QB

Matt Leinart

(+) Arizona protects the passer with the best of ‘em (5th overall in the league in the PYRO pass blocking rankings)
(+) A strong line with a great WR1 and a creative playbook go a long way towards Fantasy relevance for a QB
(+) Leinert has shown flashes of greatness, particularly (but not only) in the college game
(–) We expected a progression into this role, but Leinart’s immaturity combined with some real ugly performances has the PYRO staff scratching their heads a bit on him
(–) Accuracy could be a real problem.  It’s the one skill you need the most to flourish in a system with a great O-line, solid running game, and a special WR1
(–) The Cardinals poor pass schedule does not help matters at all (27th toughest overall)

Derek Anderson

RB

Chris "Beanie" Wells

(+) Arizona has one of the easiest rush schedules in the league (4th)
(+) Made some of the sweetest runs in the NFL last year
(+) Has one of the better combinations of strength and speed in the NFL
(+) With Matt Leinart under center, Arizona is likely to switch to a more run-based offense than in the past
(–) The Hightower factor
(–) With Leinart as his QB, Arizona could be playing from behind a bunch and forced to pass
(–) Has an injury-riddled past due to his bruising style of running

Tim Hightower

(+) Arizona has the 4th easiest rushing schedule this year and they have a better-than-average run blocking O-line – Hightower should benefit
(+) The exit of Kurt Warner and Anquan Boldin should equate to Whisenhunt calling more runs – More carries = more production
(+) Hightower saw almost as many Red Zone touches as Beanie Wells did and was more effective in converting those opportunities, 25.8% compared to 20% for Beanie
(–) Beanie is a bigger more talented back than Hightower and will end up taking the lion’s share of carries
(–) If Leinart struggles in the passing game, it may be difficult to get the Red Zone opportunities that Arizona is accustomed to

WR

Larry Fitzgerald

(+) Over the past three seasons, Larry has averaged 158 targets, 97.7 receptions, 1,310.7 yards, and 11.7 TDs per year
(+) Has been in the top-5 for fantasy points in 4 of the past 5 years
(+) Arizona has been in the top-3 in passing attempts 4 of the past 5 years
(+) Statistically, Fitz has done better without Boldin in the lineup over his career and he’s absolutely lethal in the red-zone
(–)  Statistically, Fitz has done much worse with Leinart as his starting QB as opposed to Warner (check the charts in Fitz’ Player Profile at pyromaniac.com)
(–) Has one of the toughest schedules against the pass in 2010
(–) Coach Whisenhunt might go back to the run again with a legit RB in Beanie Wells and without Warner and Boldin in the mix

Steve Breaston

(+) With Boldin gone, Breaston now becomes Fitzgerald’s wingman – Holla at your boy!
(+) Breaston had 77 catches for 1,006 yards just two years ago
(–) Early Doucet showed he’s a good player and could give Breaston a run for that WR2 spot
(–) Who’d you rather have throwing to you – Beer-Bong Leinart or Bible-Bong Warner...

Early Doucet

(+) Arizona knows how to protect their quarterback which should help Leinart in getting comfortable with the offense
(+) Arizona runs a lot of three-wide sets, so Boldin’s departure should mean more playing time for Doucet
(+) As a WR3 last year in the playoffs, Doucet came up bit with 14 catches for 145 yards and 2 TDs
(–) We have some serious questions regarding Leinart’s ability to drive this machine
(–) Doucet is still young (heading into his third season) and thus far has not yet reached Fantasy significance (17 catches last season is his best)
(–) Doesn’t have the speed to get separation (4.5 forty time at the combine in ‘08), so he will rely on routes and schemes to get him free

TE

Ben Patrick

-  The Arizona Cardinals came off the loss in the 2008 Superbowl and were expected to build on that in 2009
-  The 2009 season ended up being the last of Kurt Warner’s career and it was a winning one in which the Cardinals finished 10-6
-  The Cardinals had an epic playoff battle against the Packers, one that will go down as one of the best in history
-  Scored 375 points and allowed 325 points against

Jay Feely will kick for the Cards this season...

With the Jets...

2009 Total Points Rank:           7th (122 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     9th (7.6 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Cardinals Defensive Outlook... 

Arizona plays team defense.  They had 43 sacks last season (6^th overall) and did not have a player record more than 7.  For perspective, Elvis Dumervil (DEN) had 17.  They lost Karlos Dansby, a great linebacker to Miami (1 sack in ’09), but they picked up Joey Porter, who is turning into the guy that will prove every year his former team shouldn’t have let him go.  He has 10 sack potential.

They have also averaged almost 30 Turnovers in the last three years, which will put them in the upper third.  CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and SS Adrian Wilson are the two best defenders on this Defense, and they will both be trying to repeat back to back Pro Bowl berths.  Wilson may be one the best defenders of all time.  He is the 10^th player in league history with 20 sacks and 20 picks.  DRC will be trying to repeat on a surgically repaired knee.   

