So, after the fantasy malaise that was the Seahawks/Cardinals game (unless you started a defense or Ifeyani Momah you poor person) we've reached the last game before the bye week. And Arizona's WR depth is suffering.
Their #3 receiver for the season in Jaron Brown tore his ACL.
Michael Floyd missed another practice today, per Kyle Odegard:
CB Patrick Peterson out there during open portion of #AZCardinals practice. Veldheer, Smokey looked ready to go. No Mike Floyd.
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 27, 2016
And with John Brown's status as questionable given his newly discovered sickle-cell treatment and Darren Fells still hurting, the options to play for the Cardinals are starting to wear thin. Fortunately the bye week will help some of these receivers (and possibly Palmer himself) get healthier but let's first take a look at who you should play:
START OF THE WEEK: Larry Fitzgerald
Sure, you could probably say Fitz should never be benched but it becomes even more important this week up against the Panthers given that both Browns and Floyd might not be out there come Sunday.
If that's the case, Fitzgerald will be in for a ton of targets, and David Johnson in for a lot of carries (obviously you aren't sitting David Johnson no matter what). If Brown does play, the Panthers corners have been so atrocious it wouldn't surprise me if Arians schemes a way to get Fitzgerald open down the sideline deep and perhaps a long touchdown might be something we see for the first time this season from Fitzgerald.
Another key WR to look at if Brown and Floyd are out is:
Cards Start: J.J. Nelson, WR
Nelson was the top Cardinals receiving option with John Brown out last week against Seattle., Michael Floyd struggling and will be again this week with Floyd likely not playing.
With how bad the Panthers wide receivers have been, expect Nelson to break a few big plays as Palmer looks to him more and more.
Cards Sit: Cardinals Defense
Is it really possible that after their performance last week the Cardinals defense might need to be sat down? Yes. Why?
Their history with early east coast games. Already the team struggled versus the run and pass in Buffalo, and they are coming off of a physical matchup vs. Seattle.
And if that wasn't enough, the Panthers are getting Jonathan Stewart back off of their bye week and a healthier Cam Newton at home, meaning that it's possible the Panthers offense comes out ready to roll against the Cardinals. Will Carson Palmer and a mostly ground and pound AZ offense be able to keep up? We will find out.
All in all, outside of injured players, there wasn't much to recommend as far as 'sitting" this week perhaps beyond just John Brown but I felt that the situation was far more justifiable to think that this might be a week in which Arizona could struggle on the defensive side.
Then again, this isn't the 2015 Carolina Panthers.
Panthers Start: Devin Funchess, WR
Funchess hasn't seen much work so far this year, but he could inside in the slot if he's matched up on by Tyrann Mathieu considering the size disparity. With Patrick Peterson on Kelvin Benjamin (even with Peterson being limited in practice) he still shut down Doug Baldwin last week.
Expect Funchess to see a lot of targets if the Cardinals decide to bracket the 2nd best tight end in the NFL in Greg Olsen.
Panthers Sit: Jonathan Stewart, RB
Do the Cards shut down running backs? Yes. (See: Christine Michael last week, who I DID tell you to bench everywhere)
Is Stewart coming off of injury still and not totally back to health? Yes.
I would expect Stewart to get around 15 carries for 47 yards against the Cardinals while the Panthers utilize Newton on the ground and their staple of other backs against Arizona's defense.
Now, here are some other names to look out for:
START: Donte Moncrief, WR, Colts
Moncrief was on pace for a huge season with Luck before he got injured, and with TY Hilton seeing attention, Moncrief might see the redzone once, maybe even twice if he's good to go this sunday.
SIT: Any player on the Jags vs. Titans on Thursday Night Football
I'd also expect this game to be a 6-6 tie like the Seahawks/Cardinals game was, but instead of being good defense played, rather bad offense, especially with the short week.
START: Devontae Booker, RB, Broncos
Booker was already stealing carries from C.J. Anderson before Anderson hit I.R. today. I'd given out some advice to pick up Booker (and did myself in two leagues this year) but he's going to see a tremendous upswing in usage past my own expectations now.
He won't be a dynasty-worthy trade or pick-up with Anderson's contract for 2017, but for the rest of the year? He might be a bellcow RB2
SIT: Brandin Cooks, WR, Saints
Uh oh, here comes Seattle's defense. Cooks will probably be matched up on by Richard Sherman AND he has been losing out on WR1 status to Michael Thomas, who's having an impressive rookie season. If there are passing targets to go around in this game, they'll go to Thomas or RB Mark Ingram, not to Cooks.
Well that wraps it up for this week! Feel free to ask questions below or, if you want a better chance of an answer, ask me on Twitter before game day. Best of luck!
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