• Top IDP Adds For Your Fantasy Football Playoff Push

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    Its's playoff time and we are all looking to sure up our rosters. Here we will take a look at the top late season adds as well as best remaining schedules. These players should be able to make an impact to finish strong.


    Have you been hit with the late season injury bug. Not to worry, the season always allows for late bloomers. There are a couple players who have taken over teammates starting positions and others who just turned it on late for one reason or another.

    Lets take a look here who is still available in most leagues that can help you in the playoffs. These guys here have solid remaining schedules and enough talent to provide some good numbers.

    Linebacker

    Elijah Lee- San Francisco 49ers

    Recent Games: Week 12 Start- 7 Tackles (6 solo), 1 tackles for a loss and 1 pass defensed.

    Remaining Schedule- Seattle Seahawks (Give up the 2nd most points to LB's), Denver Broncos (28th), Seattle Seahawks (2nd), Chicago Bears (29th)

    Reuben Foster has been an enigma for the 49ers since they drafted him. His recent arrest has had him cut from the team, well done boys. Though that was the correct decision it left a hole in the middle of the 49ers defense.

    Fred Warner has shown that he is a high level starter in this league and they need to put somebody next to him. The next man up is Elijah Lee. In limited starts this season he has performed quite admirably. He has shown a knack for finding the football coming up with chunks of tackles as well as a good ability of rushing the passer.

    Because of the remaining schedule for Lee he is one of my top adds. Not because I am a 49ers fan (I separate my fandem from fantasy), but he plays Seattle twice. Seattle is an extremely run heavy offense and, unfortunately for the 49ers, the Seahawks should be up in these games.

    This in turn will put even more emphasis on the run, Lee could make somebody's fantasy team very happy. His first career start was Week 2 against Detroit, these are the types of numbers he is capable of:

    Alex Anzalone- New Orleans Saints

    Recent Games- Last 4 games- 19 Tackles (15 solo), 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed.

    Remaining Schedule- Dallas Cowboys( played Thursday- 5 Tackles with 3 solo), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Give up the 4th most points to LB's), Carolina Panthers (14th), Pittsburgh (24th)

    If there is one spot on the Saints roster that needs help it is the Linebacker corps. Demario Davis is rock solid but outside of him things have been inconsistent. Recent developments though have shown the Davis has swung over to more of a weak side linebacker role moving Anzalone the middle linebacker.

    This bodes well for Anzalone's fantasy value. He has always been a good blitzer but has shown flashes of coverage over the middle his last few games coming up with some pass defenses. If you need help at LB for the playoffs Anzalone could help especially since his move to the middle, plus next week he gets Tampa Bay. Pro Football Focus seems to agree with this add:

    Davonte Bond- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Recent Games- Started Week 12 and had 5 solo tackles

    Remaining Schedule- Carolina Panthers (Give up the 14th most points to LB's), New Orleans Saints (18th), Baltimore Ravens (6th), Dallas Cowboys (8th)

    Somebody on the Buccaneers defense needs to make plays. Kwon Alexander is done for the season and LaVante David has been banged up as well. Most thought Adarius Taylor would be the obvious add but he has been lackluster since the top LB's departed.

    Enter Davonte Bond...he played well last week and out shined Taylor. Bond had 5 solo tackles to Taylor's 2. He also played on 73% of defensive snaps. Because of all this the Bucs should give him run over Taylor and alongside LaVante David. David should dip into his production but Bond still has a chance to soak up the tackles available from the departure of Alexander.

    Tae Davis- New York Giants

    Recent Games- Last 2 weeks- 8 solo tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack

    Remaining Schedule- Chicago Bears (Give up the 29th most points to LB's) Washington Redskins (22nd), Tennessee Titans (7th), Indianapolis Colts (21st)

    Tae Davis is an undrafted rookie for the New York Giants. Tae Davis has been playing middle linebacker alongside Alec Ogletree with B.J. Goodson on the shelf. Goodson is going to miss Week 13 as well. This presents another opportunity for Davis. He draws the Bears who, number one will probably be up a lot, and number two are playing backup QB Chase Daniels.

    Daniels played well last week for the Bears but I could see a lot of dump offs to Tarik Cohen again this week and maybe more Jordan Howard. Ogletree and Davis have their work cut out for them but Davis has been up to the task. Look at Davis blast through the line here last week and pick up the sack:

    Vontaze Burfict- Cincinnati Bengals

    Recent Games- Week 12- 8 tackles (2 solo), and 1 pass defensed

    Remaining Schedule- Denver Broncos (Give up the 28th most points to LB's) Los Angeles Chargers (19th), Oakland Raiders (20th), Cleveland Browns (11th)

    We all know Vontaze Burfict. He is the dirtiest player in football, he is a difference maker, is he suspended again? Burfict has had a tough season this year. He started the season suspended...again, for the first four games. Upon his return he had 15 tackles (8 solo) and 2 passes defensed in his two full games. Then Burfict injured his hip again and was out a few more games.

