Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire for Week 5

​Brian Orakpo, Outside Linebacker

There’s a reason we’ve been highlighting a Tennessee Titans linebacker each of the last few weeks in this column: their offense is so impotent that they frequently give the ball back and afford plenty of chances to the opposing team to score.

This is good for IDP players: the quicker the opposing offense gets the ball back, the better. For Titans outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, that is also good news, as he’s playing 77% of the Titans’ defensive snaps -- second among Tennessee linebackers. He also has the 12th-best quarterback hit rate among linebackers through four weeks and the ninth-best sack rate.

I don’t like to recommend outside linebackers usually; they’re often sack-or-bust propositions, which makes them risky. That said, Orakpo gets to take on the Miami Dolphins in Week 5, which makes "sack" a much more likely outcome. The Dolphins have allowed the sixth-highest sack percentage going into Week 5. There may not be a ton of running back tackles, but the volume of passing attempts (second-most pass-heavy offense) will allow more chances for the big play

Orakpo is available in 99.2% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 5.14 tackles, 0.76 sacks, 0.34 passes defended, and a total score of 7.92 fantasy points in Week 5.