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Plenty of defensive ends to consider picking up this coming week, and a nice handful of defensive backs. Linebacker is what you would expect, with a nice bunch to help get you through the many injuries and the start of bye weeks. Let us see what we can do this scoring period to upgrade those IDP squads.
Bye Weeks coming up: Denver, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans
Elevator Going Up
Linebackers
Lawrence Timmons MIA
Jabaal Sheard IND
Shaq Thompson CAR
Nick Vigil CIN
Tahir Whitehead DET
Timmons was back in Week 4, and became an every down LB again. He picked up six solo tackles against New Orleans, along with a QH (QB hit/hurry). One of his tackles was for a loss of yards (TFL) which is always a plus in real football, and will keep him on the field going forward.
Sheard had a productive game against the Seahawks, with seven total tackles (five solo, one TFL). He also picked up a sack and added two QH to his stat line in Week 4. He is not a LB1, but is certainly playing well enough to be an option during the bye week period.
Beckwith is taking advantage of the absence of both Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David. He should start again in Week 5, as both those starters are expected to stand on the sidelines in Week 5. Every down LBs are gold when they produce, which is what Beckwith has been doing.
Armstrong has accumulated 30 combined tackles over the first four weeks of the 2017 season, and added a sack, and interception (INT) and a pass defense (PD) in Week 4. With Navaro Bowman on the downslope of his career in the NFL due to injury, and Reuben Foster sitting on the sidelines, he makes for a sneaky option. Plus, you have to love a guy with a hyphenated repeating first name, don't ya?
Thompson has been an every down LB for the past two weeks, and is racking up the tackles, collecting 17 total over the past two weeks (14 solo, with nine in Week 4). Not so sure he continues to be a 3-down LB going forward, but in tackle heavy leagues, he is a LB1 right now.
Vigil is coming off an excellent Week 4 performance, with 12 combined tackles (eight solo) and a sack. You cannot bank on that, but he does face off against Buffalo in Week 5, who feature a run-oriented offense. Definitely a LB2 at this point in the season.
Whitehead looks to be as healthy as he has been in a while. You should not expect two fumble recoveries to be the norm, but he does provide solid tackle numbers when on the field. His ownership percentage makes him immediately rosterable.
Defensive Linemen.jpg)
Cameron Heyward DE PIT
Jurrell Casey DE TEN
Danielle Hunter DE MIN
Anthony Zettel DE DET
David Bass DE NYJ
Yannick Ngakoue DE JAX
Emmanuel Ogbah DE CLE
Heyward put up a huge stat line in Week 4: four total tackles (three solo, two TFL) with two sacks, two QH, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He is a DE1 to add right now.
Casey is another to consider adding to your IDP roster, coming off a seven total tackle week (five solo, one TFL) with a sack and a QH. He started off slow, but now seems to be gaining ground as a DE2.
Hunter continues to impress. A pair of sacks and QHs with a PD to his credit in Week 4, as well as five total tackles (three solo) is not something to ignore. He gets to face the rookie QB Mitch Trubisky in Week 5, so go out and grab him now.
Zettel is not someone your league opponents are likely targeting, but this rookie is one to consider in your free agent pickups this week. He is coming off a week where he picked up two sacks, four QH (!) and a fumble recovery with a tackle total of three (two solo, two TFL). Until further notice, put him in your starting lineups.
Bass had some sack potential that was realized in Week 4, where he had one sack, one QH, with a total tackle production of three solos and three assists, and one of those was a TFL. Sure, he is a Jet, but the defense will be on the field a ton this season, so opportunity exists for him.
Ngakoue had two sacks in Week 4 with two QH and a forced fumble. He also had a two solo tackle day and one of those was a TFL. In a big play league, he is someone to target.
Ogbah has been hot for the past two games, and is coming off a six combined tackle effort (four solo, one TFL). He also collected a sack while forcing two fumbles, and recovering one fumble. He is still a work in progress, but the progress looks promising.
Defensive Backs
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix S GB
Micah Hyde S BUF
Rashard Robinson CB SF
Trevor Williams CB LAC
Vernon Hargreaves CB TB
Clinton-Dix is a guy to target if you want tackles and INTs from your safety. He put up eight solos in Week 4, with some big play numbers, too: one TFL, one INT and a PD.
Hyde had a pair of INTs in Week 4, to go along with two PDs and seven total tackles (six solo, one TFL. He has been a steady performer over his career, and is worthy of a pickup if you have injury or bye week issues.
Robinson was the subject of multiple pass attacks in Week 4, resulting in four PDs, an incredible number for big play leagues. Add in his six solo tackles, and he becomes a top-notch CB to pick up in CB-mandatory leagues.
Williams is going to be the target in the Charger secondary, and he adapted well in Week 4, racking up seven solo tackles with a PD. So long as Casey Hayward continues to provide shut down coverage on the other side of the field, expect Williams to be a useful IDP defensive back.
Hargreaves is another CB that is going to be tested this season. Always a good sign for fantasy, he picked up nine solo tackles last week and also defended a pass. He has to face the Patriots and Tom Brady’s arm in Week 5, so expect high level iDP production in this week’s game,
Escalator Going Down
Linebackers
Terrell Suggs BAL
Paul Posluszny JAX
Suggs has virtually disappeared from the Baltimore defense the past couple of weeks. He only posted one assisted tackle in Week 4, and aside from a nice performance in Week 1, he has underperformed and is not worth rostering right now.
