This past Thursday, the Cleveland Browns did something the team hadn’t done in 635 days—win a football game.
On Sunday an even longer streak was broken.
Against the New York Giants, Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt notched his first sack since September 18, 2016—a duration of 737 days. The last time Watt sacked a quarterback, the No. 1 movie in America was “Sully.”
Good flick. But still, that was a long time ago.
Watt actually notched three sacks in a loss to the New York Giants. But he told Deepi Sidhu of the team’s website that the outcome of the game mattered more than finally getting to a signal-caller for the first time in two-plus years.
“I said I’ve been knocking the rust off since the first half of the first game, and it’s been going little by little,” Watt said. “Obviously, hopefully continues that way. It’s good to finally end such a long drought, and do it in that type of way. But like I said, personal stats don’t matter at all in a loss.”
Watt can downplay his big day all he wants, but it had IDP owners doing as many cartwheels as Browns fans. Does it mean that Watt’s back to being the dominant force who won three Defensive Player of the Year awards in four years? Sadly, no.
But it doesn’t mean he hasn’t, either—and it offers Watt’s fantasy owners the most optimism they’ve had about Watt’s fantasy prospects since, well, since Tom Hanks landed a jumbo jet in a river.
Here’s as look around the rest of IDP Nation as we head into the fourth week of the 2018 season.
WEEK 4 IDP WAIVER WIRE
Stephen Weatherly – DE, Minnesota Vikings: With Everson Griffen out for the foreseeable future, Weatherly has been pressed into a much bigger role for the Vikings. In Week 3 at least, he answered the bell—seven total tackles and a sack against the Bills.
Leighton Vander Esch – ILB, Dallas Cowboys: With Sean Lee sidelined for at least a few weeks, Vander Esch will be playing a lot more snaps over the next several games, Time to find out if that first-round pick by the Cowboys was a wise one.
Damontae Kazee – S, Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta’s terrible injury luck of defense keeps rolling along. With Ricardo Allen the latest Falcon to suffer a severe injury, Kazee will be counted on moving forward to be a leader on the back end.
WEEK 4 IDP INJURY REPORT
Ricardo Allen - S, Atlanta Falcons (Achilles – IR): Allen pulled up lame in overtime of Atlanta’s loss to the New Orleans Saints with what wound up being diagnosed as a season-ending Achilles tear. It’s been that kind of year in Atlanta.
Ezekiel Ansah – DE, Detroit Lions (Shoulder): After notching a sack early in the opener against the New York Jets, Ansah injured his shoulder and hasn’t been seen on the field since. His status for Week 4’s trip to Dallas is uncertain.
Mark Barron – ILB, Los Angeles Rams (Ankle): Barron still hasn’t played this season (or practiced) following offseason surgery. At this point, he’s going to need to practice, play and get through a game before IDP owners can even consider slotting him in lineups.
Eric Berry – S, Kansas City Chiefs (Heel): Like Barron, Berry’s no-big-deal, totally not his Achilles “heel” injury has kept him off the field the entire season. At this point, no one has any real idea when (or if) Berry will see game action.
Joey Bosa – DE, Los Angeles Chargers (Foot): Bosa has already been ruled out for Week 4’s matchup with the 49ers, but there’s a bit of optimism sprinkled in. The cast on his injured foot will reportedly be removed soon.
Preston Brown – ILB, Cincinnati Bengals (Ankle): After practicing in a limited fashion last week, Brown wound up sitting out Cincinnati’s Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Still, he looks to be trending toward playing in Week 4.
Morgan Burnett – S, Pittsburgh Steelers (Groin): Burnett was a spectator for Pittsburgh’s first win of the season in Tampa, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin indicated the veteran safety might be back for Sunday night’s brouhaha with the Ravens.
Patrick Chung – S, New England Patriots (Concussion): Chung was one of two defensive starters for the Pats who missed last week’s loss in Motown with a concussion, His Week 4 availability is dependent upon passing the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Trey Flowers – DE, New England Patriots (Concussion): Flowers wasn’t able to pass the NFL’s concussion protocol before Sunday night’s loss at Detroit. The guess here is he does in Week 4 though—it’s all hands on deck against the division-leading Dolphins.
Everson Griffen – DE, Minnesota Vikings (Personal): In addition to the knee injury that sidelined Griffen in Week 3, he is reportedly dealing with mental health issues so serious that he was admitted to a hospital for further evaluation.
