The Cardinals are still waiting for Trey Benson (knee) to return from IR, but he won’t be back this week against the Bucs. Emari Demercado (ankle) is also banged up, leaving Michael Carter and Bam Knight to likely carry the workload. Is either one a variable option for fantasy this week?
Let’s take a look at the latest injury updates and fantasy football outlooks from the ever-shifting Arizona backfield situation.
Trey Benson and Emari Demercado Injury Updates
Just a week after James Conner (foot) suffered a season-ending injury, Benson went down with a knee injury in Week 4. He has been on IR since then, but his 21-day practice window was opened Nov. 19. He wasn’t ready to return last week against the Jaguars and was also ruled out this week.
He went from a limited practice on Wednesday of this week to no practice on Thursday, so there’s a possibility that Benson suffered a setback. This will be the second game he missed in his window, so he’ll need to be activated before Week 15’s matchup against the Texans at the latest or miss the rest of the season.
The second-year running back did flash potential, but with his team at 3-8, the Cardinals could opt to shut him down if he did suffer a setback.
While Benson has been ruled out, Demercado has not, but he missed practice entirely on both Wednesday and Thursday. He played 14 snaps (18%) in Week 11 against the 49ers but has not been able to get back on the practice field since then. He had a few big games just before the injury, but his availability is very uncertain at this point until he can get back in drills.
Zonovan “Bam” Knight Fantasy Football Outlook
Knight is also dealing with an injury, and he was listed as questionable alongside his teammates on Friday. Last week, Knight only had 12 rushing yards on his 10 carries, but he did get into the end zone and added four catches for a second straight week. His touchdowns and his work as a receiver have resulted in 14.5 and 13.2 fantasy points in the last two weeks.
He remains the starter, at least in name, but he has shared time about evenly with Carter for the last couple of weeks.
He will be a touchdown-dependent flex option against the Bucs.
Michael Carter Fantasy Football Outlook
Carter actually had more success (28 rushing yards) than Knight on half as many carries (five) last week. He also caught three passes for 30 yards and played 56% of snaps compared to 44% for Knight. Carter was released, re-signed to the practice squad, and elevated three more times before being added to the active roster for the last three weeks.
He has 10 carries for only 38 yards in those three weeks and hasn’t found the end zone since Week 5. Since he is the healthiest option, though, he could be more involved this week and does have flier upside if he gets enough work.
The Bottom Line
The Cardinals’ backfield does have potential, but the Bucs are pretty good against the run, and with no teams on a bye, the Cards’ running backs are not must-starts in season-long formats — even at a flex spot this week. Knight’s recent goal-line success makes him the better option of the two if both he and Carter are available, but if Knight is out, Carter would get a boost from carrying more of the work. Both are touchdown-reliant flex fliers who can chip in a few catches, but really need to get into the end zone to be starters.
In one-week contests on DraftKings, like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], Knight has a $5,200 salary and Carter checks in at $4,200. If Carter gets more work, he could be a good bargain punt play, but he’d need to score a touchdown to deliver good value. Knight is higher risk at over $5,000, but he has been consistently involved near the goal line, giving him more upside as well.
