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IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 18

This is It. Get What You Need.

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

This week's list focuses primarily on recently emerging options, but it's quite possible you shouldn't go after any of them.

Check the Free Agent Finder for your synced league to see if any waiver targets make sense for you -- or if you should just roll with what you've got.

Joseph Ossai, Edge, Cincinnati Bengals

Ossai has been hot over the past six weeks, delivering a half-sack or more in five of those contests and forcing fumbles each of the past two weeks.

Cincinnati needs some help to get into the playoffs, but Ossai shouldn’t need any extra motivation. He’s headed for unrestricted free agency in March, at the end of his rookie contract.

Week 18 pits Ossai and the Bengals against a Pittsburgh offense that afforded him a sack among 2 QB hits in their Week 13 meeting.

Zach Allen, DL, Denver Broncos

We’ve liked Allen as a DL tackle source all year. But he delivered a huge 3.5 sacks in the Week 17 loss at Cincinnati.

Week 18 finds Denver hosting a Chiefs offense that will start Carson Wentz – in a game the Broncos still need to win.

Allen should be playable even in league’s that don’t require you to fill DT-specific lineup spots.

Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Green Bay Packers

I’ve highlighted Cooper twice in recent articles, and he hits this week off two straight double-digit tackle efforts.

Sunday found him delivering a season-high 11 tackles – including 4 tackles for loss – on a season-high 99% snap share.

Even if LB Quay Walker makes it back for this week, Green Bay should be looking to keep Cooper on the field. And Walker’s chances of playing don’t look strong after he missed practice all last week for his injured ankle.

Tyrel Dodson, LB, Miami Dolphins

We don’t yet know whether LB Anthony Walker will return for Week 18, but he didn’t practice at all before missing Week 17 with a knee injury.

We do know that Walker’s continued absence would keep Dodson in a full-time role.

He played every snap in Sunday’s win over Cleveland and delivered the week’s highest LB fantasy score thanks to 15 tackles (8 solo) and an INT.

Week 18 holds the Jets, who haven’t been a great LB scoring matchup for the year. But Walker and Jordyn Brooks each tallied 7+ tackles in the Week 14 meeting.

Jacoby Windmon, LB, Carolina Panthers

The Panthers ruled LB Josey Jewell out for last week’s game, listing him with both a concussion and a quad injury after he missed practice Thursday and Friday. Some injury listings also included a neck issue. And Jewell has dealt with hamstring trouble at multiple points this season.

Given multiple injury questions and Jewell’s contract running another two years, it would make sense for Carolina to shut the veteran LB down for a meaningless Week 18 contest.

Windmon climbed from 76% playing time with Jewell in the lineup two weeks ago to 86% last week. And he has delivered two straight strong fantasy outings:

• 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed vs. Arizona
• 10 tackles, 0.5 sack, 1 pass defensed at Tampa Bay

His 10 pass rushes across two starts are particularly interesting. That’s a pace of 80 across 16 games. Only 16 off-ball LBs league wide have tallied 80+ pass rushes this year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Teammate Chandler Wooten played 100% of defensive snaps last week and logged 14 tackles (7 solo) but hasn’t rushed the passer as much and sports worse PFF grades across the board.

Luke Gifford, LB, Tennessee Titans

Gifford rebounded from a one-week concussion to play every snap in Sunday’s loss at Jacksonville. He tallied 8 tackles (5 solo) and a pass defensed, his third straight game with 8+ tackles.

That included 8 tackles and an INT in the Week 15 loss to Cincinnati that Gifford left after just 42% of the snaps (with the concussion).

He’s a good play in tackle-friendly formats for a Week 18 home date with the Texans, who don’t need to play to win.

Quan Martin, S, Washington Commanders

All five of Martin’s games with 100% playing time this season have come among the past six weeks – including each of the past three.

Sunday found him tallying 8 tackles (7 solo) and an INT, among 2 passes defensed, in the OT win over Atlanta.

Week 18 holds a rematch with the Cowboys, who afforded Martin 7 tackles (including one for a loss) in their first meeting. Dallas enters this round off 7 turnovers among its past four games.

Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Los Angeles Rams

Witherspoon has played all but 2 snaps over the past three games and notched 6 passes defensed over that span – with a decent 4+ solo tackles in each game.

Week 18 brings to town a Seahawks offense that has supplied the sixth-most passes defensed to opponent DBs.

Javon Bullard, DB, Green Bay Packers

Bullard returned from a two-game ankle injury to play 94% of snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings and tallied a season-high 9 solos (among a season-high-tying 11 total tackles).

Bullard lined up primarily at safety for that one, with the Packers missing S Evan Williams and losing fill-in Zayne Anderson early to a concussion.

Week 18 might find Bullard shifting back to primarily slot CB. That’s where he was for the Week 11 visit to Chicago that supplied him 8 tackles (6 solo) on just 72% playing time.

That would likely find Bullard spending a fair amount of time near Bears WR Keenan Allen, who has garnered 8+ targets in six of his past 7 games.

About Last Week

Let's see who among our Week 17 IDP waiver suggestions still makes sense ...

• Paye didn't do much in what should've been a stellar matchup with the Giants last week. He'll make sense for some IDP lineups this week against the Jaguars but certainly isn't a must-hold.
• Van Noy has delivered a sack or more in four straight games. He gets an upside matchup with the Browns this week, and his Ravens still have playoff positioning to play for.
• Houston looks likely to rest starters this week. I could see them going either way on Harris, who hasn't played much football this year. But that uncertainty makes him unusable.
• Carlies played just 18 snaps last week with E.J. Speed back.
• Muasau would continue to lead Giants LBs if Micah McFadden remains out, and he didn't practice at all last week.
• Gray played 0 snaps in Week 17. Apparently the Titans would rather roll with retread veteran Jerome Baker (95%) than get a look at the rookie. That suggests the fourth-round pick needs ripening -- or perhaps doesn't have starter potential in his future.
• Richardson remained a full-timer last week and tallied 9 tackles. Week 18 brings a Falcons team that's been a top-8 matchup for DBs over the past five weeks.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.