Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire for Week 9
Mike Daniels, Defensive Lineman
The Green Bay Packers’ defensive acumen has been slipping since their dominance at the beginning of the season, but that won’t affect the fantasy viability of their IDP options like defensive end Mike Daniels.
As part of the Packers’ 3-4 scheme, Daniels plays end in the base defense and slides inside to the tackle spot in sub-packages, and he’s played 63% of the Packers’ defensive snaps doing this. This allows him mismatches with opposing offensive linemen, which he’s used to his advantage; Daniels ranks 23rd in quarterback hit rate, and -- despite a poor tackle rate overall -- is on-pace for a career-high 12 stuffs and a solid 5 sacks.
Daniels and Green Bay take on the Indianapolis Colts this week, who allowed similar 3-4 defensive ends Jaye Howard and Chris Jones to earn 9.0 combined fantasy points in Week 8. Daniels will be able to build on his big-play strengths here as the Colts have allowed the highest sack rate in the league. Behind Frank Gore's ageless power run, though, they’re second-lowest in stuff rate allowed. Still, this Colts’ offense rushes the ball an average 23.63 times per game, so there should be volume, too.
Daniels is available in 97.8% of ESPN IDP leagues. We project him for 2.02 tackles, 0.29 sacks, and a total score of 3.45 fantasy points in Week 9.
