Cushing and Pryor top our Week 2 IDP waiver adds

Just as with every NFL season, the first week of football of the year brought some surprises and some injuries, and already fantasy owners are scouring box scores and the waiver wire to find the best players who slipped through the cracks on draft day.

There is no shortage of available players who can have a role on your roster, so let’s take a look at some of the more desirable options heading into Week 2.

Defensive Linemen

More than enough column inches have been penned regarding Jason Pierre-Paul’s stand-off with the Giants with regards to his franchise tender, contract status, and offseason finger amputation, but one thing that is still unclear is when he will return to the field. Reports have varied from JPP being “ready to play” to being re-evaluated in six weeks to potentially missing the entire season, so there is an opportunity on the Giants D-Line for others. Damontre Moore managed to generate one quarterback hit, and one hurry, but only saw 20 snaps (28.2 percent), so he is passed over for Robert Ayers (49 snaps – 69.0 percent) who was disruptive in the backfield, generating six hurries against a tough Cowboys O-Line. Ayers profiles as a matchup-based DL3 for the coming weeks.

It was an excellent fantasy debut for Colts rookie Henry Anderson, who led all defensive linemen in Week 1 with nine total tackles (eight solo) along with Rams stud Aaron Donald. A third-round pick back in April, Anderson was seen as a versatile lineman who would play as a five-technique in Indianapolis, and has found himself handed a more significant role early in his career (he played 49-of-59 snaps on Sunday) than expected thanks to Arthur Jones being placed on I.R. with an ankle injury. While he didn’t generate any pressure on his 18 pass rushes, his tackle total makes him an intriguing depth add in tackle-heavy formats.

Keeping with the rookies, Randy Gregory flashed the skill set that led some to call him the most talented pass rusher in the 2015 class on Sunday. He only saw 21 snaps, 18 of which were blitzes, but managed to be a nuisance to Eli Manning with one hit and three hurries. Greg Hardy will be back from suspension in Week 5, and Gregory will need to pass DeMarcus Lawrence and Jeremy Mincey on the depth chart to see significant playing time, but he offers a much higher upside thanks to his edge-rushing skills, which makes him stashable in leagues with deeper benches.

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Ross Miles is a Lead Writer for Pro Football Focus Fantasy. Follow him on Twitter – @RossMilesNFL
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