Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is a great way to get that fantasy football fix in the NFL playoffs. With just four weeks of football remaining, our time is limited. Fortunately, we’ve received three separate days of football this week to get our fill. Let’s take a look at the Sunday-Monday prime-time DraftKings DFS slate and the fantasy outlooks for James Conner and Chase Edmonds.
NFL DFS Picks: James Conner or Chase Edmonds?
Of these two Cardinals running backs, who has the highest upside in DFS formats for the first-ever Wild Card Weekend Monday Night Football game?
James Conner ($6,200) and Chase Edmonds ($5,000)
Normally, I prefer to give each player a separate section. But since Conner and Edmonds are on the same team and impact each other’s value, it’s impossible to discuss one without mentioning the other.
Conner was the far superior running back from a fantasy perspective in the regular season, averaging 17.1 PPR fantasy points per game. Edmonds averaged a respectable 12.1 ppg but was clearly far below Conner.
Due to Conner’s health, only Edmonds is startable in DFS lineups
Under normal circumstances, with all things being equal, there would be valid arguments for either running back depending on how you expect this game to play out. Unfortunately, all things are not equal.
Conner has been dealing with a ribs injury and only got in a single limited practice on Saturday. Given that this is a playoff game, his odds of playing are certainly greater than they would be if this were a regular-season game. However, I do think Conner is injured to the point where he certainly wouldn’t play if this wasn’t the most important game of the Cardinals’ season.
Both Conner and Edmonds have had success against the Rams this season
The Rams allowed the 10th-fewest fantasy points to running backs this season. Edmonds dominated in their first meeting, playing 67% of the snaps and totaling 139 yards on 16 touches. Then, Conner dominated the second meeting with Edmonds out. He played a season-high 96% of the snaps, and although he had just 31 rushing yards on 13 carries, he found the end zone twice and added 9 receptions for 94 yards.
Circumstances now are obviously different than they were in Week 4 (the game where both Conner and Edmonds were active). Nevertheless, if both are active, I would expect Edmonds to be the lead back based on game flow and health. If Conner is out, then this backfield will look a lot like it did in Weeks 16 and 17 when Edmonds played with no Conner (92% and 81% snap shares).
Due to Conner’s injury, even if he’s active, he is way too difficult to trust at his price. Conner is the second-most expensive running back on the slate. This situation really is a fantasy nightmare because although Edmonds appears to be a value as the cheapest usable running back on the slate, there’s still risk if Conner plays.
Even a banged-up and limited Conner could siphon 6-8 touches and gobble up all the goal-line work. Edmonds averaged 10.4 ppg this season with Conner active, but 20 ppg without him. We could see a shootout, and even though Edmonds isn’t fully healthy himself, if Conner is inactive, Edmonds will see as much work as he can handle. I like him a lot in Cardinals-centric DFS lineups. Edmonds is also usable even if Conner plays. However, his upside will be limited if Conner is healthier than I think/makes it through the entire game.