The Arizona Cardinals were supposed to be the next big thing last year with Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray. The best part about that future not coming to fruition is that they can still be the next big thing. This time, they have Kenyan Drake and DeAndre Hopkins all year long, but play in the stifling NFC West. Still, there’s a lot to like about the Cardinals. Here are the Arizona Cardinals fantasy football sleepers, breakouts, and busts for 2020.
Sleeper – Chase Edmonds, Running Back (RB54, 173 overall)
So far in Kenyan Drake’s four-year career, he is yet to have more than 220 touches. That was last season, split between Arizona and Miami. While the Cardinals wanted to feed Kenyan Drake until he vomited, Drake hasn’t shown in his career that he can handle that workload. While Drake had 151 touches with the Cardinals in eight games last year, his previous, sixteen-game highs were 165 and 173 touches. Why am I going on about Drake? Well, if Drake can’t handle the load, we saw David Johnson fart his way to fantasy relevance through Kliff Kingsbury’s power, and a Drake injury or work reduction should see the same thing for Chase Edmonds. Edmonds had a game last year after the Cardinals gave up on David Johnson and before Kenyan Drake’s arrival. Chase Edmonds had 150 total yards and three touchdowns in that one game. Seems pretty good.
Breakout – Kyler Murray, Quarterback (QB4, 58 overall)
Kyler Murray is everyone’s favorite Arizona Cardinals breakout candidate for 2020, which is exactly why he’s made his way up the fantasy football ranks to QB4 on the year. It’s easy to see why people are in love with Murray. Hopkins, Kliff Kingsbury, and a fantasy profile most similar to guys like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Murray is an effort to get this year’s QB1 at a reduced price. He’s going 40 picks later than Mahomes and Jackson, so if he ends up QB1 or QB2, it’s a victory for those who drafted him. Personally, #58 is not a range where I am selecting a quarterback, but Murray does make it very tempting this year. Even if he doesn’t take a step forward, Murray’s 544 rushing yards (#2 among QBs) and four rushing touchdowns helped him end up QB7 last year, which feels like his floor.
Bust – DeAndre Hopkins, Wide Receiver (WR4, 11 overall)
Will you get so mad at DeAndre Hopkins that you rue the day that you put him onto your fantasy football squad? Probably not. Will you get super annoyed that you wasted a first-round pick on a top-end WR2? Definitely maybe. Sorry, but that’s the most I can offer you. DeAndre Hopkins has always thrived on massive amounts of volume. His 30% target share last season was #2 among wide receivers, and he had the tenth-most air yards last season. Kyler & Co. like to spread the ball around, as evidenced by the team leader in both stats (Christian Kirk) ranking #37 in air yards, and #17 in targets. Throw in Andy Isabella, Hakeem Butler, and Larry Fitzgerald getting theirs this season and you see where I’m going with this. The days of DeAndre Hopkins getting 150+ targets are probably over, and make him not worth a first-round selection.
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