Game Info
Kickoff: Monday, December 13, 8:15 PM ET
Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Betting Odds: ARI -3, 52 Total on Vegas Insider
Network: ESPN
Los Angeles Rams
Quarterback
Matthew Stafford (Start, QB1)
A lot has been made about Matthew Stafford’s recent struggles, but he’s averaging 7.8 yards/attempt over his past two games. Playing the Jaguars helped, but Stafford rebounded in a major way with an 80.3 PFF grade. The Cardinals have surprised defensively this season, yet Stafford has the combination of being the quarterback for an explosive offense and passing volume on his side. Start him with confidence.
Running Backs
Darrell Henderson (Start If Healthy, RB2), Sony Michel (Sit, RB4; High-End RB2 If Henderson Doesn’t Play)
Although Darrell Henderson was active for Sunday’s win against the Jaguars, that was more as an emergency back given the team’s lack of depth at the running back position. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to go for this Monday Night affair. If so, we’ll likely see him resume his three-down role as a high-end RB2. If not, though, Sony Michel, fresh off exceeding 20 PPR fantasy points, becomes someone who needs to be in your starting lineup. The Cardinals have been a run-funnel this year, ranking as PFF’s second-lowest graded run defense.
Wide Receivers / Tight Ends
Cooper Kupp (Start, “THE” WR1), Odell Beckham Jr. (Start, FLEX/WR3), Van Jefferson (Start, FLEX/WR3), Tyler Higbee (Sit, High-End TE2)
Cooper Kupp has finished with over 90 receiving yards in all but one game this year. That is absolute madness. Ironically, that one exception came against the Cardinals, but he obviously remains THE WR1 for the rest of the year. Odell Beckham Jr. may have played under 60% of the snaps this past Sunday, but that was likely due to him dealing with a hip injury and them blowing out the Jaguars; he’s still going to see 5-8 valuable targets moving forward. Then, there is Van Jefferson. The second-year receiver is seen as mainly a volatile deep threat, but he’s now gotten eight targets in back-to-back games, in addition to 12.6 and 13.1 PFF expected fantasy points, respectively. At this point, he has to be in your lineup, unless you’re in a very shallow format.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray (Start, QB1)
Welcome back, Kyler Murray! In his first game back after missing a month due to an ankle injury, Murray scored 30.9 fantasy points, while averaging 8.2 yards/pass attempt in Chicago. It was very encouraging to see him use his legs 10 times, as that was the main concern coming back from injury, and as long as that holds, he’s a top-five quarterback, if not better, moving forward. This is going to be a very fun game to watch.
Running Backs
James Conner (Start, RB2 If Edmonds Active, Low-End RB1 If He Isn’t), Chase Edmonds (Start If You Must, High-End RB3, FLEX)
The Cardinals, who are getting healthy at the right time, could get back running back Chase Edmonds off of injured reserve this week. If so, we’ll see this go back to being a split between him and Conner; the former gets the receiving work, while the latter is used in short-yardage situations. Conner’s touchdown upside and the fact that Edmonds likely will get eased into the offense gives him the edge, but both should produce this week. If Edmonds happens to not play, Conner is back to being a clear RB1 again.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
DeAndre Hopkins (Start, WR2), Christian Kirk (Sit, WR4), AJ Green (Sit, WR4), Rondale Moore (Sit, WR5), Zach Ertz (Sit, TE2)
It didn’t take long for DeAndre Hopkins to score a touchdown in his return back to the lineup. Since Murray only attempted 15 pass attempts, we didn’t get much of a read on this passing attack last week, but we know he’ll want to spread the ball enough to cap the ceiling of each of these players. Unfortunately, Christian Kirk saw his snaps go down significantly with the return of Hopkins, which means that “Nuk” is the only player worth starting this week. After all, they are about to face a very talented Rams secondary.
All Stats via Pro Football Focus