Plugging the Gaps: IDP Waiver Wire for Week 4
Avery Williamson, Inside Linebacker
Avery Williamson was one player I pegged before the 2016 season in many of my Dynasty leagues as a must-acquire player. Last year, he played 926 snaps and collected 102 total tackles, both numbers that seemed like they could slightly improve. Williamson has a three-down skill set at inside linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, and it seemed like playing just 87 percent of their defensive snaps was low for one of the better young linebackers in the league. In addition, his 11 percent tackle rate ranked just a middling 32nd among the 63 linebackers who played at least 50 snaps a game in 2015. The strength of Williamson is that he works from a statistically-high floor, but also has upside in his skill set and some room for his role to grow.
That next step has arrived, and just in time for a Week 4 date with the Houston Texans. In 2016, Williamson has 21 total tackles through three games (on pace for 112) and is playing 92 percent of the team’s snaps. The Texans are running the ball the sixth-most in the league (1.14 pass-to-run play call ratio), allowing plenty of tackle chances to Williamson. They are also allowing the 13th-lowest sack percentage but the 10th-most quarterback hurries to opposing defenses, meaning there is a possibility Williamson slips past a guard on an inside blitz and earns a big play to boot, if he can convert pressure into production.
Williamson is available in 95.0% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 7.09 tackles, 0.12 sacks, 0.18 passes defended, and a total score of 8.03 fantasy points in Week 4.
