Tuesday Stampede

I will be posting my top 20 College Football rankings this afternoon either all at once or in halves - depends on how long the list is with commentary.

Onto the NFL -

Arizona Cardinals
Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt says that Matt Leinart has improved his audibling and red zone work and will not be coming out of games at that spot on the field. While I still think Leinart is a shaky choice for a Fantasy QB until he shows me he can be consistent, it's good to hear he won't get 'middle relievered' during an important Fantasy sequence on the field and it does lessen my concerns a bit.

Oakland Raiders
From 'The Sky is Falling' column - rookie RB Darren McFadden fumbled 3 times in Monday's practice. While I don't think think the sky really IS falling (first fumbles of the preseason) you will now recall that one of the issues some people (including me) had with him pre-draft was his 15 fumbles his last year at Arkansas. This was a concern and will continue to be until he proves otherwise, but as these are his first fumbles in camp, I won't worry much, he shouldn't be going so early in drafts that a fumble problem will leave you hanging too badly.

Cincinatti Bengals
Rookie Keith Rivers seems undaunted by missing a teeny bit of camp - he led the Bengals with 7 unassisted tackles Monday night and didn't even start. He will probably be an intriguing late round/waiver pickup in IDP leagues, asssuming people chalked him up to 'rookie' and he went undrafted in the first place. He certainly seems to have stepped right up for the Bengals which they really needed to have happen. Tight End Ben Utecht seems to really be getting those promised looks in the offensive scheme. He had a good Monday night and the staff is putting 'special plays' together for him. I might be starting to believe it.....

San Diego Chargers
Antonio Gates is running but also in a lot of pain, and apparently very frustrated with his lack of progress. He says he will not play early if it damages the season long term, which is good for your overall season, but bad if you want to draft him. If you get Gates, you may be in the position of being forced to take a back-up TE early to cover for him if he's out a few weeks. If you go early on a tight end, my advice is to think of Jason Witten or even Tony Gonzalez. Better yet, get one of the later tier guys and keep an eye on the waiver for value. Amongst the TEs I like later are Jeremy Shockey, Vernon Davis on the earlier side, Owen Daniels, LJ Smith, Ben Utecht on the later side.

Baltimore Ravens
More great news for McGahee owners - the knee he just had scoped? It's the one he has had multiple surgeries on, the one he wrecked in the Fiesta Bowl 5 years ago. He showed up to camp out of shape so rehab is an iffy proposition. Ray Rice continues up the boards as McGahee drops.

That's all for now - questions and comments can go to thunderingblurb@gmail.com as well as the comment section below.

College rankings coming later this afternoon (my afternoon, not the East Coast's).