The curse of the Arizona Cardinals’ running back room continues. First, it was James Conner going down with a season-ending ankle injury. Then, Trey Benson went down and remains on IR as he continues to struggle with injuries. Zonovan Knight stepped up to take over the starting job, but now he’s hitting the sidelines. Once the mere RB4 on the depth chart, is Michael Carter suddenly a league-winning fantasy football start?
Analysis
Though we don’t have an official ruling on Knight’s status for Week 16 against the Falcons, it’s safe to assume he will be out. The diagnosis of a “bad sprain” would seem to indicate that the 3-11 Cardinals have no intention of bringing him back ahead of schedule.
Knight getting hurt on his first play of the game gave us a great look at what the snap and touch distribution would look like in his absence. Michael Carter ended up taking 80% of the snaps and soaking up 18 total touches. He was followed by Emari Demercado (11% of snaps, three touches) and rookie Corey Kiner (8%, two touches). In short, it was complete backfield dominance by Carter.
That was a surprisingly productive turn for him as well. Facing an elite Texans defense, Carter turned 14 carries into a respectable 56 yards while catching all four targets for 38 yards. It was a solid PPR performance, which is more than most can say against Houston’s front seven. That creates a lot of optimism going into Week 16 against the Falcons.
Atlanta has a solid secondary, but the run defense has not been there. The Falcons’ run defense is 25th in total rush yards allowed and 24th in yards allowed per carry. It’s a prime spot for Carter to produce, but is that enough to trust him for the fantasy playoffs?
The Verdict
The receiving floor is enough to give Carter solid flex appeal. He doesn’t have the highest ceiling, but at this point, there’s nobody else around to get the touches. The baseline of work against this porous run defense, plus the added PPR points from the passing game make him worth consideration. I wouldn’t put Carter above your established studs, but if there’s anyone in your lineup you are unsure about, consider the Cardinals’ RB1 strongly.
