Defensive End

Fan Favorite J.J. Watt Leaves One Desert For Another

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Monday, the news became official that J.J. Watt had accepted an offer from the Arizona Cardinals for two years and $31 million with $23 million guaranteed. For the two and a half weeks he was a free agent, Watt had been linked to the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and a few other teams. For Watt, it is the end of an impressive era with the Houston Texas, who selected him 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. The fan-favorite won the hearts of millions with his work ethic, integrity, and authenticity. Heading into his age 32 season, J.J. Watt embarks on the twilight hours of his career as he chases the ever-elusive Lombardi trophy. 

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IDP Draft Preview: Gregory Rousseau

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At 6’6” and 265 pounds, the Hurricane defensive lineman has excellent height for a pass rusher. Rousseau has a good base weight but should be able to add even more muscle as he develops in the NFL. His size, explosion, and speed are already above average coming into the NFL, but within a few years, I would expect Rousseau to play at 280 to 290 pounds and become the prototypical size for an NFL defensive end.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 16

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This has been by far the most challenging season of sit/start decisions I’ve encountered in my years of fantasy football. Those of you in championship games and toilet bowls alike should take a moment to reflect on a challenging season, pat yourself on the back for your grit, and know that lessons learned this year will prepare you well for in-season roster management next year and beyond. If you’ve decided best-ball is your jam for 2021, I fully support you!

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 15

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The carnage of Week 14 is a not-so-friendly reminder to keep grinding all the way to the end of the season. Players who left the field with injuries include 49ers’ LB Fred Warner, Cardinals’ IDL Jordan Phillips, Bears’ CB Jaylon Johnson, and no fewer than four Eagles: CB Darius Slay, CB Avonte Maddox, S Rodney McLeod, and DT Malik Jackson. Three starting Raiders – DE Clelin Ferrell, LB Nicholas Morrow, and S Johnathan Abram – were sidelined, and the Raiders’ 44-27 loss to the Colts got defensive coordinator Paul Guenther canned.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 14

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There has never been a more difficult season for roster management in fantasy football. A typical season includes one list on which to reserve players for health reasons. The Reserve/Injured list with a designation to return allowed a team to stash a player for eight weeks. The team would activate the player from IR for a 21-day practice window in which to determine if the player was healthy enough to return to play. The player would commonly need a week or two to recondition before taking the field.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 13

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Opportunities to spot emerging talent in time to fuel a playoff run has passed. Week 13 is the final week of the fantasy regular season in many leagues. Playoff berths and seedings are on the line. Fantasy gamers, it’s time to survive and advance. That means spotting production that’s repeatable from one week to the next. This column exists to provide you those leads. Earlier this season, your author committed to providing both proactive and reactive pick-ups in this weekly column. A proactive pick-up is a player with growing snaps counts and improving play that poises him for a break-out. A reactive pick-up is a player who suddenly posted big numbers due to an injury to or benching of a player ahead of him on the depth chart.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 12

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Our luck with injuries among fantasy-relevant IDPs could not last. The grim reality of NFL football conspired with the worsening pandemic to thin out the pool of impact players for our lineups. These factors together with a season-low 13 games this past weekend make this a particularly challenging week to mine the waiver wire for quality options for the rest of the season.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 11

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The rate of injuries was yet again merciful to IDP fantasy gamers. Rams safety Taylor Rapp was one of very few players rostered in more than a third of IDP leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com who exited early. Rapp doesn’t belong on a redraft roster in 2020 anyway. Fantasy gamers browsing box scores, meanwhile, will have a tougher time discerning oasis from mirage on the waiver wire in Week 11. Seattle’s DJ Reed, for instance, piled up tackles and carries the position designation of “safety” on multiple platforms. Due to injuries, Reed has been pressed into service at cornerback, where he’s been an attractive target for opposing quarterbacks.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 9

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If you follow this column, then you know I didn’t have my best week weeding out pretenders in the box scores of Week 7. In Week 8, Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen played more snaps than fellow safety Juan Thornhill for the first time since opening day when Thornhill was returning from injury. Is 30-year-old Sorensen just now turning into a good player? He now has nine tackles and a turnover in each of his last two games. More importantly, he tied for the team lead in snaps.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 8

