DL Julius Peppers, CAR (6 solos, 1 asst, 1.5 sacks, 2 FF, 1 FR)
Peppers had gone 5 games without recording a sack but he showed up with a
huge performance against the Cardinals this week. His 1st quarter sack also
had a huge impact on the game as he knocked the ball loose and recovered the
football, injuring Kurt Warner in the process.
DL Aaron Kampman, GB (8 solos, 1 asst, 2 sacks)
Kampman was having a decent season prior to this week's game but wasn't
nearly as productive as he was a year ago when he finished with 59 solo tackles
and 15.5 sacks. He's not quite back on that pace yet, but his huge game
against the Redskins certainly helped fantasy owners who were counting on
him to anchor their defensive line this year.
DL Luis Castillo, SD (5 solos, 1 asst, 1 sack)
Although Castillo plays a position that isn't particularly conducive
to fantasy production, his 0 sacks in 5 games were certainly worrisome. Turns
out all him and some of his Chargers teammates needed was a game against the
Raiders to turn things around.
DL Paul Spicer, JAX (5 solos, 1 asst, 1 sack, 1 FF)
Spicer generally flies under the radar for most fantasy owners, but his 5
solos this week were more than he had in the first four games of the season
combined. His sack this week also gives him 3 sacks in his last 4 games.
DL Jevon Kearse, PHI (3 solos, 2 asst, 1 sack)
Kearse had a brutal start to the season with 0 solos and just .5 sack in the
first 3 games, but he appears to be turning things around. He has 3 solos
and a sack in each of his past 2 games and has some favorable matchups coming
in the weeks ahead.
DL Jovan Haye, TB (7 solos, 3 asst, 1 sack)
Haye was a former DE with the Panthers who came into this season with just
11 solo tackles and 0 sacks in his brief career. The Buccaneers have moved
him to DT this year and he's doing a great job with the added playing
time. Over his last 3 games, he has been credited with 13 solos, 7 assists,
and 2 sacks.
DL Kelly Gregg, BAL (4 solos, 3 asst, 1 sack, 1 FR)
Gregg has quietly been one of the most consistent DTs in the league over the
past five seasons. Although he's not much of a sack artist (career high
of 3.5 set last year), he's been playing great of late and has managed
to put up 13 solos, 5 assists, 2 sacks, and a FR in his last 3 games.
LB Shaun Phillips (7 solos, 2 asst, 2 sacks, 1 FF) & Shawne Merriman
(4 solos, 2 asst, 2.5 sacks, 1 PD), SD
Phillips looks like he might actually improve on his 44 solo, 11.5 sack season
from a year ago. After his huge game this week against the Raiders, he now
has 23 solo tackles and 5.5 sacks in 6 games. Merriman will have a harder
time improving on his season from a year ago when he managed 17 sacks in just
12 games played, but his numbers (22 solos and 5.5 sacks) are nearly identical
to those of Phillips. With the Chargers offense starting to heat up, look
for these two to turn up the heat on opposing QBs even more in the weeks ahead.
LB DeMarcus Ware, DAL (6 solos, 4 asst, 1 sack)
Ware got off to a slow start this season with 5 solos and 0 sacks in his first
two games, but he's been on a tear since then. Over his last 4 games,
he's been credited with 20 solos, 6 assists, and 5.5 sacks.
LB Pisa Tinoisamoa, STL (6 solos, 1 INT, 1 PD)
Tinoisamoa is a talented player who has been fighting through injuries for
much of the past season and a half. He appears to be healthy right now and
has managed 11 solos and an interception in his past two games. Might be worth
picking up off the waiver wire if you need help at LB.
LB Landon Johnson, CIN (11 solos, .5 sack)
Johnson has been one of the few constants this season in the Bengals LB group,
and he was very busy in the matchup against Larry Johnson and the Chiefs this
week. He's averaging almost 6 solo tackles per game so far this season
and is on pace to destroy his career-high of 73 solos that he set last year.
LB Monty Beisel, ARI (8 solos, 2 asst)
Beisel has bounced around the league a bit over the past few years, playing
in Kansas City and New England. He entered the game in relief of an injured
Karlos Dansby this week and could probably be a productive starter if Dansby
misses any time with his knee sprain.
LB Robert Thomas, OAK (8 solos)
Thomas was a former 1st round pick of the Rams who has been a backup for the
past few years. He was a surprise starter this week in place of Sam Williams,
who was a late scratch, and wound up leading the Raiders in tackles with 8.
He looked pretty good and might not give up the starting job too easily.
DB Deke Cooper, CAR (6 solos, 2 INT, 2 PD)
Cooper never made much of an impact during the few years he spent in Jacksonville,
but he's getting a lot of playing time in Carolina and starting to do
something with it. He has 6 solos in each of the past 2 games and also added
2 interceptions this week. Prior to this week, he only had 3 career interceptions
in 62 games played.
DB Sean Taylor, WAS (3 solos, 2 INT, 1 FF, 4 PD)
Taylor's tackle numbers (15 solos in 5 games) are still underwhelming,
but he's starting to make the big plays he's known on a consistent
basis. Over his last 3 games, he's come up with 4 interceptions, a forced
fumble, and 7 passes defensed. Look for a huge game from him this week against
the Cardinals if they have to start Tim Rattay at QB.
DB Bernard Pollard, KC (5 solos, 1 INT, 1 PD)
Pollard continues to make his presence felt as he not only added 5 solo tackles
this week but also recorded his first interception of the season. He has a
big fantasy upside if he can continue to develop.
