• The injury bug has swept the NFL, wiping out a number of IDP starters in the process: Headlined by Fred Warner’s ankle injury, there are a ton of reasons to attack the waiver wire heading into Week 5, especially as bye weeks also start to become a factor.
• Jared Verse has excelled through the first month of his NFL career: Delivering elite pass-rush metrics on the season, Verse continues to get better, and despite just one sack on the year, he makes for a great rest of season bet to target right now.
• 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: 50 minutes
WAIVER WIRE
Be sure to check out the players from last week’s waiver wire here.
- LB JD Bertrand, Atlanta Falcons: If Troy Andersen is unavailable for Week 5, Bertrand would be the next man up to replace him. Bertrand would likely come off the field on obvious passing downs but should still play enough snaps to be an IDP option in deeper leagues.
- LB Josey Jewell/Trevin Wallace/Claudin Cherelus, Carolina Panthers: Jewell should be the primary target, assuming he’s healthy enough to play in Week 5, but if not, Trevin Wallace also should be in line for a larger role now that Shaq Thompson’s season is over. Claudin Cherelus would get startable snaps if Jewell is unable to go in Week 5.
- LB Devin Bush, Cleveland Browns: Should Jordan Hicks miss time, Bush would play a larger role, as he did this past week (86%) when Hicks left. Bush wouldn’t be a full-time linebacker but would have value in deeper leagues.
- LB Cody Barton, Denver Broncos: After Alex Singleton landed on injured reserve midway through last week, it was clear that Barton would step into a larger role, which he did by playing 100% of the team’s defensive snaps and leading the team in total tackles on the day. Where available, Barton should be in consideration as a waiver target since he’ll likely have a strong role for the rest of this season.
- LB Justin Strnad, Denver Broncos: In the Broncos’ LB2 role, Strnad moved into a decent-sized role, which should make him a productive option in deeper leagues. It isn’t likely to be a full-time role in this defense, as long as there’s someone ahead of him on the depth chart, but he will carry value in deeper formats.
- LB Chad Muma, Jacksonville Jaguars: Muma played a full-time role this week, playing a larger snap share than any Jaguars linebacker has achieved at any point this season, which has to do entirely with Foyesade Oluokun landing on IR and Devin Lloyd missing this game with a knee injury. Muma can be an IDP option in most formats if Lloyd continues to miss time while Oluokun is on injured reserve, and he would only be an option in deeper formats if Lloyd returns to the lineup.
- LB D’Marco Jackson, New Orleans Saints: Jackson would be an option for deeper leagues, as he isn’t playing a full-time role, and only if Demario Davis and Willie Gay miss time. If either Davis or Gay is back, Jackson will hold very little IDP value and doesn’t need to be added.
- LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, San Francisco 49ers: Flannigan-Fowles stepped into a near full-time role once Fred Warner was out, playing all but two snaps in the second half. If Warner misses time, then Flannigan-Fowles would likely step into a near full-time role again which carries decent value in most IDP formats.
- LB K.J. Britt, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Britt, whose stock began to fall once it was clear that he was not going to be a full-time player, did move into a full-time role once SirVocea Dennis was out of the game. It’s possible that a return from Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety could mean more dime-personnel snaps to keep Britt from playing on passing downs should Dennis miss time, but Britt still looks like a decent add at this point with bye weeks coming up.
- S Cole Bishop, Buffalo Bills: Bishop filled in for the injured Taylor Rapp the rest of this game and would likely slide into a starting role should Rapp’s injury cause him to miss more time. Bishop played 51% of his snaps in the box in this game, which is something he did quite a bit in college as well. He could be a valuable IDP option for as long as Rapp is out.
- S Marcus Maye, Miami Dolphins: Maye filled in for Jordan Poyer as a full-time safety option and should continue to do so for as long as Poyer remains out. Maye will be an IDP starting option in leagues where just being a starting safety carries value.
- S Jaylinn Hawkins, New England Patriots: Hawkins stepped right in Dugger’s role for the rest of this game, playing 55% of his snaps in the box and delivered six total tackles. Should Dugger miss time, Jabrill Peppers (if available) and Hawkins make for viable IDP starting options considering their box-heavy usage.
- S Jordan Howden, New Orleans Saints: Howden stepped in to cover Tyrann Mathieu’s snaps for the rest of this game and would be his immediate replacement should Mathieu miss more time.
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