In the event your league is still playing for the championship in the final week of the regular NFL season, good luck. It is a tough time to garner early information about which teams will be sitting their best players, which is why the majority of fantasy football leagues wrap up the action in Week 16 (hint, hint). It also makes for tough roster decisions, but below are few lesser owned IDP that could fill in as you go for the trophy in your league. As always, best of luck in your fantasy efforts; it has been a pleasure to provide these articles for your perusal over the past several months.
Elevator Going Up
Linebackers
Davis has a superb matchup, facing the Panthers who top the list of teams allowing points to opposing linebackers. Since the Week 9 bye, he has been on a tear, racking up four sacks, nine pass deflections (PD) and 57 of his 109 total tackles (TT) collected this season, 45 of the solo variety. He also picked off a pass during that stretch.
Germaine Pratt CIN
Pratt was previously featured in the IDP Report way back in Week 7, so he is due for another mention as the season winds down. Since becoming a more integral part of the Bengal LB corps in Week 11, he has stepped up his performance, nabbing 48 of his 71 TT on the season. He is coming off a double-digit tackle effort in Week 16, and now gets to face in-state rival Cleveland, the sixth most generous team with respect to LB fantasy production.
Vic Beasley , Jr. ATL
Beasley has collected four sacks in the past three contests, and has 6.5 since the bye week break in Week 10. He is just a so-so tackle option at LB, but if you are looking for big play production in the way of sacks, he is a great option.
Defensive Linemen
Henry Anderson DE NYJ
Anderson was able to play in Week 16, so while he is still limited in practice with a knee issue, he is expected to suit up in Week 17’s contest against the host Bills. Buffalo has been generous in allowing sacks of late, so there is that potential along with his usual handful of tackles.
Maliek Collins DT DAL
Collins is featured due to a good matchup against Washington at home, although he is really only useful in DT-mandatory leagues. His Week 17 opponent has been giving up sacks recently, so if he can get pressure on the QB and contribute a few tackles, he has some value.
Defensive Backs
Malcolm Jenkins S PHI
Jenkin’s Eagle team heads to New Jersey to take on the Giants, a great matchup for the starting strong safety. He is averaging 5.5 TT per contest over the past six weeks, and has stepped up the PD numbers, with four over the past four games.
Tracy Walker S DET
Walker is another IDP that graced this article months ago, back in Week 2. He has been a steady performer all season long, on a team that has struggled to keep opposing offenses off the field, resulting in great tackle production (97 TT through Week 16, 77 solo). He is being asked to back up a depleted linebacking corps for the Lions, and should see plenty of tackle opportunities when Green Bay visits this Sunday.
Damontae Kazee S ATL
Kazee is in line for a great game, facing the fifth ranked team in allowing fantasy points to opposing safeties when the Falcons head to Tampa Bay to wrap up the regular season. He has been inconsistent with his fantasy point manufacturing, but that has generally coincided with poor matchups, not the case in this coming contest.
Rock Ya-Sin CB IND
The rookie corner has been seeing significant playing time over the past three games, and he has produced in both the tackle department as well as contributing big-play fantasy point production to increase his value. The Jaguars are a middle of the pack matchup, so do not expect the moon, but steady value has its place in IDP leagues, too.
Jimmie Ward CB SF
Ward’s tackle numbers have fallen off the past two weeks, that despite a pair of decent matchups. Thus, the good matchup in Week 17 against the Seahawks is not necessarily a harbinger of good things, but his overall performance as the 49ers starting free safety and his general availability in leagues makes him worth consideration if you have need of a defensive backfield fill-in for the final game of the fantasy season.
Trayvon Mullen CB OAK
Mullen is expected to play in the Raiders’ final season game, despite being carted off the field in Week 16 with a neck/head injury. He has been a steady tackle machine for the Raiders this season, and was adding PDs at an increased rate in the second half of the season.
Escalator Going Down
As noted above, it is a notoriously difficult time to predict which players are going to even take the field in Week 17, and thus, except for those IDP listed in the Injury Report below, there are no defensive players worthy of a demotion based on recent performance as the fantasy season winds to a close.
Matchups to Exploit
Remember, the first team listed is the one to use your IDPs against. Do not go crazy, and play a LB5 against the Panthers, but certainly you will do well if you own a top LB on the Saints, Eagles or Falcons, or a DL on the Texans (or perhaps a Titan DE on the other side of the field) that you can plug in this week, for the most part.
