The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with a mess on defense since former head coach Jim Harbaugh was forced out of the organization two years ago. Since then players have walked in free agency, retired, and gotten injured enough that they called it quits. One bright revelation amongst the morass, though, has been the growth and development of inside linebacker Gerald Hodges. Hodges, just 25, provides coverage and range to the 49ers’ defense next to the hard-hitting style of Navorro Bowman, and he’s racked up 18 total tackles, 1 sack, and 2 quarterback hits in three weeks so far. Hodges is in his fourth NFL season after being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft, so clearly the number “4” is lucky for him this season.

Week 4, then, might continue to be lucky for Hodges -- who is playing a ton of snaps now with main competitor Ray Ray Armstrong injured. The 49ers will go up against a Dallas Cowboys’ offense that ran the ball a ridiculous 30 times with Ezekiel Elliott last week. While they rank among the 10 lowest in the league in allowing sack percentage or quarterback hits, the Cowboys are a middle-of-the-road team in stuff percentage allowed (16th). Rushing volume plus a chance to stall wunderkind Elliott behind the line means a safe floor for Hodges with some decent upside this week. That sounds lucky to me.

Hodges is available in 98.5% of ESPN IDP leagues, and we project him for 6.70 tackles, 0.13 sacks, 0.20 passes defended, and a total score of 7.79 fantasy points in Week 4.