The Arizona Cardinals‘ outlook discusses the fantasy football value of QB Kyler Murray, while the Philadelphia Eagles‘ fantasy preview details if you can count on RB D’Andre Swift and others.
Which players from this matchup should you look to get into your starting lineup in Week 17?
Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles
- Spread: Eagles -11
- Total: 49
- Cardinals implied points: 19
- Eagles implied points: 30
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray: Murray is coming off of his first multi-touchdown pass game of the season and has a 30+ yard completion in five of his six starts this season. This isn’t a bad matchup, in terms of the passing game, but Murray’s fantasy value relies less on that weakness than most (62.3% complete without a 260-yard passing game this season).
I worry that the floor is higher than the ceiling in this matchup, given the Eagles’ ability to slow the ground game and possess the ball on the offensive side. Murray doesn’t fall outside of my top 15, but he sits outside of my top 10 this week, and that’s lower than where he normally falls.
He’s not a must-start — I have Jared Goff ranked ahead of him, as we prepare for the week to kickoff.
Jalen Hurts: My top-ranked QB for the week has 15 rushing touchdowns this season – a number that is hard to properly appreciate. The fact that he continues to carry fantasy teams, despite having just two passing touchdowns this month, is a testament to how fantasy-friendly his skill set is.
MORE: Soppe’s Early Fantasy Football Week 17 QB Rankings
Hurts is my top signal-caller this week, and there was next to no hesitation in me doing so. I expect him to hold that title this week – and likely heading into next season – as long as the “Brotherly Shove” is a legal play.
Running Backs
James Conner: The veteran running back has been an RB1 in three straight games after posting just one such finish the season prior. Good players produce, but great ones peak at the right time for their fantasy teams. Print the shirts!
Conner has scored four times in those three games and has caught all eight of his targets since the Week 14 bye. The matchup dictates that his ranking suffers a bit, but it’s not nearly enough to remove him from starting lineups.
The Cardinals have one path to keeping this game close, and Conner is their path to accomplishing that.
D’Andre Swift: Last week was anything but a standard Swift game, but his 20 carries were encouraging to see.
The zero-target performance was moderately concerning, but I’m not willing to panic just yet. The 20 totes last week was his most since Week 2, and his RB14 finish last week was his first top-25 showing at the position since Week 11.
I think he does it again. I have him ranked as a high-end RB2 – right where he finished last week, and something he should be able to do against the defense that allows the most red-zone trips in the league.
Wide Receivers
Marquise Brown: “Hollywood” Brown sat out last week due to a heel injury that has been plaguing him for the majority of December. I’m not sure that he has any motivation to return this week, but even if he does, how could you possibly justify moving his name into your lineup?
Brown hasn’t scored since October, and an injury like this could not only prove prohibitive to a receiver with this skill set, but is also a threat to creep back up during the game. I’d actually play chess, while others play checkers.
I’d cut Brown and hope that your opponent sees a bigger name on the waiver wire and absorbs the risk if he’s cleared.
Michael Wilson: Hand up — that’s on me. I thought Wilson would take advantage of a good spot with Marquise Brown out, and I was dead wrong. The promising rookie air-balled for the second consecutive week and failed to catch any of the seven targets thrown his way since he returned from a month off.
Do I remain interested in Wilson long-term? You bet, but am I tempting fate by going back to him as a sleeper special this weekend? I am not.
A.J. Brown: It was a slow burn last week for Brown, but he got you 11.0 half-PPR points and earned a 30.6% target share, thanks to the New York Giants keeping things competitive on Christmas Day.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
Brown hasn’t scored in four straight, and that’s irksome, but with double-digit targets in all four of those games, you have to feel good about the game-changing asset you have on your roster.
DeVonta Smith: Smith’s Week 16 was a complete contrast to Brown’s. He had the fantasy production (15.9 points), but he didn’t have the impressive usage (13.9% target share, per the Week 17 Cheat Sheet).
After struggling through October, Smith has posted a top-20 finish in six of his past eight games. He is relying a lot on efficiency with an 80% catch rate or better in four of his past five, and while that creates a path to disappointment if Hurts is even just a touch off, you’re playing Smith with an eye on an upside that far outweighs the risk.
Tight Ends
Trey McBride: There’s no reason to deny a special talent when you see it, and that’s the case here. McBride has caught at least five passes in six straight and is earning targets at an elite rate for any tight end — let alone one that is in just his second NFL season.
MORE: Top 10 TE Fantasy Football Seasons of All Time
With Philadelphia’s pressure rate being greater than their blitz rate this season, this profiles as a one-and-done sort of route-reading game from Murray. At this point, why would we assume that McBride isn’t the first read on the majority of their plays?
He settles in as my TE3 this week. Lock him in and feel amazing about it!
Dallas Goedert: He has been back for three games, and the progression has been unusually linear. Return with low risk, high percentage targets, progress to a higher target share and less efficiency, and blend volume with efficiency.
That’ll work and is enough for me to consider Goedert a lineup lock. He has matched a season-high in targets in consecutive games, and while Hurts can be iffy in terms of passing consistency, Goedert proved to be a reliable option on Monday against the Giants with seven catches on nine targets.
With just two touchdowns on his 2023 ledger and barely 10 yards per catch, Goedert is unlikely to break open your matchup, but he should contribute in a positive manner, and that’s more than a lot of tight ends can offer at this point in the season.
Trending Start/Sit Searches
Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network? It’s completely free to use, and it allows you to enter up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup.
It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, so we’ve jotted some of them down here to help provide some clarity.
Should You Start Joe Mixon or James Conner?
Thanks to the efficient play of Cincinnati Bengals backup QB Jake Browning, Joe Mixon’s fantasy value is reasonably stable. I’d rather go in that direction than bet on a sporadic Arizona offense that might not have the ball for much longer than 25 minutes against the Eagles.
Mixon has run for four scores over his past four games, earning 18 targets in the process. He has shown enough of a versatile role for him to earn a high-end RB2 grade for me this week, while Conner is more on the back end of that tier.
Should You Start Rashee Rice or DeVonta Smith?
I lean Smith, but you’ve done a great job in building a powerhouse if one of these two stars has to be benched. Smith has scored or seen 8+ targets in seven of his past eight games, giving him a slight edge in projectable floor over Rashee Rice in a Kansas City Chiefs offense currently searching for answers.
That said, I very much believe Rice could be the answer to Kansas City’s questions. However, until we get a vision of that voluminous role, we can’t pencil it in.
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!