The Arizona Cardinals have had some brutal luck in their backfield to start this season.
James Connor suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers. But the good news for Cardinals fans was that the team could now fully deploy Trey Benson, the 23 year-old running back that Arizona drafted in the third round last year out of Florida State.
But the Cardinals were forced to put the second-year back on the injured reserve list[1] due to an arthroscopic surgery on his meniscus that will sideline him for the next four to six weeks.
That paves the way for journeyman running back Michael Carter as well as undrafted free agent Emari Demercado to take over Arizona’s backfield.
This leaves fantasy football managers and Cardinals fans wondering which running back is going to do more for Arizona? Carter weighed in.
“It’s been a lot. You go from Pat Tillman (practice squad player of the week award) one week to starting the next,” Carter said about all of the injuries.
Carter added that “it’s going to take all of us,” likely indicating that Demercado and Bam Knight will get some runs as well. But fantasy football gurus have been suggesting that opting for Carter to be the main running back would be the educated guess ahead of Week 5.
Carter became a familiar name on the fantasy football waiver wire during his time with the New York Jets from 2021-2023. He’s been with the Cardinals ever since.
He has 327 rushing attempts for 1,360 yards and eight touchdowns in his five year career – but he’s never exactly gotten an opportunity to handle a big workload like this one.
While Cardinals head coach Johnathan Gannon expects Benson back at some point in the season, Arizona needs to keep its rushing attack alive in order to field a balanced offense. The Cardinals are 2-2 and in the basement of the NFC West. But the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are both already beat up with injuries and plenty of football still left to play.
Everybody knows that Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is a threat to take off and run[2] the football each time it’s snapped. Adding Carter, a smaller, shifty running back into the backfield with Murray could cause chaos for opposing defensive lines if deployed correctly.
Arizona will host the lowly Tennessee Titans in Week 5. This should provide a good look at what this backfield will be without Connor and Benson for several weeks.
References
- ^ second-year back on the injured reserve list (www.nfl.com)
- ^ Kyler Murray is a threat to take off and run (deadspin.com)