Week 11 is in the books, and IDP managers are furiously scouring the waiver wire for impact additions. The first half of the season always provide some new and some old options to consider, some of which will impact IDP starters for the rest of the season. The names below all seem to qualify and may very well be available in your leagues. Let’s take a look at some of the names that are worth some of your free agent budget.
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Chris Jones (DT/DE – KC): 13% rostered on Yahoo
Chris Jones came into Week 11 with just three sacks in what many considered a disappointing season. Kansas City had been shifting him around the defensive line all season, but as he showed this past Sunday, he is at his best in the middle. In Week 11 against Dallas, Chris Jones went bonkers, recording four solos, one assist, 3.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one pass defended. Jones is obviously long gone in leagues where you have to start at least one DT, but his rostered numbers suggest that he is floating on the wire in far too many DL leagues. Jones is one of the premier talents in the league and should be rostered in all competitive formats. He can be counted as a DL2 with DL1 upside for Week 13 when he comes off the Chiefs bye.
Marcus Davenport (DE – NO): 6% rostered on Yahoo
Marcus Davenport is cooking for the New Orleans Saints. He has a sack in each of his last three games, with 4.5 total. Now up to 5.5 sacks on the season, Davenport will set a new career-high with his next one. His tackle production in Week 11 was simply incredible. Davenport racked up six solos, four assists, 1.5 sacks, and two tackles for loss. To put the tackles in perspective, Davenport has never recorded more than 15 solos, in an entire season. He recorded 40 percent of that total in one week. If he can start being consistent in the tackle department while still racking up sacks, the former first round pick can bully his way into the DL1 conversation. For now, he is still more of a DL2 with matchup-based DL1 upside, but the tools and recent production suggest he may be ready for more. He can be counted as a DL2 option for Week 12 against the Buffalo Bills and will remain one for Week 13 against Dallas before knocking on the DL1 door for a Week 14 matchup against the New York Jets.
Yannick Ngakoue (DE – LV): 6% rostered on Yahoo
Hit or miss. Yannick Ngakoue continues to be the epitome of a boom or bust player for the Las Vegas Raiders. He has really turned it one after a slow start and has seven sacks since Week 5, a timeframe in which he is the DL11 in total fantasy points and the DL10 in fantasy points per game. He was solid in Week 11, tallying two solos, one assist, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. It has become near impossible to accurately predict which week he will have sacks and which weeks he will put up a dud, so the suggestion here is to roll with him as a DL2 option and to take the good with the bad. He has DL2 upside for a plus Week 12 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Trey Hendrickson (DE – CIN): 12% rostered on Yahoo
Welcome to the Trey Hendrickson column, where we suggest adding the Bengals pass rusher every week, to no avail. Hendrickson was back at it again in Week 11, tallying two solos, one sack, and one tackle for loss. Hendrickson has been on fire, and no one seems to care. He has a sack in each of his last six games and in seven of his last eight. He is top-10 in the league (ninth) with 9.5 sacks and is the DL15 on the season. He is the DL9 since the start of his sack streak in Week 5. He is often a sack and little else type of player and is often overshadowed by teammate Chris Hubbard but deserves some love as one of the most consistent options at his position. He is a DL1 option in Week 12 against the Steelers and will remain one until he cools down. Add the talented pass rusher wherever available.
Kwity Paye (DE – IND): 2% rostered on Yahoo
Kwity Paye has been a bit of a disappointment to start 2021, but that is only because we had such high hopes for the talented rookie. He has just two sacks on the season but has one in each of his last two games, suggesting that he may have finally turned the corner. He recorded one solo, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble in Week 11 and is a DL3 option with DL2 upside for Week 12 thanks to a plus matchup against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense that has been gifting production to the defensive end position. He should see his highest tackle count of the season against the Bucs and will be on sack watch against Tom Brady. Paye makes for a solid streamer who will make a case for a permanent position on your roster.
Jaelan Phillips (DE – MIA): 7% rostered on Yahoo
Phillips has been heating up for the Miami Dolphins and is now at 3.5 sacks for the season. He recorded three solos, one sack, and one tackle for loss in Week 11 and has now recorded at least a half sack in each of his last three games. He has three plus matchups in a row, starting with the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. Phillips will be hard to trust as more than a deep league DL3 option but is now worth a hard look at starting week-to-week.
Kyle Van Noy (LB – NE): 1% rostered on Yahoo
Kyle Van Noy has caught fire with Jamie Collins sidelined. He was excellent again in Week 11, racking up five solos, three assists, two sacks, two tackles for loss, one interception, one pass defended, and one touchdown. He is the LB1 overall over the past two weeks and is locked in as an LB2 option for a plus matchup against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12. Collins may be back in Week 13, but Van Noy’s role should remain the same even after his return. Add Van Noy where possible as an LB3 who can be trusted as an LB2 option until he cools down.
