A lot of old-school NFL people will brush off the non-padded offseason workouts as meaningless. They’re wrong.

The OTAs are the first time coaches get a look at their new toys. It’s also the first time we get a gander at initial depth charts, which can help us uncover the hidden gems that decide fantasy titles.

Recent sleepers, such as Arian Foster and Denarius Moore, first shined during these workouts. With that in mind, let’s take a look:

Brick in the Wall

New Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is a dream for fantasy owners. He gets his receivers open vertically, doesn’t throw to running backs and keeps the pedal to the metal at all times. Larry Fitzgerald is going to have a bounce-back campaign, but the No. 2 wideout in this scheme is also set up for success. Andre Roberts ended the 2012 season in that spot, but second-year man Michael Floyd opened up OTAs as the starter. A rare strength/speed talent, Floyd is an ideal sleeper.

On the Ball

Montee Ball’s NFL career is off to a fast start. Although coach John Fox has a reputation for holding rookies back, he’s been heaping praise on the former Wisconsin back. VP John Elway is comparing Ball to Terrell Davis and Fox is downplaying the disappointing 4.66 wheels he showed at the combine. Once the Broncos cut loose Willis McGahee or Knowshon Moreno, Ball’s stock is going to soar.

Hop to it

Sometimes, a rookie steps onto the field and is even better than the franchise expected. That appears to be the case with DeAndre Hopkins. Check out these quotes from coach Gary Kubiak: “He’s special. Ball skills are extremely special. Very long; long arms. Big hands. He’s going to help us early, and we know that, and that’s why we brought him here.” Hopkins is in line for instant impact.

MLB news

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly won’t say it, but his actions point toward a change at the closer spot. Kenley Jansen is the one that got a one-out save on Tuesday and he’s the one with the real lights-out stuff. Brandon League’s time is just about done.

MLB pickups

Andrew Bailey, RP, Red Sox: Bailey is ready to come off the DL as soon as Monday. The saves shouldn’t be far behind.
Heath Bell, RP, Diamondbacks: It probably won’t be pretty, but Bell is holding off David Hernandez for now.
Dayan Viciedo, 3B, White Sox: Now over his oblique strain, Viciedo is hitting .429 with four RBIs in his first five games back.

The post Living the Fantasy: Early NFL depth charts appeared first on Metro.us.

As fantasy baseball drafts get into full swing, we can’t be afraid to splurge for the guys we want. Last year, Andrew McCutchen was a buzz guy who was thrown out by some as being “overdrafted.” Big mistake. This year, these are the guys worth circling with a green highlighter and reaching for.

The Natural
Bryce Harper was never a sleeper. He was the best 19-year-old in the history of baseball and will likely be the best 20-year-old ever as well. At this point, it’s just a contest to see how high we’re willing to take him. Considering Harper projects to see his homers and steals rise toward the 30/30 level as he matures, the end of the first round is not crazy. He’ll be batting third, between Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman.

Chapped up
When guys have dominant talent, we take them and let the chips fall where they may. Aroldis Chapman is a perfect example of this. He might start; he might close; he might be capped at 200 innings. But no matter what, we know he’s going to be an asset in fantasy.

Golden Boy
Paul Goldschmidt burst onto the scene last year with 20 homers in 136 starts. That’s child’s play. In 2011, Goldy smashed 30 jacks in just 457 plate appearances while playing in Double-A. Now settling into an everyday role, the power upside is huge.

The post Fantasy baseball: Break out the green highlighters appeared first on Metro.us.

Gilberto Valle is on trial for allegedly plotting to kidnap, kill and eat women. (Facebook)

The former cop who is on trial for allegedly plotting to kidnap, kill and eat women was in tears on Tuesday after the defense rested its case after one day. Gilberto Valle also refused to testify in his own defense, The New York Times reported.

Prosecutors presented to jurors last week a series of Internet chats, emails and graphic images pulled from Valle’s computer revealing his plans to kidnap women, torture them and eat them. The women included his own estranged wife, Kathleen Mangan Valle, and old college friends, who took the stand last week.

The defense attorneys have stated that there is not enough evidence that Valle intended to carry out any of these plans and that he was merely fantasizing. They presented Tuesday a videotaped testimony from an operator of one of the websites Valle used. Sergey Merenkov explained that he created the site for people with all types of fetishes, and thousands of users visit the site each week.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Thursday. Valle faces life in prison if he is convicted.

The post Defense rests in ‘cannibal cop’ trial; closing arguments set for Thursday appeared first on Metro.us.

The final presentation from prosecutors to jurors in the “cannibal cop” case included an apparently staged video of a screaming woman chained and gagged over an open flame and other graphic images from websites that former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle visited.

The laptop that Valle’s wife handed over to police after she left her husband in September also revealed the types of search terms Valle entered on the Internet: “how to cook a human,” “human meat recipes,” “how to abduct a girl” and “how to chloroform a girl,” the New York Post reported.

Valle, a 28-year-old former cop from Queens, is accused of plotting to kidnap, torture, kill and eat women.

The defense team is prepared to make its case Tuesday as they try to prove that Valle never intended to carry out his plans. They are expected to present a videotaped deposition of a Russian operator of one of the websites Valle used who says he created the website to serve as a social network for people with kinky fantasies, and that users include both men and women who often engage in role play online.

The post ‘Cannibal cop’ used Internet to learn how to cook women appeared first on Metro.us.