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IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 15

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Tue, 12 Dec 2023 . 10:56 AM EST

Look for These Edge Guys in Your League

This list of IDP waiver wire pickups is sorted by position, and then by priorty.

Of course, IDP leagues vary widely by depth, scoring rules, and lineup settings. So to get the best measure of who to pick up in your league, check your Free Agent Finder.

It's the best fantasy football waiver wire assistant you'll find.

Jonathan Greenard, Edge, Houston Texans

Greenard somehow finds himself on a roster in just 5% of Sleeper leagues. For context: Rookie teammate Will Anderson Jr. sits at 32%, despite trailing Greenard by 5 sacks, 7 solo tackles, and 6 tackles for loss on the season.

Greenard delivered three of those sacks over the past two weeks and now gets several solid chances to add.

Houston faces Tennessee two of the next three games. The Titans have allowed the eighth-highest pressure rate, according to Pro Football Reference.

In between comes a meeting with the Browns, who rank 12th in that category. The sack rate has come down in Joe Flacco’s two games. But upside remains.

Carl Granderson, Edge, New Orleans Saints

Granderson ended a four-game sackless streak with a takedown of Bryce Young on Sunday. But even over those four down games, he generated 15 pressures (13.2% of pass-rush chances).

Week 15 brings Tommy DeVito to town. The Giants QB managed to escape Monday night’s win over the Packers without a sack. Even with that, though, his 18.2% sack rate still leads the league (with Daniel Jones the closest competitor).

Granderson looks droppable for weeks 16 and 17. Matthew Stafford and Baker Mayfield each rank bottom-11 in sack rate taken. But he brings the upside for this week.

Samson Ebukam, Edge, Indianapolis Colts

If you go by our weekly rankings, then there’s a solid chance Ebukam already has a home in your league. But he’s rostered in less than 10% of Sleeper leagues as of this writing – despite consecutive 2-sack games among the past three weeks.

He and the Colts get a nice three-game stretch of sack targets to close out most fantasy seasons. First comes Mitchell Trubisky, who took pressure at the eighth-highest rate among Week 14 QBs despite facing a lackluster New England pass rush. Then come the Falcons and Raiders. Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell each rank top-12 in highest sack rate taken.

Ebukam has generated pressure at a higher rate (10.1%) than his former Round 1 draft pick teammate below (7.9%).

Kwity Paye, Edge, Indianapolis Colts

Paye went quiet in Sunday’s lopsided loss to the Bengals. But that followed 4 sacks over a three-game stretch.

Paye’s hidden pressure production indicates he’s a flimsy sack bet. He’s averaging just 2.1 pressures per game for the season and has reached three in a game only four times.

But the remaining schedule (listed above) should help.

Kaden Elliss, LB, Atlanta Falcons

Elliss registered his third double-digit tackle game of the season and second among the past four contests Sunday against the Bucs.

His 10 tackles came with LB Nate Landman out. Landman didn’t practice at all last week while dealing with a knee injury, which casts doubt on his chances of returning this week. Even if Landman’s ready, Elliss has led the corps in playing time all season.

Whoever plays LB for Atlanta over the next three weeks will be facing the second-best LB-scoring schedule by our adjusted fantasy points allowed. 

This week’s visit to Carolina adds sack for Elliss, who’s tied for 11th-most pass-rushing chances among all non-edge LBs, according to Pro Football Focus.

Ivan Pace Jr., LB, Minnesota Vikings

Pace has delivered 9+ tackles (including 6+ solos) in all three games since LB Jordan Hicks went down. The rookie added an INT each of the past two weeks and his first INT Sunday against the Raiders.

Hicks will be eligible to return after this Sunday’s visit to the Bengals. But that gives Pace at least one more week to lead the corps – with a shot to continue his prominent role even after Hicks returns.

Cincinnati hasn’t been a great LB-scoring matchup overall. But three of the past four opponents have had at least one LB go for 11+ tackles. That included Indy’s Zaire Franklin tallying 14 last week and two Jaguars LBs collecting 11+ the week before.

About Last Week

Let's see who among our Week 14 IDP waiver suggestions still makes sense ...

• Zach Sieler paid off if you started him in Week 14, but be careful not to overrate that fantasy score. Sieler grabbed what will probably wind up being the only pick-6 of his career. But he also generated at least 1 QB hit for the third straight game and fifth time among his past six games. His Week 15 matchup with the Jets remains attractive. But you can dump him after that ahead of games against Dallas and Baltimore.
• Blake Cashman left Sunday's loss to the Jets with a hamstring injury. Neither he nor his role is sturdy enough to make Cashman worth holding this week -- in most IDP leagues.
• Mykal Walker was a one-week potential play on the assumption that LB Elandon Roberts' groin injury would at least cost him a short-week game. Instead, Roberts returned to lead Steelers LB playing time. Walker saw is playing time tumble (44%) and shouldn't be rostered.
• David Long delivered 8 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, in the first game since Jerome Baker landed on IR. He looks like a solid low-LB2 to high-LB3 the rest of the way.
• Shaquille Leonard played just 14 snaps in his Eagles debut, a game that also found LB Zach Cunningham returning from a hamstring injury. It's not likely Leonard jumps to the playing-time lead among Philly LBs this week. So he's not worth waiting on in most cases.
• Jordan Battle is fine to hold in deeper leagues, especially through this week's visit to Minnesota. The Vikings have supplied the seventh-most fantasy points to DBs. There's nothing special about matchups with the Steelers and Chiefs the two following weeks.

How to Win Your Season

Working the waiver wire is only part of your season-winning strategy. Jared and Matt discuss more in this short video.