Robert Quinn (DE/LB – CHI): 1% rostered on Yahoo
Robert Quinn has caught fire for the Chicago Bears. He was an abject disaster in 2020 but is now up to 10 sacks after a scintillating Week 11 in which he tallied four solos, one assist, 3.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. He has worked his way back to the DL2 conversation and has DL1 upside with the right matchup. He has LB2 upside in the right matchups as long as he is cooking and is just that for a fantastic Week 12 matchup against the Detroit Lions. He is too hot to be on the wire in any format, including those where he only qualifies as an LB.
Preston Smith (LB/DE – GB): 0% rostered on Yahoo
Revenge of the pass rushers. Preston Smith was excellent in Week 11, racking up four solos, two assists, two sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. He is riding a two game sack streak and should be rostered in competitive formats in which he qualifies as a DL or in deeper leagues where you can start three or more LB’s. He will be inconsistent as sacks come in bunches outside of the truly elite but is a strong LB3/DL3 option for Week 12 and beyond. Add him where needed as a top-tier streaming play.
Chandler Jones (DE/LB): 8% rostered on Yahoo
Sometimes Yahoo’s rostered numbers make no sense at all. Yes, it is hard to get an accurate gauge on true percentages given that Yahoo does not break IDP league rostered numbers down by league type, but Chandler Jones is one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL and already has a five sack performance in 2021. Yes, he qualifies as an LB only on Yahoo and had just one sack since his tremendous Week 1 performance, but he appears to be getting things back on track and now has a sack in two of his last three games. He recorded four solos, two sacks, three tackles for loss, and one forced fumble in Week 11 and should feast against the Chicago Bears in Week 12 regardless of who is under center. He lost a fair bit of upside when J.J. Watt was lost for the season but is still a weekly DL1 option and is an LB2 option with the right matchup. Count him as a DL2/LB2 option for a plus Week 12 matchup against the Bears.
Zach Cunningham (LB – HOU): 7% rostered on Yahoo
Zach Cunningham is showing signs of life with Christian Kirksey sidelined and has worked his way into the LB2 conversation for as long as his teammate is on the mend. Cunningham racked up six solos, five assists, one tackle for loss, one pass defended, and one forced fumble in Week 11. He has at least one more week before he goes back to a bit role, so get while the getting is good. He is an elite LB2 option with LB1 upside for a plus matchup against a New York Jets team that is running on fumes. Add him for Week 12 and figure out the rest later.
Kamu Grugier-Hill (LB – HOU): 2% rostered on Yahoo
Unlike teammate Zach Cunningham above, KGH will maintain his role when Christian Kirksey is back in the lineup. He showed off his upside in Week 11, tallying six solos, six assists, one interception, and two passes defended. He is a solid if uninspiring LB3 option but comes equipped with the LB2 upside he displayed against the Tennessee Titans. He has an LB2 upside matchup for the next two weeks and should be added by those looking for some bye week cover.
T.J. Edwards (LB – PHI): 9% rostered on Yahoo
T.J. Edwards has been lighting it up since being inserted into the starting lineup and was at it again in Week 11, racking up seven solos, three assists, one tackle for loss, one interception, two passes defended, and one fumble recovery. Edwards has recorded at least five solos in each of his last four contests and has hit double-digit total tackles in three of those four games. The LB2 overall and LB6 in fantasy points per game since he became a starter, Edwards is an LB2 option going forward. Add him in leagues where he is still somehow sitting on the wire as an immediate difference-maker.
Jevon Holland (S – MIA): 6% rostered on Yahoo
Jevon Holland was excellent again in Week 11, racking up six solos, one assist, and one pass defended. He has been so good lately that his DB1 level stat line seems like a minor letdown. He is locked in as a starter for the Dolphins and should only continue to get better and more consistent as the season progresses. Holland is a future DB1 who will boast DB1 upside in the right matchup. He is a DB2 on a weekly basis and should be rostered in all competitive leagues. The DB10 overall since he became a starter, Holland has DB1 upside in Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers and will maintain it for Week 13 against the New York Giants and after their bye Week 15 against the New York Jets.
L’Jarius Sneed (CB – KC): 9% rostered on Yahoo
One of the rare cornerbacks to appear in this column more than once, Sneed started his rookie season with a bang but was never quite the same after his injury. He looks to be rounding back into form in 2021 and has now recorded five or more solos in four of their last five games. Sneed recorded five solos, one assist, one tackle for loss, one interception, and three passes defended. He loses a bit of value on platforms that erroneously list him as a safety but is still a solid DB3 with DB2 upside regardless of positional labeling. The DB4 overall since Week 6, start him as a CB1/DB3 going forward,
Eric Murray (S – HOU): 0% rostered on Yahoo
Eric Murray was excellent in Week 11, recording six solos, five assists, and one pass defended. He has been reinserted as a starter for the Texans and has played at least 94 percent of the snaps in each of the last two weeks. He should be snapped up by fantasy managers looking for depth or a DB3 option. Murray has played like a DB2 over the last two weeks and could lock himself into that conversation with a few more strong weeks. He can be counted as a DB2 option for Week 12.
Kamren Curl (S – WAS): 5% rostered on Yahoo
Kamren Curl has been a bit of a roller coaster ride this season but was excellent in Week 11, racking up seven solos and one assist. He is a turbulent DB2 option who has picked up his pace lately and should be rostered in all competitive formats.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
