NFL Week 13: Fantasy Football IDP report

• Sack droughts come to an end for key IDPs: Maxx Crosby and Chris Jones spent Black Friday breaking their sack droughts, and while it’s been a long time coming, these sacks come just in time to revitalize confidence in them as high-end weekly IDP options.

• A number of deep-league waiver wire options emerge: Whether due to injuries or changes in certain teams’ defenses, there are several deep waiver targets to consider heading into a crucial week with six teams on a bye.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 48 minutes

WAIVER WIRE

Be sure to check out the players from last week’s waiver wire here.

• LB Akeem Davis-Gaither, Cincinnati Bengals: With Logan Wilson sidelined due to a knee injury, Davis-Gaither absorbed a full-time role and was very productive with his opportunities in a prime matchup. Davis-Gaither should be added, where needed, speculatively in case Wilson is unable to go again in Week 14.
• LB Ezekiel Turner, Detroit Lions: Turner is a deep-league option only after replacing the injured Malcolm Rodriguez in the latter half of the fourth quarter. The Lions play again on Thursday in Week 14 and with six teams on a bye next week, he may have some value in deep leagues as the next man up that the Lions appear to trust the most.
• LB Neville Hewitt, Houston Texans: Hewitt replaced Al-Shaair the rest of the way in this game and would assumedly be his full-time replacement given that Al-Shaair was suspended three games. It’s also possible that Christian Harris gets activated off injured reserve at some point, but without any substantial news there yet, Hewitt is the top option.
• LB Troy Dye, Los Angeles Chargers: Dye led the team in total tackles this week, though he wasn’t a full-time player, playing 76.5% of the Chargers' defensive snaps. Considering that there has typically been a heavy rotation in that second linebacker spot for the Chargers, that snap share is actually encouraging for deeper leagues to trust Dye. It’s possible that Denzel Perryman returns next week and affects that total, but for now, Dye makes the most sense as a logical deeper league option heading into Week 14.
• LB Dee Winters, San Francisco 49ers: Winters rotated throughout this game, mostly with De’Vondre Campbell, making him an interesting name to consider in very deep leagues. Dre Greenlaw may return at some point soon as well, but for now, it appears that the 49ers made a very conscious decision to limit Campbell and give some opportunities to Winters in this one.
• J.J. Russell, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Russell has an opportunity to play a starting role should Britt miss time, as he played 88% of the Bucs' defensive snaps with K.J. Britt out of the lineup. With the Buccaneers running out of linebacker options, Russell could be viable in non-shallow leagues.
• EDGE Joseph Ossai, Cincinnati Bengals: Ossai has surpassed Sam Hubbard in snaps, which feels like it’s been a long time coming, as Hubbard's been one of the most ineffective pass-rushers on the season. Ossai was able to land a sack this week and can be considered for very deep leagues, especially for next week when six teams are on a bye.
• S Jordan Battle, Cincinnati Bengals: Battle emerged as the starting safety coming out of the team’s bye week this week, coming off for just one full drive and missing a chunk of another to get checked for injury, which he was able to return from. Battle is getting optimal IDP alignments for production and he should be considered as safety depth for the rest of this season.
• S Devon Key, Denver Broncos: Key replaced the injured Brandon Jones the rest of the way, and should Jones miss more time, Key could be a fine replacement in deeper leagues. The team is on a bye in Week 14, which gives Jones a little more time to heal up if the injury isn’t serious.
• S Jabrill Peppers, New England Patriots: Peppers was activated off the Commissioner’s Exempt List this week and played a full complement of snaps next to Kyle Dugger. Peppers spent 47% of his snaps in the box and led the team in total tackles (nine), making him a waiver option to consider down the stretch.
• S Tristin McCollum, Philadelphia Eagles: McCollum replaced the injured Blankenship the rest of the way this week, and should Blankenship miss a game, McCollum could be a waiver option in the deepest of leagues. Sydney Brown was active in this game but played exclusively on special teams.
• S Christian Izien, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With Jordan Whitehead on injured reserve and Mike Edwards now banged up, Izien has an opportunity to provide some IDP value as a starting safety for those in need of depth at the position.
• S Daryl Worley, Tennessee Titans: Worley appears to be the one to keep the starting safety job on Amani Hooker’s return after he and Mike Brown both played as starters last week. Worley ended up with a week-high 17 total tackles as a result of his starting job and appears fine to add for those in need, even if 17 tackles isn’t in a repeatable outcome.

JUMP TO A TEAM:

ARZ | ATL | BLT | BUF | CAR | CIN | CHI | CLE | DEN | DAL | DET | GB | HOU | IND | JAX | KC | LVR | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN | NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF | SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

Arizona Cardinals