Arkansas made his fifth start of the season in place of Willis and the eighth start of his four-year career. Odum has made no fewer than 5 solo and 6 total tackles in his starts, peaking at 9 on Christmas versus the Cardinals.
Both players will see a Raiders offense that will attack them and generate tackle opportunities with RB Josh Jacobs and TE Darren Waller in Week 17 in a game both teams need in the NFL playoff hunt.
Lorenzo Carter, Giants EDGE
The Giants might be as well known historically as any team in the league for a fierce pass rush. Churn at the defensive-coordinator position prompted the franchise to splurge on and then waste expensive free agents Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul in recent seasons. The Giants have spent draft picks on edge defenders year after year since to replace them.
Lorenzo Carter, the Giants’ third-round pick in 2018, has flashed at times under two regimes but has not demonstrated consistency. A big hurdle was an Achilles tear in October 2020. Carter is flashing again some 13 months after last season’s severe injury. He has collected 7 tackles, 3.0 QB sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 passes defensed in the past two games.
While his team is playing out the string for a franchise rife with uncertainty, Carter is playing for his next contract in the NFL. He now faces the Bears, who have allowed the most sacks of any team in 2021 (tied with the Ravens).
Greg Gaines, Rams IDL
It’s hard to put into context just how good a football player Aaron Donald is. One measure might be the production of the players lining up with him. OLB Leonard Floyd scored double-digit sacks in 2020 and looked like an adequate NFL player for the first time in his career. Nose tackle Sebastian Joseph was a fantasy DT1 when he hit the reserve/injured list earlier this season.
Greg Gaines has played nearly full time since Joseph went down. All the third-year man has done is make 32 tackles including 4.0 sacks in 8 starts. He and the Rams draw a Ravens offense allowing 3.3 sacks and run 69.7 plays per game – both league-leading statistics in 2021.
Happy Bidding!
And best of luck in your fantasy championship, third-place game, or toilet bowl. May we all win or lose on the merits of our roster management with healthy players.
Following this week, I will return to my offseason work of IDP dynasty ranks and defensive scheme previews. In the latter, I investigate what coaching changes will mean for defensive players’ fantasy values in the coming season. It’s a challenging but enjoyable occupation with no absolute answers.
Feedback from you, the reader will be welcome at www.DynastyFootballFactory.com and on Twitter, where these articles will drop as news arises and information emerges throughout the offseason. I look forward to interacting with you!
A Clemson and Michigan alum, a fan of the Cowboys and Panthers, I try to see both sides of every debate and every fantasy football trade. Reach out to me @DynastyTripp on Twitter.