DB Madieu Williams, CIN (8 solos, 1 sack, 1 PD)
Williams has been very active in recent weeks given all the injuries suffered
by the Bengals linebackers. He's averaging nearly 7 solo tackles/game
and has also contributed an interception and a sack. It won't be a surprise
if he winds up as a top-5 fantasy DB when the season is over.
DB Phillip Buchanon, TB (8 solos, 1 INT, 1 PD)
Buchanon has been filling in for Brian Kelly at CB and has managed some very
impressive tackle numbers while doing so. Over his last 4 games, Buchanon
has 28 solo tackles and 2 interceptions. He's been a disappointment in
the past and was never thought to be a particularly good tackler but he seems
to be fitting in well with the Bucs cover 2 defense.
DB Eric Wright, CLE (8 solos, 1 INT, 2 PD)
Wright is a talented rookie who fell in the draft due to some character concerns.
With 41 solo tackles in 6 games, he ranks among the league leaders in tackles.
The Browns pass defense has also been struggling so he should continue to
see plenty of passes thrown in his direction.
Downgrades
DL Reggie Hayward, JAX (DNP)
Hayward had a nice 4 solo, 1 sack game against the Broncos in week 3 but he's
been out with a hamstring injury since then and was inactive this week. With
the Colts coming up next on the schedule, even if he plays he's probably
not going to be very helpful.
DL Derrick Burgess, OAK (0 tackles)
Burgess has been struggling to come back from a calf injury. While he did
manage to play about half the snaps this week, he still failed to make any
impact on the stat sheet. Probably a good idea to wait for him to show something
on the field before putting him back in your lineup.
DL Will Smith, NO (0 tackles)
Smith had a bit of a breakout game against the Panthers last week when he
finished with 5 solos and his only sack of the season. Unfortunately, he followed
that up with this goose egg on Sunday night vs the Seahawks. It looks like
he may wind up as one of the more disappointing fantasy IDPs this year.
DL Matt Roth, MIA (2 solos)
Roth got off to a pretty good start this season with 16 solo tackles and a
sack in his first 4 games, but he's cooled off considerably with just
3 solos and 0 sacks over the past 2 games.
DL Marcus Stroud, JAX (0 tackles)
Stroud was one of the hottest fantasy linemen early on this season when he
began with 11 solos and 2 sacks in his first 2 games. In the 3 games since
then, however, he's only managed 3 solo tackles and 0 sacks. Next week's
matchup against the Colts probably won't help much either.
LB Mark Simoneau, NO (0 tackles)
Simoneau started at MLB for the Saints this week but was kept off the stat
sheet. The Seahawks were not particularly effective running the ball and Hasselbeck
had 43 pass attempts so the Saints may have spent a lot of time in the nickel
package, but coverage is supposed to be one of Simoneau's strengths.
It wouldn't be a huge surprise if he was eventually replaced by Brian
Simmons at some point.
LB Mike Vrabel, NE (1 solo)
Vrabel's fantasy value appears to have taken a huge drop. He looked to
be headed for a big season with 3.5 sacks in his first 2 games, but he's
now gone sackless for 4 games in a row and also has just 4 solo tackles in
his last 3 games. If he can't turn things around against the Dolphins
this week, might be time to start looking elsewhere.
LB Napoleon Harris, KC (1 solo)
Despite being primarily a 2-down LB in Kansas City, Harris got off to a great
start with 24 solos in his first 4 games. He's cooled off a bit since
then and went ice cold in the game against the Bengals this week. It might
not be a bad idea to sit Harris in matchups against great passing offenses
when the Chiefs will likely spend a lot of time in their nickel package.
LB Karlos Dansby, ARI (1 solo)
Following up a 14-solo game a week ago, Dansby had to leave the game with
a knee sprain. The team was awaiting the results of an MRI to determine the
severity of the injury, but it looks like he could miss a little time.
LB Channing Crowder, MIA (1 solo, 1 asst)
Crowder was playing well before injuring his ankle in week 4. He missed a
game and then returned to action this week, but wasn't fully healthy
and didn't play in the team's nickel package as a result. He should
be more productive given how horrible the Dolphins run defense has been.
DB LaRon Landry, WAS (1 solo, 1 asst)
Landry was a very high draft pick for the Redskins this year who won the starting
SS job to begin the season. He looked ready to emerge as a consistent fantasy
starter when he put up 6 solos in back to back weeks earlier this year, but
he's managed just 2 solos in the two games since then. Looks like we
might need to wait until year 2 for him to start living up to the high expectations
many had for him, as it normally takes safeties a little while to adjust to
the speed of the NFL.
DB Darren Sharper, MIN (1 solo, 3 asst)
After a quick start to the season (13 solos and 2 INTs in the first 2 games),
Sharper has cooled off considerably. In his last 2 games, he has totaled just
3 solos and 3 assists despite facing a couple offenses (Packers and Bears)
that rely pretty heavily on the passing game.
DB Shawn Springs, WAS (3 solos)
Springs earned a reputation as one of the league's better CBs earlier
in his career, and he's still a very capable shutdown corner. But, his
playmaking ability appears to have left him as he's managed just 2 interceptions
over his last 29 games played. He also has just 1 game so far this year with
more than 3 solo tackles.
DB Adam Archuleta, CHI (4 solos)
Archuleta has been trying to play through a broken arm but he was missing
too many tackles against Adrian Peterson and the Vikings this week and was
benched for the second half. It's unclear if he'll regain his starting
job next week or remain on the bench until he's healthier.
