It’s elusive. Rumored to exist, the term “rarely” doesn’t come close to describing it.

I’ve tried to watch every snap I possibly could of the Jacksonville Jaguars defense; I swear, I couldn’t find one.

Trapped between R. Kelly, a closet, and statistical improbability, is that late-season waiver wire pick up that hits harder than a haymaker from a unicorn.

Whatever general ideas you may have about unicorns and their traditional boxing skills, I assure you, no one has ever seen a Unicorn throw a haymaker.

And that, F6Pers, is how rare a non-injury related late-season waiver pickup can be in your fantasy stretch run.

So we never stop. We never stop searching for the impossible on the waiver wire. We never stop searching for that KO blow all over our uncle Ted’s lineup come championship weekend in our family league. F*** you and your squad uncle Ted.

So what will you unwrap this week off waivers? Even if the odds are against you, do you believe in magical haymakers?

We’re down to four games (if you play week 17, go boldly), four weeks, one month; that’s what separates the possibility of us having a very merry Christmas OR a terribly surly New Year. Lock in F6Pers.

2018 Fantasy Football Week 13 IDP Waivers

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Week 12 Infirmary

Reuben Foster, LB, Free Agent/Future Cincinnati Bengal

San Francisco 49ers LB Reuben Foster is well on his way to joining the exclusive Cincinnati Bengals retread club after his release by the 49ers. Bump the living hell out of LB Fred Warner for the rest of the season.

A deep league side effect of Foster’s release, consider snagging 49ers second-year LB Elijah Lee. He had six solos and a TFL on Sunday and he stuffed the stat sheet in his only start this year (Week 2): ten solo tackles (twelve total), a sack, and a FF.

#49ers ILB snap counts from Sunday (73 snaps):

Fred Warner: 72

Elijah Lee: 49

Malcolm Smith: 26 Smith was not injured, per the 49ers. — Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) November 26, 2018

Lee, a 2017 7th rounder and taxi squad veteran, is getting a real chance here to stake his claim as a serviceable MLB/WILL LB. With opportunity fleeting, perhaps Lee performs as a high-floor LB3 playing in Foster’s old role.

Slight Bump: LB Malcolm Smith

Big Bump: LB Fred Warner & S Jaquiski Tartt

Next Man Up: LB Elijah Lee

Week 13 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups

Preston Smith, LB, Washington Redskins (Y! 2%, ESPN 9%)

Remaining Schedule: @PHI, NYG, JAC, TEN

Hell of a play by Preston Smith. Shows off his length to tip the ball up and make the INT. #Redskins pic.twitter.com/mdCzt1Z2lp — Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) November 18, 2018

While Ryan Kerrigan continues to be highly owned, F6P IDP has recommended Redskins DLs including NT Da’Ron Payne, DE Jonathan Allen, and DT Matt Ioannidis at various times this year.

What better way to close out the regular season than with one more Redskin lineman? EDGE LB Preston Smith continues to fill up that stat sheet and get to the QB at a very high level, even dating back to last year:

Again, it says pressure rate! It doesn’t say sacks. Demarcus Lawrence had more sacks but Preston Smith had a higher pressure rate! That’s it! Good lord! pic.twitter.com/PnxA0Mxmjf — Ernie Billings (@ErnieBillings1) November 25, 2018



Many have taken notice of Preston Smith’s efforts over the last couple weeks. The Redskins offense may be limping through the final quarter of the season, but their defense is good enough to keep them in games.

When the Redskins are in games, they rush the passer as evidenced by how Smith has filled the IDP scoresheet over the past three weeks: 15 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three TFLs, eight QB hits, and an INT. Now is the time to move on Preston Smith.

Xavier Woods, S, Dallas Cowboys (Y! 1%, ESPN 1%)

Remaining Schedule: NO, PHI, IND, TB

Great coverage from Xavier Woods here. Does an excellent job of reading Colt McCoy eyes to undercut his pass. Still needs to attack the ball though. pic.twitter.com/iZ2Z1lSwgb — John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 24, 2018



The Cowboys have used the power of inception to steal the early season success of the Tennessee Titans and evolve into a top ten defense. One of the great takeaways from their defensive resurgence is the play of safety Xavier Woods.

In two of his past three games, he has 3 PDs.We often share QB Pressures/Hits here as a potential precursor to sacks and TFLs/Stuffs. Woods is breaking up passes and inching closer and closer to more interceptions as he did against the Redskins on Thanksgiving.

We have continuously seen, as in the clip above, Woods’ jersey in on or around plays since the Cowboy’s week. Not bad for a guy who came into the year transitioning into starting at a new position and recovering from a hamstring injury.

With the third easiest schedule against DBs remaining, the 23-year-old should continue to grow into a ball hawk and could emerge down the stretch for a legit Cowboys defense in a tight NFC East race.

Rodney Gunter, DT/DL, Arizona Cardinals (Y! 0%, ESPN 0%)

Remaining Schedule: GB, DET, ATL, LAR

Rodney Gunter: “I potentially could be the next JJ Watt.” — Jess Root (@senorjessroot) May 2, 2015



My man. Coming in HOT with some solid post draft self-analysis.

DTs are hard to find, useful DTs for IDP purposes even harder. But given the shallow nature of the position, Gunter is a great speculative pick up for a championship run.

Coming on late and in a contract year, the big man has unleashed the following over his last four games: three starts, ten solo tackles, 2.5 sacks, three TFLs, a PD, and a FF.

If you lack depth or are struggling to find a starter at DT2 or below, Gunter can be your guy.

Tre Flowers, S/CB/DB, Seattle Seahawks (Y! 1%, ESPN 0%)

Remaining Schedule: SF, MIN, SF, KC

The world moves too fast for us not to pivot to the Legion of Boom sequel, Legion of Boom II: Next Class.

Much like its namesake, this villainous Degrassi sequel likely will not live up to its predecessor in popularity or watchability.

What we can procure from the tape is that this recently converted safety-to-corner will only get better in coverage in time, but in the interim, he can tackle like a safety:

With the 49ers scheduled twice over the next four weeks along with pass-happy Captain Kirk Cousins and the Mahomes Machine, the numbers and opportunity could be there for Flowers.

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No DBs have an easier remaining schedule on paper than the Seahawk’s secondary. Make sure to check out Andy Patton’s in-depth look at Flower’s play from Sunday at USA Today’s Seahawks wire if you are on the fence.

Check out the rest of our 2018 Fantasy Football content from our great team of writers.