    Burfict came back week 11 and played lackluster coming up with only 4 tackles (1 solo). With that being said he looked a little better week 12 although was still a step behind with most of his tackles assisted. Now if you have ever watched Burfict real time, you know this man can play. His instincts are unmatched by many and excels at both run stuffing and pass coverage.

    Burfict may have been a let down this season, but so has the rest of the Bengals outside of Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd. If Burfict is available in your league, pick him up. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

    Defensive Line

    Dean Lowry- Green Bay Packers

    Recent Games- Last 3 games- 11 tackles (8 solo), 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks

    Remaining Schedule- Arizona Cardinals (Give up the 19th most points to DL), Atlanta Falcons (13th), Chicago Bears (18th), New York Jets (6th)

    Dean Lowry has started the last two games for the Packers but has played well in the last three. Mike Daniels has seemed to fallen out of favor with the Packers and they have turned to Lowry. His last four opponents on average are middle of the pack giving up sacks.

    Lowry has played well in the run game which bodes well for going up against Arizona and Chicago. He had 6 tackles (5 solo) and a sack against the Dolphins and Frank Gore and Kenyon Drake. Lowry is worthy of a late season add. Look at this great move up the middle to sack Cousins:

    https://twitter.com/Supreme_Gifs/status/1066916200783929344

    Robert Nkemdiche- Arizona Cardinals

    Recent Games- Week 12- 7 Tackles (6 solo), 4 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks

    Remaining Schedule- Green Bay Packers (Give up the 5th most points to DL), Detroit Lions (15th), Atlanta Falcons (13th), Los Angeles Rams (9th)

    What a game Nkemdiche had Week 12. The 4 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks makes anybody's week for a d-lineman. This isn't all that new for Robert. In the first four games of the season he had 14 tackles (11 solo), 4 tackles for a loss, and 2 sacks.

    That is very respectable but then he was hit with the injury bug. He would go on to miss the next game, play the following three, and then miss the next two. Now it seems like he is back and fully healthy and has a nice remaining schedule and can make a difference. Talk about wreckless abandonment:

    Rodney Gunter- Arizona Cardinals

    Recent Games- Last 4 games- 17 Tackles (13 solo), 5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks

    Remaining Schedule- Green Bay Packers (Give up the 5th most points to DL), Detroit Lions (15th), Atlanta Falcons (13th), Los Angeles Rams (9th)

    If you haven't heard Rodney Gunter's name at some point in the last four weeks then find new fantasy football buddies. Gunter has been on a tear the last four weeks strating in 3 of those four weeks. If your league forces you to employ a DT as mine does, it is an absolute delight when guys like Gunter emerge.

    Even with Nkemdiche back Gunter still had 3 tackles and a sack. Most people hate playing DT's but there aren't many late breakout DE candidates. The numbers from the last 4 weeks rival many DE's anyways. The last two players I have spoken about believe in each other as well:

    Michael Bennett- Philadelphia Eagles

    Recent Games-Last 3 games- 5 Tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks

    Remaining Schedule- Washington Redskins (Give up the 136th most points to DL), Dallas Cowboys (12th), Los Angeles Rams (9th), Houston Texans (3rd)

    Michael Bennett may not be available in some deep leagues. He may have been scooped up once Derek Barnett went on IR. Either way Bennett is a solid option to roll out given his remaining schedule. Bennett is great at rushing the passer and he should not have an issue the rest of the way getting to the QB.

    In his last 3 games for the fantasy season Bennett faces teams that have given up the 3rd most, 22nd most and then the 4th most sacks on the season. I like his chances, his numbers show it:

    Denico Autry- Indianapolis Colts

    Recent Games- Last 3 Games- 7 Tackles (6 solo), 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack

    Remaining Schedule- Jacksonville Jaguars (Give up the 10th most points to DL), Houstan Texans (3rd), Dallas Cowboys (12th), New York Giants (4th)

    Denico Autry has for the most part been unspectacular outside of Week 4. In that week he had 9 tackles (7 solo), 4 tackles for a loss, and 2 sacks. All that did was show that Denico Autry does sport some level of potential.

    With Darius Leonard working well as a blitzing linebacker and Jabaal Sheard coming off the edge well, the middle should open up more. Or at the least maybe the QB will step up into Autry's arms. With the remaining schedule so easy, that alone is enough to warrant a look. Especially if you are thin at the position.

