Welcome to the 2025 IDP Waiver Wire For Week 16!
And then there were four.
In the vast majority of fantasy football leagues, Week 16 is semifinals week. Months of draft preparation, team selection, roster management, and setting lineups have come to this. Just four teams remain. Two games stand between IDP managers and eternal glory.
No pressure.
Of course, if you are reading this, you probably have a hole in your roster at the worst possible time. It’s not just a matter of needing a player this late in the season. But in Week 16, unless you play in a shallow IDP league, the waiver wire is pretty picked over. The odds of finding a game-changer are slim to none. The best you can reasonably hope for is a patch that will produce reasonably well.
It’s OK. Don’t hyperventilate. Much.
Sadly, this is just the reality of IDP leagues. Injuries don’t suddenly stop because it’s the IDP playoffs—just ask the managers who lost Green Bay Packers edge-rusher Micah Parsons to a torn ACL last week. At this point in the season, an underperforming defensive player can sink a team. End the season in frustration instead of jubilation.
So, all we can do is hit the wire, make the best adds we can, and hope for the best.
And since the Parsons injury was the biggest of Week 15, it stands to reason we should start with an edge-rusher this week.
Author’s Note: This is curtains for me for the IDP Waiver Wire here at FANTASY IN FRAMES this season, as Jorge will be back next week—I’m spending Christmas with family in Arizona after we lost my mother in November. I hope you have enjoyed reading the column half as much as I have enjoyed writing it, and if The Powers That Be here will have me, I’ll be back with more bad advice in 2026.
IDP PICKUP OF THE WEEK
EDGE Abdul Carter, New York Giants
After being drafted third overall by the Giants back in April, it has been a rocky first season for Carter, who has twice been benched this season after missing team meetings. However, last week against the Washington Commanders, Carter had the best game of his young career, drawing praise from interim head coach Mike Kafka in the process.
“Abdul played his tail off,” Kafka told reporters. “It’s no surprise, he prepared that way. And that’s how he addressed the week. He came in, I thought he played his butt off, fumble recovery, fumble return. Had a couple plays in the backfield. He was playing with his hair on fire today. So that’s one step. He’s got to keep on stacking those days.”
Against the Commanders, Carter logged seven total tackles, notched a sack for the second straight game, forced a pair of fumbles, and recovered one on the way to finishing as the No. 1 defensive lineman overall in Week 15. Carter has a good chance to finish the season strong—Carter’s last two games of the fantasy campaign are against the Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders—two teams who have struggled to protect the quarterback this year.
WEEK 16 IDP WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
EDGE Von Miller, Washington Commanders
It has been a miserable season in the nation’s capital, but Miller has quietly put together a decent 14th season—his takedown of Jaxson Dart of the New York Giants last week was his seventh sack of 2025. It’s sack or bust with the 36-year-old, but he has reached the quarterback in three of his past four games.
EDGE James Pearce Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Why Pearce is even available in as many IDP leagues as he is makes little sense—the rookie is up to eight sacks on the season after logging two in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was Pearce’s sixth straight game with a sack, and in Week 16, he draws a fantastic IDP matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
EDGE Chase Young, New Orleans Saints
Young may never be the player the Washington Commanders thought they were getting when they drafted Young second overall in 2020. Still, after logging a sack in last week’s game over the Carolina Panthers, he’s up to six sacks on the season ahead of a favorable two-game slate to close the season.
LB D’Marco Jackson, Chicago Bears
After playing every defensive snap in three straight games from Week 12 to Week 14, Jackson’s snap share dropped in last week’s win over the Cleveland Browns. But Jackson made a big-play dent with a sack and an interception, and given the state of the waiver wire at linebacker, he may be the best option available in many leagues.
LB Darius Muasau, New York Giants
Muasau made his return to the lineup last week after a stint on injured reserve and led the Giants with 11 total tackles while playing an 80 percent snap share. If that playing time holds in Week 16 against the Vikings, it should mean good things—Minnesota has been a favorable fantasy matchup for linebackers this season.
LB Drue Tranquill, Kansas City Chiefs
Tranquill takes a back seat to Nick Bolton in the hearts of IDP managers among linebackers in Kansas City. Still, the 30-year-old has been on a nice little tear of late—last week’s 14 total tackles against the Los Angeles Chargers was a season-high and marked the second straight week that Tranquill hit the 10-tackle mark.
S Dane Belton, New York Giants
Yes, this week’s waiver wire features multiple Giants, because they are so awesome defensively (That’s sarcasm. They stink.) Belton has been productive in the tackle column, logging at least seven stops in each of the past four starts. The fourth-year pro has also tallied a sack in back-to-back games.
S Antonio Johnson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Johnson logged five solos and an interception in last week’s win over the New York Jets, and it’s not a one-off—since Week 11, the 24-year-old ranks eighth in fantasy points among defensive backs. With a pair of top-10 fantasy matchups for safeties left on the fantasy schedule for Johnson, the third-year pro is worth a look.
S Malachi Moore, New York Jets
The rookie from Alabama was productive for fantasy managers again last week, amassing six stops and recovering a fumble. Over the past three weeks, Moore has been a top-10 fantasy option on the back end. He gets another top-10 fantasy matchup for safeties this week with the New Orleans Saints.
Thanks for checking out our recommendations for your league’s 2025 IDP Waiver Wire for Week 16. You can find all of our IDP Waiver Wire articles for 2025 by clicking here!
Gary Davenport (“The Godfather of IDP”) is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can’t make him call it X) at @IDPGodfather.