Reshad Jones – S, Miami Dolphins (Shoulder): Jones was something of a surprise scratch against the Oakland Raiders with a bum shoulder, but one has to think he’ll make every effort to be back out there in Week 4 against (insert dramatic music) the 1-2 Patriots.
Christian Kirksey – OLB, Cleveland Browns (Shoulder): Kirksey missed Cleveland’s big win over the Jets, but with a few extra days to get healthy the hope is he’ll be back out there when the Browns travel to face the Oakland Raiders.
Sean Lee – OLB, Dallas Cowboys (Hamstring): Lee isn’t just still nursing the hammy pull he had going into Week 3. Against the Seattle Seahawks Lee also pulled the other one. It’s the most Sean Lee injury news ever.
Brandon Marshall – ILB, Denver Broncos (Knee): Marshall played through his knee injury last week against the Baltimore Ravens, but he was reduced to a platoon role with rookie Josey Jewell. He could be looking at a similar fate in Week 4 against the red-hot Chiefs.
Marcus Maye – S, New York Jets (Foot): Maye’s missed most of the season with a bad flipper, but the Jets are hopeful that he might make it back for Week 4. The Doug Middleton Waiver Wire ride may be nearing an end before it really gets started.
Rodney McLeod – S, Philadelphia Eagles (Knee): McLeod left late in Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts with a knee injury significant enough to require further testing. There’s been no additional information as of publication regarding its severity.
Takkarist McKinley – DE, Atlanta Falcons (Groin): A groin injury kept McKinley from taking the field Sunday against the Saints, but the coaching staff has indicated a measure of optimism that he’ll be back on the field in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
CJ Mosley – ILB, Baltimore Ravens (Knee): The Ravens have fared pretty well without their Pro Bowl inside linebacker of late, but they’d no doubt like to have Mosley back for a big Week 4 tilt with the Steelers. He’s the definition of questionable.
Marcus Peters – CB, Los Angeles Rams (Calf): The Rams lost both Peters and Aqib Talib to significant injuries in last week’s win against the Chargers. Both are going to miss multiple games, and Talib will need surgery.
Jaquiski Tartt – S, San Francisco 49ers (Shoulder): Tartt practiced in a limited fashion last week but wound up missing the loss to the Chiefs. Given that he practiced some last week, the tea leaves point to him playing in Week 4.
Olivier Vernon – OLB, New York Giants (Ankle): Vernon still hasn’t played this season after suffering a high-ankle sprain in the preseason. But the Giants have expressed some hope that their best pass-rusher could be back soon.
Muhammad Wilkerson – DE, Green Bay Packers (Ankle – IR): Wilkerson’s first season with the Packers ended just as it began—with a whimper. The veteran defensive end suffered an ankle injury in Week 3 that will require season-ending surgery.
KJ Wright – OLB, Seattle Seahawks (Knee): Wright has yet to see the field in 2018 after having his knee scoped in the preseason. At this point it would take either a full week of practice or seeing him make it through a game before he can be inserted back into lineups.
THE WHAT THE HECK DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE WAIVER PLAY OF THE WEEK
Josh Bynes – ILB, Arizona Cardinals (vs. SEA)
Per Darren Urban of the Cardinals website, Bynes admitted that he thinks teams are running right at the Redbirds because they think the team is susceptible there. “I was thinking, ‘Why does this look familiar?’ ” Bynes said. “And it’s because the league picks stuff up. ‘Oh, you’re having trouble with it? Well, we will motion a guy to make it look like something different but, oh, it’s exactly what you saw before.’ ”
The Cardinals are a hot mess of a football team, and the defense has been part of the problem. Both Haasan Reddick and Deone Bucannon have been benched, leaving Bynes playing an every-down role out of necessity. Against a Seahawks team allowing the most fantasy points to linebackers that ran Chris Carson 32 times last week, that should mean a solid stat line.
GUYS I LIKE IN WEEK 4
Margus Hunt – DT, Indianapolis Colts (vs. HOU): Hunt’s off to a very nice start with the Colts—three sacks over his first three games. Playing a Texans team that can’t pass-block any better than last year should help him keep that going.
Cameron Jordan – DE, New Orleans Saints (at NYG): This is a dream matchup for Jordan—the Giants are among the league leaders in sacks allowed so far this year and just surrendered that three-sack game to JJ Watt I prattled on about in the intro.
Yannick Ngakoue – DE, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. NYJ): Ngakoue has been invisible this season, with just three total tackles and no sacks. Sunday’s home tilt with a Jets team giving up the most fantasy points in the AFC to D-linemen offers a good chance at a bounce-back.