Back end starters, but arrow is pointing up.

-  Karlos Dansby led the team with 109 tackles, Clark Haggans had 74
-  The Cardinals had 43 sacks last season
-  Leading sackers were Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell with 7
-  How can the Cardinals replace Dansby and Rolle with their departures???
-  Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie led the team with 6 INTs
-  Team forced 12 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 33 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contact situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

Here is another great resource for looking at O-Lines…    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Matt Leinart has been handed the reigns with Kurt Warner’s retirement and will be on a short leash as the Cardinals
        still hope to remain a playoff football team
-  The Cardinals ranked 12th in team passing yards with 4,016 yards through the air in ‘09
-  Can Leinart muster up the same magic as Warner had done the last few seasons?
-  Boldin is now gone to Baltimore, can Fitzgerald have a bounce back year in which he set some career lows?
-  Who will take the pressure off Fitzgerald? Expect Breaston to continue to progress and put up solid numbers-
       Early Doucet will also see an increase in playing time
-  Look for the TEs Becht and Patrick to serve as Leinart’s security blanket

By Land

-  The Cardinals ranked 28th in team rushing yards with 1494 yards on the ground in ‘09
-  The Cardinals have two solid RBs in Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells
-  Look for the running backs to get much more touches with Warner’s retirement and coach Wisenhunt’s adeptness for
        running the ball when he was with the Steelers
-  Should be a more balanced team next season. Down from the pass heavy play calling of years past

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Cardinal Leaders in the Red Zone...

1. Chris "Beanie" Wells
2. Tim Hightower
3. Larry Fitzgerald
4. Early Doucet
5. Steve Breaston

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.

Draft Bits...

WR Andre Roberts should compete for the 4th wideout slot on this team and potentially get the punt return duties.  He has had a couple bad practices but should be in the mix for that 4th slot.  Translation... don't even think about drafting him unless you are in a ridiculously deep draft.  In fact, if you're in a non-keeper league where Andre Roberts gets drafted,we'd love to hear about it-  spike@pyromaniac.com

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determine by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL drafincoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

July 9, 2010    

Signed CB Jorrick Calvin to a four-year contract. Released WR Juamorris Stewart.

July 8, 2010    

Signed TE Jim Dray to a four-year contract.

June 14, 2010

Signed G Deuce Lutui to a one-year contract.

May 24, 2010 

Promoted Quentin Harris to assistant pro personnel director and college scout. Named Kyle Johnson a college scout.

May 7, 2010   

Signed FB Charles Ali to a one-year contract.

May 3, 2010   

Signed CB Justin Miller to a one-year contract.

April 28, 2010

Agreed to terms OL Alan Faneca on a one-year contract.

April 27, 2010

Signed QB Max Hall, CB Marshay Green, CB A.J. Jefferson, WR Max Komar, WR Juamorris Stewart, WR Stephen Williams, OT Devin Tyler, OT Casey Knips, C David Moosman and RB Alfonso Smith.

April 3, 2010  

Agreed to terms with PK Jay Feely on a two-year contract.

March 30, 2010          

Re-signed WR Steve Breaston, C Lyle Sendlein, NT Gabe Watson to one-year qualifying offers, LB Monty Beisel to a one-year contract and CB Michael Adams to an exclusive rights contract.

March 23, 2010

Signed TE Ben Patrick and WR Darren Mougey. Re-signed S Hamza Abdullah and FB Nehemiah Broughton.

March 19, 2010          

Agreed to terms with LB Joey Porter on a three-year contract.

March 17, 2010          

Agreed to terms with QB Derek Anderson on a two-year contract.

March 15, 2010          

Agreed to terms with LB Paris Lenon on a three-year contract.

March 12, 2010          

Agreed to terms with OL Rex Hadnot on a three-year contract. Re-signed C Ben Claxton to a one-year contract.

March 11, 2010          

Re-signed OT Jeremy Bridges to a three-year contract.

March 10, 2010          

Re-signed TE Anthony Becht and TE Stephen Spach to one-year contracts. Signed DE Jeremy Clark to an exclusive rights contract.

March 4, 2010

Released S Antrel Rolle.

February 25, 2010      

Agreed to terms on contract extensions for coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves through the 2013 season.

February 23, 2010      

Named Donnie Henderson defensive backs coach.

February 5, 2010        

Named Tommie Robinson running backs coach.

February 4, 2010        

Signed LB Stevie Baggs to a one-year contract.

January 29, 2010        

Announced the retirement of QB Kurt Warner.

January 21, 2010        

Signed TE Dominique Byrd, S Herana-Daze Jones, FB Reagan Maui'a, CB Trumaine McBride and DL Dean Muhtadi to future contracts.

January 18, 2010        

Re-signed CB Rashad Barksdale, WR Ed Gant, LB Ali Highsmith, LB Mark Washington, WR Onrea Jones, DE Ryan Kees, G Jonathan Palmer and OT Tom Pestock to future contracts.