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Week 9 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups (2020 Fantasy Football)

Week 9 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups (2020 Fantasy Football)

With Week 8 coming to a surprisingly competitive conclusion on Monday Night Football, fantasy football managers have quickly set their sights on improving their rosters ahead of Week 9. With waivers set to run tonight in most leagues, we will jump right into some of the top waiver wire adds for those of you are lucky enough to play in IDP leagues. You truly don’t know what you are missing until you try it. Let’s dig in.

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Note: Rostered percentages provided via Yahoo! leagues

Defensive Line

Emmanuel Ogbah (DE – MIA): 13% rostered on Yahoo!
If fantasy managers would just add Emmanuel Ogbah and get him over the 18 percent cutoff for this column, I could have used this space to tell you to add Denico Autry or Olivier Vernon, both of whom just had two sacks in Week 8. Instead, I will be harping on you to add the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’. Ogbah is now up to six sacks on the season, tying him for seventh in the league.  Ogbah was strong again in Week 8 with one solo, one assist, one sack, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, and one QB hit. He has bullied his way into the DL1 conversation and is now a legit threat to have a 10 sack season. Ogbah should be universally rostered, period. 

Stephon Tuitt (DE – PIT): 6% rostered on Yahoo!
Tied for seventh in the league with six sacks, if you play in a non-novelty IDP league where Tuitt is still available, you have failed as an IDP manager. Tuitt is and has been a DL2 with matchup based DL1 upside. He went off in Week 8 with a gargantuan eight solos, one assist, two sacks, three tackles for loss, and three QB hits. He was at four sacks prior to last week so he should have already been rostered in competitive leagues. Next on deck for Tuitt? Dallas, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville. Suffice it to say that Tuitt is a must-add during the byes. 

DeMarcus Lawrence (DE – DAL): 13% rostered on Yahoo!
D-Law has picked up his play since a slow start to the season and has posted three sacks and five tackles for loss in his last four games. He had zero sacks and one tackle for loss in his first four. Lawrence made good on his plus matchup against the Eagles to record five solos, one assist, one sack, three tackles for loss, two QB hits, and one forced fumble. His game has caught back up to his name, and this may be the last chance those in competitive leagues have to add him. Act accordingly.

Josh Allen (DE – JAC): 4% rostered on Yahoo!
I get it, no one wants to roster Jacksonville players. Yes, Allen has been inactive for three of the eight weeks this season, but when we are talking about a defensive end who made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season thanks to racking up 10 sacks, there is no excuse for him to be rostered in just four percent of Yahoo! leagues. Allen was quiet in his Week 7 return, recording just one QB hit, but must be fully healthy as he played a season-high 79 percent of the snaps, and now had the Week 8 bye to heal even further. Add Allen wherever possible, players with proven DL1 upside should never, ever, be laying around on the wire.  

Chase Young (DE – WAS): 16% rostered on Yahoo!
It is true that Young has taken a major step back since returning from the groin injury that forced him to miss most of Week 3 and all of Week 4, but if there was ever a defensive end to stash, it is Chase Young. He exploded out of the gates with 2.5 sacks in his first two contests before the groin injury derailed what was likely going to be a defensive rookie of the year campaign. He clearly has not been right, as in addition to having zero sacks since his return, he does not even have a QB hit. Want a get right spot? Call up his Week 9 opponent in the New York Giants. With byes and injuries still a thing in fantasy, Young needs to be added wherever available. Now. 

Linebacker

Robert Spillane (LB – PIT): 1% rostered on Yahoo!
Hopefully, you were one of the early ones in on Spillane, but if you were not, it is time to get aggressive. Spillane picked Lamar Jackson for six points in Week 8, but even without the interception return for a touchdown (and the accompanying pass defended points), Spillane was elite in Week 8. He racked up 10 solos, one assist, one interception, one fumble recovery, and two passes defended. He may lose some snaps to trade deadline acquisition Avery Williamson, but by the time Mike Tomlin is willing to trust Williamson on running downs, Spillane may have already run with the job. Williamson is also an upgrade on a fellow inside linebacker Vince Williams, so the Williamson acquisition does not necessarily mean that it is Spillane who sees his snaps reduced. Add Spillane now, ride him while he is hot and in a big role, and figure the rest out later. 

Josey Jewell (LB – DEN): 2% rostered on Yahoo!
Jewell was strong again in Week 8, racking up six solos and four assists in a plus matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Jewell has been flashing all season and deserves to be on more than just two percent of rosters. He is an LB2 option during the byes and is an ascending LB3 going forward. He has not been the picture of consistency but has five or more solos in four of his seven contests. It is time to start taking him seriously. Add him wherever possible. 