Denzel Perryman – ILB, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. SFO): None of the Chargers LB are playing even 80 percent of the snaps. But the 49ers were a top-five LB matchup before losing Jimmy Garoppolo. There’s going to be a lot of short-range opps over the middle moving forward.
Jaylon Smith – ILB, Dallas Cowboys (vs. DET): The Lions may actually have something resembling a run game, and Sen Lee (stunner) is out for a few weeks. While he’s out, both Smith and Leighton Vander Esch are in a position to be valuable IDP assets.
Tahir Whitehead – OLB, Oakland Raiders (vs. CLE): The Browns were already one of the better IDP matchups for linebackers this year. With Carlos Hyde running well and the team actually moving the ball, that’s not going to get worse.
Landon Collins – S, New York Giants (vs, NOS): Fantasy owners griping about Collins’ numbers are either going to have a lot less to gripe about after Sunday or a reason to legitimately start freaking out. My money’s on the former.
Justin Evans – S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at CHI): Evans has shown a propensity for making big plays, and the Bears have shown a propensity for allowing them—they’re second in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to defensive backs.
Ron Parker – S, Kansas City Chiefs (at DEN): Parker has gone in a short period of time from sitting on his couch to every-down player for an undefeated team. He’s an interesting plug-and-play Monday in a top-five IDP matchup with the Broncos.
GUYS I DON’T LIKE IN WEEK 4
Trey Flowers – DE, New England Patriots (vs. MIA): Even if Flowers clears the protocol ahead of this week’s AFC showdown this might be a good matchup to give him the week off in. Dating back to 2017, the Dolphins just don’t allow many fantasy points to defensive linemen.
Akiem Hicks – DE, Chicago Bears (vs. TBB): It’s gotten lost in Khalil Mack‘s unbelievable start, but Hicks hasn’t exactly been cat food himself. The Bears pass-rush leads the NFL in sacks, but the Buccaneers are 28th in fantasy points given up to the position.
Cameron Wake – DE, Miami Dolphins (at NEP): Wake got his first sack of 2018 last week against the Raiders, and he had one last year at Gillette Stadium. But the reality is you’re paddling upstream—the Golden Boy doesn’t give up very many takedowns.
Eric Kendricks – OLB, Minnesota Vikings (at LAR): The Rams, explosive as they are, have a disconnect of sorts that dates back to last season. The team doesn’t give up fantasy points to linebackers—bottom-three both this year and last.
Alec Ogletree – ILB, New York Giants (vs. NOS): To date, Ogletree hasn’t posted the stats IDP owners hoped for in 2018. It’s not especially likely that’s going to change in a bottom-five fantasy matchup with the Saints Sunday.
Nick Vigil – OLB, Cincinnati Bengals (at ATL): Vigil’s been a nice waiver find for IDP owners—again. The problem is that the Atlanta Falcons are dead last in fantasy points allowed to linebackers—again. The matchup just isn’t there.
Quandre Diggs – S, Detroit Lions (at DAL): Of the Lions safeties, it’s Diggs (surprisingly) who is leading the team in snaps. But whether it’s him, Tavon Wilson or Glover Quin, steer clear of the stinky poo that is the Dallas passing “attack.”
Malcolm Jenkins – S, Philadelphia Eagles (at TEN): This has less to do with Jenkins and the Eagles than it does with a Titans team dead last in the league in fantasy points allowed to DBs. The Titans, somehow, are making opponents play ugly so far this season.
Jaquiski Tartt – S, San Francisco 49ers (at LAC): We’re only three weeks in, so it’s still a little early to make definitive statements about matchups. But in the early-going the Bolts have been surprisingly stingy on the back end—29th in fantasy points given up to DBs in 2018.
THE SCRAP-HEAP STREAMING CORNERBACK PLAY OF THE WEEK
In recent years the number of dependable weekly fantasy starters at the cornerback position has dwindled to just about zero. So, as a service to those hearty souls who play in IDP leagues that require them, each week I’ll point out a player at that position available in many leagues who should serve as a fine streaming option.
Janoris Jenkins, New York Giants (vs. NOS): After last week’s clunker of a recommendation (Ryan Smith would up watching Brent Grimes get abused by the Steelers) I feel the need to redeem myself. So I’m calling in the Jackrabbit. Jenkins was quiet in Week 3, but twice in three games he’s had at least six total tackles and the Saints lead the league in fantasy points surrendered to corners.
