IDP Defensive Playbook - Week 12

Nov 24, 2015

Welcome to your Week 12 IDP Defensive Playbook. If you can believe it, it’s Thanksgiving week. I want to take this time to thank everyone who has read this article, I know it’s a hearty read. I appreciate your comments and feedback on Twitter and it keeps me going. With that said, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Each week, I'll highlight some of the top defensive waiver wire targets, as well as matchups to exploit and avoid in each game. Week 11 is in the books, and there were both some fine performances and some stinkers thrown about. Before I look at Week 12, here's how my Week 11 waiver targets performed last week:

Mario Edwards, DE, OAK: Three tackles
Tyrone Crawford, DT, DAL: No stats
William Gholston, DE, TBB: Five tackles/one forced fumble
Jasper Brinkley, ILB, NYG: Bye
Shea McClellin, ILB, CHI: Six tackles
Tahir Whitehead, OLB, DET: Two tackles
Will Allen, SS, PIT: Bye week
Ron Parker, FS, KCC: Three tackles/one defended pass
Jimmy Smith, CB, BAL: Four tackles

Defensive Line

Cliff Avril, DE, SEA: Avril now has consecutive weeks of double-digit fantasy points and has three sacks in his last two games. He’s been getting consistent pressure on the QB and is actually getting tackles, notching 25 solo tackles on the season.

Damon Harrison, DT, NYJ: If you’re looking for a target in DT-required leagues, look to Harrison. He’ll be a target in tackle leagues, since he hasn’t produced any sacks on the year.

Kony Ealy, DE, CAR: Ealy has been big for the Panthers in Charles Johnson’s absence, as he now has sacks in four straight games. His lack of tackles makes him a target in big play scoring formats.

Linebacker

Kelvin Sheppard, ILB, MIA: Sheppard saw 98 percent of the snaps in Week 11 and has seen at least 56 percent or more of the snaps since Week 7. In his last two games, he’s produced an 18.1-percent tackle rate. As long as he logs the snaps, the tackle opportunities will be there.

Manti Te’o, ILB, SDC: He had missed the last four games and returned in Week 11. If someone dropped him, he makes a good pickup after notching five solo tackles and a sack this past week. In 343 snaps, he’s producing a 13.4-percent tackle rate.

Neville Hewitt, OLB, MIA: If you’re a Jelani Jenkins owner, he makes a good handcuff. He’s been on the field for 124 snaps in the last two games and got the start at weak side linebacker last week.

Defensive Back

Malcolm Butler, CB, NEP: Butler is a good pickup in leagues requiring a CB as he’s seen consistent targets this season. He’s defended 11 passes and has 37 solo tackles on the year and has a plus matchup this week.

Rodney McLeod, FS, STL: Since Mark Barron moved to linebacker, McLeod has been solid at safety. He has three straight games of 14 or more fantasy points and five or more solo tackles.

Clayton Geathers, FS, IND: Geathers got the start in Week 11 and notched nine tackles. As long as Mike Adams remains out, Geathers will be a solid play in tackle heavy formats.