Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals
Fanatics like myself will find any excuse to make fantasy football a year-long process. Whether you are in a dynasty or seasonal league, team previews should give you an idea of what to expect for the upcoming season. We are about 75 days away from the NFL season. The draft has come and gone. So let’s start things off with the Arizona Cardinals.
If you are serious about fantasy football, and want to succeed, then make sure to take a look at these team previews. What FantasyCPR offers you is a fantasy outlook for each NFL team. We will cover all positions QB, RB, WR, TE, K, and D/ST while attempting to give you an idea of potential depth charts.
We can start things off with the Arizona Cardinals out of the NFC West. They lost veteran quarterback Carson Palmer to retirement, but regained ground pretty quickly through free agency and the draft scooping up Sam Bradford and drafting what they hope is the quarterback of the future, Josh Rosen.
They definitely struggled last year, but could bounce back in a big way. We quickly forget that one of the best running backs in football only played in one game! This absolutely had hurt Arizona offensively which then puts more pressure on the defense.
The Cards went 8-8 last season, and might remain in a tough position to make the playoffs, even after their draft haul and David Johnson‘s return. They were behind teams in their own division like the Rams and Seahawks. Then San Francisco had a late surge with Jimmy Garoppolo taking over. It remains to be seen how this exciting draft class affects the Cardinals.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals QB’s
Injury history is a big red flag here. He did go two years with decent health though playing 14 games 2015 and 15 in 2016. Although he was only 7-8 as a starter in 2016, he showed off the accuracy with 20 TD to 5 INT and a 71.6 Completion %.
He was off to a stellar start last season in two games prior to re-injuring his knee. He was 32-43 with 382 yards and 3 TDs. Following the injury though, he had Arthroscopic surgery to repair his knee. Should be interesting to see his recovery with a new team.
Josh Rosen
Former UCLA quarterback and number 10 overall pick and fourth QB off the board. Rosen is the quarterback of the future for the Cards. Likely to begin the season on the bench learning behind established and oft-injured Sam Bradford.
It would not be surprising to see Rosen earn playing time at some point this year as we know Bradford is injury prone. Pre-season performance will be interesting to see if he deserved to fall to the ten spot after Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Josh Allen.
Finally got the opportunity to start for the Bears last year and showed who he really is! A dud. He’s what you call a good locker room guy.
He’d be every beer-leaguer’s favorite teammate. Unfortunately, after getting the big contract, he worked his way into a third string quarterback role. My best guess is that he’ll take the Mark Sanchez type role and stick with the team to mentor Josh Rosen.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals RB’s
David Johnson
Yes, he’s only 1.5 years into his career. Yes, he had a major hand injury that held him out basically the entirety of the 2017 season. Yes, he has a new quarterback. No, you should not worry about him!
DJ should still be a top five pick in all formats. What makes him so valuable is his ability to catch passes. In 2016, Johnson had 293 rushes and was targeted as a receiver 120 times. With an experienced quarterback at the helm, he should get a full workload.
Also to be noted, the depth chart sounds pretty thin with young and unproven talent behind him. Would not surprise me at all if DJ finishes the season with 1000+ rushing yards, 70-80 receptions and close to 20 total touchdowns. If you get more points for a receiving TD, cha-ching!
Chase Edmonds
Here is an opportunity in the late rounds to stash Chase Edmonds. If you are in a keeper or dynasty league, keep your eye on Edmonds. He was not highly recruited out of high school due to his lack of size, but he made up for it in a big way with his production at Fordham.
He was picked in the fourth round and could be a solid handcuff to possess based on David Johnson’s injury. We’ll see how DJ’s recovery is going, but stay alert on this cuff!
Elijah Penny
Thumping fullback at 6’2″ and 234 lbs, and brother of rookie Rashaad Penny. Look for him to be used mainly as a blocker. He should not be on anyone’s draft radar, unless you’re the type of person that drafts lesser-known brothers like Taylor Griffin or Thanasis Antetekoumpo in NBA.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals WR’s
Far and away the most targets last year with 168. Larry Fitz looked to be slowing down a bit once he hit 30, but he’s proving doubters wrong. He has three consecutive seasons with 100+ receptions and 1,000+ receiving yards.
Knock on wood, but he’s been very reliable and healthy throughout his career, missing eight games in 13 seasons. Quarterback change should not be a cause for concern as Fitz is the main target and clear number one receiver for the Cards.
Christian Kirk
More of a slot receiver as he is a small and shifty athlete at 5’11” and 200 lbs. He finished his college career with 234 receptions, 2,856 receiving yards, and 26 receiving touchdowns. With John Brown out-of-town, look for Kirk to fill that role as a speed guy who can also go across the middle.
As a second round pick, expect the Cards to use him a lot to take some of the load off Fitzgerald’s back.
J.J. Nelson
Similar to Kirk, Nelson is another slot receiver. He and Kirk may be fighting for that receiver three spot. Nelson should really be an afterthought for now, unless an injury occurs to another wide out on the team.
Here is a potential sleeper for 2018. A wide receiver that played bigger than his size at Grambling State, and didn’t get many reps last year. Williams may have the opportunity to get looks as the number two wide out opposite of Larry Fitzgerald.
He did not have the hype that Christian Kirk has this year, but he should be given a chance to showcase his skills. In his junior and senior year of college, he recorded double-digit touchdowns and had 90 receptions in his senior year.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals TE, K and DST
Seals-Jones was a receiver coming out of Oklahoma and has transitioned over to TE. He is a huge target and could be a solid red zone target. Sam Bradford has proven that he’s willing to throw to the TE based on Kyle Rudolph‘s success.
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RSJ won’t be one of the higher drafted tight ends, but if you miss out on the bigger names, you should be able to wait and pick him up later.
Remains to be seen if Gresham will make it back in time for the season opener after tearing his Achilles last season. That solidifies RSJ as the clear number one tight end.
No competition here. If you don’t have one of the top kickers, then streaming is always an option. He’s reliable in a sense that he has not missed a game since 2009. Last season he went 4 for 5 from 50+ yards and 10 for 13 from 40-49 yards.
D/ST
They were one of the top defenses just a few seasons ago. On top of that, they had one of the better return men in the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu. Losing Mathieu this offseason and Calais Campbell after the 2016 season, the Cards will have to prove themselves defensively.
Insert Christian Kirk into the picture though, and we could see fireworks. Kirk was the main return man at Texas A&M and finished with seven return touchdowns in his three-year college career.
Next: Should we sell on Russell Wilson in Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues?
Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR as we break down each and every team ahead of the NFL season and get you set for your fantasy football drafts!