The Arizona Cardinals are coming back from their bye week in Week 9, but they won’t play until Monday Night Football against the Cowboys. Dallas’s defense has been a great matchup for running backs this season, but is Cardinals running back Bam Knight a good starting option this week? With all kinds or roster movement is Michael Carter, Trey Benson, or Emari Demercado in the mix?
Lets break down the latest info on the Cardinals running backs and see which one to play in this great fantasy spot in Week 9.
Analysis
Trey Benson injury update
At the start of the season, James Conner and Trey Benson were sharing the workload in the Cardinals’ backfield. Conner went down with a season-ending injury in Week 3, though, leaving Benson the team’s primary back. That situation didn’t last long, though, since in Week 4 Benson sustained a knee injury that forced him to go on IR as well.
Due to the team’s bye week, the window for Benson to return isn’t until after this Monday’s game, so he’s not an option for this matchup, although he is worth stashing if you can, since he could be a solid contributor down the stretch if he returns and is healthy as the top running back in this offense.
BAM! It’s Zonovan Knight!
After Michael Carter and Emari Demercado split the work in Week 5, Knight took over as the primary running back in Week 6. He had a touchdown in a limited role in Week 5, totaling 9.4 fantasy points, and in Week 6, he was even better with 12.4 fantasy points on 11 carries for 34 yards against the Colts.
In Week 7, he didn’t find the end zone but did rack up 14 carries for a season-high 57 rushing yards and also added three catches for seven yards. He played a team-high 45% of the snaps in the backfield and seems to have a slight advantage in playing time over Carter and Demercado, who missed the last two games before the bye with an ankle injury.
Just to clear up confusion “Zonovan Knight” on DraftKings is the same player as “Bam Knight” in most other formats. The third-year back from NC State is officially Zonovan, but he has gone by “Bam” after his uncle gave him the nickname while he was banging on his toys as a toddler. He was listed as Zonovan Knight in his time with the Jets and Lions in 2022 and 2023 but after not playing in 2024, he was added to many places as Bam Knight. He’s the ame player, though, and a great play this week as the primary back against the Cowboys.
Dallas has allowed the second-most fantasy points to running backs this season, allowing 10 running back touchdowns in eight games along with an average of 110.9 rushing yards and 49 receiving yards per game to the position.
While he’ll still be in a timeshare, Knight should remain the primary option for at least one more week until Benson is back, so he’s a solid flex play this week with RB2 upside.
Roster rotation behind Bam
In a somewhat surprising move, the Cardinals waived Michael Carter, who just started two games for them and got pretty heavy workloads. They resigned him to the practice squad, though, and he’s likely to be promoted ahead of Monday’s game, meaning he won’t even miss a game.
It seems like it was mostly a procedural move to move Carter from the active roster back to the practice squad, but it shows they’re much more focused on Benson and Knight than Carter as part of their solution in the backfield.
Demercado is another uncertainty for this week since he missed two games with an ankle injury before the bye and has been limited in practice this week. He has been practicing, though, so there’s a chance he re-enters the mix as well.
In Week 5, Demercado had a monster 71-yard run against the Titans but fumbled the ball at the goal line. He had a greatly reduced role the next week and doesn’t seem likely to be as involved as Carter or Knight this week. He does bring more big-play potential, but his role could be fairly minimal as well.
The Bottom Line
Trey Benson is the running back to own in the Cardinals backfield in season-long leagues, but he isn’t eligible to return until week 10. Knight is most likely to lead a committee of backups this week against Dallas, and the matchup is enough to give him strong flex viability with RB2 upside in standard-sized leagues. I don’t think I would categorize him as a must start, but he is definitely startable depending on who your other options are.
In DFS contests, the Cardinals are on the Monday Night Showdown slate, headlined by the NFL Showdown $1.25M Monday Night Showdown [$300K to 1st] (ARI @ DAL). Knight is $7,000 in a FLEX spot, which makes him a great play to build around. Carter at $4,400 could also be a good bargain if he’s promoted from the practice squad to be the secondary back, and Demercado at $3,000 is another FLEX bargain with upside if he is ready to return from his injury. Only Knight should be considered for the Captain’s Pick spot, and even then, the rotation in place makes me hesitant to trust him with the 1.5x salary and production spot. I’d rather go with a more stable, clear option and include Knight as a FLEX play.
