clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Arizona Cardinals Week 6 Fantasy Football Start/Sit Fantasy Football Predictions

Who should you start as the Cardinals take on the Seahawks? Plus other NFL players to start/sit.

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Last week was not a good week for Cardinals fantasy players unless you had David Johnson or the Cardinals defense starting.

Palmer, Fitzgerald had low totals, while Michael Floyd was almost nothing outside a touchdown.  John Brown had a slight tilt in the third quarter in which he caught consecutive passes in a row.  Jaron Brown took a scary hit on a slight overthrow from Drew Stanton (he should be alright) and J.J. Nelson had a few catches and a deep target.

But otherwise, this team seems to be running through David Johnson.  He IS the Cardinals offense right now, with Fitzgerald as the biggest threat at Wide Receiver.

Carson Palmer has passed for over 300 yards only twice in the last 10 games (basically around the same time David Johnson took over at Running Back) and hasn't looked the same at all as he did to start his 2015 season at all.

So who should you be looking to for the upcoming divisional game versus the Seattle Seahawks?  Let's find out:

START(S) OF THE WEEK: RB David Johnson & RB Christine Michael

This isn't too hard to guess, as you should be starting both of these players weekly in every league, no matter what defense they are up against.

Here's why:

In short, both Johnson and Michael have almost half of the touchdowns for their respective teams, which is quite impressive.  I shouldn't have to write about two of the best fantasy backs to start for you, but this stat was too good to pass up, as are both these RB's.

CARDS START: WR Michael Floyd

Yep, you read that right.

The touchdown vs. the Jets non-withstanding, Floyd is almost always a must-start against the Seahawks.  Let's take a look at his game logs from the last 3 years to see why:

2015:

@ Seattle: 7 catches on 9 targets for 113 yards, 2 TD's
@ AZ: 1 catch on 4 targets for 16 yards

2014:

@Seattle: 0 catches on 2 targets
@AZ: 2 catches on 8 targets for 41 yards

2013:

@AZ: 5 catches on 9 targets for 58 yards
@SEA: 1 catch on 5 targets for 31 yards and 1 TD

All in all, Floyd has been targeted 37 times for 259 yards on 16 catches and 3 TD's vs. Seattle over three years.

That averages out to: 43 yards and .5 TD per game, or 86 yards and a TD per year, which doesn't seem like much.  But remember that not only have the Cardinals struggled with the Seahawks, but they faced Seattle twice in 2014 without Carson Palmer.  And in 2013, Palmer threw four interceptions and the team couldn't throw the ball all game before Palmer's decisive TD to Floyd in the fourth quarter.  And in late 2015, the team had nothing to play for.

All in all, Floyd has more targets for more yards and more TD's against Seattle the last three years than Larry Fitzgerald.

Simply put, Floyd is a Seahawk killer who sees increased targets regardless of who's at QB for Arizona.  When Palmer is healthy, Floyd's numbers versus Seattle are impressive.  He's worth a flier despite his down year against the Seahawks as the Cardinals seemed to find him abusing Seattle's secondary constantly in last year's game up in Seattle.

CARDS SIT: WR John Brown

Brown seems to keep getting injured, sadly, as he is struggling with hamstring issues in practice today and, despite the increased targets as AZ's #2 wide receiver, he's never put up a good game versus Seattle.  Sunday night might be a first time, sure, but with him not practicing today in addition, he's an iffy start.

Maybe I'm wrong and he ends up being the targeted receiver instead of Floyd, but it's anyone's guess on a short week.

SEAHAWKS START: TE Jimmy Graham

This start should also be a no-brainer considering Graham's last few weeks, where he's only behind Greg Olsen in yards for tight ends and should be starting every week.

Arizona has a possible matchup-problem with Graham, as the idea is that Deone Bucannon will likely guard him with Tyrann Mathieu still not at 100%, and Patrick Peterson likely to be on Doug Baldwin all day.  It's possible Graham ends up with a touchdown against the Cardinals.

SEAHAWKS SIT: Doug Baldwin

Doug Baldwin is a tough sit, I understand that.  But he's facing Peterson Island this week so you should consider it.

Patrick Peterson has been playing lights out this year, with his one foible being allowing a 35-yard reception to Brandon Marshall after slipping on the turf.  I'd expect that while Baldwin is too good for Peterson to contain for 100% of the game, he won't have a huge game at all.  Perhaps 2 catches for 35 yards, while Russell Wilson looks to check downs and Jimmy Graham instead.

So there's that?  This game will tell us a lot about Arizona this year.

Here are some other Start/Sit players for the rest of the NFL:

START: Marcus Mariota, QB

Mariota is going up against the trainwreck of a defense in the Colts, who can't tackle.  I'd expect that the Colts will try to corral DeMarco Murray but Mariota will also stretch his legs and run for a touchdown.

SIT: Randall Cobb, WR

This game has sludgefest all over it, and while Cobb seems to have emerged as Rodgers' top target, they're facing a motivated Bears team on Thursday Night Football while Aaron Rodgers is struggling out of his mind.

START: Brian Hoyer, QB

Hoyer's been putting up better fantasy stats then Aaron Rodgers over the last 10 games.  Crazy.  Look for him to pass for over 300 yards against Green Bay's suspect pass defense.

SIT: Any Steeler Not Named Antonio Brown or Le'Veon Bell

Landry Jones is starting, nuff said.  I'm not ready to bench Antonio though, not close, but it's worth monitoring as long as Big Ben is out.

Ask your questions below or you can follow and @ me on twitter at @blakemurphy7.