James Conner start or sit: Week 9 fantasy football advice

The Arizona Cardinals have been able to manage two fantasy-relevant running backs this year. James Conner came to the team as a free agent, but he didn’t wait long to fight for the starting role. Whether you want to call him or teammate Chase Edmonds the starter is basically irrelevant because they are both getting a lot of playing time for Arizona. Conner has played in all eight games and leads the team in rushing attempts and has eight rushing touchdowns on the season. He has fewer rushing yards than Edmonds and he isn’t involved much in the passing game, but he is excelling at getting into the endzone on the ground. This week, he and the Cardinals take on the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC West divisional matchup.

Fantasy Football analysis: Cardinals RB James Conner

The 49ers are giving up the 11th fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Conner heads into Week 9 as the overall RB17 in half-PPR scoring formats. Even though he is splitting the workload with Edmonds, Conner has a defined role in this offense and if quarterback Kyler Murray is banged up this week, Conner will be leaned on more heavily in the offense.

Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation

START Conner in standard leagues and FLEX him in PPR leagues just because he isn’t used much in the passing game.