Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl?

Last night's game at Carolina was truly impressive in all phases of the game for the Arizona Cardinals. They effectively:

• Shut down the Panthers vaunted rushing attack,
  
• Completely jumped all over Jake Delhomme who was praised as an experienced, 'safe' QB who makes good decisions and takes care of the ball
• Ran effectively despite being without Anquan Boldin (which should have allowed Carolina to focus more on the run)
• and how about Larry Fitzgerald? He made some of the most unbelievable catches in recent memory.
  

So what can they do next week?

They aren't going to catch either the Eagles OR Giants by surprise in terms of protecting against the run. But if the Cards opponent tries to focus more on stopping the run, the key will be whether Anquan Boldin can return and be effective. If he can, the Cards have a chance. Even if they're playing in New York. Eli Manning's passing style is similar to Jake Delhomme's - a pocket passer who tends to favor the short to medium routes that the Cardinals completely exploited against Carolina.

It's going to be a great game either way.

Buy-Sell: August 15th Edition

Looking for who you might be able to either add or remove from your roster to improve your team down the stretch? Here are a few ideas:

BUY

• Marlon Byrd, OF, TEX
• Melvin Mora, 3B, BAL
• Joey Devine, RP, OAK
• Jensen Lewis, RP, CLE
• Jeff Kent, 2B, LAD

SELL

• Jed Lowrie, IF, BOS
• Jorge Campillo, SP, ATL
• Paul Byrd, SP, BOS
• Daniel Cabrera, SP, BAL

For the entire list and commentary, check out Grey's latest post on Razzball. (I know, two posts in a row pumping Razzball - what can I say, it's the best post I've come across today!)

Meathook Jr. [Razzball]

Late season sources of steals

Need to add some extra speed to your roster for the stretch run? There are several guys out there from the recently called up, to the long dropped and almost forgotten. Here's a quick partial list to consider:

• Chris Dickerson, OF, CIN
• Denard Span, OF, MIN
• Chris Gomez, OF, MIN
• Lastings Milledge, OF, WAS
• Jerry Hairston Jr., MI/OF, CIN
• Emmanuel Burriss, MI/OF, SF - Warning: He's playing almost everyday, but he's only hitting .168 with one stolen base in 43 August at-bats

For the full list and analysis, check out Grey's most recent post on Razzball.

Cheap Steals [Razzball]

2008 Master List of Sleepers: Running Backs

At the bottom of this post is the list of 14 different sources of sleeper lists that I've reviewed to compile a master sleeper list. The one thing you can count on is that if a player is appearing on a LOT of sleeper lists, they are NOT going to be a sleeper in most drafts! Let's look at the RBs, ranked by the number of sleeper lists they appear on:

6 lists - too many to really be a sleeper:
- Rudi Johnson, CIN

5 lists - still too many to be a sleeper:
- Matt Forte, CHI
- Selvin Young, DEN

4 lists - possibly still a sleeper if your league mates don't study at all:
- Thomas Jones, NYJ
- Kevin Smith, DET


3 lists:
- Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG
- Justin Fargas, OAK
- Rashard Mendenhall, PIT
- DeAngelo Williams, CAR

2 lists:
- Felix Jones, DAL
- Laurence Maroney, NE
- Willis McGahee, BAL
- Jonathan Stewart, CAR
- Michael Turner, ATL
- Ricky Williams, MIA

And the massive list of every other RB in the NFL that made one list - Jacob Hester, SD ; Maurice Morris, SEA ; Ryan Torian, DEN ; Lamont Jordan, OAK ; Julius Jones, SEA ; Jason Wright, CLE ; Pierre Thomas, NO ; Adrian Peterson, CHI ; Chester Taylor, MIN ; Chris Brown, HOU ; Michael Pittman, DEN ; Steve Slaton, TEX ; Kevin Jones, CHI ; Ray Rice, BAL ; LenDale White, TEN ; Tim Hightower, ARI ; Jerious Norwood, ATL ; Ernest Graham, TB ; Dominic Rhodes, IND ; Chris Johnson, TEN ; Kolby Smith, KC ; Warrick Dunn, TB ; Brandon Jackson, GB ; Kenny Irons, CIN ; Kenny Watson, CIN


