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 *** Gary Walker HOU (Roberson) - Walker's stats were deceptive until this week. I couldn't tell if he was grabbing meaningless sacks and padding his numbers or not. If you need a player on the d-line this late in the season, take a look at Walker's numbers. Obviously, Houston's defense is on the field often each Sunday and Walker is an active player. He gets his share of solo tackles which is a good sign for a fantasy defensive lineman. *** Kenny Mixon MIN (Roberson) - Mixon's numbers haven't been stupendous but he has been consistently good each week. He gets a lot of opportunities for sacks because Minnesota opponents are always fading back to pass against that porous secondary. A good pickup in deep leagues. Jason Ferguson NYJ (Nadratowski) - As long as the offense stays in the toilet he is going to produce. He has 4-2-0, 3-1-0, 4-3-0.5 over the past three weeks. He may still be available and would make a nice starter. JohnAbraham NYJ (Nadratowski) - He has been producing for the same reason Ferguson has. Abraham has 17-5-2 on the year, making him a nice high #2 DL in most leagues. He's better known than Ferguson so he might not be out there, but if you can get him do so. Aberrations David Bowens MIA (Nadratowski) - Bowens posted a solid 2-2-1 outing this week. These kinds of numbers are atypical of DTs. He'll fade back to anonymity after this. Downgrades Courtney Brown CLE (Nadratowski) - Brown gets a downgrade due to his poor seasonal performance. For a guy with a ton of talent he just hasn't done much with it. He has 13-4-0 on the year, and five of those came this week. If you haven't dropped him yet, give him a week to see if he finally rebounds, and if not cut bait. LINEBACKERS Upgrades Roman Phifer NE (Nadratowski) - Due to his injury, Phifer may have slipped under the radar of the other owners in your league. In his three weeks of play, he has: wk 1; 8-4-0 plus one FR, wk 4; 4-0-0 (1st week back from injury), wk 5; 9-6-0 plus one FR. He should produce solidly like this from here on out. Grab him if he's still out there. Napoleon Harris OAK (Nadratowski) - The rookie has been playing well through the first few weeks of the season. He is getting about 4-2-0 per week. If you need a solid #3 LB with upside, he may still be available. Aberrations LB Zeke Moreno SD (Nadratowski) - Moreno filled in for Junior Seau and posted a huge 10-1-0. It's good to know he can produce if he has the chance. However, the length of Seau's recovery from his sore ankle limits his value. Seau is tough as nails, and most likely he will be back in action this week. Downgrades LB Ray Thompson ARI (Nadratowski) - With Carolina's dependence on the running game, the Cardinal linebackers should have posted good tackle numbers. But Thompson is the only one who did. He put up a nice 8-1-0 score. Thompson plays the Sam position, not usually noted for its high tackle numbers. He will be hard pressed to match these numbers for the rest of the year. LB Darrin Smith NO (Nadratowski) - Smith has had two big games this year, including this week. Don't be fooled by his jump up your waiver wire this week. Stay bearish on him until he shows more consistency. LB Marcus Bell SEA (Nadratowski) - Bell has been filling in for the injured Anthony Simmons. Unless something unforeseen happens, he'll likely go back to the bench after the bye when Simmons is supposed to return. DEFENSIVE BACKS Upgrades *** Chris Cash DET (Roberson) - Cash is an unknown in the IDP world right now. He has put together two very nice weeks back to back though and could be emerging as a worthwhile pickup. He's a cornerback and as most of you know, corners aren't the best scorers from week to week but he could be a spot starter against passing opponents. Brian Dawkins PHI (Nadratowski) - On the season, Dawkins has 21-11-2 and 2 INTs plus 6 PDs. That puts him high in most leagues' DB rankings. His numbers are even nicer since scores don't inflate them. If for some reason the guys in your league have been sleeping under rocks, get him on your team. Philip Buchanon OAK (Nadratowski) - Buchanon has been filling in admirably for Charles Woodson. While the INT he returned for a TD is inflating his numbers a bit, he still posted 5-2-0. It will be hard to bench him again when Woodson returns. Derek Ross DAL (Nadratowski) - In his first start, rookie Ross notched 8-0-0, 1 INT and 1 PD. He will continue to be tested for the next few weeks since he is a rookie, but should perform well. Ed Reed BAL (Nadratowski) - Reed's performance has me thinking that the rookie has adjusted to the speed of the NFL game. Based on his performance it looks like he's starting to hit his stride. He had 3-0-0 1 INT 4 PDs this week and 4-0-0 1 INT 1 PD last week. If you need an upgrade at DB and want to take a risk and stash him away in case he continues like this, now is the time to grab him. Aberrations Champ Bailey WAS (Nadratowski) - Bailey notched a solid 5-1-0 1 INT 2 PD outing this week. No doubt he'll jump up your free agent waivers. But don't get on his bandwagon yet. Most teams don't throw at him because he's so good. He's worth keeping an eye on though, since the Redskins offense is still comatose and his numbers a re coming mostly through consistent tackling. He needs to get a lot more consistent before we upgrade him. Tory James OAK (Nadratowski) - James has been a non-factor all year. He had 2-0-0 2 INT 4 PDs this week, which is going to make him rocket up your waiver wire. Don't pick him up, because he shouldn't produce like this again. Downgrades John Lynch TB (Nadratowski) - There just isn't enough action to go around in the TB secondary. Ronde Barber is the man there, and Brian Kelly is running second. If you'll notice, those two are cornerbacks. Lynch is the SS. And therein is the secret to his poor play - with the team currently ranked 3rd against the run, and with the DL and LBs playing so well, he just isn't getting a chance to get in on enough plays because teams are throwing more.