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NFL box scores from Week 7 provide fantasy gamers plenty of points to chase on the waiver wire. Several established veterans repeated their Week 6 heroics and remain available in many leagues. Your writer might have some small part in the small ownership numbers. Week 7 provided clarity for several of these players’ situations that should significantly boost fantasy gamers’ interest in them. Weeks like this require careful management of limited FAAB dollars. Those leaving the field with injuries sustained in Week 7 include Cardinals’ LB Jordan Hicks, Steelers’ LB Robert Spillane, Seahawks’ CB Shaquill Griffin, and two members of The Washington Football Team, DE Montez Sweat and S Landon Collins.

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Hooper Spillane

Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 7

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The NFL collectively held its breath and put forward a full slate of games less regularly scheduled bye weeks. Setting line-ups was only normally frustrating without several studs on both sides of the ball who were off for Week 6. Those leaving the field with injuries sustained in Week 6 include Steelers’ LB Devin Bush, who is lost for 2020 with a torn ACL, Panthers’ safety Juston Burris, Packers’ safety Darnell Savage, and two Eagles: DT Malik Jackson and safety K’Von Wallace. Sorry, Philly fans, I was not trolling you with the comment about injury regression!

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 6

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Has there ever been a more difficult week in which to set line-ups for fantasy football? The sheer number of players entering the weekend with a “questionable” injury designation coupled with the threat of game postponements challenged roster depth or triggered a flurry of transactions Sunday morning. Some fantasy gamers and writers assign blame to the uncertainty and question the skill involved in assembling a competitive line-up under such conditions. Your writer feels that gamers who understand the depth of options on the waiver wire and the back end of other teams’ rosters earns an advantage over the competition. The “next man up” came through for huge stat lines in several spots around the league in Week 5. This column aims to assist gamers in pursuit of additions with lasting value. In this season of uncertainty, burning through FAAB to chase points is a cardinal sin.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 5

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Upon completion of one-quarter of the NFL season, we have enough evidence to conclude who players are and how they fit into their respective defenses. Players who we know are good finally made good on their preseason promise. Bengals’ RB Joe Mixon and Broncos’ EDGE Bradley Chubb reminded us why we drafted them. On the other hand, we should accept that Cardinals’ RB Kenyan Drake and Raiders’ LB Cory Littleton won’t be the studs that fuel our rosters in 2020.

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Raiding the IDP Waiver Wire: Week 4

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Your author assumed responsibility for this weekly column midway through the 2019 season. Deep into a fantasy football season, the waiver wire is often simply a source for a line-up salve. I sought to recommend a player that could help a team survive and advance. I used immediate past production as an indicator of potential performance. I also considered scheme fit, match-up, game flow, snap counts, injuries, and returning players to make recommendations.

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The IDP Unseen Series: Part 1

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In this series of articles, we discuss some players from each defensive position group that are poised to break out this season. These players should put up a floor of respectable, fantasy starting lineup stat lines with the potential for positional top-15 ceilings. These are players that can be drafted or acquired with minimal draft capital in most full IDP leagues. An examination of the factors promoting these ascending players will take place in each article. Remarkably, there are quite a few players that are among the “IDP unseen,” as of now. We will start with the defensive line. 

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IDP Change of Scenery: Denver to Baltimore

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One of the more intriguing names left on the market for me was Derek Wolfe, who just agreed to terms with Baltimore Ravens a few days ago. Interestingly enough they signed Wolfe just days after Michael Brockers had issues with his physical, who they had signed earlier. Baltimore has been aggressively looking to overhaul its defensive line, as they have added Calais Campbell and tried to add Brockers.

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IDP Change of Scenery: Atlanta to Cleveland

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One of the bigger names left on the market, Adrian Clayborn, just signed with the Cleveland Browns, a few days ago. The Browns signed the former Atlanta Falcon to a two year, $5.75 million deal. Not an expensive signing, but a decent deal for Clayborn, and a team-friendly signing for the Browns. The deal will take the veteran defensive end through his age 33 season.

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