By Dalton Del Don
Derek Anderson is starting the third preseason game for the Cardinals, and it appears Matt Leinart has lost the starting job – Downgrade all Cardinals position players. This situation appears to be an even bigger mess than first feared. The next positive report regarding Leinart will be the first. Anderson throws a good deep ball and is in a pretty good situation with Larry Fitzgerald and in an easy division, but accuracy remains a problem. If Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t make Beanie Wells the focal point of this offense, he deserves to be fired.
Tom Brady is good at football – Sure, a home preseason game against the Rams is hardly something to get worked up over, but Brady completed 81.8 percent of his passes and got a decent 12.4 YPA with three touchdowns and zero interceptions during the team’s third exhibition game Thursday. He’s not only another year removed from the knee surgery, but he’s also recovered from playing through broken ribs last season, and with the return of Wes Welker, a motivated Randy Moss in a contract year, Julian Edelman and two impressive young tight ends, he could post a monster year in 2010. Having to face the Jets and Bills four times, who fielded extremely good secondaries last year, isn’t ideal, nor is playing in New England outdoors late in the season, but Brady is primed for a big season.
Joseph Addai left Thursday’s preseason game with a concussion – He took a hard hit to the head while trying to make a tackle on a fumble recovery. However, he also rushed for 60 yards on seven carries before departing, and he remains a value pick in fantasy leagues, assuming the concussion doesn’t linger. It was a pretty hard helmet-to-helmet hit though, so keep an eye on this situation.
Donnie Avery was carted off the field with a possible season-ending knee injury – Ya, he’s injury-prone. It’s too bad, since Sam Bradford was so impressive Thursday (8.6 YPA, 2:0 TD:INT ratio), a Rams receiver might have real fantasy value this season. The next best guess is probably Laurent Robinson. Upgrade him, and don’t forget about Brandon Gibson.
Aaron Rodgers tossed three touchdowns with no picks and posted a 124.9 QB rating against the Colts, as the Packers dropped 59 points on a helpless Indy defense – Rodgers has the disadvantage of playing outdoors, but with so many ridiculous weapons at his disposal, the fact he could actually get better entering his third year as a starter at age 26 and with an improved offensive line and considering his ability to rack up rushing stats, I prefer him to Drew Brees as the No. 1 fantasy quarterback (and no, the fact he’s from Chico wasn’t my tie-breaker, although it didn’t hurt). Also, Jermichael Finley is my No. 1 ranked tight end.
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