Tag: fantasy

Cardinals RB James Conner likely to play vs. Rams

Conner injured his ankle last week but is listed officially as questionable on the Cardinals’ final injury report of the week.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”Pa8rVsMYUo-2261331-7498″]

The Arizona Cardinals’ final injury report was shorter than it had been in previous weeks. Two players were ruled out. The one player listed as questionable — running back James Conner — is likely to play, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Conner exited the Cardinals’ 29-23 overtime win over the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter with an ankle injury.

He did not practice on Wednesday but did get limited reps in practice Thursday and Friday before being listed officially as questionable for the game on the final injury report of the week.

Schefter reported Saturday night that Conner will test his ankle out before the game and that things are trending towards his playing.

Conner has 17 rushing attempts this season for 59 yards and a touchdown.

The Cardinals and Rams kick off at 1:25 p.m. Arizona time at State Farm Stadium.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Latest show:

Previous shows:

and

32 fantasy football sleepers, one from every NFL team

Highlighting one fantasy football sleeper from each NFL team.

The NFL fantasy football is upon us, which means it’s time to start assembling your roster in hopes of winning your league.

There’s a lot that goes into winning a fantasy football championship, including team managers finding some hidden gems in the later rounds of the draft. There are some players who are being slept on that have the potential to develop into weekly starters on your fantasy team, which could mean the difference between going far in the playoffs and a quick exit.

We’ve rounded up our NFL Wires editors to find one sleeper from each NFL team that could help you win your league at a bargain price.

Fantasy football RB tiers 2022: From the first-round locks to intriguing sleepers

From the elite options to the sleepers at the RB position.

We’ve given you some running back rankings and some sleepers at the position to check out.

So now it’s time to help you out by breaking RBs into tiers, a really good exercise for fantasy football leagues both with snake or salary cap drafts. When is there a dropoff at the position as the draft goes on? Who’s elite and who might have some flaws?

This should hopefully help at the position that has so much volatility, whether it’s due to running back time shares or health or offensive lines.

So let’s break them down by tier, starting with the elite names:

Fantasy football DO DRAFT list: 8 players I love deeply in 2022 and so should you

Some names we love for fantasy football heading into 2022.

If you’re wondering, yes: There will be a DO NOT DRAFT list coming up later this week that I will put together as I did last year.

But too often, we’re caught being negative in fantasy football. And how can you not be? You have to avoid the busts if you want a chance a title, so weighing upside and a lot more downside is part of the game.

So I decided this would be the year that I start doing a DO DRAFT list, a look at the players I love — irrationally or otherwise — heading into draft season.

Let’s go:

9 ways to determine your fantasy football league’s order that go beyond picking out of a hat

Some creative ideas for choosing your fantasy football draft order.

Fantasy football draft season is nearly here, so you’re probably in the middle of your usual rhythm in mid-August: Going through the rankings, studying up on the sleepers and the vets who could be busts, coming up with a punishment for last place and choosing the perfect name for your squad.

Now, it’s time to think about how to determine the draft order. And while that could be done by taking all your league-mates’ names, writing them on slips of paper and pulling them out of a hat, you know you could do something to spice up the process.

Do something fun! Creative! Outside the box! We came up with ideas, thanks in part to people on Twitter:

WR Rondale Moore a potential fantasy breakout player for Cardinals in 2022

Moore will fill Christian Kirk’s role for at least the first six games of the season. Kirk had more than 900 yards in 2021.

The NFL season is soon approaching and that means fantasy owners will be holding their drafts and looking for breakout and value players.

The Athletic put together a list of a players to watch for each team in the NFL as potential fantasy breakout players in 2022.

For the Cardinals, the player to watch is second-year wide receiver Rondale Moore, writes Lindsay Jones.

WR Rondale Moore: The second-year wide receiver was underused as a rookie last year, but the Cardinals have much bigger plans for him this season as a slot receiver after the departure of Christian Kirk. He could be an especially important piece of Arizona’s offense through the first six weeks of the season while DeAndre Hopkins serves his suspension. Moore is different from Hopkins, but quarterback Kyler Murray will have to find someone else to depend on, and the speedy and versatile Moore is a good option here, along with newly acquired receiver Marquise Brown.

Playing in that role last year, Kirk had more than 900 yards. Moore will add speed that Kirk doesn’t have to that position.

Those first six games without Hopkins will be big for Moore. Once Hopkins returns, Moore might be once again relegated to a WR4 role where the Cardinals manufacture touches for him, getting him the ball around the line of scrimmage.

While in the slot role, he will run all sorts of routes, including down the field.

Moore also does have punt return upside, so he could add points in the return game.

Both Moore and Brown could be huge in the first six weeks of the season. Their value after that remains in question but bother will be a great value early in the season.