Posluszny was drafted based on name recognition this season, and that was a serious mistake. He has just 12 total tackles on the season, and obviously the shift to strong side linebacker to make room for Myles Jack is not a good fantasy move for the veteran. If you own him, now would be a good time to see if one of your leaguemates still has him valued too high. Or just drop him for one of the guys that are profiled above.
Defensive Linemen
No real downgrades for the DLs this week, unless they are showing up in the injury report below.
Defensive Backs
As with the DLs above, nothing much here except for those who are reported as injured.
Matchups to Exploit
Remember, the second team listed is the one to use your IDPs against. Do not go crazy, and play a LB5 against the Browns, but certainly you will do well if you own a top LB on the Jets, Vikings or Bengals that you can plug in this week, for the most part.
Linebackers
NYJ @ CLE
MIN @ CHI
CIN vs BUF
TB vs NE
ARI @ PHI
Defensive Ends
KC @ HOU
HOU vs KC
DET vs CAR
PHI vs ARI
Defensive Tackles
PHI vs ARI
KC @ HOU
Safeties
TEN @ MIA
MIN @ CHI
PHI vs ARI
Cornerbacks
LAC @ NYG
NYJ @ CLE
TEN @ MIA
Waiver Wire Targets
All these players are spotlighted above, and you can read my comments about them in the "Elevator Going Up" section of this article. Not all the players commented on are here, however, as there is no need to waste your time searching for players that are heavily owned. This group consists of those that you may have a chance of locating on your league's waiver wire in that they are owned in significantly less than 50% of leagues. Happy claiming for your weekly matchups.
Linebackers
Lawrence Timmons MIA
Jabaal Sheard IND
Shaq Thompson CAR
Nick Vigil CIN
Tahir Whitehead DET
Defensive Linesmen
Cameron Heyward DE PIT
Jurrell Casey DE TEN
Danielle Hunter DE MIN
Anthony Zettel DE DET
David Bass DE NYJ
Yannick Ngakoue DE JAX
Emmanuel Ogbah DE CLE
Defensive Backs
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix S GB
Micah Hyde S BUF
Rashard Robinson CB SF
Trevor Williams CB LAC
Vernon Hargreaves CB TB
Ouch (My Aching Roster)
All the injury reports below need evaluation prior to kickoff. Teams are notoriously sketchy about injury reports, and we often do not know a player's status until just before game time. Consider the list below as a "heads up" as to what is going on early in the week, and should not be considered definitive. Note: those teams on bye this week do not have any injuries listed below.
Linebackers
Markus Golden ARI torn ACL-out for the season
Ramon Humber BUF thumb
Jeremy Cash CAR calf
Nick Kwiatkoski CHI chest
Jordan Evans CIN hamstring
Jamie Collins CLE concussion
Sean Lee DAL hamstring
Anthony Hitchens DAL knee
Paul Worrilow DET knee
Jarrad Davis DET concussion
Joe Thomas GB ankle
Dee Ford KC lower back
Kevin Pierre-Louis KC groin
Jatavis Brown LAC foot
Rey Maualuga MIA hamstring
Brandon Watts MIA back
Mike Hull MIA shoulder
Dont'a Hightower NE knee
Elandon Roberts NE ankle
Corey Lemonier NYJ foot
Josh Martin NYJ ankle
James Harrison PIT illness
Dekoda Watson SF groin
Reuben Foster SF ankle
Pita Taumoepenu SF ankle
Lavonte David TB ankle
Kwon Alexander TB hamstring
Defensive Linemen
DE
Ed Stinson ARI hamstring
Robert Nkemdiche ARI calf
Brandon Williams BAL foot
Shaq Lawson BUF groin
Daeshon Hall CAR knee
Myles Garrett CLE ankle
Mike Daniels GB hip
Lerentee McCray JAX knee
Olivier Vernon NYG ankle
Cliff Avril SEA neck
DT
Danny Shelton CLE calf
Jordan Phillips MIA ankle
Fletcher Cox PHI calf
Destiny Vaeao PHI wrist
S
Kurt Coleman CAR knee (MCL)
Chris Prosinski CHI hamstring
Derron Smith CIN ankle
Ed Reynolds CLE knee
Don Carey DET knee
Lamarcus Joyner LAR hamstring
Keith McGill OAK foot
Corey Graham PHI hamstring
Jaylen Watkins PHI hamstring
Mike Mitchell PIT hamstring
Marcus Cromartie SEA undisclosed
Eric Reid SF knee
Adrian Colbert SF hamstring
T.J. Ward TB hip
Keith Tandy TB hip
Johnathan Cyprien TEN hamstring
CB
Jaylen Hill BAL thigh
E.J. Gaines BUF groin
Daryl Worley CAR pectoral
Nolan Carroll DAL concussion
Chidobe Awuzie DAL hamstring
Davon House GB quadriceps
Marcus Burley HOU knee
Kevin Johnson HOU knee
Darryl Morris IND undisclosed
Tevin Mitchel IND abdomen
Chris Milton IND hamstring
Quincy Wilson IND knee
Byron Maxwell MIA hamstring
Stephon Gilmore NE ankle
Eric Rowe NE groin
Darryl Roberts NYJ hamstring
David Amerson OAK concussion
Gareon Conley OAK shin
Ronald Darby PHI ankle
Jeremy Lane SEA groin
Neiko Thorpe SEA ankle
As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy efforts. Make sure to read all of our great articles to help you win your fantasy match ups every week and ultimately bask in championship glory. If you have any fantasy football questions, especially about IDP leagues, I can be reached at ia@fantasyalarm.com.