Arizona Cardinals offer very little to fantasy players

The arm injury to quarterback Carson Palmer has drastically reduced the fantasy football relevance of the Arizona Cardinals

David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals is a fantasy football player’s dream. The running back parlayed some incredible statistics in 2016 into being the top pick in many fantasy drafts this year. Johnson’s wrist injury in week one was a huge blow to rosters around the country, and he’s been almost impossible to replace.

It’s now weeks later, and another solid fantasy contributor from the Cardinals has been put on the shelf. Quarterback Carson Palmer’s broken arm, suffered against the Los Angeles Rams, is bound to have a ripple effect on the rest of the Cards’ offensive points-getters as well. Arizona is expected to score alot less with number-two signal-caller, Drew Stanton, at the controls.

The player who may be impacted the most by Palmer’s absence is Larry Fitzgerald. The future Hall of Famer is currently tied for second in the NFL with 45 receptions. “Fitz” will be hard-pressed to keep up that kind of production with the woefully inaccurate Stanton throwing passes to him.

Without Palmer to worry about, defenses can put more energy into stopping Johnson’s replacement, the great Adrian Peterson. The former Minnesota Vikings’ legend gained just 21 yards on the ground last week in the loss to the Rams. Quite a drop-off from the 134 he erupted for in his Cardinals’ debut the week before.

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Fitzgerald won’t be the only Cards’ wideout who’ll struggle to put up numbers in the upcoming weeks. John Brown has not had a great season (13-174-2), and things aren’t likely to improve without Palmer. Jaron Brown (20-311-1) and J.J Nelson (19-316-2) have been up and down in ’17, so don’t expect them to add to those statistics significantly over the remainder of the campaign.

For the most part, tight ends have been pretty nonexistent in head coach Bruce Arians’ scheme. Both Jermaine Gresham and Troy Niklas are better blockers than receivers. Neither will suddenly become viable pass-catchers because of the change at quarterback.

Phil Dawson, with his five missed field goals, has been a fantasy disaster. Especially considering the fact that three of the shanks have come from inside 40 yards. A four field goal outing in week four against the San Francisco 49ers has been Dawson’s only bright spot as a Cardinal.

The Arizona defense, highly-ranked entering ’17, has also come up short so far. They’ve generated just 10 turnovers and 13 quarterback sacks through seven games. There are many better fantasy options to go with this season in lieu of the Cards’ underachieving unit.

In closing, try to stay away from any Cardinals who’ve made their way onto your roster. They will more than likely have you wishing you’d left them on your bench. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of fantasy year it’s been for the club in the desert.

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