Fantasy Football Player Notes

Now that Rex Burkhead is out for the year, we have narrowed down the running backs available to syphon touches to Harris and White. While there's surely someone else to come in and take a few touches, these are the mainstays. There are plenty of opportunities to go around, especially when it comes to White, who has newfound targets. Why should we assume he inherits most of the opportunity that Burkhead had? Well, because Harris and Sony Michel have totaled seven targets... combined. That's not one week. That's all season, so they're essentially non-factors, and it's the reason White saw a season-high nine targets last week. He's never going to be someone who gets more than a handful of carries, but in PPR formats, he's certainly valuable. The Cardinals have allowed 4.39 yards per carry, which is essentially the league average, though it's important to note that they lost interior lineman Corey Peters prior to their Week 10 game. He was their best interior lineman, and it allowed the Seahawks to rush for 123 yards and a touchdown on just 21 carries. Harris is extremely similar to the downhill runner that Carlos Hyde is, so that performance bodes well for Harris. It's still worrisome that no running back has totaled more than 84 yards on the ground against the Cardinals, but the loss of Peters is huge. Harris should be considered a high-end RB3 who is a bit gamescript dependent with his lack of pass-game usage. Running backs haven't seen many targets against the Cardinals (6.3 per game), but when they do get targeted, they're averaging a solid 5.89 yards per target and 1.57 PPR points per game, which are both above the league average. There's been just one running back who's totaled more than 31 receiving yards due to the lack of targets, but White should get at least 10 opportunities in this game, making him a worthwhile RB3/flex option, especially in PPR formats. Think of him like a J.D. McKissic-like option.

What changed for Meyers in Week 11? Just three targets? During the previous two weeks, Meyers played 98 snaps on the perimeter and 37 snaps in the slot. In Week 11, he played 32 snaps on the perimeter and 33 snaps in the slot, so he much more of the slot receiver with N'Keal Harry back in a full-time role in the offense. It shouldn't have been a negative against the Texans, but it certainly led to less targets in a game Newton threw for 300-plus yards. Of the production the Cardinals have allowed to skill-position players, 56.2 percent of it has gone to wide receivers, which ranks as the third-highest mark in the league, behind only the Seahawks and Steelers. There have been just 14 wide receivers who've finished as top-40 options against the Cardinals, though they've been struggling a bit as of late, as they've allowed multiple wide receivers to finish with 12-plus PPR points in each of their last three games. It's also worth noting that four of the top-six performances they've allowed to wide receviers have gone to slot-heavy options. Considering the loss of Burkhead, there should be a tad more targets available for everyone, including Meyers. Despite a dud last week, he remains in the WR4 conversation this week.

Now that Rex Burkhead is out for the year, we have narrowed down the running backs available to syphon touches to Harris and White. While there's surely someone else to come in and take a few touches, these are the mainstays. There are plenty of opportunities to go around, especially when it comes to White, who has newfound targets. Why should we assume he inherits most of the opportunity that Burkhead had? Well, because Harris and Sony Michel have totaled seven targets... combined. That's not one week. That's all season, so they're essentially non-factors, and it's the reason White saw a season-high nine targets last week. He's never going to be someone who gets more than a handful of carries, but in PPR formats, he's certainly valuable. The Cardinals have allowed 4.39 yards per carry, which is essentially the league average, though it's important to note that they lost interior lineman Corey Peters prior to their Week 10 game. He was their best interior lineman, and it allowed the Seahawks to rush for 123 yards and a touchdown on just 21 carries. Harris is extremely similar to the downhill runner that Carlos Hyde is, so that performance bodes well for Harris. It's still worrisome that no running back has totaled more than 84 yards on the ground against the Cardinals, but the loss of Peters is huge. Harris should be considered a high-end RB3 who is a bit gamescript dependent with his lack of pass-game usage. Running backs haven't seen many targets against the Cardinals (6.3 per game), but when they do get targeted, they're averaging a solid 5.89 yards per target and 1.57 PPR points per game, which are both above the league average. There's been just one running back who's totaled more than 31 receiving yards due to the lack of targets, but White should get at least 10 opportunities in this game, making him a worthwhile RB3/flex option, especially in PPR formats. Think of him like a J.D. McKissic-like option.