The Arizona Cardinals took on the New Orleans Saints in a national televised pre-season game. The Saints took control in the second half for a 24-10 victory.

Let’s look at the fantasy football impacting players and how they did without looking at stats. We’ll look at stats during the regular season.

QB Matt Leinart started the game for the Cardinals. QB Leinart has been working on his footwork in the offseason and it shows. QB Matt Leinart looked cool and calm and took a big hit while dumping off a pass to a streaking WR Steve Breaston for a nice gain. QB Leinart is the starter on this team but has great pressure from QB Kurt Warner who did not play against the Saint due to the team not wanting him to play with the second unit offensive line.

Speaking of the offensive line, the second unit really did not perform very well. Rookie RB Tim Hightower looked pretty good. So much so that my group has taken to call him "The Future". RB Hightower ran for a TD and showed willingness to hit the hole quickly. After the game he was upset at missing a blocking assignment. I like the future for this kid.

S Aaron Francesco got burned by WR Robert Meachem several times. CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie looked very comfortable at the NFL level. Other rookies that the Cardinals drafted all performed very well in the first pre-season game.

Fantasy Players that looked good:

QB Matt Leinart

WR Larry Fitzgerald

RB Tim Hightower

WR Steve Breaston

Fantasy Players that did not play:

WR Anquan Boldin

WR Early Doucet

QB Kurt Warner

Fantasy Players that looked not so good:

RB Edgerrin James (due to lack of work)

TE Leonard Pope (penalty)

All in all, the Cardinals got beat by a superior offensive team. The Saints were hitting on all cylinders during the entire game. Their depth and experience really showed.

Its back to camp and then two away pre-season games before the Cardinals head back to face the Denver Broncos in Arizona. We’ll check back with more info and cuts in a couple weeks.