The Arizona Cardinals will face the Miami Dolphins in Week 8. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Cardinals skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Kyler Murray, QB
Did you know that the Dolphins rank seventh-best among defenses in terms of yards per pass attempt? Or the best in terms of passing touchdown rate?
Murray has been held without multiple passing touchdowns in five straight games, and that limitation in this matchup means he can’t be considered a Tier 1 play for me. His ability to break the game with his legs is unique (45+ rushing yards in five of seven games) and elevates his fantasy floor to an elite level, even if we’ve yet to see much in the way of a ceiling as a passer in 2024.
James Conner, RB
Conner recorded his 1,500th career touch last week, and if you ask the Chargers, he certainly didn’t look like a player with that sort of usage on his legs. He played a huge role in setting up the game-winning field goal and finished the contest with 152 yards on 21 touches against a defense that entered the week with as impressive of a profile as any in the league.
The last four featured running backs against the Dolphins have averaged 18.8 PPR points, and opponents have gained a league-high 45.8% of their yards against Miami on the ground. Father Time might catch up to Conner at some point this season, but I’m a man of data and none of the data accumulated through seven weeks suggests that a cliff is coming for Conner’s fantasy stock.
Trey Benson, RB
For a moment there, Benson looked like patient fantasy managers were going to be onto something. Across two games, he ran 14 times for 76 yards and showed some level of juice that we projected upon him when the Cardinals took him 66th overall in April.
Week 7, however, dashed any of those dreams. He ranked third in this backfield in snaps, and James Conner looked as fresh as he has all season. If you play in a league with deep benches, Benson remains a stash due to the checkered health history of Conner. But he’s more of a luxury than a mandatory roster filler right now as you try to position yourself for a playoff berth.
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR
Marvin Harrison Jr. suffered a concussion in Week 6 but was able to clear the protocol before Monday night, and the Cardinals showed no concerns about his health (83.6% snap rate, season snap rate: 73.5%).
That was good to see, but the production wasn’t there against a stingy Chargers defense. Harrison turned six targets into just 21 yards, continuing his struggles that now extend through Arizona’s past 15 quarters. Over that stretch, he has seen just 17 targets into 81 touchdown-less yards.
Harrison remains Arizona’s WR1, but he’s no longer in the conversation for such a title in our game. In fact, I now have two rookie receivers ranked ahead of him, and that looks like it’ll be the case moving forward.
Only once this season has a receiver reached 15 PPR points against the Dolphins, and nothing in Harrison’s recent profile suggests that he is a threat to double that number on Sunday.
Michael Wilson, WR
I like the skill set that Michael Wilson owns, but for whatever reason, things simply aren’t clicking right now. The second-year receiver remains on the field plenty (81% snap share), he just can’t shake free.
In Weeks 1-5, Wilson had an on-field target share of 18.3%. That’s not an elite mark, but for a young receiver, it’s an acceptable September number, with the thought being that he will trend up with time. That, however, hasn’t been the case.
Over the past two weeks, Wilson’s rate has plummeted to 12.7% — that’s the role of someone on the waiver wire.
I’ve gotten sucked into streaming Wilson in the past, and your process could land you making a similar move this week due to the rash of WR injuries across the NFL.
I mean, Arizona lacks a WR2, has the ability to score in bunches, and Wilson’s size profile (6’2”, 213 pounds) gives him increased touchdown equity. I understand how you land on him as a viable threat because I’ve been right there with you.
I’m off of Wilson until further notice. All of those things remain true, but we have no on-field evidence that a breakout is coming. The Dolphins are the third-best red-zone defense in terms of completion percentage (36.4%), and that’s as good an excuse as any to look elsewhere.
Trey McBride, TE
McBride extended his streak of games with at least six targets to 14 straight. That alone is enough to lock him into fantasy lineups. The prospect profile, not to mention the production down the stretch last season, suggests that this level of involvement (28% target share on Monday night against the Chargers) will eventually come with elite production attached to it. We just have to be patient.
By no means has he been bad this season, he just hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. He is yet to score and has been held under 55 yards in the majority of his games this season. McBride’s aDOT is up 22.6% from a season ago, and with a route adjustment like that, there is a learning curve to be expected. He remains one of my five favorite tight ends the rest of the way, and I feel good about saying that the best is yet to come in 2024 for this 24-year-old.
Arizona Cardinals at Miami Dolphins Game Insights
Arizona Cardinals
Team: Sunday will mark the final game of a four-game run that saw Arizona play in a different city in four straight weeks (they return home in Weeks 9-10 before going on bye in Week 11).
QB: Kyler Murray entered October without a touchdown run longer than 22 yards in his career – he had a 50-yarder in Week 5 against the 49ers and added a 44-yarder to his resume on Monday night against the Chargers.
Offense: James Conner was either handed the ball or targeted on 12 of Arizona’s first 25 plays from scrimmage on Monday night against the Chargers.
Defense: No team in the NFL forces three-and-outs at a lower rate than the Cardinals this season.
Fantasy: Conner has reached 100 scrimmage yards in three of his past four games and has at least 19 touches in five of seven. The usage is great, but it also comes with a warning – the next time Conner goes through an NFL season without missing multiple games will be his first.
Betting: The Cardinals are just 2-6 ATS in their past eight games played on short rest.
Miami Dolphins
Team: By EPA, the Dolphins have the fourth worst special teams in the NFL through seven weeks (on the bright side, the bottom five is loaded with viable teams: Bills, Jets, Ravens, and 49ers).
QB: Tua Tagovailoa might return this week, and that provides hope. However, let’s not forget that he has had multiple touchdown passes in just one of his past eight games (playoffs included).
Offense: Remember when the Dolphins scored 70 points in Week 3 last season against the Broncos? They’ve put 70 points on the board this season.
Defense: Just 2% of passes against the Dolphins have resulted in a touchdown, the lowest rate in the league.
Fantasy: In Tyreek Hill’s last 17 games with at least eight targets from Tagovailoa:
- 199 targets
- 132 catches
- 1,853 yards
- 13 touchdowns
Betting: The Dolphins are 0-3 ATS at home this season – they haven’t had a losing ATS season in front of their home fans since the 2015 team led by Ryan Tannehill and Lamar Miller.