Veteran safety Antoine Bethea announced his retirement on Thursday after 14 seasons in the league. The 36-year-old played for the Indianapolis Colts (eight seasons), San Francisco 49ers (three seasons), Arizona Cardinals (two seasons) and New York Giants (one season). He made three Pro Bowls and started 200 of the 209 games he played in, including all 16 games for the Giants in 2019 when he recorded 110 tackles. Bethea won a Super Bowl title with the Colts in his rookie season and will finish ...

This article references and more! The Arizona Cardinals have put safety Antoine Bethea (pectoral) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday. With the Cardinals defense coming up with a great performance last week, it remains to be seen how this injury will affect the team's play in the final week of the regular season. Regardless, the unit should be viewed as a midrange second defense with limited upside against a high-powered Seahawks offense.Keep on reading: Antoine Bethea Moved To IR

This article references Joe Mixon and more! Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon failed to impress during his NFL debut on Sunday. In the horrific loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Mixon saw only eight carries for an atroucious nine yards. He also caught three passes for an equally underwhelming 15 yards. Mixon spent his day splitting carries with Cincy mainstay running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, who were both equally as unproductive. Mixon didn?t leave a good taste in the mouths of fantasy owners throughout the land as he le[...]Keep on reading: Joe Mixon Hoping To Have A Better Week

This article references James White and more! New England Patriots running back James White stated that he is ?focused on being a better football player.? As training camp rolls on, White finds himself in the mix of a very crowded Pats backfield that includes the newly-acquired Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead as well as the habitually injured Dion Lewis. Last season, White filled in nicely for Lewis, who suffered a torn ACL halfway through the season, and as a result, White was rewarded with a contract extension this past offseason. [...]Keep on reading: James White Looks To Become A Better Player

On this week’s episode of the Dynasty Pulse Podcast Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. EST on Blogtalkradio, Nick Wagner and Joshua Johnson were joined by DFW’s own “Big Bad” Bill Latin. Jaylon Smith should be a top 10 pick! Plant Your Flag or Wash Your Hands: Kenny Britt WR Rams Antoine Bethea SS 49ers Bruce Irvin OLB Seahawks Tony Jefferson S Cardinals James Laurinaitis ILB FA Torrey Smith […]

With the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine wrapping up in Indianapolis, the eyes of most Individual Defensive Player (IDP) enthusiasts have been on Lucas Oil Stadium, where young defensive stalwarts such as South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack displayed their skills for NFL scouts. However, before we find out where those youngsters will ply their trade in May's NFL draft, there's another matter to attend to. Free agency. We've already taken a look at the defensive linemen and the linebackers , so let's wrap up this year's guns for hire by examining the top free agent defensive backs in 2014. Before we get rolling, two notes. The first domino has already fallen (or didn't fall, as the case may be). Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall re-upped with the Redskins for four more years, so Hall's DB2 (and elite CB1) value in IDP leagues appears stable, at least where 2014 is concerned. Also, I could write about 47,000 words on free agent defensive backs that might have an IDP impact this year and still leave guys out. Just because names like Roman Harper and Jairus Byrd (a much better NFL player than IDP, at least in Buffalo) aren't mentioned here doesn't mean they won't have fantasy value in the upcoming season, especially should they land in a favorable spot. T.J. Ward, SS, Cleveland Ever since Ward's 123-tackle rookie season in 2010, IDP owners have been waiting (with growing impatience each successive year) for Ward to backup his top 5 finish among defensive backs. Well, Ward came pretty close in 2013. For the first time since his rookie season, Ward topped the century mark, notching 112 stops. Toss in the two interceptions and 1½ sacks and the 27-year-old finished the year third among all defensive backs in Fantasy Sharks Default IDP Scoring . Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland reports that despite the recent regime change (again) in Cleveland, the Browns still intend to make bringing Ward back to Northern Ohio a priority. With the franchise tag for safeties a relatively palatable $8 million in 2014 and Ward a key piece of the Cleveland defense, it's pretty unlikely he's going anywhere. That leaves Ward a solid (if a bit risky) DB1 in 2014, although it's possible we'll be right back in this same spot a year from now. Antoine Bethea, FS, Indianapolis With LaRon Landry joining the Colts in 2013, many IDP pundits (myself included) thought Bethea was in for a dip in stats. Yeah, about that. For the fourth straight ...