T.J. Edwards (LB – PHI): 1% rostered on Yahoo!
T.J. Edwards is set to take on starters snaps with Nathan Gerry placed on injured reserve. He was dabbling earlier this season before getting hurt with favorable results, so his Week 8 outburst against the lowly Dallas Cowboys should come as no surprise. Edwards had a career night against Dallas, racking up six solos, seven assists, one sack, two tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. Edwards played a career-high 78 percent of the snaps in Week 8, and is the Eagles linebacker to add following the injury to Gerry. Gerry is on short-term injured reserve, but there is no guarantee he returns this season. Consider Edwards an LB3 with LB2 upside going forward. 

Bobby Okereke (LB – IND): 4% rostered on Yahoo!
Okereke racked up six solos, one assist, and two tackles for loss in Week 8. He has been excellent since Week 4 and has at least five solos in each game since then, recording six or more in three. He has played over 79 percent of the snaps since Week 2 and has officially passed Anthony Walker without a shadow of a doubt. Okereke is now an upside LB2 option with a higher floor than we were used to seeing from Walker. Rostered in just four percent of Yahoo! leagues, his percentage suggests that more than a  few have been slow to pick up on the fact that there is a new starter in Indianapolis. Add Okereke wherever needed. 

Ja’Whaun Bentley (LB – NE): 1% rostered on Yahoo!
Bentley was solid again in Week 8, recording four solos, one assist, and one tackle for loss. If he is able to take the field after suffering a groin injury against the Bills, he will be a tremendous option for Week 9. He can be counted on as an LB2 option against a pitiful New York Jets team just going through the motions. If you have a linebacker on bye this week and no other linebacker on this list is available, do yourself a favor, and add Bentley as a one week plug and play. Figure out if you want to continue to roster him later.  

De’Vondre Campbell (LB – ARI): 16% rostered on Yahoo!
De’Vondre Campbell should be owned in all competitive IDP leagues. 10th in the league among linebackers in solo tackles, Campbell has been a top-shelf LB2 option this season. There is absolutely no reason for him to be rostered in just 16 percent of Yahoo! leagues aside from the fact that he was on a bye during Week 8. Campbell has been featured in this column numerous times this season, and if you play in a league where he was inexplicably dropped by an inexperienced, or impatient rival, add him now, and reap the rewards. 

Defensive back

Josh Jones (S – JAC): 8% rostered on Yahoo!
Josh Jones has been excellent this season. He has provided consistent DB1 level production and has worked his way into weekly DB1 consideration. He is not a DB1 on the season in fantasy points, but that is more due to a lack of peripheral stats and being ejected for a helmet to helmet. Jones is third among safeties in solo tackles per game with 5.6 and should creep up into the DB1 leaderboard once the outlier game spike by others are flattened out by more games played. Jones needs to be universally rostered, and I am not just saying that so I can stop writing about him every week. Rostered in just eight percent of Yahoo! leagues due to playing in Jacksonville and coming off a bye, add Jones wherever possible. 

Donovan Wilson (S – DAL): 0% rostered on Yahoo!
Donovan Wilson has produced at a DB1 level every time he has received 87 percent or more of the snaps this season. This past week he recorded five solos, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one QB hit. There is little rhyme or reason as to why he plays well (from an IDP perspective at least) on heavy snaps, gets demoted to a rotational role, only to play heavy snaps again the following week. This pattern has been going on since his breakout Week 4. Hopefully his performance this past week has convinced the Cowboys to just stick with him during a lost season that should be used for evaluation. Add him where needed, but place your bids accordingly. 

Jabrill Peppers (S – NYG): 4% rostered on Yahoo!
One of the more peculiar players to have such low rostered numbers, Peppers is and has been a player who should be rostered in all competitive IDP leagues. Peppers was excellent in Week 8, racking up nine solos, one assist, and two passes defended. He was an easy DB1, and can be counted on as one again with two terrific matchups against Washington and Philadelphia on tap prior to his Week 11 bye. Add Peppers wherever possible as a bye week option who may just end up replacing your current DB2. At the very least he will be an upside DB3 option, ignore him at your own peril. 

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (CB/S – NO): 0% rostered on Yahoo!
CGJ racked up eight solos, two assists, and two tackles for loss in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears. It drives me crazy that most providers have not made him CB eligible despite starting all of his games in the slot, but such is life for IDP aficionados. He has five or more solos in five of his seven contests and is an elite CB option who doubles as an S2. Add him where needed. 

Daniel Sorensen (S – KC): 9% rostered on Yahoo!
Daniel Sorensen has rather quietly worked his way into being a DB1 this season. He can not be counted as a weekly DB1 option, but there is no denying the fact that he has produced as a DB1 through eight weeks of the season. Sorensen saw his interception streak end at two games, but was still excellent in Week 8, racking up eight solos, one assist, and one forced fumble. Sorensen is yet another IDP player garnering no respect who continues to produce. He is going to be a hot target this week after three elite weeks, so prepare your bids accordingly.

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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyContext.

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