Week 6 IDP Waiver Wire: This Guy Should Not Be Available

First, Two LBs Who Have Let Us Down

Let’s kick off this week with a couple of players you can drop en route to the pickups below.

Green Bay did start LB Isaiah McDuffie as expected in the first game after losing Edgerrin Cooper to an Achilles’ tear. But the Packers rotated him near-evenly with Ty’Ron Hopper, actually playing Hopper for 39 snaps (57%) to McDuffie’s 32 (46%).

That makes neither guy worth trusting in your fantasy lineup, and McDuffie a drop just a week after we picked him up.

Philadelphia apparently had similar plans at LB before Jeremiah Trotter Jr. got ejected on the opening kickoff of the loss to Jacksonville.

DC Vic Fangio confirmed Tuesday morning that he planned to “play Trotter some” in rotation with Jihaad Campbell and that they’ll split “by series” going forward. That means you can drop Campbell and plan to use no Eagles LB beyond Zack Baun.

Now on to this week’s waiver pickups.

Week 6 IDP Waiver Wire Targets

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

Of course, IDP leagues vary widely by depth, scoring rules, and lineup settings. So to get the best measure of who to pick up in your league, check your Free Agent Finder.

Alex Highsmith, Edge, Pittsburgh Steelers

Highsmith has gone quiet over the past three games after a strong start to the season. Sunday marked his third straight outing with no sacks or QB hits. He also has just 1 solo tackle over that span. 

But there’s been no shrinking of his role, and we’re still not that far removed from a hot start to the year. The veteran racked up 3 sacks among 4 tackles for loss and 5 QB hits over the first two weeks.

Week 6 will give him a chance to get back to that against a Bucs offense yielding the league’s third-highest sack rate. Highsmith sits available in 85% of Sleeper IDP leagues as of this writing.

Elijah Ponder, Edge, New England Patriots

Ponder quietly sits tied for sixth in the league in sacks, with 4.5 through five games. That has included at least a half-sack in each of his past four outings. And his 6 total tackles for loss tie for third in the league.

Ponder gets a good chance to add to those categories this week against a Jets offense allowing the league’s fourth-highest sack rate. Geno Smith has taken 3+ sacks each of the past four games.

Upside sack matchups with the Bears, Dolphins, and Packers follow that, making Ponder a potential weekly starter in pressure-friendly formats.

David Bailey, Edge, New York Jets

This first-round rookie should be rostered already in any league where he makes sense, but we find him available in 75% of Sleeper IDP leagues as of this writing. That number’s bound to rise after a 3-sack showing in the Jets’ win over Cleveland on Sunday.

Bailey’s 4 QB hits in that contest more than doubled his season total (to 7), but it was his third game with 4+ total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

Next comes a Patriots offense that has limited sacks the past two weeks but allowed 3 in each of the first three games. Then comes an even better matchup with Miami, which has yielded the league’s sixth-highest sack rate to date.

Payton Wilson, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

I won’t keep including this guy, no matter where his rostered rate sits. Wilson landed among our first batch of IDP waiver targets back in Week 2, but he remains available in 85% of Sleeper IDP leagues.

That simply should not be the case for a LB scoring the position’s 12th-most points per game (depending on your format).

Wilson has fixed his playing-time issue from last year, staying on the field for 83% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps so far. That trails teammate Patrick Queen (100%) but has allowed Wilson to convert his superior speed and athleticism into production.

Wilson should not only be rostered in nearly all leagues, he’s a weekly starter.

Quincy Williams, LB, Cleveland Browns

Lead Cleveland LB Carson Schwesinger left the stadium in a walking boot after Sunday’s loss to the Jets. That obviously puts his Week 6 availability in question.

If he’s out, then Williams will make plenty of sense against a still run-leaning Baltimore offense. Even if Schwesinger makes it back, though, Williams will be in play for some leagues. He has been a near-100% snap-share guy in his first run with Cleveland.

Williams will gain upside if the Ravens need to start Tyler Huntley in place of Lamar Jackson for a second straight game.

Christian Elliss, LB, New England Patriots

Elliss gets a pair of upside matchups the next two weeks. First come the Jets, who have supplied the 12th-most fantasy points to LBs this season. That spot could tap into Elliss’ sneaky sack upside.

His lone sack this season came in Week 2, but Elliss has tallied 5 total pressures, including 3 QB hits. He’s tied for eighth-most pass rushes among non-edge LBs this season, according to PFF, and the Pats have rushed him as many as 12 times in a game.

Don’t be surprised if we get that type of deployment against a Jets offense allowing the fourth-highest sack rate.

After that matchup comes a Bears offense that has yielded the third-most fantasy points to LBs. And Week 8 provides a Dolphins offense that could be worth targeting as well.

Elliss looks like a good fit for IDP lineups seeking a short-term play. He doesn’t appear likely to offer special production overall, though.

Jevon Holland, S, New York Giants

Holland surprisingly sits available in 87% of Sleeper IDP leagues despite intercepting passes in each of his first three games this year. The tackle numbers have proved volatile, though, and made him a risk-reward option.

Week 6 presents reward potential in a Saints offense that sits as the second-best scoring matchup for DBs. 

That has included just 2 INTs, meaning downside risk for the Giants’ deep-coverage leader. But no team has supplied more solo tackles to DBs. That raises the floor.

Justin Reid, S, New Orleans Saints

DBs look interesting on the other side of that matchup as well, with Giants QB Jameis Winston always presenting big-play upside.

The Giants enter Week 6 providing the seventh-most fantasy points to DBs. That includes tying for seventh in solo tackles and tying for third in passes defensed.

Jonas Sanker stands as the top scorer among Saints safeties right now, but that’s primarily because he ran a fumble back for a TD Sunday. Sanker has also done well on tackles, especially considering he has played only 64.3% of defensive snaps so far. But that playing time adds volatility.

Reid and Julian Blackmon are the full-time safeties in New Orleans, and I’ll lean toward Reid’s role here.

The former Chief splits his time between the box and deep safety, whereas Blackmon plays primarily at free safety. That puts Reid closer to the ball more often and has supported better tackle production between the two.

Reid has yet to defense a pass in 2026 but has tallied 52 of them for his career.

Find Out Who Makes Sense for Your Team

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Want some offensive waiver options? Check out this week's video below.