Upgrades

DL James Hall, DET: James Hall started the year with a flourish, posting 10 solo tackles with 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles during the first two games. He went into hibernation after that, picking up a total of 10 solo tackles with two sacks over the next six games, but it looks like he may be coming back alive. Over the last two weeks he's combined for seven solo's with three more sacks. His play has been up and down this year, but he's shown the ability to post top DL numbers. Ride him while he's hot.

DL Grant Wistrom, SEA: Wistrom made his return to the lineup this week after missing the last four games with a knee injury. He didn't record a sack, but he did pick up four solo tackles and, if he plays the remainder of the year like he did early on, he'll make for a very solid fantasy option down the stretch.

LB Orlando Ruff, NO: With rookie Courtney Watson still working his way back from a knee injury, Ruff has taken full advantage of his opportunity to start in the middle for New Orleans. He's picked up 30 solo tackles over the last four games, no less than six in any of those games, adding in a week 10 interception. Watson will likely re-enter the starting lineup at some point, but until then Ruff has proven to be a very capable fantasy force, playing the best football of his six year career.

LB Rocky Calmus, TEN: This week Calmus made his first appearance since the season opener, sitting out the first half of the year with a back injury, and he picked up five solo tackles. Expected to be the Titans starting middle 'backer coming into the season, he was on the strongside with Brad Kassell continuing to line up inside. Rocky Boiman, who had been starting at SLB, was inactive with a shoulder injury.

LB Keith Bulluck, TEN: Keith Bulluck is on a serious roll, picking up at least seven solo tackles in each of the last five games (39 total) with three sacks and four passes defended.

LB Andra Davis, CLE: Davis picked up his first sack of the year this past weekend to go along with seven more solo tackles. Although not outstanding, he's been a very consistent tackle producer (five or more solos in each of the last eight games) and, with two interceptions, he's putting together a decent campaign. He'll still likely fall short of the numbers that posted a year ago (96 solos, five sacks), but it shouldn't end up as bad as it seemed early on.

LB's Eric Barton and Jon Vilma, NYJ: This duo has been playing well, each posting 22 solo tackles over the last three weeks. Barton started off the season relatively slow, looking like he may turn into a free-agent bust for the Jets, but he's certainly picked it up over the last month or so. Vilma has shaken off some early season inconsistency, picking up at least five solos in each of the last four games.

LB Landon Johnson, CIN: Johnson, a rookie, has started the last four games at middle linebacker in Cincinnati. His first two starts weren't very noteworthy, posting a combined total of three solo tackles, but over the last two he's posted 14 solos with 2.5 sacks. When fellow rookie Caleb Miller gets healthy we may have a position battle to deal with here, but if Johnson keeps up this pace the Bengals won't be able to get him out of the lineup.

LB Hunter Hillenmeyer, CHI: Hillenmeyer has been thrust into the spotlight, replacing Brian Urlacher (expected to miss three to five more weeks), and from what we've seen so far he appears to be a solid fantasy contributor. The six solo tackles that he picked up on Sunday gave him four games this year with as many.

LB Zach Thomas, MIA: What an incredible season it's been to this point for Zach Thomas. He's picked up no less than seven solo tackles in any game and he's on pace for almost 150, which would far surpass his career high of 120 that he set during his rookie year in 1996. He's also on pace for four sacks, which would be a career high. The one knock would be his lack of interceptions, he's never gone a year without picking off at least one pass, but I think we can deal with that.

LB Lance Briggs, CHI: Briggs' 10 solo tackle performance this week made it two straight games with double digit solos. It doesn't appear that he's going to offer much in the way of sacks or interceptions (none of each thus far), but he's the hottest linebacker in the league right now. One thing to watch for is Chicago's schedule from this point on. The Bears play one of the top five toughest schedules for linebackers.

LB Witherspoon, CAR: Speaking of hot linebackers...Over the last four games, Witherspoon has posted 35 solo tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and six passes defended. He has definitely taken advantage of Dan Morgan being in and out of the lineup over the last month, and with Morgan's situation a little fuzzy, Witherspoon has become and will remain a must start.

DB Champ Bailey, DEN: When you're one of the leagues premiere shut-down cornerbacks, your skills usually don't translate well into the boxscore. Opposing offenses just don't look your way very often. That seemed to be the case with Champ Bailey early this year when he posted a total of 19 solo tackles through the seasons first six games. Over the last four games it's been another story as Bailey's been performing very well, fantasy wise, picking up an average of 7.5 solo tackles per game with two interceptions and four passes defended.

DB Robert Griffith, CLE: Griffith has picked up 25 solo tackles over the last four games, averaging six per game on the year. He doesn't offer the big play ability that he used to when posting a handful of sacks/picks per year, but his tackle numbers make him a consistent fantasy producer.

DB Chris Crocker, CLE: The Browns starting free safety, Crocker has picked up 16 solo tackles over the last three games, a sack in each of the last two.

