Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, Oct 27th, 2024, 1:00 ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens FL
Network: FOX
Writer: Michael James
Hey gang, Michael James here filling in for Marco this week. Today we’re looking at the Arizona Cardinals traveling to Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins and the return of Tua Tagovailoa. Let’s see if we can get some points for the starters on our rosters!
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: Start, QB1
At first glance, this one looks scary. Miami has the number one fantasy defense in points allowed to the quarterback position specifically. But if you look closer, who have they played of late? The quarterback play of the Colts (except Flacco), Patriots, and Titans doesn’t instill fear into the opposition. Before that, their games against the Seahawks and Bills got out of hand before halftime leading to a run-heavy attack. All this to say I’m not hesitating to put Kyler Murray in my lineup. With the Dolphins looking to return to their high-octane offense, Murray must step up the offense to keep the team in this one. The Cardinals quarterback has put up a multi-touchdown performance in two of his last three games including on the road against a rival 49ers’ defense. In his past three games, he has rushed for an average of 7 carries per game elevating his floor in fantasy. Marco has Murray as his QB8 this week.
Running Back
James Conner: Start, RB2
Email Demercado: Sit
James Conner is now on a three-game streak of 3 or more targets and over 100 total yards in two of those last three games. Unsurprisingly, the Dolphins are rather forgiving against the run surrendering over 100 yards on the ground in all but one of their games this season. With three of his last four games going for at least 4.5 YPC and over 100 total yards, I am slightly more bullish than Marco is at RB23 as I believe this game will provide a strong RB2 floor in fantasy. Email Demercado is next up in snap count, but no other back in Arizona has registered meaningful touches when Conner was not sidelined.
Wide Receiver
Marvin Harrison: FLEX Option, WR3
Michael Wilson: FLEX Option, WR3
Greg Dortch: Sit
A defense that has limited the quarterback is naturally going to be a defense that also limits the receiver position. Arizona will need to break that trend in Miami on Sunday if they wish to come out with a win. It’s going to be hard for me to trust this receiving corps, however. Michael Wilson has been the benefactor of Marvin Harrison stumbling in production lately. However, last week they both submitted a stat line unworthy of even FLEX expectations. As such, I have both of these receivers pegged in the WR3 range and will continue to be bearish on Harrison until shown otherwise. I know he had a concussion a couple of weeks ago and has been uninspiring in the box score as of late. I do expect his talent to progress his stats to a better mean befitting of his skill in the second half of the season, but until then I will need to see it in a game first before I can trust again. Marco has more faith than me with him at WR22. Despite having a fantastic last name to say out loud, Greg Dortch is too inconsistent to come off the bench in fantasy for me.
Tight End
Trey McBride: Start, TE1
Despite Miami being the third lowest team allowing points to the tight end position, Trey McBride is one of the few bright spots at a position in fantasy that otherwise becomes a desolate wasteland quickly. Coming in as a top-five tight end despite missing a week is going to get me to approve of starting him regardless of the match-up. He has scored double-digit fantasy points in four of his last five starts. What puts that cherry on top though, is realizing he’s done all that without finding the end zone a single time this season.
D/ST
Cardinals: Sit
You got this site’s Defense Guy filling in for this week, so I thought I’d throw a bonus at the oft-overlooked side of fantasy. Miami has been a fantastic offense to stream defenses against after week one, but the Dolphins are fired up at the return of their quarterback with home-field advantage. Consider that along with the fact that the Cardinals have been a rollercoaster to follow on defense, I am going to try to look elsewhere for streaming options this week.
Miami Dolphins
Quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa: Start, QB1
I’ve gotten rusty at spelling his last name since I haven’t had to in several weeks, but much like my spell check, Tua Tagovailoa’s back. As such, so is the potential for this Dolphins’ defense that has been one long train wreck and has failed to eclipse 20 points since week one. I would be remiss if I didn’t temper expectations at least a small amount. He has missed a good chunk of time removed from the weekly routine. He still threw three interceptions before going down with that brutal concussion in week two. Fortunately, Arizona has been a rollercoaster of a defense this season so if you are along for the ride, they were on a peak last week which would put them in a valley this week. But that’s not a real metric, so we look to where the Cardinals sit at defensively which is bottom five in air yards per target and bottom ten in yards after the catch allowed. Mix that with a bottom-five QB pressure rating in the league and you get a volatile match-up potential for this Dolphin offense. As a disclaimer, Marco appears to disagree with me entirely and has Tagovailoa as his QB19 this week. I still hold faith that he can put up at least a borderline QB1/2-rated performance.
Running Back
De’Von Achane: Start, RB2
Raheem Mostert: FLEX, RB3
You can see a distinct drop in De’Von Achane’s performance compared to before Tagovailoa’s injury. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle managers already know and as a result, teams stacked the box and seemed to have gotten away with it. Achane (Marco: RB13) had his best performance over the last four games last week with a whopping 10 fantasy points. But the light at the end of the tunnel, Arizona is going to have to respect the Dolphins’ air attack with the return of Tua. This should free up some room for Achane and Raheem Mostert to get some better looks and yards before contact once again. Achane was splitting work favorably with Jaylen Wright but with the return of Raheem Mostert, this appears to be shifting closer to a 50/50 split. I still see Achane getting closer to his 25 fantasy point average over the first two games of the season than his sub-seven point average he has put up over the last four games. Mostert should get around 10 fantasy points worth of work in this game and we will see which one will find their way into the end zone to elevate their rating tier.
Wide Receiver
Tyreek Hill: Start, WR1
Jaylen Waddle: FLEX Option, WR3
Malik Washington: Sit
So Tua is back and if you read up at the QB section, you see that the Cardinals are no stranger to allowing deeper completions and more yards after the catch compared to most of the league. Tyreek Hill (WR9) owners are salivating and they should be as they are keenly aware of the devastating effectiveness the two have when they are both healthy. You’ve held onto him through the dark days up to this point so you don’t need me to tell you to slot him in this week. Jaylen Waddle put up double-digit fantasy points on 100 yards receiving in week one and hasn’t gotten out of FLEX territory since. I think he will return to the stat box with a borderline WR2/3 performance in fantasy. I’ll be honest I had to Google which receiver is even left standing off the injury report to be the team’s WR3 this week so that probably tells you how I feel about starting Malik Washington in fantasy.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith: Start, TE2
Jonnu Smith has 33 fantasy points over his last two games with 15 receptions split evenly between them both. In today’s TE economy, I’ll take that. However, Marco doesn’t even have him ranked this week and you know what? I respect that. I can see a drop in production with more targets going to the wide receivers with the Return of Tua (Rated PG-13).
D/ST
Dolphins: Sit
Miami has been a bend-not-break fantasy defense. Nothing flashy, but enough points to at least get you through the week. The Cardinals have actually been a great offense to stream a defense against as of late with an average of 9 fantasy points in four of their last five games to opposing defenses. On paper, this is statistically a good option to stream the Dolphins this week, but I just feel Arizona will need to find the end zone a lot to keep up this Sunday. My gut tells me to find another team if I can.