Kyler Murray hasn’t played since the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, but you wouldn’t know that simply by looking at Arizona’s results over the past month. Now, with Murray nearing full health as he recovers from an ankle injury, will the MVP candidate play against the Bears in Week 13? If Murray does, how should you approach Arizona’s offense in fantasy football?
Update 12/05/21: Kyler Murray is officially active for the Cardinals and is playing against Chicago today.
Is Kyler Murray playing against the Bears?
Murray originally suffered an ankle injury after getting tangled up near the end of Arizona’s defeat to Green Bay on Thursday Night Football. He missed Week 9 against the 49ers after not practicing the entire week. In Week 10, he did manage to participate in a Friday practice, but he was still ruled out against the Panthers after being labeled a game-time decision.
Things looked more promising for Murray in Week 11. He was able to practice for three consecutive days, and it appeared as though he might return for a divisional battle against the Seahawks. But with a bye around the corner in Week 12, Arizona once again decided to play it safe and made Murray inactive for the Seattle game.
Heading into Week 13, Murray is trending in the right direction. He practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Both Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury used the same word — “hopeful” — when describing the star quarterback’s outlook for this week.
Once again, Murray will be listed as a game-time decision. However, this time around, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t get on the field. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport indicated Murray is likely to suit up, and it’s exceedingly rare that a player gets in three practice sessions and ends up not playing on Sunday.
Colt McCoy has filled in admirably in relief of Murray
After the Cardinals lost to the Packers, FiveThirtyEight gave Arizona a 97% chance to make the playoffs, a 52% chance to win the NFC West, and an 18% chance to grab a first-round bye. Now, with three Murray-less games under their belt, the Cardinals have a 99+% chance to go to the postseason, a 95% chance to finish first in the division, and an NFC-leading 39% chance at a first-round bye.
Clearly, not all of that continued success is thanks to backup quarterback Colt McCoy — but the veteran signal-caller has done a wonderful job in place of Murray. Sure, the defeat to the Panthers was a tough watch. But in Arizona’s two victories with McCoy under center, he completed 57 of 70 attempts for 577 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. Not bad for a quarterback who hadn’t started more than three games in a season since 2011.
Murray’s return would buoy all the fantasy prospects of all Cardinals
While Murray’s return should be enough to make Sunday a pleasant day for fantasy managers, it’s also helpful that the Cardinals play at 1 PM ET. If Murray ends up surprising everyone and not playing once again, fantasy managers will have numerous options to choose from as they look to replace him. There’s no having to wait until the late-slate inactives this week. This will be only the third time this season that Arizona has played at 1 PM ET on Sunday.
Murray is obviously the type of fantasy asset that you play if he’s on the field. There’s really no debate about it — if he’s active, you start him. The same goes for veteran WR DeAndre Hopkins, who will likely make his return on Sunday after missing the same three-game stretch. There’s a little more risk with Hopkins given his age and injury history, but if he’s in Arizona’s lineup, he should be in your fantasy lineup.
Each of Hopkins, Christian Kirk, A.J. Green, Zach Ertz, and James Conner should see a bump in fantasy production with Murray back under center. The Bears are middle of the pack in fantasy points given up to RBs, but they allow the seventh-most points to opposing WRs. I wouldn’t quite call them a “pass funnel” defense, but they’re an Erlenmeyer flask of a unit. Expect Murray and his cast of receivers to post solid production against Chicago.