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Week Five did not have too many waiver options step up to be added. There were a few though as a couple of roster shake ups and injuries did happen. Here is your top IDP adds after week five.
During week five you could see that most of the teams lineups are virtually set in the NFL making it difficult to find some waiver options. We did see a couple of significant injuries as well as some new blood starters. We also did see some guys string together a couple solid weeks in a row on the defensive line and could be some intriguing adds moving forward. Lets see who the top IDP waiver adds are after week five.
Defensive Tackle
Danny Shelton - New England PatriotsÂ
2019 Stats: 14 tackles (nine solo), two tackles for a loss, two sacks and three QB hits.
Danny Shelton has now put up four straight solid performances in a row. Now many eye-popping games but consistent ones. Shelton was a highly touted tackle out of Washington in 2015 but never lived up to his hype. He was traded from Cleveland to New England after the 2017 season and has played much better with the Patriots. He now has 13 total tackles and two sacks over his last four games and is part of a strong Patriots front line rotation.
Shelton gets the Giants in week six which is not an ideal matchup but his remaining schedule bodes well for defensive tackles. If you need to fill a hole at defensive tackle and are left searching waivers Shelton could be a low-level starter the rest of the season.
Dexter Lawrence - New York Giants
2019 Stats: 13 tackles (six solo), two tackles for a loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and three QB hits.
Dexter Lawrence is coming off of his best game of his young career. Against the Vikings he racked up five total tackles, one for a loss, a sack and a QB hit. Lawrence has been quite disruptive this season and seems to be building off of each performance. Lawrence played on a career high 65% of the teams defensive snaps. His schedule going forward is not the best bud is not bad either. He has mostly plus matchups and should see the field a ton. He is one of the best young talents on the team and they should focus on giving him more reps this season so he can grow off of them next season.
Defensive End
Jonathan Bullard - Arizona Cardinals
2019 Stats: 10 tackles (seven solo), two for a loss, one sack and a QB hit. (Two games)
Jonathan Bullard has been terrific since coming back from an early season hamstring injury. After a solid performance in his first game back I pegged him as a sleeper for week five. he did not disappoint and came away with seven total tackles with one going for a loss. Bullard seems to be the best defensive end in this 3-4 getting the starts over rookie Zach Allen.
He should be in line for high snap totals going forward as he not only sets the edge well but has some decent pass rush moves as well. Bullard is playing well after two games and if you are thin at the defensive end position or have been struck by the injury bug, you could do worse.
Linebacker
Troy Reeder - Los Angeles Rams
2019 Stats: 16 tackles (10 solo)
Troy Reeder comes out of the Division II college of Delaware. He started his college career at Penn State where he earned All Big 10 Freshman honors and was a Second Team Freshman All American. He then transferred to the University of Delaware where and was an All American in 2018. Reeder signed with the Rams as an un-drafted free agent in 2019. He has seemed to have made a good impression.
Reeder played his first snaps in week four where he came away with three total tackles in only 24% of the teams snaps. The coaching staff liked this so much he got the start in week five and did not disappoint. He came away with 13 total tackles in week five while playing on 73% of the teams snaps. The Rams lost Micah Kiser earlier this season and Clay Matthews broke his jaw in week five. Reeder could be in for an every snap role next to Cory Littleton moving forward.
Josh Bynes - Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens hoped that one from the tandem of Kenny Young or Chris Board would step up and fill the void left by the departure of C.J. Mosley. Neither seemed to be able to step up so the Ravens signed a familiar face in Josh Bynes. Bynes started his career and was off to a hot start in 2018 before being shut down. In 2018 he posted 75 tackles (52 solo), five tackles for a loss, two sacks, five passes defensed, one fumble recovery and a touchdown in 11 games.
He got the start instantly for the Ravens and Kenny young was a healthy scratch. In his first game action this season he came away with five total tackles, one pass defensed and an interception. Bynes will be starting for the Ravens for the foreseeable future and is a nice veteran presence the defense was missing.
Cornerback
Will Redmond - Green Bay Packers
2019 Stats: 18 tackles (11 solo) and one tackle for a loss.
Will Redmond is listed as a cornerback in most leagues but has been playing as a third safety for the Packers. He started in week four and while he only played on 42% of the teams snaps he came away with eight total tackles. He usually plays the third safety on a team that is real thin at the linebacker position. After watching the past few Packers games it is hard to miss Redmond. Even though he plays limited snaps, when he is in his name always flashes across the screen.
Darnell Savage got injured in week five and Redmond filled in the rest of the way. Savage is believed to have a high ankle sprain and a possible MCL strain which would leave him out for multiple weeks. Redmond can be an every week starter until Savage comes back, especially if you can plug him in at cornerback.
Ross Cockrell - Carolina Panthers
2019 Stats: 18 tackles (14 solo), three passes defensed and one interception.
Ross Cockrell is coming off of his third straight productive game. He played only 11 snaps in week one and was injured only to miss week two with the same injury. In weeks three though five he totaled all but one of his season tackles as well as the other stats. He has also started the last three games with Donte Jackson out. Jackson did not practice all week and Cockrell will get the start across from James Bradberry who has been excellent in coverage all season.
Cockrell draws the Buccaneers in week six and will likely get target hog Chris Godwin as Bradberry will likely shadow Mike Evans. He should be targeted heavily in week six and will likely remain the third cornerback when Donte Jackson returns.
Mike Hilton - Pittsburgh Steelers
2019 Stats: 22 tackles (20 solo), three tackles for a loss, three passes defensed and an interception.
Mike Hilton is the starting nickel corner for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has had a very productive season while not seeing too much field time. He is averaging over four tackles per game from the corner position and has three passes defensed and an interception in his last two games. I have watched much of the last two games and Hilton is very active.
Hilton has been a high level performer for the Steelers secondary. I think that the Steelers will work to get their best players on the field more. The past two weeks the Steelers defense has seemed to finally find its identity and Hilton seems to be a big part of it.
Conclusion
At defensive tackle Danny Shelton has put together four straight weeks of decent production. He can be a guy to target if you are looking for consistency without the bang at the position. Dexter Lawrence is the big play upside defensive tackle who seems to be getting more comfortable with the NFL game. Jonathan Bullard is going from sleeper for me to a waiver addition after posting a second straight strong performance and separating himself from the other Cardinal defensive ends.
At linebacker Troy Reeder is taking advantage of how thin the Rams are and is running with the starting job. In his first career start he posted 13 total tackles, not bad for an undrafted rookie. Josh Bynes was signed by the Ravens and adds much-needed inside linebacker play after two youngsters failed to live up to hype. He posted five tackles and an interception in his first start with the team.
I do not see any safeties worth picking up off of waivers this week. Will Redmond is listed as a cornerback and is playing safety. Darnell Savage is out with a high ankle sprain and possible strained MCL and will miss a few weeks, Redmond will be filling in. Ross Cockrell is coming off of a third straight good performance. He will be targeted a lot in week six, he is a priority corner add as well. Mike Hilton is a low usage but high return player for the Steelers and I think will see the field more. he is my low-key add of the week.
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