The dust has settled for the drafts and I am working hard to get my first round of 2012 projections completed. At first glance here's how I rank this year's rookie class for the long term.

*based on dynsasty formats (3-5 value)

OVERALL TOP 12
1. Trent Richardson (CLE)
2. Andrew Luck (IND)
3. Robert Griffin III (WAS)
4. Doug Martin (TB)
5. Justin Blackmon (JCK)
6. David Wilson (NYG)
7. Michael Floyd (ARZ)
8. Stephen Hill (NYJ)
9. Kendall Wright (TEN)
10. Ryan Tannehill (MIA)
11. Rueben Randle (NYG)
12. Isaiah Pead (STL)

QB
1. Andrew Luck (IND)
2. Robert Griffin III (WAS)
3. Ryan Tannehill (MIA)
4. Brandon Weeden (CLE)
5. Ryan Lindley (ARZ)
6. Brock Osweiler (DEN)

RB
1. Trent Richardson (CLE)
2. Doug Martin (TB)
3. David Wilson (NYG)
4. Isaiah Pead (STL)
5. Ronnie Hillman (DEN)
6. Lamar Miller (MIA)
7. Bernard Pierce (BAL)
8. Robert Turbin (SEA)
9. Dan Herron (CIN)
10. Chris Polk (PHI)
11. LaMichael James (SF)
12. Vick Ballard (IND)

WR
1. Justin Blackmon (JCK)
2. Michael Floyd (ARZ)
3. Stephen Hill (NYJ)
4. Kendall Wright (TEN)
5. Rueben Randle (NYG)
6. Mohamed Sanu (CIN)
7. Alshon Jeffery (CHI)
8. AJ Jenkins (SF)
9. Nick Toon (NO)
10. Marvin Jones (CIN)
11. Brian Quick (CHI)
12. Ryan Broyles (DET)

TE
1. Coby Fleener (IND)
2. Ladarius Green (SD)
3. Orson Charles (CIN)
4. Dwayne Allen (IND)
5. Michael Egnew (MIA)

Fantasy Football 2012 fantasy football, rookie rankings, 2012 rookies, fantasy advice

Through the first 35 games of the season the Washington Nationals have posted a 22-13 (.629) record and enter Tuesday’s action in first place in the NL East.

Have they just gotten off to a hot start or is this team going to stick around to be in the conversation come October?

Manager Davey Johnson has done a great job with this team’s nearly three decades after leading the Mets to World Championship.

No rotation in MLB has performed better from top to bottom than the Nationals’ unit to this point of the season.  Overall, they have the best team ERA in baseball with a 2.27 mark.

Stephen Strasburg and newcomer Gio Gonzalez each are allowing less than two earned runs per nine innings while Jordan Zimmerman (2.14 ERA), Ross Detwiler (2.75), and Edwin Jackson (3.71) have also shown flashes of brilliance.

Like many other parts of the team, the bullpen has been hurt by injuries as Drew Storen and Brad Lidge have both made their way to the DL. Henry Rodriguez has shown signs of being able to close out games in their absence, but he’s blown three of his save opportunities.

The team has managed to find its way to first place without the benefit of having outfielder Michael Morse all season. Right fielder Jayson Werth is expected to be out until July after recently being put on the DL.  Catcher Wilson Ramos suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Third basemen Ryan Zimmerman has returned from his stint on the DL and he’ll be counted to help breathe life into a struggling offense. Veteran first basemen Adam LaRoche is enjoying a bit of a resurgence and 19-year old phenom Bryce Harper has been called upon to help the team win now.

Final Take: The Nats are ninth in the NL in batting average and 12th in runs scored. Those numbers will need to improve if they are going to hold onto their lead. If they can keep their pitching going at this level until the All-Star break they could get a big lift with Morse and Werth returning to lineup and may even look to add a bat via trade before the deadline. With the Phillies struggling badly, the NL East is up for grabs and Washington is going to be a factor in the race for the duration of the season.

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As Memorial Day is quickly approaching we take a quick look at the top candidates for the National League’s Cy Young Award:

TOP CONTENDERS
Stephen Strasburg, WAS
3-0, 1.64 ERA, 0.91 WHIP; 51/10 K:BB ratio in 44 innings
A year removed from his Tommy John surgery the young right hander has been sensational as the anchor of MLB’s best pitching staff. A possible inning limit could hurt his chances in the long run, but few hurlers in baseball have looked better to this point of the season.

Lance Lynn, STL
6-1, 1.81 ERA, 0.90 WHIP; 44/14 K:BB ratio in 44.2 innings
Lynn was forced into the rotation when Chris Carpenter was shelved to start the year. With Adam Wainwright struggling out of the gate, Lynn has been the ace of the first-place Cardinals’ rotation to this point of the season, cementing his spot as a starter.

Johnny Cueto, CIN
4-0, 1.12 ERA, 0.97 WHIP; 31/8 K:BB ratio in 48.1 innings
If not for poor run support, Cueto could easily have a couple more of victories. Only Ryan Dempster has posted a better ERA since May 1 of last year than Cueto, who has emerged as a legitimate No. 1 starter. If he can survive pitching in Great American Ballpark during the dead heat of summer again he’ll stay in the conversation.

Matt Cain, SF
2-2, 2.28 ERA, 0.74 ERA; 48/9 K:BB ratio in 51.1 innings
His low win total could really take its toll on Cain’s Cy Young chances, but the rest of the numbers are there. He’ll benefit from pitching the majority of his games in the pitcher-friendly ballparks that permeate the NL West. Look for him to pick up the win rate and be a strong candidate by year’s end.

