Welcome back, IDP Fantasy Nerds! It’s your favorite time of the week. We are looking at the IDP waiver wires in your leagues and trying to find some hidden production for our fantasy football lineups. We’ve been lucky enough over the first month of the season to give fantasy managers options at each position. As the season progresses, the possibilities become more limited but don’t worry, we have you covered weekly.
High-Priority IDP Fantasy Pickups
Defensive Line (DL)
DJ Johnson | Carolina Panthers
Entering Week 5, consistency at the defensive line position is already becoming extremely tough to find. This week, we will show some love to those teams that have decided to rebuild early in the season. Those dynasty managers staring at a 1-3 record, or possibly worse; this one is for you.
DJ Johnson was a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He played 29% of the defensive snaps as a rookie and failed to record a sack in 3 starts. Johnson has seen his defensive snap share rise to 45% this season. He’s recorded 12 tackles and 1 sack through the season’s first month.
The Carolina Panthers have the least sacks (5) and lowest pressure percentage (9.6%) in the NFL this season. DJ Johnson has accounted for 20% of the teams’ total sacks and 8.33% of the pressures. These aren’t great numbers, but non-contending dynasty teams can give him time to develop in hopes that he can continue to improve his value. There’s also value here for contending teams; Johnson has recorded double-digit fantasy games in two of his last three games.
Linebacker (LB)
Trevin Wallace | Carolina Panthers
Starting with back-to-back Carolina Panthers can’t be a good sign. IDP managers are left scrambling after Week 4, with both starting linebackers for the Carolina Panthers leaving the game with injuries. Shaq Thompson has been ruled out for the season, while Josey Jewell will likely miss at least one week.
Thompson and Jewell have combined for 65 tackles in the first 4 games, leaving a considerable gap for someone to step up. The hope is that guy is rookie LB Trevin Wallace. The Kentucky product has played just 36 snaps this season, with 20 coming this week to relieve the injured Shaq Thompson. The Panthers’ rookie LB could provide instant production for fantasy managers who lost solid production.
Defensive Back (DB)
Montaric Brown | Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of two remaining winless teams in the NFL. Luckily for IDP managers, a star has been born in the Jaguars’ secondary. Montaric Brown has been excellent this season. He is DB15 in fantasy points per game. He has 23 tackles this season with only 2 missed tackles, which is unheard of for an NFL cornerback. Brown has been targeted 6.75 times per game with two games of 9 targets or more.
Montaric Brown is an elite option in CB-required leagues. He’s also finished as a top-20 option at defensive back in 2 of his 4 games played this season. Brown is the perfect player for fantasy managers. He is a high-volume tackling DB and highly targeted in the passing game. The Jaguars DB is still widely available in leagues that do not require starting cornerbacks.
Best of the Rest IDP Fantasy
Defensive Line (DL)
John Franklin-Myers | Denver Broncos
John Franklin-Myers has been one of the best-kept secrets for IDP managers this season. Franklin-Myers is in his first season with the Broncos after racking up 19 sacks in his last 4 seasons with the New York Jets. He’s coming off 3 consecutive double-digit fantasy performances, including sacks in back-to-back games. He has a 37% defensive snap share this season and ranks DL54 in FPPG through the first month. John Franklin-Meyers is rostered in less than 30% of leagues on most IDP platforms.
Linebacker (LB)
Justin Strnad | Denver Broncos
After the devastating news that Alex Singleton would be ruled out for the remainder of the season, the IDP fantasy community was unsure how to address the Denver Broncos’ linebacker situation. Most fantasy managers chose to acquire veteran Kwon Alexander, who signed to the team’s practice squad shortly after the injury. The most likely scenario was Justin Strnad, who has been with the Broncos since being drafted in 2020. The former Wake Forest product has been relegated to special teams and has failed to start a game since 2021.
Justin Strnad had a good showing in his first start of the season, recording 3 tackles and 1 sack while playing 51 snaps. Justin Strnad’s job will be his to lose for the Denver Broncos’ defense. IDP managers who missed out on the Kwon Alexander pickups last week might still have the opportunity to acquire the direct replacement for Alex Singleton. The LB injuries seem to be piling up very quickly this season. When the opportunity presents itself to find a starter through free agency, it’s a good idea to take advantage of that.
Defensive Back (DB)
Isaiah Pola-Mao | Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was true to his word, giving more opportunities to players based on “business decisions” made in the loss to the Carolina Panthers. One of those players who seems to have benefited from that is Isaiah Pola-Mao, the nephew of Pittsburgh Steelers great Troy Polamalu.
Isaiah Pola-Mao has seen his snaps increase in the past three games. He’s also posted back-to-back overall grades above 70.0 (PFF). Pola-Mao finished DB21 in Week 4 with 5 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 pass defended. The Raiders DB has earned the coaching staff’s trust, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to make plays. This is another player that non-contending teams could also stash deep on their roster in hopes his value continues to increase over the coming weeks.
IDP Fantasy Players to Monitor
Troy Andersen | Atlanta Falcons (Knee Injury)
This one hurts for IDP managers. Troy Andersen is coming off the best game of his career after finishing LB1 in Week 4. Andersen joins a long list of starting linebackers who seem to keep getting hurt. At this point, it’s a living nightmare for fantasy managers at the LB position. The young Falcons LB has not yet been ruled out, but the reports do not sound good for him playing on a short week. The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet on Thursday Night Football this week.
This situation is similar to the Denver Broncos scenario from a week ago. The Falcons have signed veteran LB Rashaan Evans to the team’s practice squad. The most logical scenario on a short week is that rookie linebacker JD Bertrand starts this week. The Notre Dame product collected 266 tackles and 6 sacks throughout college. Most IDP fantasy managers are desperate for LB production heading into Week 5.
IDP Fantasy Summary
We are officially in the second quarter of the fantasy football season. Fantasy enthusiasts on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball have dealt with injuries in this early season. The important content the Dynasty Nerds team is producing ahead of your weekly waiver wires is crucial to help you have the advantage over the rest of the managers in your leagues. Be on the lookout for this week’s IDP start, sits, and injuries for all the data you need to head into Week 5 confident.
If you haven’t been following college football, fellow Nerd Matthew Mitchell‘s Stock Up/Stock Down series has you covered after Week 5:
