4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW: ARIZONA CARDINALS (2021)

Jonathan Klonowski

Welcome to our 4-EYED Team Previews where today we are moving to the NFC West and the Arizona Cardinals. First the offense…

In his second season, Kyler Murray saw a marked improvement in production and was a fantasy stud before a shoulder injury slowed his progress. In the end, the team produced the sixth-most offensive yards in the league, with a total of 6,153 yards. Now with Murray back healthy, a couple of new offensive weapons, and the team’s rapid pace of play, the Cardinals look set to provide more fantasy production in 2021. The team had the fourth most offensive plays in the league, giving prospective fantasy managers plenty of opportunities to generate points from Arizona’s offensive players.

So with that being said who are the players on the Cardinals that could help you win a fantasy football title in 2021?

Find out now in our Cardinals 4-EYED Offensive Team Preview!

Quarterback

Kyler Murray

Kyler Murray took a step forward as both a passer and a rusher in his second season in the NFL, after an impressive rookie campaign. The former first overall pick threw for 3,971 completing 67.2% of his passes, throwing 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Murray is a quintessential dual-threat Konami code that fantast managers love. He reached 50 rushing yards in eight games last season and scored an impressive 11 rushing touchdowns. Murray will likely (and rightly) be drafted as a top-5 quarterback this off-season. Through the first ten games last season Murray was averaging 30 points-per-game before an injury slowed his production in the final few weeks. Now with new weapons at his disposal and a solid offensive line, Murray could be in line to make another jump in 2021. Don’t be surprised if he’s the overall QB1 by the end of this year.

Running Backs

Chase Edmonds

Edmonds saw a clear uptick in usage last year – particularly in the passing game. Edmonds, in his third year in the league, reeled in 53 catches 402 yards, and four receiving touchdowns from 67 targets. This represented the third-highest number of receptions on the team last year. In 2020, he only had two games with more than ten rushing attempts but with Kenyan Drake moving to Las Vegas there is also a clear opportunity for Edmonds to increase his number of rushes this coming season. His upside, however, is certainly limited by the presence of Kyler Murray, particularly in the redzone. Murray has 13 rushing attempts inside the ten-yard line last season, opposed to just three by Edmonds.

James Conner

Conner moved to Arizona on a one-year $1.7m contract this off-season after a slightly disappointing end to his final year in Pittsburgh. The former third-round pick amassed 721 yards and six touchdowns on the ground from 169 rushes, adding 215 yards through the air from 35 catches. Conner arrives with an obvious chance to contribute following the departure of Kenyan Drake. Drake was the team’s leading rusher with 239 attempts, accounting for just under a 50% share. The concern with Conner is his durability, with both of the last two seasons being curtailed by injury. But while this is likely to be a committee, if Conner can stay healthy (and that’s a big if) there is a strong chance that he could be a viable fantasy commodity – at a very reasonable price.

Wide Receivers

DeAndre Hopkins

Nuk Hopkins’s elite production continued in Arizona after his high-profile trade from Houston last season. In total the five-time Pro Bowler amassed 1,407 yards and six touchdowns from 115 receptions in 2020 – representing the fourth successive season with over 1,100 receiving yards. Hopkins finished as the WR5 in half-PPR scoring and was a consistent fantasy starter throughout the year. He finished the regular fantasy season with seven games with at least 100 receiving yards and saw double-digit targets in half his games. Hopkins saw a total of 160 targets, equating to around a 30% team target share last season. He has now seen at least 150 targets in each of his last six seasons, and there appears to be no reason why that should not continue in 2021.

AJ Green

While Green managed to stay on the field for much of the 2020 season, seeing a total of 104 targets, this rarely equated to fantasy-relevant performances. Over the course of the season Green only had four games in which he hit double-digit fantasy points – and only hit 50 receiving yards in five games. Green is unlikely to be drafted but his early-season usage should be monitored closely. With positive reports coming out of camp there’s a possibility, albeit a small one, that Green could become fantasy-relevant in this high-flying offense.

Rondale Moore

The Cardinals’ second-round selection in this year’s draft, Rondale Moore, is an intriguing weapon for Kingsbury to utilize. As highlighted in our recent rookie evaluation, Moore is an athletic freak with elite yards after catch ability. He provides Kingsbury with a unique offensive tool that can create yards by himself. Rookie wide receivers are often slow starters, but Moore has a clear opportunity to contribute in 2021 with a lack of elite receiving options outside of DeAndre Hopkins.

Christian Kirk

There have been high hopes for Christian Kirk in recent years which have never quite come to fruition. Kirk was actually the second-most productive Cardinals receiver last year by receiving yards with 621 yards from 48 receptions. However, with Larry Fitzgerald probably not returning to Arizona this year, there could be opportunities for Kirk in the slot.  

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