Bad news if you’re a fantasy owner of any Arizona Cardinals. Starting quarterback Kyler Murray was initially expected to miss this week’s matchup against the Colts with a mid-foot sprain. But now, according to Ian Rapoport, his absence may be longer. And it’s time to consider what this means for their chief pass catchers: Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr.
We don’t have any on-field history between Jacoby Brissett and his top two pass catchers. The backup quarterback arrived this season and has thrown only one pass in relief of Murray. It gives us a small sample size to work with. One thing is for sure: Brissett does not sling the ball a lot when he starts. In five starts with the Patriots last season, Brissett threw for just a hair over 160 yards per game. It doesn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone for MH2 and McBride.
The Verdict
It’s already been a rough season for these two. McBride was taken as a top 3-4 tight end option in most fantasy football drafts this summer; so far, he comes in as the TE10 in PPR. It’s fair to wonder if he can even maintain TE1 status in most PPR leagues.
The timing is worse for Harrison Jr. He was on his way to beating the “Mazda Marv” allegations, putting together two strong weeks in a row. After a brutal start to the season, he worked his way back to being the WR23 in PPR scoring formats. It’s not exactly capitalizing on his draft hype, but it works for fantasy managers. It’s possible that he’s a flex option in PPR leagues, but the touchdown upside has been limited.
Lisfranc injuries can be tricky; Murray might miss only a week or two — or he could be out for a large chunk of the season. I wouldn’t go making any rash decisions and trading either of these guys, but it would help to have some fallback options lined up.
