UPGRADES

DL Darwin Walker, Darren Howard, Trent Cole, Philadelphia

These three defensive linemen made life miserable for Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe on Sunday. They combined for 15 solos, 9 assists, 6 sacks, 7 QB hurries, 2 FF, and 1 FR. Reserve DE Juqua Thomas also added a sack and QB hurry while DT Mike Patterson had 3 solos and 3 assists. Cole and Howard are the best two fantasy options here but this entire defensive line is playing great right now.

DL Alex Brown (4 solos, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 PD) & Mark Anderson (2 solos, 2 sacks, 1 FF, 1 PD), Chicago

Despite playing without normal starters Adewale Ogunleye and Ian Scott this week, the Bears defensive line had a major impact in shutting down the Bills offense. Stud DT Tommie Harris received a lot of attention from the Bills offensive line and was held scoreless, but that opened things up for the ends. Brown had his best game of the season with a sack and interception while Anderson emerged as a candidate for defensive rookie of the year with 5.5 sacks this year and 4 in his last 2 games.

DL Greg Ellis, Dallas (5 solos, 1 asst, 1 sack, 1 FF)

Ellis was moved to linebacker this year but still has DL eligibility in most leagues. He has put up 5 solo tackles in back to back games and also has 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles on the year. This week, he forced a fumble on a sack of McNabb that fellow OLB DeMarcus Ware recovered and ran in for a TD. He’s not as valuable with LB eligibility, but is worth a roster spot in most deeper leagues as a DL.

DL Darrion Scott, Minnesota (2 solos, 3 asst, 1 sack)

Scott entered the starting lineup after Erasmus James went down with an injury and he has put up 9 solos, 6 assists, 1 PD, and 2.5 sacks in his last 3 games. He played well last year after Kenechi Udeze went down with an injury and looks like a solid fantasy option this year too.

LB Karlos Dansby, Arizona (9 solos, 2 sacks)

Dansby has been returning slowly from injury and didn’t even start this game, but he wound up making a huge impact. He led the Cardinals in tackles with 9 solo stops and also added 2 sacks and 2 QB hurries. MLB Gerald Hayes saw a drop in his production and only finished with 2 solo stops and a PD, but we’ll have to wait to find out if Dansby’s return was the reason or if that was just a coincidence.

LB David Thornton, Tennessee (10 solos, 3 asst, 1 FF)

Thornton was a big free agent signing for the Titans this year and he has combined with Keith Bulluck to give them an excellent LB tandem to build around. Although Thornton plays the normally less productive SLB spot, he has been very productive and has finished with 6 or more solo tackles in 4 of 5 games so far this year.

LB Ernie Sims, Detroit (8 solos, 1 asst, 1 FF)

Even though he isn’t getting much recognition due to the Lions 0-5 start, Sims is having a very good year with 33 solo tackles, 11 assists, and a FF in 5 games so far this year. The big plays aren’t there yet but his tackle numbers have been very consistent, making him a very reliable performer.

LB Thomas Davis, Carolina (9 solos, 2 asst)

Davis had his best game as a pro this week with 9 solo stops and 2 assists. He’s still young and learning the LB position, but look for him to become a more valuable fantasy option as the season progresses.

LB Daryl Smith, Jacksonville (2 solos, 1 asst, 1 PD)

Although his numbers this week were disappointing, Smith figures to benefit the most from a season ending injury to MLB Mike Peterson. Smith played MLB in college and is a natural fit to slide inside for the Jaguars. Playing behind John Henderson and Marcus Stroud should give him a chance to chase down a lot of plays and he could even stay at MLB long-term if he does well. Jack Del Rio hasn’t announced any plans yet and the Jaguars have a bye week coming up so keep a close watch on this situation over the next week or two, but if Smith is available you should definitely try to pick him up if you can afford to.

DB Richard Marshall, Carolina (4 solos, 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 TD)

After putting up 11 solos stops and a FF a week ago, Marshall came through with another big game this week. CBs Chris Gamble and Ken Lucas are excellent starters, so Marshall should continue to see a lot of action when he enters the game as a nickel back since QBs and coaches love to try and pick on rookie CBs.

DB Walt Harris, San Francisco (4 solos, 3 INTs, 3 PD)

Harris had a great start to the season with 12 solos, a sack, FF, FR, and 5 PD in his first two games. He cooled off considerably in the next two games before exploding again on Sunday with 3 interceptions. Although his production figures to be inconsistent from week to week, he’s clearly capable of putting up some very big numbers in this 49ers defense.

DB Mike Doss, Indianapolis (5 solos, 1 asst, 1 INT, 2 PD)

Doss missed the season opener and got off to a slow start, but he’s been picking up the pace lately with 15 solos, 4 assists, 2 INTs, and 5 PDs in his last 3 games. It probably isn’t a coincidence that Bob Sanders missed those 3 games, so his return after the bye week could hurt Doss’s value a bit.