DB Madieu Williams, CIN: Five solo tackles and a sack this past weekend, just another day in the life of this rookie defensive back. It looks like Williams has cemented his position as the Bengals starting free safety, a spot which should help him be a very strong contributor down the stretch. He's picked up 20 solo tackles over the last three weeks, 53 on the year with a sack and two interceptions.

DB Chris Gamble, CAR: Chris Gamble started off the season looking like a rookie with very inconsistent play on a week to week basis. You give these guys time and they usually find some consistency, and that's exactly what's happened over the last month. Over the last four games, Gable has picked up 26 solo tackles (at least four in each) and he's picked of a pass in each of the last two games.

DB Adam Archuleta, STL: Adam Archuleta has quickly turned into the most consistent defensive back in football. He's picked up exactly six solo tackles in seven of ten games, under five solos only once. With one sack on the year, he'll have a hard time matching the five that he posted in 2003, but his pace of 93 solos will easily surpass his output from a year ago.

DB Lawyer Milloy, BUF: Maybe the Bills should try Lawyer Milloy at defensive end, no? Milloy picked up three sacks and six solo tackles on Sunday, one week after posting 10 solo tackles against the Patriots. Think he was missed from Buffalo's defensive backfield?

Downgrades

DL Kenechi Udeze, MIN: Udeze was decent early in the year, posting 13 solo tackles with three sacks through the first seven games, but he's provided absolutely nothing over the last three games combining for just three solos without a sack.

DL Kevin Carter, TEN: Don't let his week 10 performance fool you. The seven solo tackles and three sacks that he posted last week made him a hot waiver item, but that's normally a months worth of production from the 10 year vet. In fact, during the seasons other nine games, he's picked up a total of 12 solo with 2.5 sacks (including just one solo tackle this past weekend).

DL Shaun Ellis, NYJ: With six solo tackles and three sacks during a two games stretch in mid-October, it looked as though Shaun Ellis was returning to his form from a year ago. It wasn't so. He's picked up just five solo tackles without a sack in the three games since.

DL Aaron Schobel, BUF: Schobel was on fire during the month of October, picking up 17 solo tackles and 5.5 sacks in four games. He's been held without a sack so far in November, although he has maintained respectable tackle numbers (10 solos in three games).

LB D.J.Williams, DEN: Williams is a rookie with an amazing set of all-around skills, but he's still a rookie...and it shows. His production has actually regressed from earlier in the year, picking up a total of 16 solo tackles over the last five games without a sack or interception.

LB Chad Brown, SEA: Brown has played in just four games this year, picking up a total of 13 solo tackles without a sack. Not exactly what we were expecting coming into the year from a guy that's averaged over five solo tackles and a half sack per game during the past three years (when healthy).

LB Nick Barnett, GB: It's been a tale of two seasons for Nick Barnett and we can only hope that he's able to turn it around. He came out of the gates on fire, posting 41 solo tackles with two sacks and an interception through the first six games. He's picked up just 12 solos over the last four games. Nobody plays a harder schedule from this point on for linebackers than the Green Bay Packers, so it'll be tough for Barnett to resemble the player that he was early on.

LB Vinny Ciurciu, CAR: Just because he's starting in place of Dan Morgan doesn't mean that he'll perform like Morgan. Ciurciu had one solo tackle on Sunday, nine over the last three games, and he's been engulfed by the play of Will Witherspoon.

LB Pisa Tinoisamoa, STL: Hopefully you got the production from Tinoisamoa early in the year (25 solos, 2.5 sacks through four games) because he's been useless of late. Useless may be a little strong, but how else do you explain eight solo tackles over the last three games?

DB Dre Bly, DET: Dre Bly made a huge splash a year ago, his first in Detroit, proving to be a great free-agent pickup and one of the leagues better playmakers (six interceptions, five forced fumbles, three recovered). He picked off two passes on Halloween, his only two interceptions of the year, but has yet to live to live up to last years success. Bly has played in just seven games because of injury, picking up 16 solo tackles and still waiting for his first fumble forced or recovered.

DB Brian Williams, MIN: The interceptions haven't been there this year for either Williams or Brian Russell (combined for 14 in 2003, zero thus far in '04), but at least Russell has been able to maintain some value with his tackle output. Over the last three games, Williams has picked up a total of four solo tackles.

DB Ifeanyi Ohalete, ARI: Coming off of last years impressive campaign (73 solo tackles, three picks), many of us had pretty high expectations for Ohalete. His release from Washington came as somewhat of a surprise but we figured that he'd easily work his way into the Cardinals starting lineup when they snatched him up.Well, he's the starting free safety in Arizona, but his production has fallen well short of what we were looking for. Out of his 27 solo tackles on the year, only eight have come during the last month.

DB Ricky Manning, CAR: Ricky Manning turned into a star late last year and we had hoped that his success during the playoffs would rollover into 2004. During the final five games of '03 (including playoffs) he posted 19 solo tackles, five interceptions and 10 passes defended. Through ten games this years he's posted just 25 solo tackles (nine over the last four) with two interceptions.