[vertical-gallery id=469255]

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Latest show:

Previous shows:

and

Is former Georgia RB James Cook a fantasy football sleeper for 2022?

PFF says James Cook is a fantasy sleeper for 2022

The Buffalo Bills selected former Georgia running back James Cook with the 63rd pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft in April.

Cook, who accounted for 1,012 total yards and 11 touchdowns last season, brings a versatility to the NFL that should allow him to shine with Buffalo’s high-powered offense.

Cook joins a crowded backfield, but has a chance to play often. Pro Football Focus suggests you consider him as a sleeper in your upcoming fantasy football drafts.

Via PFF:

The Bills did not draft Cook in the second round to sit him on the bench. They want him to be a dynamic weapon for quarterback Josh Allen.

PFF’s Miles Ruder explained earlier this offseason the dynamic element that Cook brings to the Bills’ offense, especially in the passing game. Singletary really struggles as a receiver (43.9 PFF receiving grade, third-worst) and should cede all the long-down and distance work to Cook from the jump.

The former Georgia standout posted a stellar 83.4 PFF receiving grade (eighth among all FBS running backs) while averaging over 10 yards per reception and 8.6 yards after the catch per reception last season.

It is a foregone conclusion that Cook takes over this backfield’s receiving role, but the rushing split is unclear. What if Cook proves to also be a better runner than Singletary? The upside case here is astronomical — there is certainly a universe where Cook sees most of the rushing and receiving work in this high-powered Bills offense, while Singletary is left to eat up the scraps.

Sign me up for RB1 ceiling in the later rounds with James Cook. His PFF consensus fantasy ranking is RB34.

He has a chance to play early for a Buffalo team that has no true No. 1 guy at the running back position and brings a versatility that can be dangerous to an already exciting Bills offense.

“I’m versatile, you know? I can do it all,” Cook said in his first media appearance as a Bill. “I can play in the slot. I can play out wide. I can run between the tackles. So I just feel like I can do it all and I’m versatile.”

Cook emerged as a weapon in UGA’s national championship season as a runner and a pass catcher.

The Florida native and brother of Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook had big performances in the national semifinal and title game for the Dawgs.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz2y40j067srkf player_id=none image=https://ugawire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[pickup_prop id=”23964″]

Should you REALLY buy into Tony Pollard getting more touches in fantasy football?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

OK, look: As a fantasy football guy, of course I’m all in on wanting Tony Pollard to get the rock more from the Dallas Cowboys after what we saw last season: Explosive play whenever he touched the football.

That led to 719 yards on the ground and 337 more through the air, so it’s clear he should be at least in a 50-50 timeshare with Ezekiel Elliott, who’s entering his seventh season in Dallas.

It doesn’t sound like that’s exactly going to happen. But the Fort Worth Star Telegram does report that Pollard was seen on the field lining up with Elliott in the backfield together. AND! He’s been lining up in the slot as a wideout.

Hmm.

A reminder that he did play receiver at Memphis. And also a reminder that Elliott is turning 27 this year.

So, I’m actually going to say that I’ll buy into the Pollard hype for those reasons. Even with Zeke on the field a bunch, I’m guessing Pollard could produce Flex-type numbers in a 12-team league.

But drafting Pollard is also a bet on Elliott not playing all 17 games this year. And that’s a bet I’m willing to make despite his durability in those first six seasons.

Throw him on the sleepers list … although with this news, people in fantasy are probably going to focus on him earlier than you’d think with the way he played last year.

[listicle id=1906800]

The 9 best fantasy baseball team names (that we could print) for 2022

Time to help you name your fantasy team.

The Major League Baseball lockout is far behind us. Spring is in the air. And that means fantasy baseball season is about to kick into full gear.

Before you start your prep work with sleepers, busts, rankings and such — fun fact, we’ll deliver some of that stuff soon on this website, I promise — there’s the most important step first: You need to name your team.

That’s what this annual list is here for. As we’ve done in years past, we have a list of the nine punny, fun names you could use for our team — the ones that we could print — which we rounded up from around the web (with links to sites where we got them).

Here. We. Go:

The fantasy football fallout from the Tyreek Hill trade: How it affects the Chiefs and Dolphins

Who’s stock is up and down?

We know: There’s still more offseason left to go. Things could change in the next few weeks with more signings and the draft.

But the Tyreek Hill trade that sent the Kansas City Chiefs star wideout to the Miami Dolphins for a ton of picks? We’ve got to think about fantasy football right now.

Suddenly, Patrick Mahomes is without the receiver who he’s had an incredible connection with. Tua Tagovailoa now has a top wideout to pair with Jaylen Waddle, who was impressive in his rookie season.

So let’s go over some of the names involved and whether their stock is up or down: