With Week 14 coming to an exciting and competitive conclusion on Monday Night Football, fantasy football managers have quickly set their sights on improving their rosters ahead of Week 15, fantasy football semifinals week. With waivers set to run tonight in some leagues, we will jump right into some of the top waiver wire adds for those of you that 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 Back

Jabrill Peppers (S – NYG): 14% rostered on Yahoo!
Jabrill Peppers continues to perform at an elite level but is somehow only rostered in 14 percent of Yahoo leagues. Peppers has been a DB1 through and through, Peppers has been a top-three option since Week 8 of the season. He went off again in Week 14, racking up eight solos, five assists, two tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. Luckily for those who have not rostered him yet, he has a tough on-paper Week 15 opponent against his former team in the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland has allowed the second fewest fantasy points to the safety position

Kamren Curl (S – WAS): 7% rostered on Yahoo!
Kamren Curl continues to ball out for Washington, recording seven solo tackles, one interception, two passes defended, and one touchdown in Week 14 against the San Francisco 49ers. He has been a DB1 since he took over for an injured Landon Collins and needs to be in lineups in competitive leagues. His Week 15 opponent is the Seattle Seahawks, who are strong on paper in terms of limiting fantasy points to opposing safeties, but Curl has worked his way into every week must start territory and will be a DB2 option with DB1 upside. Add Curl wherever possible, even if it is just to block your semi-finals opponent. 

Johnathan Abram (S – LV): 10% rostered on Yahoo!
Don’t look now, but Johnathan Abram is finally playing close to the DB1 level he was expected to assume as a rookie. He has yet to have a normal offseason with the Raiders but appears to finally be coming into his own on defense. He was always exciting due to his all-out physical style of play, but he is now stringing together strong IDP performances. Abram was excellent in Week 14, racking up seven solos and seven assists.

If active, he will face off against a Los Angeles Chargers team allowing the ninth most fantasy points to the safety position. He is going to have to clear some hurdles, namely, the league’s concussion protocol to be active, but that just means that he will likely be able to be rostered for a relative value due to the uncertainty regarding his Week 15 status. He should already be rostered in all competitive leagues, but it is worth taking a look to see if your league is one of the 90 percent in which he is still kicking around on the wire. Add Abram if you have the bench or IR spot to stash him until he is active. 

Adrian Phillips (S – NE): 10% rostered on Yahoo!
Former All-Pro safety Adrian Phillips is another safety who has been a DB1 this season and is still criminally under-rostered. He has been one of the most consistent options at the safety position and continued to turn in strong outings down the stretch. He produced at a DB1 level in Week 14, recording eight solos, two assists, one tackle for loss. Much like Jabrill Peppers above, Phillips has a tough on paper Week 15 matchup that is likely to lower the competition for his services on this week’s waiver wire run. He will face off against a Miami team surrendering the sixth fewest fantasy points to the safety position, but one he had his best game of the season against back in Week 1 when he recorded eight solos, one assist, one tackle for loss, one interception, and one pass defended. Add Phillips wherever possible, even if it is just to keep him off a rival’s roster. 

Linebacker

Haason Reddick (LB – ARI): 1% rostered on Yahoo!
Hasson Reddick should not be a priority pickup for Week 15, but after a gargantuan five sack performance against the New York Giants, and with the Philadelphia Eagles on tap for Week 15, he has to at least be considered or kept away from your Week 15 opponent. Reddick went bonkers, recording five solos, five sacks, two tackles for loss, six QB hits, and three forced fumbles. 

He is more of a matchup based play for deep league managers, but it is impossible to ignore his upside against a decimated Philadelphia Eagles offensive line. Deeper league managers need to roster him as he is now up to 10 sacks on the season, good for sixth in the league. The good does not stop there as he is fifth in the league with 13 tackles for loss and sixth with three forced fumbles. 