DB Lito Sheppard, Philadelphia (7 solos, 1 asst, 2 INT, 7 PD, 1 TD)

Sheppard returned to the Eagles starting lineup and his 102 yard TD return at the end of the game put an exclamation point on what was already an exceptional game. The statkeepers in Philadelphia are known to be pretty generous with the passes defensed stats and that was quite evident again on Sunday as Sheppard was credited with 7 of them.

DOWNGRADES

DL Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis (0 tackles)

Freeney started the game against the Titans on Sunday and should have been one of the few players on the Colts defense who was quick enough to chase down Vince Young, but he still wound up with 0 tackles, 0 sacks, and just 1 QB hurry. We’re now 5 games into the season and Freeney has yet to record a single sack. His streak of 4 consecutive years with double digit sacks since entering the league appears to be in serious jeopardy.

DL Ryan Pickett, Green Bay (2 asst)

Pickett has battled some injury problems early this year, but he was not on the Packers injury report this week and started the game as expected. It should have been a matchup he could exploit, but instead DT Jimmy Kennedy wound up having the big game with 5 solos, 1 sack, and 1 FF. Pickett put up 40+ solos in each of the past 2 seasons as a member of the Rams but has just 8 in 5 games with his new team.

DL Bert Berry (1 solo) & Darnell Dockett (1 solo), Arizona

Like Freeney and some other disappointing pass rushers, Berry has been a fantasy bust so far this year. After 5 games, he has just 8 solo tackles and 0 sacks. Dockett, meanwhile, has shown that his big game against the Seahawks in week 2 was a fluke.

DL Simeon Rice, Tampa Bay (1 solo)

Rice has been disappointing so far this year with just 7 solo stops and 1 sack in 4 games played. He was battling through a knee injury but appeared to turn things around a bit against Carolina in week 3. The Saints likely focused a lot of blocking attention on him, but none of the other Bucs defensive linemen did much either.

LB Shawne Merriman, San Diego (2 solos, 1 asst, .5 sack)

Merriman had an impressive 6 solo tackles in the season opener, but has just 4 solos in 3 games since then. He’s still a tremendous force as a pass rusher with 4.5 sacks on the year, but he’ll remain a marginal fantasy option in most leagues until he figures out a way to get more tackles.

LB Mike Peterson, Jacksonville (Injured – Out for the year)

Peterson left the game with an injury and it was reported today that he will miss the rest of the season. The injury was described as a torn pectoral muscle. Daryl Smith is the obvious choice to replace him at MLB, but the Jaguars have a bye week coming up to evaluate their options.

LB Barrett Ruud, Tampa Bay (1 solo)

Nece returned to the starting lineup for the Bucs at SLB this week, which placed Ruud back on the bench and Quarles back at MLB. So much for the Bucs giving him a longer look at MLB, although that still could happen at some point with the Bucs sitting at 0-4 on the season.

LB Stephen Cooper, San Diego (1 solo)

A lot of noise was made this preseason about the Chargers going with a youth movement at linebacker. Donnie Edwards was being shopped for trade and veteran Randall Godfrey was close to retirement, so many thought Stephen Cooper would have a good chance to take over a starting job. The Chargers even signed him to a 5 year, $15 million contract, but so far he has been little more than a part-time player and has a disappointing 6 solo stops in 4 games (along with a sack in the opener when Edwards wasn’t completely healthy).

DB Marlin Jackson, Indianapolis (0 tackles)

Jackson got off to a great start this year with 17 solo tackles in his first 3 games as the team’s nickel DB, but he missed week 4 after recovering from a concussion. He returned to action this week, but was knocked out in the 2^nd quarter due to an undisclosed injury while covering a punt.

DB David Barrett, NY Jets (1 asst)

Although he was the team’s nickel back, Barrett had a very impressive 12 solos, 7 assists, 2 INTs, FF, and 2 PDs in the first three games. He was a non-factor in a blowout loss to the Jaguars this week, however, and he probably shouldn’t be relied on for consistent production going forward.

DB Nathan Vasher, Chicago (1 solo)

Vasher established himself as one of the league’s best playmakers at CB with 13 INTs in his first 2 seasons, and was named a starter in last year’s Pro Bowl as a result. Even though the Bears are playing great this year in all phases, Vasher has been a relative non-factor with 9 solos and 0 INTs in 5 games. Tillman, meanwhile, was a top-5 fantasy DB last year and finished with 85 solo tackles, a sack, 5 INTs, and 4 FFs.

DB Kerry Rhodes, NY Jets (2 solos, 1 asst)

Rhodes was a fantasy beast in the first 3 games of the season but his numbers and play have come back to earth a bit recently. Over the last 2 games, he has just 5 solos, 3 assists, and 1 PD. Rhodes only finished with 2 or fewer solo tackles in 2 games last year, but yesterday was already his second time this season. He should still remain a quality fantasy starter, but may not be as good as we thought he was a couple weeks ago.