Changing of the guard in the desert? With Larry Fitzgerald (11) turning 31 by opening day, there is a solid chance that Michael Floyd (15) will take over as the team’s leading threat at wide receiver during the 2014 season. Photo: Icon Sportswire

Data as of July 21 | Current Cheatsheets | Current Projections

NR = Not ranked

QB Carson Palmer

It would be fair to say that Palmer enjoyed an up and down first year in the desert. While he passed for a career-high 4,274 yards and 24 touchdowns, that was largely offset by his propensity for throwing interceptions as he also reached a career high with 22 in nearly leading the Cardinals to a playoff berth with a solid 10-6 record. At 34 years of age, Palmer’s best days are clearly in the rearview mirror and his arm strength is beginning to wane. However, he still has some value as a fantasy backup, particularly if the matchup is right, given his solid group of receivers in Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald and Ted Ginn Jr. as well as running back Andre Ellington, who caught a healthy 39 balls as a rookie. With an improved offensive line, Palmer should be able to stay upright for all 16 games once again this season and that fact should give you some comfort in grabbing him as a mid-tier QB2.

RB Andre Ellington

The Cardinals grabbed the 5’9” and 199 pound Ellington with a 6th round pick in last year’s NFL Draft and he promptly proved that was an absolute bargain, gaining 652 rushing yards and three touchdowns while averaging 5.5 yards per carry and adding another 371 yards and a score on 39 receptions. And that was despite the fact that head coach Bruce Arians stubbornly clung to the notion that Ellington should remain a part-time player behind the struggling Rashard Mendenhall. With Mendenhall out of the picture, Ellington is the starter but his fantasy value will hinge on how many touches Arians is willing to give him. There are conflicting reports on this but we are sold on the notion that Arians will limit him to 12-15 touches per game and hand over the short yardage role to Stepfan Taylor and Jonathan Dwyer. While that limits Ellington’s upside, he still rates as a mid-tier RB2 with major upside given his big play ability and the fact that Taylor and Dwyer could easily bust as his backup.

RB Stepfan Taylor

Taken in the 5th round of the 2013 draft, Taylor failed to carve out a significant role as a rookie despite Rashard Mendenhall’s struggles and the team’s refusal to hand fellow rookie Andre Ellington a large role in the team’s offense. With Mendenhall deciding to retire and Ellington slated to take over in the starting line up, the 5’9”, 214 pound Taylor will battle former Steeler Jonathan Dwyer for the top backup spot on the depth chart in a role that will almost certainly include substantial short yardage work. While we like his chances of earning that role, there isn’t yet any evidence to suggest that he would be productive if given significant playing time and that renders him little more than a handcuff at best in 2014.

RB Jonathan Dwyer

After four lackluster years in Pittsburgh, Dwyer will join his former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians in Arizona in 2014. While the 5’11”, 229 pound Dwyer has a reputation as a power back, he never really took to the role as a short yardage back during his stay in Pittsburgh, finding the end zone just twice. This season he will battle with Stepfan Taylor for the right to back up Andre Ellington and earn a role as a short yardage back since Ellington is ill-suited for that role. While it would seem that Taylor, the team’s 2013 5th round pick, should have the upper hand in that battle, he managed just 36 carries as a rookie, averaging just 3.2 yards a carry and failed to find the end zone. If Dwyer somehow manages to usurp Taylor, he would rate as a low end handcuff at best.

WR Michael Floyd

After struggling for much of his rookie season, Michael Floyd emerged as a solid, if not consistent weapon for the Cardinals in 2013. The 2012 1st round pick led the team with 1,041 receiving yards on his 65 receptions, finding the end zone six times while averaging a healthy 16.0 yards per catch. He also saved his best performances for the end of the season, gaining 577 yards and three touchdowns over the Cardinals final seven games. With Larry Fitzgerald turning 31 by opening day, there is a solid chance that Floyd will take over as the team’s leading threat at wide receiver at some point during the 2014 season. We’re banking on that happening. While the rest of the fantasy world grabs Fitzgerald too early based on his stellar production during a 10-year career, you can probably safely wait and grab Floyd as a high end WR2 with upside at a cheaper cost. Dynasty leaguers should grab Floyd before the secret is really out.

WR Larry Fitzgerald

There is a point in a man’s life where he realizes that he can do what he has always wanted and finally overpower his father and that is always a kind of sad day. And that is the feeling you get with Larry Fitzgerald in 2014 as his sidekick Michael Floyd seems poised to take over as the Cardinals leading wide receiver. As classy as Fitzgerald has been throughout a career that will surely result in his inclusion in the Hall of Fame, you can be sure that he is ready to handle that situation if it transpires this season. He will turn 31 prior to opening day and is coming off a pair of sub-1,000 receiving yard seasons for the first time in his 10-year career. While some of that can be attributable to spotty quarterback play, it is also worth noting that despite his solid size and massive wingspan Fitzgerald has caught just 52.1% of his targets over the past four seasons. His 10 touchdowns last season helped propel him to a respectable 16th ranking at wide receiver but it’s foolhardy to project double digit touchdowns for him at this stage of his career. While we aren’t about to predict a swift, steep decline for Fitzgerald in 2014, we can safely conclude that his days as a WR1 are behind him. Keeping in mind that 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns gets you low end WR2 status, that is where we place him for this coming season.

WR Ted Ginn Jr.

After generating some buzz in the Panthers training camp last season, Ginn did the unthinkable. He actually put together a solid season, catching 36 passes for 556 yards and five touchdowns, a career-high. That marked his finest season since 2008 and he parlayed that into a modest free agent deal with the Cardinals. In Arizona, Ginn replaces Andre Roberts and will backup Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd at wide receiver and contribute in the return game. Since Roberts amassed nearly 500 receiving yards last season, which wasn’t too far off Ginn’s production in Carolina, we expect him to produce another solid season for a backup wide receiver. Unfortunately, barring injury to Fitzgerald or Floyd, that won’t be enough to make Ginn fantasy relevant in 2014.

TE Robert Housler, TE Jake Ballard, TE John Carlson, TE Troy Niklas

Although Housler is coming off a career year during which he amassed a career-high 454 receiving yards, reports out of Arizona indicate that he may have fallen to 4th on the depth chart at tight end. The team re-signed Jake Ballard in the offseason as well as adding John Carlson in free agency and using a 2nd round pick on Troy Niklas. With Ballard and Carlson having proven to be injury prone options and the coaching staff apparently down on Housler, there is a chance that the rookie Niklas could emerge with the starting job at some point during the season. However this situation shakes out, it’s safe to conclude that you don’t want to have any part of it for fantasy purposes.