Tag: Kyler Murray fantasy football

Is Kyler Murray draftable in fantasy football leagues?

Will a lengthy rehab rob Murray of his trademark athleticism in 2023?

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is one of the more interesting players who will have fantasy managers questioning the level of investment to make in him for 2023. Not only is he coming of a torn ACL suffered on Dec. 12, 2022, the Cardinals stunned the football world in May by releasing DeAndre Hopkins – receiving no compensation in the form of players or draft picks and swallowing a huge dead-cap hit that will limit what the team can do in an attempt to bring in veteran playmakers to make up for the loss.

It’s hard to dismiss the value Murray brought as a dual passing-rushing threat in his 57 career NFL starts, but there have been red flags along the way that should have some wary of having him on their fantasy rosters.

The clearest sign of trouble came when the Cardinals decided to make a franchise-shifting investment in Murray – signing him to a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with $160 million in guarantees. It was one of the clauses in the deal that raised eyebrows – a contractual requirement for Murray to be at the facility doing off-field study with the coaching staff. The clear implication was that Murray has never been a “first guy in the building, last guy out” type of player. While Arizona ultimately removed the clause, one has to wonder about his willingness to put in the extra effort to relentlessly rehab to get back on the field when that hasn’t been his M.O.

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Even before the injury, Murray had a tendency to start strong in terms of fantasy scoring and team success, only to fade as the season came to a close – when his value to a fantasy team is needed most. In 2021, the Cardinals started out 7-0 and looked primed to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC with Murray as an MVP frontrunner, only to lose five of their last seven games and make a quick playoff exit.

Currently, it’s believed that Murray won’t be ready for the start of the season and may not return until midseason. The question that needs to be asked is what type of investment do you make in a player who is guaranteed to miss some time when there are other available options without that baggage?

Fantasy football outlook

I was leery of Murray prior to his ACL injury. The running that made him a star early in his career seemed to be more tempered over the last two seasons, and dropping production as a rusher made his points-per-game decline even more pronounced.

At this point, I would struggle to even have Murray at the end of the QB2 rankings, because you bring him to your roster with many more questions than answers. When there are healthy young quarterbacks with upside potential, like Anthony Richardson, Kenny Pickett and Bryce Young, in the same ranking tier, roll the dice on one of them rather than take Murray due to not knowing when he will be back and how he will fare after losing the top weapons that made him a star (Hopkins and Christian Kirk) over the last two years. Let someone else take the risk of having a dead roster spot for half a season or more in conventional 2023 leagues, though he could be worthy of a No. 3 spot in best-ball settings.

Fantasy football outlook: WR DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals

We know Hopkins will be suspended six games, but what does that mean for his fantasy value?

Typically when an otherwise highly ranked player falls in fantasy football drafts, it happens for one of two reasons – he’s coming back from injury or starting the year on a suspension. In the case of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, it’s both.

In his first eight seasons, Hopkins only missed one game due to injury. Last season, he missed time with a hamstring strain and tore an MCL in Week 14 to end his season. Even so, in 10 games, he caught 42 passes for 572 yards and eight touchdowns. Those aren’t big numbers by Hopkins standards, but for just about anyone else, would be very good numbers despite injury.

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Hopkins, it can be argued, has already punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame. In his last six full seasons, he has caught more than 95 passes five times and has 1,165 or more receiving yards in six of the last seven seasons. Consistently big production has been his career calling card, which makes the fantasy decision on him so painful.

In the offseason, Hopkins was suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the NFL’s PED policy. While it gives his surgically repaired MCL additional (and perhaps even unnecessary) time to heal, the bottom line is that he is guaranteed to miss nearly half of the fantasy football regular season – six games under the PED suspension and another when the Cardinals have a bye week in Week 13.

The Cardinals have one of the most potent offenses in the league and added Marquise Brown, who topped 1,000 receiving yards last year for the Baltimore Ravens, so the team should be able to hold up offensively until Hopkins returns. The Cardinals proved what they could do last season, starting 7-0 and building momentum before losing seven of their last 11 games, including four of the final five games without Hopkins. His importance to the success of the team is clear, and he will be coming in with fresh legs following his suspension to join a team two months into the grind of a 17-game season.

Fantasy football takeaway

There are two basic schools of thought when it comes to Hopkins. The first is to rank or value him so low that you will never get him. The second is considering him as a high WR3 and deal with his absence like fantasy owners have to do all the time when a player is injured – make do with what you have and ride out the storm early while your entire roster is healthy and bye’s largely aren’t a factor.

The final decision on where (or if) to invest in Hopkins is predicated in making an investment in the early middle rounds to add depth to your receiver corps. Hopkins has WR1 value when healthy and on the field, so when you get to the WR3 tier, the longer he remains, the bigger value he brings.

