Week 4 IDP Fantasy Football Top Performers and Injury Roundup: Troy Andersen, Jaquan Brisker, Lavonte David, Chris Jones, Kevin Givens and More

Week 4 of the NFL regular season is nearly in the books, with just two Monday night games remaining. Before we turn our attention to those games, let’s go over some fantasy football takeaways from Sunday’s games.

We’ll take a look at IDPs (individual defensive players) in this story after already looking at some offensive players.

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Top Tacklers

Atlanta Falcons’ Troy Andersen leads the NFL through Sunday’s games with 17 total tackles. He also returned an interception for a 47-yard touchdown, leading to a monster IDP fantasy performance.

Andersen has improved his tackle totals in each of the first four weeks, and added his first splash play to the mix with the pick. He’s a weekly IDP starter in just about every format, but don’t expect this many fantasy points each week. He also left the game with an injury, so that’s something to keep in your head and monitor going forward.

Arizona Cardinals’ Budda Baker tallied 14 total tackles in week 4. He had 10 solo tackles and four assisted tackles.

Baker is up to 39 total tackles on the season, with week 4 being his best showing. That’s pretty good production out of a safety, making him another good weekly IDP starting option.

Indianapolis Colts’ E.J. Speed had 13 total tackles in week 4. He had 12 solo tackles along the way.

Speed has double-digit tackle totals in all four games this season. He doesn’t have a sack, interception or forced fumble, but his tackle production alone is enough to roster and start him in a lot of fantasy IDP leagues.

Big Names Rack Up Sacks

There were six players with two or more sacks on Sunday, and most are household names to the average football fan.

The leader of the pack was the only real unknown, San Francisco 49ers’ Kevin Givens, who had 2.5 sacks. Givens had three total tackles.

Givens also had a sack back in week 2, but also has just six total tackles now for the season. He’s an IDP option in really deep setups, but otherwise can be avoided because of his lack of consistent production.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Lavonte David, Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones, Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett, Baltimore Ravens’ Kyle Van Noy and Los Angeles Chargers’ Bud Dupree all had two sacks on Sunday.

David also had eight total tackles and a forced fumble in week 4, leading to a big fantasy showing. He’s got 29 total tackles and another forced fumble this season. It’s not elite IDP fantasy play, but he’s done enough so far to be rostered and played in a bunch of IDP leagues.

Jones had four total tackles along with his two sacks. He also had a sack back in week 1, and is up to nine total tackles on the season. Jones is a big-time defensive player, but it doesn’t translate really well to fantasy play - he’s still probably rostered and played on his big name alone.

Garrett is another big name, but outside sack production, there’s not much fantasy value with him. He had three total tackles in week 4, giving him just nine for the season.

Garrett has four sacks already, and is a better fantasy option than Jones because of the higher sack totals. Garrett also has a couple forced fumbles this season. He’s played in more leagues than Jones, but his fantasy production really depends on sacks.

Van Noy is on an absolute heater, with Sunday being his third straight game with two sacks. He has just eight total tackles on the season though, making his fantasy production sack dependent.

Van Noy had two total tackles and a forced fumble in week 4. He’s simply playing too well to not add and start in leagues where sacks are valuable. I’d say we can’t expect this kind of production every week, but after three straight weeks of it, I’d at least roll with Van Noy until he cools off.

Dupree logged his first two sacks of the season. He has six total tackles and an interception on the season. 

Dupree might not reach his 11.5-sack season from 2019, but because he’s had some success in the past, he’s at least a name to track in IDP leagues. He’s worth an add in deeper leagues.

Other Standouts

Pittsburgh Steelers’ DeShon Elliott had 12 total tackles and a forced fumble on Sunday.

Elliott has 30 total tackles and a pick on the season as well. That’s enough production to play him in a good amount of IDP leagues. The production is a bit inconsistent, which keeps him out of all IDP leagues for now.

Buffalo Bills’ Dorian Williams had 12 total tackles and a forced fumble in week 4. He has 42 total tackles and a fumble recovered this season.

Williams is a great IDP option, and should be owned in just about every one of the leagues that play IDPs. His tackle production alone is good enough to start him every week.

Washington Commanders’ Jeremy Chinn had 10 total tackles and a forced fumble this week. He has 19 total tackles and a fumble recovery this season.

Chinn has had some fantasy success in past seasons, and maybe Sunday was a breakout game for him for this season. He’s a player to add in deeper leagues, and one to track in all other leagues in case his high tackle totals continue.

New Orleans Saints’ Paulson Adebo had 12 total tackles and an interception on Sunday. He’s got 32 total tackles and two picks now for the season.

Adebo had 10 total tackles a week ago, and after another high total, he needs to be heavily considered as an addition in all IDP leagues. His two interceptions show there’s some decent upside every week too.

Chicago Bears’ Jaquan Brisker tallied 12 total tackles, a sack and an interception in week 4. He’s up to 35 total tackles for the season.

Brisker was a solid IDP option already on the tackles alone, but he flashed even more upside with the sack and interception. He’s a good IDP weekly option in most leagues.

Carolina Panthers’ Xavier Woods totaled 10 tackles and had a 33-yard interception return on Sunday. He has 28 total tackles on the season.

Woods has put together enough solid tackle showings to consider him in IDP leagues. The interception possibility gives him a little upside, but the tackles are probably enough for many of you reading to at least consider him in your league.

Denver Broncos’ P.J. Locke finished with 10 total tackles and a sack. He has 21 total tackles on the season.

The week 4 tackle total compared to the season total shows that this week was a bit of an outlier. He’s still a good option to play in deeper leagues, and if the high tackles totals continue, he can be a possibility in more leagues.

Injuries

Cincinnati Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson left with a neck injury that’s being labeled a neck stinger. His biggest fantasy contribution comes in the form of sacks, and his absence would be massive for IDP fantasy owners and the Bengals’ defense.

Green Bay Packers’ Devonte Wyatt left with an ankle injury. He had three sacks between weeks 2-3, so this injury could definitely slow the young player.

New England Patriots’ Kyle Dugger suffered an ankle injury. He had 18 total tackles and a sack through three games, meaning he was a pretty solid IDP option.

New Orleans’ Tyrann Mathieu suffered a groin injury. He had 14 total tackles in the first three games, showing he still had some IDP fantasy value.

San Francisco’s Fred Warner left with an ankle injury. He’s a big-time IDP fantasy option and had a pick-six and seven combined tackles before he left. If he’s out going forward, that’s a big blow to fantasy teams and the Niners’ defense.

Tampa Bay’s SirVocea Dennis suffered a shoulder injury. He had 18 combined tackles and a sack in weeks 1-2 before having four in week 3, showing some IDP value.