Welcome to the second weekly edition of “Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire” for 2021! For those returning for a second 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’ll 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. We rely on scoring settings from FantasyPros.com, even though their value for passes defensed is a bit low. We’ll look for options at both conventional and true defensive positions as they arise. Qualifying players are those rostered in no more than a third of IDP leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL). These recommendations assume you, the manager, have finite roster space with challenging cut decisions to add new names.
The first week of the football season might be the toughest on fantasy gamers. The second week, meanwhile, demands more restraint for those navigating the waiver wire. The temptation for those that missed out on revelations from Week 1 is to assume Week-2 surprises are equally valid.
Week 2 of the 2021 season carried over two notable themes from the opening week. First, many teams deployed rotations or committees at positions of strength. Just like a running back by committee, a potentially good fantasy situation is gutted by the lack of a workhorse at linebacker and safety. Examples include safeties in New York and Washington as well as Eagles and Cowboys linebackers. (And that’s just one division!)
The second recurrence was fool’s gold among defensive tackles. The Chargers’ Jerry Tillery put up a stat line and a snap-count total that will attract interest among fantasy gamers in DT-required leagues. A look at the game tape, however, suggests LA should look for alternatives along its line. That could begin this week if fellow DT Justin Jones is sufficiently recovered from a Week 1 calf injury to return to play.
True to midseason form, the recommended approach this week is to pursue replacements for injured players. Players on both sides of the ball, including quarterbacks, seemed to fall in bunches during the early slate of games this past Sunday.
Payton Turner, Saints DE
New Orleans’s first-round pick in 2021 debuted Sunday after injury kept him out of the opener. Payton Turner took some of the snaps vacated by injured Saints DEs Marcus Davenport and Tanoh Kpassagnon. Turner capitalized on his opportunity to the tune of 5 tackles including 3 for loss and a QB sack in only 41% of the Saints’ defensive snaps. If Turner didn’t earn his way ahead of long-time depth piece Carl Granderson and career underachiever Kpassagnon, it’s only a matter of time.
Azeez Al-Shaair, 49ers LB
San Francisco’s Dre Greenlaw suffered an injury celebrating a pick-6 with teammates in a victory over the Lions in Week 1. His absence opens the door for Azeez Al-Shaair to take over at weak-side linebacker in San Francisco for the next 4-8 weeks. Al-Shaair collected only five tackles against young QB Jalen Hurts and a Philadelphia offense that struggled to possess the ball against the 49ers’ stout defense. Al-Shaair should have more tackle opportunities in the next three weeks versus the Packers, Seahawks, and Cardinals.
Malcolm Smith, Browns LB
Like Al-Shaair, Smith had notice that he’d be on the field in relief of an injured starter during the week leading up to the game. We fantasy gamers, however, could be less sure that Malcolm Smith would occupy a full-time role. After all, Smith exited training camp as the Browns’ third option at middle linebacker behind Anthony Walker and Jacob Phillips. Smith, who seemingly won a Super Bowl MVP Award a generation ago, enters Week 3 as the clear leader of Cleveland’s defense while Walker resides on IR. Smith compiled 8 tackles including a TFL and an interception to help secure a victory over the surprisingly pesky Texans.
Justin Strnad, Broncos LB
Denver lost its defensive play-caller Josey Jewell versus the Jaguars on Sunday. Second-year Wake Forest alum Justin Strnad, who lost 2020 to injury, came on in relief. This was a long-awaited debut for a player IDP heads have followed since Jewell looked eminently replaceable in 2019.
Strnad quickly compiled six tackles in 23 snaps, showing an efficiency that strongly contrasts that of Alexander Johnson, the Broncos’ other starting linebacker, thus far in 2021. Whether or not Strnad, the unknown commodity can stave off rookie LB Baron Browing and rotational big dimes remains to be seen, but he’ll have all year to prove himself. Jewell is lost for the season with a torn pec.
Willie Gay, Chiefs LB
The Chiefs’ presumptive starting linebacker appears on a fleetingly small and shrinking number of rosters while he nurses a toe injury on the Injured-Reserve List to start the season. This is the perfect moment to add Willie Gay to rosters cheaply because fans recall Cris Collinsworth singing the praises of his replacement Nick Bolton on national television. Pro Football Focus, the analytics company that Collinsworth co-owns and leads, was less impressed with Bolton’s performance.
Matt Judon, Patriots EDGE
Judon was a top but inexpensive target in your author’s drafts all summer. He’s the exception to this week’s theme of injury replacements.
The Patriots handed out several lucrative free-agent contracts last March. None were bigger than the 4-year, $56 million deal signed by Matt Judon. The former Raven is tied for fifth in the NFL with 10 QB pressures per Pro Football Focus. While he has just 4 tackles (2 for loss, including a sack), he’s faced two anemic in-division offenses. That should change as the season progresses, allowing Judon more opportunities to make plays.
Happy Bidding!
Week 3 features several interesting options on the waiver wire along with several land mines that box-score chasers are sure to tweet out. Modest bids and a bit of discernment should land help this week without exhausting your resources.
We at Dynasty Football Factory are here to help you navigate this torrent of information! 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. Feel free to reach out to me @DynastyTripp on Twitter.
