Fantasy football managers have now been without Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner for the past three weeks as he deals with a knee injury. Let’s take a look if there has been any further injury update for Conner, when he could be set to return, and what fantasy managers should do with the Cardinals’ backfield.
Latest Injury Update on James Conner
Conner’s knee should be well on the path to recovery now after he hurt it back in Week 5. The RB headed back to the locker room after a 35-yard run against the Cincinnati Bengals. Arizona took a few days to assess the injury before ultimately placing Conner on the injured reserve.
As we would expect, things have been reasonably quiet in terms of updates from the Cardinals and head coach Jonathan Gannon. We do not usually get much of an update on a player on the IR until he is due to return, and questions begin to arise about when he will be back on the field.
We could potentially start to get some more updates on Conner ahead of Week 9 or into Week 10. Once we hear how he is progressing, it will provide a much clearer timetable for his return to the field.
When Can Conner Return?
Conner is eligible to return to the field for the Cardinals in Week 10. A stint on the IR mandates a four-game absence. Therefore, as Conner was placed on the IR ahead of Week 6, he has now served 75% of that time and could be absent for just one more game. That means Week 9 could be the final week that Conner is off the field for fantasy managers.
However, fantasy managers need to be careful with their planning. We do not know where Conner is in his recovery timetable. The hope when he went on the IR was that it would be a minimum stay of four weeks, but that is yet to be seen. It very easily could be that once the four games pass, Conner still needs more time to fully recover.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
Next Wednesday should give us a real idea of Conner’s progress if we don’t hear before. That would be when Arizona would be first eligible to designate Conner to return to practice.
At that point, it will begin a 21-day window to activate the RB onto the full roster. However, the Cardinals can take as long as they like to decide to designate Conner to return to practice.
Conner’s Fantasy Value for 2023
Conner is a player that fantasy managers would love to get back. He was averaging 10.3 fantasy points per game in non-PPR and 11.9 in PPR scoring when he got hurt. That is somewhat of a drop from his average of 15 fantasy points per game in PPR last season. However, those numbers are heavily influenced by his early exit against the Bengals.
In the four games Conner completed, he scored 12, 16.6, 19.6, and 6.6 fantasy points in PPR scoring. That is an average of 13.7 fantasy points per game, demonstrating that Conner is still a valuable fantasy asset when on the field. While there will naturally be week-to-week variations, Conner should generally be a top-20 RB option for fantasy managers.
MORE: Fantasy Football Week 9 IR Report
At the time of his injury, Conner had 364 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, eight receptions, and 30 receiving yards, despite the Cardinals struggling to be competitive. Often a losing team can result in their RB struggling to accumulate fantasy points as the team can lean more pass-heavy.
The biggest threat for Conner’s fantasy managers is that Arizona decides to shut down their starting RB. Sitting at 1-7, Arizona has little but pride to play for.
Conner’s contract is for one more year with a cap number of $8.49 million. The Cardinals may decide that they do not want to risk losing Conner for next year by playing him in what is now a somewhat lost season.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!