OTHERS TO WATCH
Gio Gonzalez, WAS
Anibal Sanchez, MIA
Brandon Beachy, ATL

DON’T COUNT THEM OUT
Clayton Kershaw, LAD
Cliff Lee, PHI
Roy Halladay, PHI
Zach Greinke, MIL

Fantasy Baseball, MLB nl cy young, 2012 mlb awards, stephen strasburg, lance lynn, johnny cueto, matt cain

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton has unprecedented week of baseball. Entering Sunday night’s game with the Angels Hamilton has blasted nine homeruns in his last six games.

ESPN.com has a great breakdown of the numbers from a historic prospective:

--His 18 homers have tied Cy Williams of the 1923 Phillies for the most all-time through 34 team games.

--With nine home runs in his past six games, Hamilton is just one shy of the MLB record for homers in a six-game span set by Frank Howard with 10 in 1968, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

--Hamilton’s 18 home runs this season are five more than the entire San Diego Padres team and one fewer than the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins.

So what has been the biggest reason for the sudden power charge?

It’s hard to pinpoint but the website suggests that his improved ability to hit the breaking ball has been an enormous factor, “Hamilton is hitting .420 against breaking balls in 2012, a dramatic increase over his .260 average against such pitches a year ago. And his slugging percentage against curveballs and sliders is .860, dwarfing his 2011 mark of .468.”

One thing is for sure as a Reds’ fan, trading him is becoming more painful by the minute.

Fantasy Baseball, MLB texas rangers, josh hamilton

There have been rumors floating around the web for while that with her contract set to expire at ESPN Michelle Beadle would be leaving the sports network.

We may be getting closer to knowing where Beadle's final destination will be. Sports by Brooks tweeted on Friday that Beadle is leaving ESPN for NBC Sports with an eye towards also working for Access Hollywood and the Today Show.

The popular Sports Nation co-host certainly has the ability to cross over to mainstream media from the world of sports and would be a big land for NBC.

If she does leave it will be interesting to see who ESPN replaces her with. Speculation has already started in the blogosphere on who will be the network's next girl in. My bet, and vote for that matter, is for Charrisa Thompson.

Beadle already proved she can handle morning television well when she talked about porn with Regis Philbin while filling in on Live for Kelly Rippa last summer.

Just For Fun michelle beadle, espn, nbc, leaving espn, charrisa thompson

Attention all baseball fans we are starting another 13-Run Baseball pool.

The concept is simple. Once the pool is filled (30 teams) we randomly draw MLB teams. That is your team for the duration of the contest. Each game you take the final score of your team (win or lose) and apply to a grid with 14 squares (0 thru 13). The first team to cross off all 14 squares wins the contest.

The software tracks everything you just follow along. The first team to get all the squares wins. In addition, the team with the highest single-game output as well as the team team that is shutout the most during the contest also is rewarded.

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Two years ago when the Reds won the NL Central they drew criticism from ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd for being soft. They racked up wins against the lesser teams of the NL, but struggled with in matchup against playoff contenders. As it turned out Cowherd was right. The formula worked to get the Reds into the postseason, but there stay there was brief as they overmatched badly on the way to being swept by Philadelphia.

This season the Reds are 16-14 (entering Friday’s series with Nationals) and sit 3.5 games back of the Cardinals, a team they are 2-4 against this season.

Lance McAlister of ESPN 1530 broke the numbers down on his blog:

Record vs. teams with losing record: 11-6
Cubs 3-2
Astros 2-1
Pirates 2-1
Giants 2-1
Brewers 2-1
Combined records: 69-86 .445

Record vs. teams with winning record: 5-8
Marlins 2-1
Cardinals 2-4
Nationals 1-3
Combined records: 55-38 .591

Starting with this weekend’s series with the Nationals, the Reds have a 14-game run of playing teams with winning records:

3 - Nationals (19-12)
2 - @Braves (19-13)
2 - @Mets (18-13)
3 - @Yankees (17-14)
4 - Braves (19-13)
Combined records: 92-65 .586

MLB cincinnati reds, st. louis cardinals, colin cowherd, lance mcalister

Though the field of 14 horses for the 2012 Preakness Stakes won't be officially set until Wednesday, here's DRF.com's early list of projected starters...

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Heading into the 2012 NFL Draft, fantasy owners were chomping at the bit to see where Alabama running back Trent Richardson would fall.  Where he landed left many disappointed.

In recent years fantasy players go to the Dawg Pound and die. Aside from Braylon Edwards’ one decent season when Derek Anderson actually looked like a quarterback in 2007, Cleveland’s offense has finished in the bottom five in the league in scoring offense in every year since 2003.

The Browns offensive line is on the upswing. While the unit lacks depth, its young core has upside. That should translate into plenty of good running lanes for the rookie.

With Montario Hardesty currently listed as the team’s No. 2 back on the depth chart, Richardson will not have to worry about competition for carries either.

In addition, Richardson’s size and ability allow him to be effective on all three downs and will lead to more touches than a typical NFL back. Richardson could easily lead the NFL in touches as a rookie.

The main concern is the team’s passing game.  The Browns drafted a 28-year old quarterback, Brandon Weeden, in the first round and aside from Greg Little there is little talent and/or experience in the receiving corps.

The poor passing attack will allow defenses to cheat and stack the box to slow down Richardson.

2012 PROJECTIONS
309 carries, 1,274 RuYd; 45 receptions,  513 yards, 5 ReTD

FINAL TAKE
As you can see I am extremely high on the rookie despite the limitations Cleveland may bring. Assuming he stays healthy Richardson will finish as a top 10 fantasy producer at the position, with the upside of being a top 5 fantasy RB.  He comes with risk though and therefore should be looked at more of a second-round pick in upcoming season drafts. His upside makes him a top 5 dynasty RB immediately

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