32 in 31: Arizona Cardinals

Another year of 32 in 31. Sports News on Tap takes the month of August to preview the National Football League. We spend every day of the month looking at a new team and how they will fare in 2013

Arizona Cardinals are looking for a fresh start this season.  Ken Wisenhunt, the coach whom led the Cardinals to an improbable Super Bowl, is no longer the head coach. Bruce Arians takes over the head coaching position. The longtime offensive coordinator of Pittsburgh and Indianapolis took over the Colts last year when Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with cancer, and kept the team together leading them to the playoffs.

It is crazy to think the Cardinals are still looking to replace Kurt Warner on their team. Warner played so great in the tail end of his career at Arizona solidifying his bid for Canton. Since Warner, Arizona had a turnstile of quarterbacks, but they feel like Carson Palmer will be the second coming of Warner as he joins the team in the latter part of his career. The Cardinals are sneaky good and another lurker in the NFC.  

OFFENSE
Let's start with Palmer. He is seeking his own redemption after having some tough years in Oakland. Carson is the ultimate garbage time quarterback. He always seems to find his way to have yards and touchdowns, but his team still loses by seven to ten points. I bet you did not know Palmer had over 4,000 yards last season last year.  I also bet you did not know Palmer's quarterback rating while not very high, the highest its been since 2007.

Palmer has never had a receiver like Larry Fitzgerald.  The Minneapolis native finally has a quarterback tothrow him the ball and he should show 2012 was simply a fluke. Fitzgerald had five straight seasons of going well over 1,000 yards before not even getting to 800 yards last season. He had a circus of clowns throwing to him last season and Fitz saw double teams all throughout the game  Another player on offense to keep an eye for the Cardinals is Michael Floyd. He did not have the strongest rookie campaign for the same reason as Fitz, but I have a feeling he will be seeing a lot more balls this season.

The biggest worry for the Cardinals in the past couple years has been their offensive line. They believed it would be shored up with drafting Jonathan Cooper from North Carolina in the first round, but today, they announced he would go on Injured Reserve.  That's a huge loss for the Cardinals moving forward.  Arizona did pick up Eric Winston which will definitely help on the right side opposite of Levi Brown giving the Cards two pretty competent tackles, but it's worth being worried about their interior lineman.

DEFENSE
There is a great deal to like about the Cardinals defense. The unit played well last year even though the Cards only won five games.  Patrick Peterson is the centerpiece to the defense as he is one of the best cornerbacks in football. Peterson has the speed to keep up with the vertical routes and the strength to handle a possession receiver. Major League Baseball always talks about five-tool players and Peterson is one of the few in the NFL. He can truly do it all.  The secondary added Tyrann Mathieu in the draft and he had a massive preseason. He can really become a Swiss army knife player for Arizona.

Their front seven is full of beasts as well. Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell are monsters creating complete havoc up there paving the way for linebackers and safeties to make plays. Dan Williams broke his arm last year, but he played pretty well at nose tackle before his injury.  They will be without their leader at middle linebacker, Daryl Washington to start the season as he is serving a four-game suspension, but he is one of the more underrated players in all of football so when he comes back, Arizona will be better.  The Cardinals will be tough to score on this year.

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Cardinals brought in Dan Carpenter during training camp, but Jay Feely beat him out and will be kicking again for Arizona. Even at 37 years of age, he is still a reliable kicker. As for their return game, pick your poison... Peterson, Honey Badger, Andre Ellington... All of them can be big time players.  

KEY ADDITIONS
QB Carson Palmer, RB Rashard Mendenhall, CB Jerraud Powers, LB Lorenzo Alexander, S Yeremiah Bell, CB Antoine Cason, DE Frostee Rucker - We did not talk much about Mendenhall.  It's worth noting he is only 26 years old and yes he battled injuries, but I feel like there is a lot of traction left in his tires.

KEY SUBTRACTIONS
S Adrian Wilson, WR Early Doucet, CB William Gay, QB Kevin Kolb, LB Paris Lenon, S Kerry Rhodes, OG Adam Snyder, RB LaRod Stephens-Howling, QB John Skelton, LB Stewart Bradley

CARDINALS DRAFT PICKS
OG Jonathan Cooper, LB Kevin Minter, S Tyrann Mathieu, LB Alex Okafor, OG Earl Watford, RB Stefan Taylor, WR Ryan Swope, RB Andre Ellington, TE D.C. Jefferson - They have already lost two of their draft picks as Swope retired because of concussions and Cooper went on the I.R. Okafor and Minter could be impact players this year.

GAME TO WATCH
Sunday December 8th vs. St. Louis 3:25 pm - The Cardinals and Rams might be battling for a playoff spot and the Cards could get there with a strong final month. They finish the year playing all three division rivals in a span of four weeks.

WIN TOTAL 
6-8 - Oh man, this team is close to be pretty damn special but I worry about their offensive line thus the heath of Carson Palmer. I still think they will surprise some people.

Charlie.