    Defensive Backs

    Xavier Woods- Dallas Cowboys

    Recent Games- Last 4 Games- 24 Tackles (18 solo), 6 passes defensed, 1 interception

    Remaining Schedule- New Orleans Saints(Played Thursday, 2 soloTackles, 1 forced fumble), Philadelphia Eagles (Give up the 12th most points to DB's), Indianapolis Colts (10th), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1st)

    Woods has played very well in his last few games. The Dallas Cowboys have a sneaky good defense. They are spoken to be a stout defense but nobody was looking to them to be an elite defense. That was until this Thursday when they held the Saints to somewhere around 170 yards of total offense.

    The secondary has been very strong and Woods is a big part of that having 3 passes defensed in 2 of his last 4 games. He came up with this pick on Thanksgiving to seal the win:

    https://twitter.com/Cowboyspower/status/1067136972295163904

    Corey Graham- Philadelphia Eagles

    Recent Games- Last 2 Games- 17 Tackles (14 solo)

    Remaining Schedule- Washington Redskins (Give up the 9th most points to DB's), Dallas Cowboys (31st), Los Angeles Rams (15th), Houston Texans (13th)

    Corey Graham has played well since his transition to safety a couple years ago with the Bills. He used to play as a good cover corner but in recent years has shown a strong ability to come up with tackles. This was showcased by his 17 tackles in his last 2 games.

    Outside of the Cowboys, Graham has a favorable remaining schedule. You can do much worse than 8.5 tackles a game. With Avante Maddox still on the shelf without a definitive return date, there is a chance he starts the rest of the season.

    Mike Ford- Detroit Lions

    Recent Games- Started Week 12- 6 Tackles (5 solo), 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed

    Remaining Schedule- Los Angeles Rams (Give up the 15th most points to DB's), Arizona Cardinals (24th), Buffalo Bills (14th), Minnesota Vikings (3rd)

    Mike Ford is an undrafted free agent out of Southeast Missouri. He started the last two games for the Lions as their #2 corner. Last week against the Bears he made an impact for the Lions. Temper expectations because the Lions did claim Marcus Cooper off waivers.

    Since he did play well last week it is his job to lose and he has a solid remaining schedule finishing with Minnesota. Being on the opposite side of Darius Slay will always get you thrown at. Especially if you are an undrafted rookie. It's plays like this that will keep Ford on the field:

    Michael Davis- San Diego Chargers

    Recent Games- Last 4 Games- 19 Tackles (16 solo), 2 passes defensed

    Remaining Schedule- Pittsburgh (Gives up the 5th most points to DB's), Cincinnati Bengals (25th), Kansas City Chiefs (23rd), Baltimore Ravens (7th)

    Michael Davis has been starting at corneback since week 9, the week the Chargers came out of their bye. Since his insertion he has played quite well. There is no sign of his playing time dropping either as last week he played 100% of defensive snaps. From a fantasy standpoint he is in a great spot as well.

    Opposite of Davis plays Casey Hayward Jr., which by all means is a shut down corner. Most teams will look to stay away from him. The Chargers offense is also clicking which means teams can't just rely on the run. This gives Davis the best chance of any DB to be thrown at on the chargers.

    Karl Joseph- Oakland Raiders

    Recent Games- Last 3 Games- 18 Tackles(14 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 interception

    Remaining Schedule- Kansas City Chiefs (Give up the 23rd most points to DB's), Pittsburgh Steelers (5th), Cincinnati Bnegals (25th), Denver Broncos (4th)

    Karl Joseph was a 1st round pick last year by the previous Raiders brass. With the addition of Jolly Jon Gruden to the staff Joseph fell out of favor. Recently though with the season in shambles, they look like they are trying to see what they have in the youngster.

    Since he as reentered the starting lineup he has actually played well averaging 6 tackles a game while he had 8 last game. Joseph seems like his production is on the rise and should score well while playing the Broncos and Steelers. Karl joseph is a heavy hitter, what him lay the smack on Gus Edwards:

    That wraps up my top 5 remaining pickups for the season. Playoff are here and if you have holes on your roster you need to fill, some of these guys are worth the add. Hopefully some of these guys can help you move on deep into the playoffs.

    Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @josephhaggan and @IDPGuys. Also tune into our weekly podcast for the most up to date info to dominate your leagues!


    Joseph Haggan

    I am the proud father to an amazing young girl and husband to an unbelievable wife. Senior writer for IDPGuys, as well as projections creator and co-founder of our elite IDP Scoring Tool.
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