Fantasy Football Sleepers for 2008 [About.com]
Fantasy football sleepers that could breakout [AM NY via DailyPress]
Fantasy Football Sleepers [AskTheCommish.com]
Fab-Five Fantasy Football Sleepers [Bleacher Report]
2008 Fantasy Football Sleepers [FFToolbox]
FFGoat's Blog [Fan Nation]
Third & Long: Fantasy Football: Sleepers and Gambles [Fan Nation]
Sleeper Watch [Fantasy Football Cafe]
2008 Fantasy Football Sleepers and Value Picks Volume 1 [FantasyFootballGoat.com]
Sleepers [Fox Sports]
Draft preview: Gonzalez, Olsen headline fantasy sleepers [NFL.com]
Sleepers [PigskinUSA.com]
2008 Fantasy Football Draft Kit - Sleepers [ProFantasy-Football.com]
Sleepers and Busts [$$ Rotowire $$ - subscription required, but WELL worth it]

2008 Master List of Sleepers: Quarterbacks

Starting in early July, you can't surf the web without running into fantasy football sleeper lists. They are everywhere. So, do you pick one trusted source and go with that? Or scan as many as possible? If you prefer the latter, I've done the work for you! At the bottom of this post is the list of 14 different sources of sleeper lists that I've reviewed to compile a master sleeper list. The one thing you can count on is that if a player is appearing on a LOT of sleeper lists, they are NOT going to be a sleeper in most drafts!

Let's start with the QBs, ranked by the number of sleeper lists they appear on:

8 lists - too many to really be a sleeper:
- Jake Delhomme, CAR

5 lists - still too many to be a sleeper:
- Aaron Rodgers, GB

4 lists - possibly still a sleeper if your league mates don't study at all:
- Jason Campbell, WAS
- Trent Edwards, BUF
- Matt Leinart, ARI
- Matt Schaub, HOU

3 lists:
- Marc Bulger, STL
- Jay Cutler, DEN
- JaMarcus Russell, OAK
- Alex Smith, SF

2 lists:
- David Garrard, JAC
- Tavaris Jackson, MIN
- Philip Rivers, SD

And the massive list of every other QB in the NFL that made one list - Kellen Clemens, NYJ ; Brett Favre, NYJ (Really? A sleeper? Come on!) ; Joe Flacco, BAL ; Matt Moore, CAR ; Chad Pennington, FA ; Sage Rosenfels, HOU ; Drew Stanton, DET ; Kurt Warner, ARI


Fantasy Football Sleepers for 2008 [About.com]
Fantasy football sleepers that could breakout [AM NY via DailyPress]
Fantasy Football Sleepers [AskTheCommish.com]
Fab-Five Fantasy Football Sleepers [Bleacher Report]
2008 Fantasy Football Sleepers [FFToolbox]
FFGoat's Blog [Fan Nation]
Third & Long: Fantasy Football: Sleepers and Gambles [Fan Nation]
Sleeper Watch [Fantasy Football Cafe]
2008 Fantasy Football Sleepers and Value Picks Volume 1 [FantasyFootballGoat.com]
Sleepers [Fox Sports]
Draft preview: Gonzalez, Olsen headline fantasy sleepers [NFL.com]
Sleepers [PigskinUSA.com]
2008 Fantasy Football Draft Kit - Sleepers [ProFantasy-Football.com]
Sleepers and Busts [$$ Rotowire $$ - subscription required, but WELL worth it]

Fantasy Baseball: Hot and Cold - Aug 12

Who's hot? Who's cold?

HOT

• Albert Pujols
• Marlon Byrd
• Jeremy Guthrie

COLD

• Jorge Cantu
• Aaron Cook
• Eric Hinske

For the full HOT/COLD list, check out Ryan Taylor's recent post on RotoTimes.

Fantasy Baseball: Heating and Cooling [RotoTimes]

Looking Forward: 2009 Fantasy Baseball Top 100

Out of the hunt for the fantasy playoffs or a money spot finish? Still looking to wrap up some final dealing to get your team set for 2009? The preliminary ranking of the Top 100 Fantasy Baseball players for 2009 is out, courtesy of Matthew Pouliot from RotoWorld - here's a quick preview:

1 - Alex Rodriguez - Yankees
2 - Hanley Ramirez - Marlins
3 - Albert Pujols - Cardinals
4 - Jose Reyes - Mets
5 - Ryan Braun - Brewers
6 - Matt Holliday - Rockies
7 - David Wright - Mets
8 - Miguel Cabrera - Tigers
9 - Chase Utley - Phillies
10 - Johan Santana - Mets

Check out the whole list on today's Strike Zone post on RotoWorld.

Strike Zone: 2009 Prelim Top 100 Rankings [RotoWorld]