Seattle @ Arizona
Team Totals: Cardinals 22.5, Seahawks 21
Fantasy’s QB30 in per-week scoring, Sam Darnold is being deployed as a low-volume game manager averaging fewer than 25 pass attempts per game complemented by an elite defense. Darnold profiles as a low-end two-quarterback-league option. His one-game DFS appeal is slightly enhanced by Arizona’s defensive back attrition, having lost top CBs Sean Murphy-Bunting (knee, reserve/NFI), Garrett Williams (knee, I.R.), and Starling Thomas (ACL, I.R.). Most talented of the bunch, Cards second-round CB Will Johnson (groin) risks sitting for the second straight week. … After Kenneth Walker III didn’t capitalize on Zach Charbonnet’s (foot) Week 3 absence, I anticipate Seattle’s backfield resuming a near-50/50 split at Arizona. Walker scored twice against the Saints but averaged 2.4 yards per carry, ultimately failing to distance himself. Practicing fully this week, Charbonnet has a defined role as one of the NFL’s premier pass-protecting backs. Walker remains an upside RB2/flex and Charbonnet a lower-ceiling flex against the Cardinals’ middling run defense.
Darnold’s Weeks 1-3 target distribution: Jaxon Smith-Njigba 29; Cooper Kupp 15; Tory Horton 7; A.J. Barner 6; Walker and Elijah Arroyo 5. … JSN ranks fifth in the NFL in catches (22) and second in receiving yards (323). In 2024’s two meetings with Cards DC Nick Rallis’ defense, Smith-Njigba tagged Arizona for stat lines of 5/82/1 and 6/77/1. … Kupp’s week-by-week target counts are 3, 9, and 3. He’s worth consideration for single-game DFS slates but not season-long lineups. … Over Seattle’s last two games, fifth-round rookie Horton has turned eight targets into 5/64/2 receiving. Last Sunday, Horton returned a punt 95 yards to the house versus New Orleans. Horton is a part-time player on offense but offers enough big-play potential for one-game DFS tournament use. … The Seahawks are running a two-way TEBC of Barner and Arroyo. Both are touchdown-reliant gambles in single-game DFS.
Perennial disappointment Kyler Murray enters Week 4 ranked 18th among QBs in fantasy scoring set to face a Seattle defense yielding the league’s sixth-lowest passer rating (77.5). In 2024’s two dates with Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald’s unit, Murray’s FF finishes were QB10 and QB22. Kyler is a low-end and ultimately fringe fantasy starter. … James Conner’s season-ending foot fracture thrusts sophomore game breaker Trey Benson into FF league-winning position. Benson ran 4.39 at 6-foot, 216 coming out of Florida State, and his stiffest post-Conner backfield competition consists of former UDFAs Emari Demercado and Bam Knight. Seattle has played stout to-date run defense but allowed NFL highs in catches (22) and receiving yards (234) to opposing RBs in Weeks 1-3. Benson is a plus receiving back.
UPDATE: Zay Jones (concussion) was ruled out on Wednesday. In particular, I like shifty slot guy Greg Dortch as a single-game DFS sleeper.
Murray’s Weeks 1-3 targets: Trey McBride 24; Marvin Harrison Jr. 17; Benson 11; Conner 9; Michael Wilson 8; Elijah Higgins 6; Zay Jones, Tip Reiman, and Greg Dortch 4. … 2021 Mackey Award winner McBride has five-plus catches in nine of his last 10 appearances. His two receiving lines versus Macdonald in 2024 were 7/70/0 and 12/133/0. Seahawks SS Julian Love (hamstring) missed Week 3. … Harrison could’ve touched 80 yards in Week 3’s loss to San Francisco if not for a brutal third-quarter drop on a wide-open deep crosser where Harrison let Kyler’s throw into his body and turned to run before catching the pass. Harrison’s box-score results in 2024’s meetings with Seattle were 3/47/0 and 4/49/0. I’m back to treating Harrison as a boom-bust WR3/flex. … Jones’ (concussion) likely absence heightens the appeal of Wilson and Dortch on single-game DFS tournament slates.
Score Prediction: Seahawks 20, Cardinals 17
Editor’s Note: This Matchup was written by John Daigle, with input from Evan Silva.
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