Don’t draft Hopkins to be a bookend wide receiver, but if you have two locked and loaded don’t be afraid to roll the dice on a redemption story that could stack your lineup in the second half of the season, especially in PPR formats.

Fantasy football team previews: NFC West

QB changes, suspension woes, and a chance to repeat dominate the NFC West’s outlook.

The 2022 fantasy football draft season is starting to heat up now that we’ve gone through the height of free agency and all of the chosen rookies have been assigned to their professional home cities.

The landscape has changed a great deal for many franchises after a whirlwind offseason, and our divisional preview series will help you stay on top of all of the changes to date.

AFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

NFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

Arizona Cardinals lose DeAndre Hopkins to six-game suspension

A fake football reaction to fantasy owners losing Hopkins for six games.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will miss the first six games of the 2022 NFL season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

In yet another setback for the league’s highest-paid receiver, the specific games Hopkins will miss are not yet known, but we’ll have clarity after the schedule release on May 12.

Last year, Hopkins suffered knee and hamstring injuries that cost him seven of the last nine games of the season. He underwent surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament and was on track to be fully recovered ahead of offseason activities. He turns 30 in June.

During Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft, Hopkins gained a new running mate in former Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown after the Cards traded for the 2019 draft’s 25th pick. Brown was acquired to offset the loss of Christian Kirk in free agency, and he’ll now be tasked with assuming the top receiver duties in Nuk’s absence. The collegiate connection between Hollywood and his “old-new” quarterback, Kyler Murray, should make for a smooth transition.

Other receivers asked to do more will be Rondale Moore, a second-year player who has the explosiveness in the open field to take a short pass the distance just about any time he touches the ball. Veteran A.J. Green re-signed to play his age-34 season in the desert after a so-so campaign a year ago with Arizona. He finished 2021 with a 54-848-3 line in 16 appearances as the WR42 in PPR scoring. Speedy wide receiver Andy Isabella also remains on the roster, although he has been the subject of trade chatter of late.

In addition to those moves, Arizona re-signed tight end Zach Ertz to a three-year extension, and tight end Trey McBride — widely viewed as the top rookie of this year’s class — was chosen in Round 2.

Finally, don’t discredit the above-average receiving skills of running back James Conner. Hopkins’ typically domineering target share creates a few more available looks to go around, including a trickle-down effect for safety values, such as the former Pittsburgh Steeler.

Fantasy football takeaway

The move makes Hopkins a low-end No. 2 receiver target in reception-rewarding formats. He’ll definitely miss the six contests but also comes with elevated injury concerns after being tough as nails during his career. In early drafts, his average position was WR10 with an ADP of Pick 3:04. That should tumble into Round 6 or so with the suspension news. Every league will be slightly different, of course, with Hopkins going a little sooner and later. Having a feel for your league’s tendencies can help finely tune knowing when to strike optimal value. As always, he his a much more reliable contributor in PPR.

Brown’s value will be at its peak in 2022 during the six-game window the Cardinals are without Hopkins. Given the aforementioned familiarity and existing chemistry with Murray, Hollywood can play like a low-end WR1 during the suspension, given the right matchups, but he’s a much safer No. 2 lineup consideration. It’s reasonable to expect his big-play nature will continue to make him a more valuable start in non-PPR scoring.

Moore presents the most upside here. He can thrive with limited volume and also has the skill set to see the occasional gadget play come his direction. As a 2021 rookie, his career started off on a promising foot as Moore finished with at least 10 PPR points in three of the first five contests before fading into oblivion the rest of the way. Thanks to a full season under his belt, the electric Purdue product has serious boom potential in the early going. He’s getting drafted as a WR4/No. 5 in recent drafts, which is bound to move closer toward being a third in the near future. That said, his season-long value will take a substantial hit with Brown’s acquisition and the eventual return of Hopkins.

Green isn’t more than a late-round roster-filler at this point in his career, and even this news doesn’t give the veteran much of a boost in fantasy appeal. He’ll have flex utility in both prominent scoring systems while Hopkins is away, and that value craters with D-Hop’s return to the lineup.

While McBride may find a few more targets heading his way early in the season, rookie tight ends rarely contribute statistically in a fantasy-relevant manner. He is best reserved exclusively for daily fantasy cash games and showdown contests. Ertz, on the other hand, will be a weekly lineup fixture and figures to pace this passing game in volume during Hopkins’ stead.

As for Murray, he loses a bit of luster for the first third of the season. There’s still midrange starter’s worth to be found in the fourth-year quarterback, mainly thanks to his legs and top trio of remaining pass-catching outlets. Bump him down a notch or two in the overall rankings, though.