All of his sacks have come against questionable offensive lines, with seven of his 10 coming against the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. With another NFC East opponent with a suspect offensive line for Week 15, he has another ‘boom’ opportunity. Add Reddick where possible, with an eye on playing him as an LB4 with exciting LB1 overall upside. 

Troy Reeder (LB – LAR)): 4% rostered on Yahoo!
Troy Reeder may have one more week left of LB1 level production left in him. He going to go back to a near-zero percent (or zero) defensive snap role when Micah Kiser is healthy but has been a legit LB1 option when Kiser has been sidelined this season. Reeder was quieter in the tackle department than we have gotten used to, recording four solos and three assists, but added a tackle for loss to round out his stat line. He gets the New York Jets in Week 15 and will be an LB1 option if he gets the start. Add him wherever possible. 

Avery Williamson (LB – PIT): 4% rostered on Yahoo!
Williamson racked up the counting stats in Week 15, recording nine solos, two assists, and a QB hit. He saw his snaps spike to 89 percent with Robert Spillane sidelined and should play a similar role as long as he is on the shelf. Williamson has a great Week 15 matchup against a Bengals team relinquishing the 10th most fantasy points to the linebacker position, and should be added wherever possible. He can be counted as an LB2 option for Week 15, making him a tremendous waiver wire add where available. 

Alex Singleton (LB – PHI): 14% rostered on Yahoo!
Yes, this column could pretty much be called the Alex Singleton column over the past few weeks, but that is what happens when an LB1 is laying around on the wire in far too many leagues. Singleton was strong again in Week 14, racking up eight solos, three assists, and one tackle for loss. He should be afforded plenty of tackle opportunities against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15. Singleton has an LB2 floor against Arizona but has no doubt LB1 upside. He has been excellent for the Eagles when given starters snaps and can be leaned on for Week 15.

Defensive Line

Chase Young (DE – WAS): 16% rostered on Yahoo!
Chase Young flashed his elite DL1 upside and went bonkers in Week 14, racking up two solos, four assists, one sack, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two passes defended, and a touchdown. He appears to finally be back into form after a groin injury limited his effectiveness for multiple weeks, and needs to be rostered universally. He should be long gone in competitive leagues, but there are currently 17 defensive linemen rostered in more leagues than Young. Add Young wherever available, he is a potential difference maker who you should be looking to keep off your opponents roster even if you don’t plan to play him in Week 15. In Week 15, Young will square off against the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle has allowed the third most points to the defensive end position, making Chase Young safe to trust as a DL1.

Olivier Vernon (DE – CLE): 3% rostered on Yahoo!
Olivier Vernon has really picked up his play recently and carried his momentum into Week 14, recording two solos, one assist, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and two QB hits. After recording zero sacks through his first five games, Vernon has amassed seven in his last six games. His sacks have come in bunches, as all of his sacks have come in three contests, with two against the Raiders, three against the Eagles, and now two against the Ravens. Vernon gets the extremely vulnerable New York Giants offensive line in Week 15, a line that just gifted eight sacks to the Arizona Cardinals, including five to the aforementioned Haason Reddick. The incredible matchup puts Vernon on the DL1 periphery for Week 15. Add and start him wherever possible. 

Trey Hendrickson (DE – NO): 8% rostered on Yahoo!
Hendrickson fell flat on his face in Week 14, managing just one solo on 48 percent of the snaps. It was a weird week snap wise, as the returning Marcus Davenport saw just 39 percent of the snaps with the Saints opting to give a third defensive tackle, Shy Tuttle, 51 percent of the defensive snaps. Tuttle was eating into Hendrickson’s snaps even when Davenport was sidelined, but Hendrickson remains too talented to bench for Week 15. He will be more DE2 than DE1 due to facing the Kansas City Chiefs but has no doubt DE1 upside. Kansas City has surrendered the 15th most fantasy points to the defensive end position and could provide plenty of pass rush opportunities. Third in the league with 10.5 sacks, now is not the time to throw in the towel on the prolific pass rusher. Add and start him where possible.

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