The NFL regular season may have ended (and the fantasy football season along with it), but that doesn't mean it's time for fantasy football enthusiasts to pack it in for the year. As 2014 begins, many will be taking part in fantasy football playoff leagues, taking one last shot at fantasy glory before they start getting ready for 2014. Most of those leagues are "survivor"-type affairs. The entire pool of players are available, but you can only use each player once. That means that as important as it is to find players who will put up a solid score, it's equally crucial that you take into account how you expect the postseason to play out. Otherwise, by the time the conference championships and Super Bowl roll around there won't be any players to choose from. So, with that in mind and with an admittedly shallow group available along the defensive line, here's a look at the top-10 players at each of the "main" Individual Defensive Player (IDP) positions for the Wild Card Round in Fantasy Sharks Default IDP Scoring . DEFENSIVE LINEMEN 1.) Cameron Jordan -- New Orleans at Philadelphia 2.) Carlos Dunlap -- Cincinnati vs. San Diego 3.) Dontari Poe -- Kansas City at Indianapolis 4.) Akiem Hicks -- New Orleans at Philadelphia 5.) Michael Johnson -- Cincinnati vs. San Diego 6.) Justin Smith -- San Francisco at Green Bay 7.) Corey Liuget -- San Diego at Cincinnati 8.) Cedric Thornton -- Philadelphia vs. New Orleans 9.) Mike Neal -- Green Bay vs. San Francisco 10.) Fletcher Cox -- Philadelphia vs. New Orleans LINEBACKERS 1.) Derrick Johnson -- Kansas City at Indianapolis 2.) Vontaze Burfict -- Cincinnati vs. San Diego 3.) Navorro Bowman -- San Francisco at Green Bay 4.) Donald Butler -- San Diego at Cincinnati 5.) Mychal Kendricks -- Philadelphia vs. New Orleans 6.) Jerrell Freeman -- Indianapolis vs. Kansas City 7.) Curtis Lofton -- New Orleans at Philadelphia 8.) DeMeco Ryans -- Philadelphia vs. New Orleans 9.) Patrick Willis -- San Francisco at Green Bay 10.) A.J. Hawk -- Green Bay vs. San Francisco DEFENSIVE BACKS 1.) Morgan Burnett -- Green Bay vs. San Francisco 2.) Eric Weddle -- San Diego at Cincinnati 3.) Eric Berry -- Kansas City at Indianapolis 4.) Antoine Bethea -- Indianapolis vs. Kansas City 5.) Roman Harper -- New Orleans at Philadelphia 6.) LaRon Landry -- Indianapolis vs. Kansas City 7.) Nate Allen -- Philadelphia vs. New Orleans 8.) Reggie Nelson -- Cincinnati vs. San Diego 9.) Eric Reid -- San Francisco at Green ...

As hard it may be to believe, the 2013 fantasy football regular season has reached the halfway mark. With any luck your team is in the thick of the playoff hunt, and hopefully the recommendations in this article have been of some assistance in that regard. However, whether you're 5-1 or 1-5, we're all facing the same problems, be it under-performing stars or the injuries that have claimed the likes of New England linebacker Jerod Mayo , who was lost for the season last week. That makes every lineup decision all the more difficult, especially as each week's games become more important for playoff positioning. That's where IDP "Studs and Duds" comes in. Every week during the 2013 season, I'll point out some IDPs who could be set to exceed expectations this week (studs) and some that for whatever reason are riskier plays than usual (duds). This isn't necessarily to say that every "stud" is a must-start (it depends on your other options) or that every "dud" should be glued to your bench (just that the odds of a letdown week are greater than usual). Finally, the bye weeks are rolling right along, with the New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders taking Week 7 off. No Curtis Lofton or Charles Woodson this week. STUDS Rob Ninkovich, DE, New England (at New York Jets): After eight sacks last year, Ninkovich has managed only one sack through six games this season. This week's tilt with the New York Jets, who have allowed the fourth-most sacks in the NFL in 2013, should give Ninkovich a solid shot at breaking out of that funk. Dontari Poe, DT, Kansas City (vs. Houston): Poe has mixed in three huge stinkers with three huge games en route to a top-10 ranking among defensive linemen in Fantasy Sharks Default IDP Scoring . The odds are good that this week's matchup with a Houston Texans team giving up the second-most fantasy points to defensive linemen in 2013 will fall into the latter category. Cameron Wake, DE, Miami (vs. Buffalo): Wake has been hampered by a knee injury of late, but the 31-year-old had the bye week to get right heading into a matchup with a Buffalo team allowing pressure on nearly 25 percent of dropbacks and the most fantasy points to defensive linemen. Jon Beason, MLB, New York Giants (vs. Minnesota): The 28-year-old played well in his first start with the Giants, logging 12 tackles in a loss to the Chicago Bears. More importantly, Beason stayed on the field in passing situations, which should equate to plenty of tackle opportunities ...

As voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) turn into mandatory mini-camps and training camps right around the corner, it is time to kick fantasy draft preparation up a notch or two. With that in mind, I decided to compile a quick hitting list of Individual Defensive Players (IDP) that hold excellent value and should be targeted in all formats. For the most part I am avoiding the ‘no-brainer' elite names such as defensive end J.J. Watt or linebacker studs such as Luke Kuechly, James Laurinaitis and the like. While there are some top-level names listed here, it is because I believe they are poised to join the elite tier and can be drafted as such. Some of the players mentioned have already been covered to some extent in my previous articles and rankings but deserve mentioning again as I am that high on them. These are players that I have targeted and will continue to target in IDP drafts as lynchpin options to lead a squad to a successful season. There are not a lot of ‘so and so posted X amount of tackles last season' to be found in this particular article as I wanted to sprinkle it with my thoughts as to why I feel they are viable options. As the season approaches and position battles are won and lost, there will be plenty of time for the hard hitting stat and scheme based analysis that I love to do, but for now I wanted to just toss out these names to keep high on draft lists. What can I say? I am a visual guy, and the more times I see a name the more likely that player sticks in my mind, so I figured there must be some folks like me out there (that is a scary thought). Why 12 names at each position? Umm ... why not? Let's get to it! DEFENSIVE BACKS Dawan Landry, SS, N.Y. Jets: Takes his little brother's former spot in the Jets secondary and will post similar totals in a prime fantasy scoring position. Casey Hayward, CB, Green Bay : Ball hawking cornerback in a pass-happy division with quarterbacks that combined for 45 picks in 2012. Ascending fantasy talent. Eric Berry, SS, Kansas City: Not everyone is Adrian Peterson, and it took Berry until November to resemble the player he was as a rookie as he returned from his knee injury. He's back! Stevie Brown, FS, N.Y. Giants: No, last season was not a fluke. Look for Brown to post another season of above-average fantasy totals. Antoine Bethea, FS, Indianapolis: Don't fall asleep on this perennial tackling machine just because the Colts signed LaRon Landry. Bethea still represents excellent ...

The defensive back position is perhaps the most difficult of all Individual Defensive Player (IDP) positions to predict on a year-to-year basis. There is more fluctuation in the rankings at this position than any other defensive player alignment. Obviously, scoring systems from league-to-league make a huge difference in a player's fantasy worth as cornerbacks will not have the tackle numbers that safeties are able to amass, and safeties, will, on average, not get the interception opportunities that a lot of cornerbacks are afforded. Always know your leagues scoring nuances when putting together your draft boards. 1) Tyvon Branch, S, Oakland: Extremely consistent tackle numbers every season, averaging more than 110 tackles a season over the last three years. Had a career-high four sacks in 2010, would see that total dip to one last year, and has picked off four passes during his four years in the league. He is an elite fantasy defensive back and capable of putting up big plays while providing 100 plus tackles every year. 2) Eric Berry, S, Kansas City: Berry is returning from a torn ACL suffered in Week 1 last season, and that is the only reason he isn't the top name on this list. As a rookie he had more than 90 tackles and four interceptions to go along with two sacks. He is a dynamic player that does it all for the Chiefs in their secondary, and while it may take a few games for him to shake off the rust and test the knee, he will provide top-end fantasy production. 3) Kam Chancellor, S, Seattle: Chancellor is a beast for the Seahawks as a premier tackling safety. Often used in the box as what amounts to another linebacker for Seattle. He possesses the quickness to be effective in coverage while amassing elite tackle numbers. He is an ascending talent that will finish the season among the Top 10 fantasy defensive backs. 4) Morgan Burnett, S, Green Bay: Burnett is solid defending the run while versatile enough to play either safety position for the Packers. Had three interceptions last season, added a sack, and forced two fumbles. He has big-play potential, and the loss of Nick Collins from the secondary makes him even more valuable. 5) Antoine Bethea, S, Indianapolis: Bethea is an overlooked fantasy gem for the Colts. Consistently produces high-end tackle numbers and has 12 career interceptions. He is a fantasy stud on a rebuilding team, so he figures to be on the field a lot in 2012. That means another Top 10 fantasy finish for Bethea this season....