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Fantasy WR Rankings Reaction

Earlier in the offseason, I posted my 2013 Fantasy Football Ranks, so that everyone could get prepared for the fantasy football season. If you missed those rankings, they are posted here.I asked for a lot of feedback, so I knew how to look more in depth at each individual. I won’t be writing about each individual player, instead I will look to spend more time on players that might represent more points for discussion. Charlie and Mitch were more than happy to toss some thoughts about my ranks on the August 14 Tapping the Keg Podcast, if you missed that, the link is here.I’ll use some of the players they mentioned, some players SnoTap contributor Bryan Reynolds mentioned, and players I think are points of discussion this offseason. If you there is anyone you disagree with my rankings on, as always send them to SnoTap12@gmail.com, and I’ll make sure to address it in the next column.




TE Rankings Reaction QB Rankings Reaction

#4 Andre Johnson- This was one of the hardest ranks for me at the wide receiver position. Johnson has always had immense talent on the field, but injuries, offensive game plan, and a lack of another target to take defense’s attention has led to an inconsistent fantasy career. Last year, Johnson put it together, especially at the end of the season, when it mattered most. This rank shows that I think Johnson has one more healthy season in him, and the Texans have an offense that will focus a bit more on getting him the ball. If Johnson stays healthy and preforms up to his potential, he is one of the few players that can give Megatron a run for the number one receiver spot, but he is a risky pick. Johnson has the ability to put up huge numbers, but also has the ability to be a wasted draft pick, choose carefully. 

#5 Larry Fitzgerald- Fitzgerald is coming off a season that was a disappointment to anyone that drafted him. He has been dealing with a roundtable of terrible quarterbacks over the past few seasons, and although Carson Palmer isn’t a Hall of Famer, an upgrade to adequate is just what Fitzgerald needs. I still view Larry as one of the best wide receivers in football, talent has never been his issue, quarterback play has. Now that he has someone that can get him the ball, I see a bounce back season in Fitzgerald’s future.  If Palmer can stay healthy, and get enough time to get the ball downfield, there is a great opportunity in the Arizona passing game. The fact that Fitzgerald can still win jump balls in the end zone will also help him and the Cardinals on the goal line. If the rest of your league is letting Fitzgerald slip in the draft, pick him up and get a great value.

#6 Dez Bryant- Charlie mentioned multiple times that he thinks Dez Bryant should be ranked higher. Many fantasy football players likely have Dez competing for the number two spot behind Calvin Johnson. I believe in Bryant stepping up this year, I just don’t think that we should rank him that high, just yet. He had an inconsistent start to his career, combining a lack of focus at times with injuries. Bryant did come on very strong at the end of last season, but I want to see him put it together for a long period of time before moving him up too far in the rankings. His potential to put together a disappointing season is what stops him from being ranked higher in my mind.

#18 Wes Welker- In the offseason, Wes Welker went from one Future Hall of Fame quarterback to another, transitioning from Tom Brady to Peyton Manning. Many people viewed this as an opportunity for Welker to continue to dominate, as Manning loves to throw it to slot receivers. I think Welker will be very successful in Denver, but will feature a reduction in value due to a couple reasons. The first is he is no longer the only receiver on his own team. In New England, Welker was hands down the number one receiver each season. In Denver, Welker has to fight with Eric Decker and DeMaryius Thomas for targets. Since Denver will throw the ball a lot, Welker will still have a lot of receptions, but it won’t be the insane number of targets he has had recently. The second reason Welker might not be as high of a value is chemistry with his quarterback. Although I have no doubt Welker and Manning will get along, there were few tandems with better chemistry than Brady and Welker. When Brady got in trouble, he knew where Welker would be on the field without even looking, it will take some time to develop that with Peyton. For those reasons, I think Welker will have a good, but not great season in Denver.

#19 Danny Amendola- For years, Wes Welker was a high end fantasy receiver for the New England Patriots, becoming an absolute stud in PPR leagues. For the last few seasons, people have compared former Rams WR Danny Amendola to Wes Welker. It only made sense when Welker moved to the Denver Broncos that Amendola would take his place. Since that move has taken place, many have said that Amendola will put up a monster season, replicating Welker’s performance, as long as he stayed healthy. I am not on board with that analysis. Amendola has a lot of potential, and is an injury risk, but it is not as easy as slotting him in Welker’s role, and getting the same results as long as they are on the field. Amendola needs to create chemistry with Tom Brady, needs to learn a new offense (something many young players have struggled with in New England), and then needs to stay healthy. Amendola has potential to be just as good as Wes Welker, that is true, but expecting it is going to lead to a lot of people reaching for him in drafts, be smart and realize there is more risk here than just injuries.

#23 Randall Cobb-Yes, I am a Packer fan. Yes, I am a huge Randall Cobb fan. Yes, I have heard all the reports about how much Rodgers loves Cobb, and how many targets he will get this season. No, I will probably not own Randall Cobb on any teams this year. The hype seems to be getting a bit high for Randall Cobb this offseason in terms of fantasy football. Just last season, many fantasy experts were talking about players needing to stay away from Packer receivers because with so many targets, it was hard to predict who would get the ball each week. That issue still seems to be present in my mind, with Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and a potentially refocused Jermichael Finley. Combine all of those receivers with an increased running game, and there might not be as many targets out there to make Cobb a number 1 fantasy receiver. So yes, I think Randall Cobb is a great player, and I’m very happy he is a member of my favorite team, I just think there is a chance he doesn’t have the amazing fantasy season people are starting to expect. 

Check back tomorrow for our reaction on the running back position.

Adam

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