Defensive Upgrades/Downgrades by Brian Roberson and Tom Nadratowski Every week, FootballGuys.com's resident Individual Defensive Player (IDP) Gurus - Brian Roberson and Tom Nadratowski- will be providing you with immediate opinions on what players are stepping up their play, which ones are falling down on the job and which players just happened to have a horseshoe in their pocket for one game. Here are our thoughts after week three's action. ** Some players with asterisks have been kept on this week's list as holdovers from last week because they were on a bye last week and we didn't want you to forget about them. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN Upgrades Rocky Bernard SEA (Roberson)- Bernard has the quickness to be a force from week to week. He is no doubt available in your league. If you need a bye week replacement, he's your man. Bernard could register four or five solos per game because of his quickness. Chidi Ahanotu BUF (Roberson) - Ahanotu has had sort of a career resurgence in Buffalo. His production has been solid for three weeks. He particularly has success against slow right tackles. Keep an eye on him as an injury replacement or for solid yet unspectacular numbers down the road. Aberrations Chester McGlockton DEN (Nadratowski) - Before you look at his stats on the waiver wire and jump on him, realize that a TD inflates them. The next time he has a week like today the moon will be decidedly blue. LINEBACKERS Upgrades Brian Simmons CIN (Roberson) - Simmons is often overshadowed by fellow backer Takeo Spikes but this year Simmons is stealing some of that limelight with his play. He looks a step faster to the hole. Faster than he has looked in nearly two years. A definite upgrade. Donnie Edwards SD (Roberson) - I know I downgraded Donnie last week but with Junior Seau possibly out of the lineup for some time (pending news on his knee injury) Edwards will be released in the San Diego defense to make plays. He'll be used in a multitude of roles not unlike how he was utilized in Kansas City. Sedrick Hodge NO (Roberson) - Hodge is a quiet performer in the Saints defense. But his solo tackle numbers are the very definition of solid. He added another six solos to his total this week and he looks to be here to stay. I recommend him as an immediate pickup. Keith Bulluck TEN (Nadratowski) - With the injury to MLB Godfrey, the Titan LBs were going to have to pull together. Bulluck appears to be getting more of that slack than the rest. Week 2 he placed a nice 5-1, and this week a solid 9-1 with a FF. He is a good #3 LB with upside, but watch how Godfrey responds from his rehab so you can move him before the bottom falls out of this hot stock. Jesse Armstead WAS (Nadratowski) - With the fun-n-gun out of ammo, it was only a matter of time until the defensive players started to get better fantasy performance. Instead of it being pre-season fave Arrington or highly paid FA Trotter, it was the previously forgotten man Armstead. He posted an astonishing 17 tackle outing, after a solid seven week 2. It's unlikely he'll do this again, but with the offense sputtering all of the LBs remain viable starters. Derrick Rogers MIA (Nadratowski) - With Miami pounding Ricky Williams, the Miami linebackers didn't get much action. Zach Thomas' numbers were down, and Rogers' were up. Plus he had an interception that's causing a slight inflation of them. Don't grab him based on one week's performance. ** Ray Lewis BAL (Nadratowski) - Baltimore has lost the time of possession battle the last two weeks by seven minutes week one and a whopping 11.5 minutes week two. While you know I was down on Ray Lewis during the preseason, this trend makes a huge difference in that prior evaluation. With the team playing this poorly on offense Lewis gets a big bump upwards. ** Joey Porter PIT (Roberson) - Porter is pure speed coming off the corner and to any of you who watched the Sunday night game, you saw many of his talents on display. He is such a difficult matchup for opposing teams. He's too quick for many tackles and too overpowering to be blocked by a running back. He brings energy to the Steelers' defense. Upgrade him and get him off the fringe and into your lineup. Downgrades Junior Seau SD (Roberson) - Rumors out of SD are not sounding good at this time. Seau had to be helped off the field with a potentially devastating knee injury to his left knee. Keep your eyes peeled for updates but the injury did not look promising. Rob Morris IND (Roberson) - The disappearance of Morris and his nice tackle numbers has befuddled many an owner this year. Typically Morris will put up at least a 6-2-0 on Sunday but he's been falling way short of that. I think he's the victim of opposing offensive coordinators' game plans against him. He just needs to adjust. ** Wali Rainer JAX (Roberson) - This guy had fantasy sleeper written all over him before the season. Sleep is what it looks like he's been doing for the first two games. Not exactly what we had in mind when he got the starting middle linebacker job handed to him upon his arrival in Jacksonville. ** Peter Boulware BAL (Nadratowski) - The clock giveth, and the clock taketh away. Ray Lewis and Ed Hartwell are good fantasy plays, but Peter Boulware isn't benefiting. He's only getting about four tackles per week. There are cornerbacks who get more than that. Unless you have no other option, find another LB starter somewhere else. DEFENSIVE BACKS Upgrades Eric Brown HOU (Nadratowski) - It was only a matter of time until the Texan secondary sorted itself out. It looks as if Brown is their man. One of the guys in the secondary was going to step up at SS, and that guy was going to be a great FA acquisition since the Texans figure to be in for a long year. If Brown is still around pick him up. Victor Green NE (Roberson) - At the beginning of the season, with things still unsettled and with Green arriving late to Patriots' camp, it was difficult to project just who would get the tackles in this defense. Green has stepped in and performed really well. His tackle numbers are above average and chances are, he is one of the few DBs left in deep leagues that could still produce five or six solo tackles per week. Coy Wire BUFF (Roberson) - Wire has the starting job now and he is going to be a good one. The ball-hawking safety should be among the top players picked up this week in your league. I recommend moving on him at once. Get him on your team at any cost. I mean don't trade Edgerrin for him or anything crazy like that but if he's on the waiver wire, you have to find someone on your roster to drop to make room. Aberrations Omar Stoutmire DAL (Roberson) - Stoutmire is a very fine hitter but his role in the defense is to give way to Shaun Williams to get the tackle numbers while he patrols the deep half of the field in pass coverage. He had a good tackle day on Sunday but this shouldn't be the norm. Stoutmire merits a roster spot only in extremely deep leagues. Downgrades Corey Harris DET (Roberson) - Logically, Harris should have plenty of opportunities to make tackles and rack up numbers in that Detroit Lions' defense. They find themselves on the field so much during a game that you figure the safety would be involved in his share of plays. Harris doesn't score well in this defense and should probably be dropped from your squad. Willie Offord MIN (Nadratowski) - With the poor play of the Vikings offense, you'd expect some of the DBs to be good starters. But after winning the starting SS job in camp, Offord hasn't done much. Both Corey Chavous and Ronnie Bradford are outperforming him. Vernon Fox SD (Nadratowski) - With the injury to Rodney Harrison, Fox was put in as his replacement. But he hasn't put up the numbers. Part is due to the great performance of the Charger offense, and the other part is because Beckett is outplaying him. Sam Garnes NYJ (Nadratowski) - The starting SS on a team like the Jets should be posting better numbers. But Garnes isn't. His numbers over three weeks: 3-1-0, 7-0-0, 1-2-0. One good week out of three isn't going to cut it.