Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire for Week 16

Robert Ayers, Defensive End

He’s back, baby! I’ve been personally excited for the young pass-rusher in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ rotation -- Noah Spence -- for quite some time, but he is merely the heir apparent to current showstopper Robert Ayers. Ayers was injured for a handful of games, but now that he's back he’ll resume the lion’s share of work.

That’s a good thing for fantasy teams. Ayers’ fantasy points per snap rate is in the top-10 among the 65 defensive ends playing at least 30 snaps per game, thanks to a sack rate that ranks ninth and a second-best quarterback hit rate. His tackle rate is also no slouch, as he’s wrapped up on six percent of his plays, the 27th-best rate. He even has 6.5 stuffs this season. The only downside with Ayers is that he’s been in on 75 percent of the team’s snaps in a game five times in 10 games played. He’s a high-upside situational pass-rusher, but he carries some risk

This week isn’t a pleasant matchup for him, as the New Orleans Saints have allowed a sack rate of 3.8 percent and stuff rate of 6.3 percent -- fourth- and third-lowest in the NFL, respectively. Still, in a matchup where the Saints’ offense is likely to be on the field a ton to keep pace with the Tampa Bay aerial attack, Ayers should have plenty of chances to make a big play or two.

Ayers is available in 95.8% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 2.20 tackles, 0.43 sacks, and a total score of 3.57 fantasy points in Week 16.