Linebackers
Carolina Panthers vs New Orleans
New York Giants vs Philadelphia
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta
Defensive Ends
Carolina Panthers vs New Orleans
Tennessee Titans @ Houston
Houston Texans vs Tennessee
New York Jets @ Buffalo
Defensive Tackles
Tennessee Titans @ Houston
Miami Dolphins @ New England
Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago
Safeties
Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay
Chicago Bears @ Minnesota
New York Giants vs Philadelphia
Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta
Cornerbacks
Cincinnati Bengals vs Cleveland
Miami Dolphins @ New England
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta
Waiver Wire Targets
This section is intended to serve as a shortened cheat sheet listing those waiver wire targets you should be considering if you need to plug a hole in your starting lineup. All these players are spotlighted above, and you can read my comments about them in the "Elevator Going Up" section of this article. This group consists of those that you may have a chance of locating on your league's waiver wire in that they are owned in significantly less than 50% of leagues. Happy claiming for your weekly matchups.
Linebackers
Demario Davis NO (owned in 49% of ESPN leagues, but only 31% on Yahoo)
Germaine Pratt CIN
Vic Beasley , Jr. ATL
Defensive Linemen
Henry Anderson DE NYJ
Maliek Collins DT DAL
Defensive Backs
Malcolm Jenkins S PHI
Tracy Walker S DET
Damontae Kazee S ATL
Rock Ya-Sin CB IND
Jimmie Ward CB SF
Trayvon Mullen CB OAK
Ouch (My Aching Roster)
All the injury reports below need evaluation prior to kickoff. Teams are notoriously sketchy about injury reports, and we often do not know a player's status until just before game time. Consider the list below as a "heads up" as to what is going on early in the week, and should not be considered definitive.
Linebackers
Chandler Jones ARI thumb
Tanner Vallejo ARI ribs IR
Shaq Green-Thompson CAR ankle
Danny Trevathan CHI elbow IR
Sharif Finch CIN undisclosed
Leighton Vander Esch DAL neck IR
Luke Gifford DAL arm IR
Devon Kennard DET shoulder
Jahlani Tavai DET shoulder IR
Christian Jones DET shoulder IR
Benardrick McKinney HOU concussion
Jake Martin HOU knee
Raekwon McMillan MIA hamstring IR
Eric Kendricks MIN quadriceps
Kiko Alonso NO quadriceps
Lorenzo Carter NYG knee
Kamu Grugier-Hill PHI back
Ryan Kerrigan WAS calf IR
Defensive Linemen
DE
Takkarist McKinley ATL shoulder IR
Brandon Williams BAL coach’s decision
Shaq Lawson BUF undisclosed
Marquis Haynes CAR knee
Olivier Vernon CLE knee
Adam Gotsis DEN knee-ACL IR
DeMarcus Walker DEN ankle
Mike Daniels DET arm IR
Da’Shawn Hand DET ankle IR
Michael Brockers LAR knee
Taco Charlton MIA ankle
John Franklin-Myers NYJ undisclosed IR
Dee Ford SF quadriceps
Jadeveon Clowney SEA groin
DT
Woodrow Hamilton CAR illness
Akiem Hicks CHI elbow
Renell Wren CIN hip IR
A’Shawn Robinson DET shoulder
Denico Autry IND concussion
Gerald Willis MIA hip IR
Jullian Taylor SF elbow
D.J. Jones SF ankle IR
Beau Allen TB ankle
Jeffrey Simmons TEN knee
Defensive Backs
S
Charles Washington ARI calf
Budda Baker ARI quadriceps
Earl Thomas BAL coach’s decision
Darqueze Dennard CIN knee
Brandon Wilson CIN hand IR
Tavon Wilson DET hamstring
Khari Willis IND neck
Rolan Milligan IND foot IR
Eric Weddle LAR groin
Vonn Bell NO knee
Saquan Hampton NO undisclosed IR
Johnson Bademosi NO foot IR
Corey Bellentine NYG back
Sam Beal NYG shoulder
Jaquiski Tartt SF ribs
Quandre Diggs SEA ankle
Jordan Whitehead TB hamstring IR
Danny Johnson WAS hand IR
CB
Kevin Peterson ARI shoulder IR
Will Redmond GB hamstring
Kenny Moore IND ankle
Quincy Wilson IND shoulder
Morris Claiborne KC shoulder
Jalen Ramsey LAR knee
Troy Hill LAR thumb
Cordrea Tankersley MIA knee-ACL
Jonathan Jones NE groin
Jason McCourty NE groin
Nick Nelson OAK knee IR
Trayvon Mullen OAK head
Ronald Darby PHI hip IR
Jalen Mills PHI ankle
Shaquill Griffin SEA hamstring
Adoree’ Jackson TEN foot
Quinton Dunbar WAS hamstring IR
Fabian Moreau WAS hamstring
Jimmy Moreland WAS foot IR
As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy efforts. Make sure to read all of our great articles to help you win your fantasy match ups every week and ultimately bask in championship glory. FANation Chat is now live on the site, to help you work through your fantasy football dilemmas. Or if you have any fantasy football questions, especially about IDP leagues, you can also send a message to ia@fantasyalarm.com for a personal response from the writer of this article. Naturally, the more detail you can send about your league, such as number of teams, platform you play in (Yahoo, ESPN, etc.), scoring and roster system, the better the ability to provide accurate advice.